Behind The Alpha Book 8 ADAM
Chapter 7

(Chapter song ‘Wherever I May Roam' by Metallica)

ADAM

The lone wolf.

Not the rogue. No. He’s something else.

This wolf has control. He has a strong mind. Strength in his convictions. He needs no home. He needs no roots. He needs no one.

The bike wanders the land. Stopping in places for provisions and information.

I track the things I need. With the use of the internet, I followed the path of the skull.

After it was dug up, it was sent to a museum in Washington. They labeled it a skull of old tribes used for medicine. I laughed at the description.

When I arrived there, the curator told me it was sent to a university in Michigan to be studied.

After days of driving, I finally arrived at Michigan University. I spoke with the historical artifacts department. They told me it was stolen from the archives room. When I inquired about who would take a skull, she couldn’t tell me.

I left, trying to make a list of who my suspects would be.

I scoured the internet. Pages and pages. Checking links and finally found a listing on the dark web. A witches site. The haunting picture of the jet black skull locked my mind. Memories flood back as I remember holding it. I remember what I felt that night. It’s black eye socket seemed to mock me. It knows. Knows very well.

I park my bike in front of a little house in a town called King's Wharf, outside a city called Atlas on the eastern seaboard.

I look around the small yard and walk up to the door. As I approach, it opens without anyone opening it. I stop and analyze it suspiciously.

“Don’t stand in doorways…didn’t your mother teach you anything?”

The voice was young sounding, but also old at the same time.

I push the door open and duck my head under the top frame.

“Come in! Come in, sit down!”

The house looks like one that would belong to a grandmother. Dusty Knick knacks. Doilies on the couch and chairs. The smell of old must hits my nostrils. I also see the witch who lives here. Bugs, animal parts, bones and books fill the shelves. Bottles of liquids and herbs sit on the counters in the kitchen. I can’t tell what’s in them and I can’t smell them.

My eyes search for the voice and I replace an older, attractive lady in a wheelchair. She’s missing her legs.

Her strawberry blonde hair is messy and pinned back. Her face is tired looking, but her blue eyes shine. She doesn’t feel like a witch to me.

She adjusts her white blouse then wheels herself to my feet.

“Well, aren’t you a tall glass of water.” She laughs.

“Catherine?” I ask as she wheels by me. She pushes into the kitchen and puts a kettle on the stove.

She smiles. “That’s my name, sweetie. Sit.” She motions to a chair at a tiny table. “Go ahead. Don’t worry. I got my own.” She chuckles as she slaps the arm.

The corner of my lip ticks up. “Thank you. Can I ask…” I point to the chair as I sit.

“Oh.” She waves me off then wheels to the table. “Just a disagreement with a lovely group of people who want to take over the world.”

“Who?” I ask with curiosity.

“A pack of shifters who moved in ten years back.” She leans on the table. “They call themselves The Forsaken. Some say they’re a pack of lone wolves who have a natural immunity to rogue sickness. They feel they’re chosen ones because they never get sick. The leader, Cain Marin. He believes the rest of the world is unclean and needs to be destroyed.” She waves me closer and I do. “Truth be told, they’re just a group of turners. All of them conceived on red moons. They have this power. They can control time. Only an hour at a time, but still. They can also manipulate any environment they’re in. No one knows how they got this power, but Cain says it’s a gift from Poseidon. Like he even exists.” She bursts into laughter and waves me off as she sits back.

I sit back and smile. “So how did they take your legs?”

She wheels her way to the stove and shuts off the whistling kettle. She grabs two cups off the counter and pours the tea. “Sugar?”

“No…thank you.” I say.

“Ok. I can’t have sugar either. Bad for the old wolf.” She takes a cup and brings it to me. I take it from her and nod. She grabs her cup and rejoins the table. She sips it. “Oh, that’s the good stuff. Please.” She motions to me.

I look at the brown liquid. I don’t drink anything other than blood so, I have to call my shifter to drink this. I sip it and it tastes different. “This is…interesting.” I say.

“It’s fresh picked. Green tea. From my garden out back.” She thumbs over her shoulder.

I take another sip. “It’s good.”

“Thank you. Anyway…what has I saying?” She asks.

“Legs.” I answer.

“Right.” She lifts her cup to her lips and drinks. “So, I had come across this black skull some years back and…”

“This skull. It was real?” I inquire.

“Oh yes. The creepiest thing you’d ever see and powerful too. It was actually part of some really bad juju type magic. So I did what any self-respecting witch would do.”

“You sold it.” I state and place my cup on the table.

“Damn right I did. Well, tried to anyway.” She mumbles. “I had it up on the dark web for ages. Not one bite until one day, a knock came at my door.”

“Go on.” I say.

“It was Cain. He demanded the skull. I said what could you possibly want that for? He said, it’s none of your damn business.”

I lean my elbow on the table and place my head on my fingers as I listen.

“He tried to take it from me and the fight almost blew my damn house apart. He took my legs.” She grumbles.

“So Cain has the skull.” I slowly lift my cup to my lips and drink.

“No. This is where it gets weird. As Cain was leaving, he was attacked. By a group in red suits. Hunters. The fight was intense. Cain lost a lot of men and the skull.

I blink slowly. “Who were these…people?”

“I don’t know who, but they had these badges on their arms. Two mountains and sun with the words ‘The Foundation’ written on them. From what I learned it’s a secret organization that controls a lot of shit.” She whispers.

I feel my eyes start to get heavy. “The…Founda…” I feel my arm slip and my head hit the table. My eyes fight to stay open as she leans to me. “I’m sorry, pumpkin. Did I give you too much Dead man’s blood? This might be a lesson to you, seeing as how you’re so young. Never take anything from a witch.” She smirks as she gazes into my drooping eyes. “Oh, and before you think it, there’s wolfsbane and belladonna running through your bloodstream too. Can’t be too careful. See, when I found out the triple hybrid was heading my way, I just knew my new friends would love to ger their hands on him.”

I see her wave and I try to see who she’s waving at. I'm fading fast and can barely move.

In my blurred vision, I see a woman with short red hair squat down to my level.

“Who…” I snarl as I feel the blood take hold more.

“Adam. It’s such a pleasure to meet you. You look so much like your mother. Don’t worry. You’re in good hands. The Foundation will care for you. We've taken special interest in your gifts.” She smiles.

“Wha…” The world starts to go dark.

“Thank you, Catherine.”

“Miranda, the pleasure was all mine. He is a cutie, lucky girl.”

My mind fades to the giggles of two woman who are now on my hit list for revenge.

****

The light fills my eyelids. My body aches all over. I crack a eye open and the light hurts my head. My hands explore under me and feel a bed.

I raise my hands to my face and rub away the pain of being poisoned.

Blinking away the fog, I open my eyes to a blank, white ceiling with a single florescent light hanging from it.

I sit up and look around. Four blank white walls and tiled floor.

The white door looks like metal with a window in it.

I look down at myself and I’m dress in white, cotton clothes. I look myself over and turn my head. Shooting pain comes from my neck and I feel the back of it. There’s a bandage on it. I rip it off and feel for damage. Not feeling any, I turn and swing my feet off the bed. It’s then I realize my feet are chained together.

I grab the links and pull. My strength is severely weakened. I try to call any of my creatures, but none surface. I don’t feel them inside.

Concern fills my face as I stand and walk to the door. The chain jingles between my ankles with every step.

I try the door handle and it’s locked. I peer out the window and try to see outside.

The white hall is empty.

I slap the glass. “HEY! WHERE ARE YOU?! OPEN THE DOOR!”

I wait for any movement. Not seeing any, turn back to the room and run my hand through my hair. It’s then I realize my hairs been cut short. I turn back to the glass and try to see my reflection. From what I can see and feel, is hangs to just above my ears. Why would they cut my hair?

I spin around and analyze the room for escape.

I drop to my knees and look under the cot. I sit on the bed and try to figure this out.

Secret organization. They knew my mother. How? What does it mean?

A door opens in the hall and I rush to the door. I look out the glass and bang on it. “OPEN THE DOOR! I HEAR YOU! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!”

“Alright. Settle down.”

I watch a man in blue medical clothes approach the door. His brown eyes look into mine. He scrunches his face. “Back off.” He demands.

I take some reluctant steps back.

He opens the door. “The doctor want to see you.”

“Doctor? What doctor? Where am I? What is this? Let me go.” I say.

He grabs my hands and slaps cuffs on them. “Come on.” He says gruffly and pulls me out of the room.

The chains make it hard to walk with him as he escorts me through the halls. I see several rooms all with The Foundation written on them.

I try to look into the glass as we walk by. “What is this place? What’s The Foundation?”

“You’re new home. Quit asking questions.” He grumbles as he drags me down another hall with glass rooms. Each with medical equipment in it.

We approach a room with three more big guys inside and out.

I shake my head as my nerves start going haywire. “No!”

I reach back and elbow the guy in the gut. Instinctually, I turn to run and fall on my stomach.

He and another guy, reach for me, I flip over and shove my feet into one’s stomach. He flies backwards into a glass wall and falls through it.

Glass shatters all over the floor.

“Get off me! No! Get the fuck off me!!” I growl loud.

I’m tackled by the other three and flipped on my stomach.

“Fuck he’s strong.” One grits as I fight his grip. “Get the sedation!”

“FUCK YOU! LET ME GO!” I’m like a furious bull they’re trying to buck and I’m not letting up.

Deep behind my ribs, I feel something. I need it. I need it now. I grab it and pull it out of the hole it’s trapped in.

My eyes glow blue. My shifter.

I huff a laugh and I feel my strength.

My eyes catch a guy with a syringe. The scent tells me it’s filled with blood.

“Fuck this!” I growl and I push off the floor and explode out of the chains and my clothes.

My white wolf shakes and turns to the men.

“Shit. Silver now!” One orders and another takes off.

My wolf snarls and barks as he stalks the remaining three.

“Adam. We don’t want to hurt you, bud. You’re blood is very important.” One on my left tries to touch me and my wolf snaps at him.

He backs off to his friends.

‘End this.’

He lowers his head just as the forth guy shows up with a gun. He aims it at me and fires. My lycan takes over and my body grows. He ducks and the bullet shatters another glass wall.

He rushes the men and grabs two. He smashes them together and they crumple to the ground. He jumps, grabs the ceiling and kicks the third guy into the forth and they both fly down the hall.

My Lycan takes off running through the halls. His large clawed feet thump hard on the tiled floors. He sees a stairwell, bolts for it and breaks down the door. Stopping, he looks up the middle of the spiral of stairs and bends his knees. He growls and makes a power jump to the top staircase.

My claws dig into the bottom of the stairs and I lift myself over the railing. I crash through the door and am met with screams of terror. I roar and shake the offices. People run for the exits as I tear through them.

I shove some out of the way as I sniff for the outside of this place.

I see people run through a door and decide that’s the way to go. I lower my shoulder and crash through it.

As the sun hits me, salt invades my senses.

My ears perk to waves crashing.

The crowd disperses and I shift to my vampire form. My eyes widen as I walk across a parking lot then cross a road.

My bare feet sink into beach sand as palm trees sway in the breeze above my head.

My heart starts to beat hard against my ribs as my shifter floods my system with dread.

I slowly walk to the edge of a vast ocean. I swing my head left and right along the never ending beach.

I leave dust and sand behind me as I run along the waters edge. It never stops.

I skid to a stop in the place I started from and stare out to the sea.

“Where am I?”

“An island…My island. Off the coast of Florida.”

I turn to the diplomatic sounding voice. She stood in a white long coat. The ends gently blowing with the wind. Her short red hair almost shone in the sun. Her smile looked pleasant, but there was something behind it.

Her blue eyes looked very familiar. “I know you.” I step out of the water and cross the sand.

“I’m sure you know of me, but you don’t know me.” She tilts her like a mother would to her child.

I slowly shake my head. “No…you’re the dark Shaman.”

She chuckles and nods. “Has it been that long?”

“What?” I ask with confusion.

“Never mind. All you need to know is I’m not your enemy, Adam.” She informs.

“You’re no friend.” I growl.

“I’m not?” She steps closer and waves her hands out briefly. “I’m not stopping you, am I?”

“You chained me.” I narrow my eyes and my lip threatens to curl. My fists ball at my sides.

She raises her chin and holds a hand up. “It was just a precaution. You’re lycan can be very disagreeable and I wanted you safe from harm. You’re not a prisoner here.”

“What did you do to me?” I scowl.

“Nothing. We just took what we needed and now you’re free to go.” She says.

“What did you take?” I grit.

“Spinal fluid.”

I rub the back of my neck.

She smiles at me again. “The pain will fade. I’m afraid we had to use high doses of wolfsbane and iron to stop the healing processes. You’re abilities are very astounding. I’m impressed. Your donation is the last ingredient we needed.”

“Ingredient for what?” I eye her suspiciously.

She wags a finger at me. “No spoilers.” She chuckles. “I will give you this though.” She stops just in front of me. “The Reaper. It’s in the hands of a man named Artemis. He’s in Falcon Ridge, if memory serves. If you wish to get the blade. Hurry.”

“Why are you telling me this? Who are you?” I study her eyes closely.

She places a delicate hand on my cheek. Her heart rate is calm and steady. “The real question is who are you?”

I cinch my brow as she grins and turns. She walks and waves at me. “When your ready for answers. Find me.” She yells without looking back.

I watch her and my mind spins with questions. I want to chase her down, but this new knowledge of the Reaper has hold of me.

I turn to the water and break into a vamp run. I ran out as far as I could before diving into the warm blue waters.

I swam for days. Feeding on the sea life. Sustaining my vamp with sharks and whales.

My eyes glow green as I navigate the sea floor and try to keep to the direction of the mainland.

My eyes peer through dark, murky trenches and I glide over bright, clear coral reefs. Fish swim in all directions around me as I swim among them. Ship wrecks and other traces of human life would peak the interest of other deep sea divers, but not me. I have no care about such things.

Feeling lost, I swim to the surface. I slowly rise out of the water and all I see is large rolling waves. I spin around and focus on an object on the horizon. Diving under, I swim toward it. When I rise again, I see a fishing ship.

I need to get out of this water. I need to know where I’m going.

Once at the ships wall, I climb up the ropes and throw my tired arms on the deck. The blood of whales and sharks do little for my stamina. I need rest.

“WHAT THE HELL?”

“CAPTAIN! MAN OVERBOARD!”

“GET BLANKETS!”

I spit water as I pull myself up. The crew gather around me and pull me the rest of the way.

I sit on the deck as they wrap dry blankets around me.

An older man squats in front of me. “Boy? What happened? How’d you end up all the way out here?”

I choke back the salt. “I came…from an island…four days that way.”

The men around us started to laugh and looked at each other.

“QUIET!” The old man barks.

“What? What's so funny?” I stare at them all.

He leans to me. “Son. This is the Bermuda triangle. There ain’t nothing out here but dead ships and ghosts.”

My jaw goes slack and the men behind him nod. “No…there is…I was on it.”

He chuckles. “Let’s get ya dry. I think the saltwater is messing with ya. You must be hungry.”

My eyes replace the jugular veins of every crewmember.

“Yes. Famished…actually.” I say quietly as I stand with man and he guides me below deck.