Lust Of The Alpha Phoenix Mountain Series Book 7
Chapter 23

As much as I love loving Hunter, I’m still worried about the backlash we could get.

My sisters are fine. Due to our liberation, they seem to have a whole new outlook on this life we have.

Hunter, not so much and I feel awful.

The last couple of weeks have been horrible.

He got into a confrontation in the hall outside the science labs.

Apparently, a couple of people found out and had a few things to say about Hunter screwing a bloodsucker.

As you can imagine, that didn’t go over well and the guys ended in the infirmary.

There have been many more since then.

I need to get Hunter away from here before someone gets really hurt.

I walk into Zanders office. “I’m prepared to show you the lab.” I place my hands behind my back and narrow my eyes.

“Ok. Why now?” He asks.

“Because it needs to be done and Hunter needs a distraction since you can’t control your own people.” I arch a brow.

He furrows his brow. “Lainey, I can’t stop people from talking.”

I strut up to him. “No, but you can demand respect. If we are to be around you, we need to know that we will not be subject to harassment.”

He folds his hands on his desk. “I’ll talk with my people, but you have to know, wolves aren’t as…logical as vampires. We run with emotions. Some of us aren’t as in control.”

I lean on his desk. “Then, as King, deal with it. Sooner or later, you will have a real problem on your hands. You stop this now before it goes beyond us and hits my hive.” I scowl at him.

“Ok, but I told you. Not everyone will accept you and Hunter. You’re going to hear some things you won’t like.” Zander cautions.

I lean to him. “Then prepare for our own backlash because we will not stand for it. Contain this, or I will put our agreement into question.”

I stand straight and eye him. “Prepare your men for the lab. We leave in two hours.” My tone was cold and authoritative.

I spin around and leave his office with my head held high.

He may be King, but the way I see it, his people represent his rule. If he lets his people act like this, then it’s obvious how he feels.

I will not let that slide.

****

We met up at the edge of the mountain.

The Alphas were shifted for the bitter cold coming off the mountain as it’s violent snow storms raged on.

Where I took them, was well away from the lab entrance. It’s monitored and I don’t know if there’s people in there.

I brought Willow and a few others from my hive in case we needed our type of fighting style.

“Lainey, you sure you want to go in there?” Willow asks as we walk to the place where I escaped a few times.

I nod, brushing snow off my cold shoulder. “Willow, this is for you, not for me. I’m making sure what happened to me, will never happen to you or any of us.”

She leans to me. “Did you ever think, in 70 years, we’d be here. Working with them.” She whispers and slightly looks back at the pack of large, muscular wolves.

I climb a rock and shake my head. “Not for a second, but I’ve come to like them to a point. I think now, our people have been corrupted to a point where the wolves are no longer enemies. The hives that keep women in hell are.”

We crest an outcrop and the wind whips through, roaring loud.

I point to a small cave and turn to the Alphas.

“WE GO IN HERE! YOU HAVE TO SHIFT!” I yell to them over the bitter wind and snow.

I watch them shift and instantly they start to get really cold.

“HURRY! INSIDE!” I rush them before they freeze.

I watch them enter and Hunter stops. He’s shivering. “You…ready…to…kick ass…” He says, holding himself.

“You won’t be kicking anything, if you don’t get your ass in the cave.” I scowl.

“Ok…OK…I’d kiss you, but my lips are frozen.” He grins.

I groan and shove him to the cave.

My sisters protect the rear as I shove my way past the Alphas.

We get to a shaft in the rock wall. “Here.”

Zander grabs the grate and pulls it off. He looks in.

He looks at his men. “We'll fit, but just barely.”

He motions to the others and one by one they enter the shaft.

We crawl through it and I bark directions as we go.

When we come to the point where we have to climb down, Sawyer pulls a magnetic anchor out of his pack and puts it on the floor. It lights up and a strong magnet secures it. He loads a rope hook to it and drops a rope down the hole.

On each pack, the Alphas hook safety clips to the rope and repel down the shaft as best they can in the tight space.

Vampires hardly ever need ropes. Our grip strength is unmatched. It allows us to escape or hunt in high places with ease and speed.

My sisters and I hang onto the walls with our hands and feet as the men travel down.

Hunter looks up and smiles. “It’s so sexy that you can do that.”

I smirk. “Get going, Romeo.”

He laughs and shakes his head and he watches for Mateo under him.

Zander makes the motion to stop and he looks out the grate at the bottom.

He leans back and kicks it out.

We all crawl out and Zander orders weapons drawn.

“Where are we?” Owen asks.

“Supply room.” I mutter as I walk through them. “Let’s go.”

I get to the door and ready my nails.

I open the door a crack and open it.

I can hear the noise of the lab.

Closing the door, I look down then look at them. “It’s full.”

Zander turns to the Alphas. “Ok. Most of these people will be scientists, so I don’t expect too much in the way of defense, but just in case, no kill shots. Disarm, detain and neutralize. We need answers.”

The Alphas nod and Zander nods to me.

They all raise their weapons as I ready the door.

Zander nods again and I open it.

“NOBODY MOVE!” Zander yells in his Zeta tone.

They all rush in and people started to scream and cower as we descended on them.

My sisters hiss from behind the Alphas.

A scientist stands. “Who the hell are you?”

Zander tilts his head. “High King Alpha and as of right now, you’re out of a fucking job. Now on the floor!” He orders.

The scientists do as told, but I could hear the questions and mumbles.

He holsters his weapon and looks around. “Now, I don’t care who, but someone is going to tell me exactly what’s going on here.”

“I believe I can help, Zeta.”

From around a corner, a man in a blue uniform casually walked into view. He was older with buzzed white hair and had the look of a high up military person.

Deacon pushes his way through. “Fredericks? What the hell?”

“Hello, Deacon.” He smiles.

Zander looks at Deacon. “You know this guy?”

Deacon scowls. “Former Head Alpha of Falcon Ridge…Fredericks, what the fuck?”

Zander narrows his eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Zander. Do you really think you’re the one calling the shots here? There’s so much you don’t know.” He steps up to Zander.

Zander ticks his jaw. “Why don’t you tell me?”

“There’s a war coming, High King. One that your family started a very long time ago.” Fredericks pushes out his chin.

“My family didn’t start shit.” Zander growls.

“Yes, son. They did. See when the vampires started to grow and socialize, this angered your ancestors so much, they tried extermination. When that didn’t work and more wolves started to die, the High King did the only thing he thought was right. He took thousands of people and put them into a country and locked the door. Do you know what we here in America call that?” He crossed his arms.

Zander glared at him.

Fredrick leans to him. “A concentration camp. Now, I’m not advocating for the vampires in any way. I know they’re dangerous and I am well aware of their capabilities in taking over, but the blame? The blame I lay right at your feet. You and your family allowed a boil to fester and now it’s about to explode. Killing us all.”

Hunter pushes through. “So that gives you the right to experiment on people against their will?!” He pushes on Zanders back as Zander holds up his hand to him.

“You’re building an army.” He says.

Fredericks nods. “The vamps have a plan. Had it for a long time. It’s time we had one too.”

“Lefu.” Zander grits.

Fredericks nods. He turns and walks away. He motions us to follow. “We’ve known for some time of this Lefu and where he came from.”

“Where did he come from?” Zander asks.

Fredericks stops and looks over his shoulder. “The Shaman.”

“Wait…hold up…” Jake says. “The Shaman made the vampires?”

Fredericks nodded. “Something about balance since William was creating wolves at an exponential rate. The Shaman was aware Simon was creating wolves that could be equally dangerous. It was a just a stroke of luck that William locked him up. What no one realized was the numbers they abandoned. Children with no parents.” He ran a key card to a door and we enter the area where they keep the experiential chemicals.

“The Shaman saw the state of the world and went to work trying to create a being that would keep shifters in check.” Fredericks walks slowly with his chest out.

“Sounds like playing God.” Zander growls.

Fredericks turns. “Isn’t that what Mia did when she gave William the ability to shift?” He arched a brow and Zander narrowed his eyes.

He turned back around. “The Shamans intentions were sound for the time. Wolves were out of control. He successfully made Lefu. A vampire lethal in both day and night. With the strength of not only vampires, but a Lycan offshoot. There’s was one problem.”

“He could only make vamps.” Zander answers.

“That’s right and just like all you creators, you hate what you made and walk away, leaving us with the mess.” He walks into a room and opens a cabinet.

“We heard decades ago, that Lefu could be coming back, so we went to work.” He pulls out a box and places it on the table. “Now as you can imagine, the Shaman isn’t one to divulge secrets so we decided to make our own.”

“Alliance labs.” Deacon supplies.

Fredericks nods. “We first needed to replace the chemicals that added certain traits.”

“Torrent.” Jake growls.

“An unfortunate mistake, but we took care of it. What we got from his blood chemistry was a whole world of weapons we could develop.”

Zanders lip turns to a snarl. “Those weapons are killing us!” He yells.

“It’s all to make an omelet, son. The agreement we made with the Shaman was his freedom of movement. What he supplied, was not our concern as long as we got what we needed.” He puts in a code on a keypad on top of the box.

He opened it and pulled out a vial of pink liquid. My hand went to my neck and shudder ran through me. I see Hunters fist ball and his back flex.

Fredericks holds up the vile. “Operation Daybreak. Discovered in 1962 in that little girl right there.” He points to me and they all turn.

I scowl at him and clench my teeth. The Alphas all turn to me and I flash my fangs.

“Lainey. We missed you.” He smiles.

“You’re lucky you weren’t here, I would bleed you dry.” I snarl.

“Yes, well, we learned and continued on. We will be meeting again, Lainey. Don’t worry. You haven’t been forgotten.” He arches a brow

Hunter pushes through and Zander grabs his arm. “You fucking stay away from her, you sick fuck!”

“I’m sorry, Hunter, but you should know that Lainey is and always will be, Alliance property. If we want her, we will take her.” He warns.

“You aren’t Alliance.” Zander sneers.

Fredericks smiles. “It’s cute you think that. You honestly believe you and Bastian hold any power? Sorry, Zander. The Units are fronts. Designed to hide the fact that everything is run from right here at this table.” He eyes Zander. “And there’s shit you can do about.”

“I could kill you where you stand.” Zander growls.

“You could, but it’s more like cutting the tail off the snake. You’ll never get the Head.”

“Wait.” Peter says. “Are you saying that everything. Everything is being controlled by some sort of secret government?”

“Not really a government, more like a society. There’s a world here that needs a mother. You’re looking at her.” He holds out his hands.

Mateo crosses his arms. “So everything that we have accomplished. This was planned by you.”

Fredericks ticks his head. “More like field tests. See how you handle things. See what you little Alphas uncover during the adventures we put in your happy little brains. See we need practical results. We can’t do that unless we unleash our replaceings. It’s unfortunate that you shut down our best labs, but there's a lot more out there.” He smiles.

“So Lainey is one of these tests?” Hunter asks.

“No. Lainey is an anomaly that we try to contain, but she’s crafty. Aren’t you lain?” He looks at me.

“Can I kill him yet?” I scowl with my arms crossed.

“Not yet.” Zander says. “What did you do to her and can we reverse it.”

He chuckles. “No. Lainey is, what she is, is built at the genetic level. She has special genes. Don’t you Lainey.”

Hunter looks at me. “Lain, what’s he talking about?”

I glare at Fredericks for putting me in this position. My eyes flick to Hunter and Zander. My brow furrows more. “I’m a direct descendent of Lefu. That’s why I’m a sunwalker.”

Fredericks grins. “The only one on the planet.”

Hunter turned to me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s not important. What’s important is he’s trying to make more of me and he can’t. He’s killing them and moving on to the next.” I grit.

“No. We’ve hit a snag.” He outs the pink liquid back in the box.

“You can’t fuse the genetic material to the others.” Graham supplies. “They don’t have the genes.”

“No. We can’t, but we’re close. Lainey, we need you.” He closes the box.

“Fuck you.” I grind.

“So, does this mean you can make sunwalkers?” Hunter asks.

I shake my head. “No. Lefu couldn’t. He can only make vampires or Lycans. Neither can I.”

“Lefu made the Lycans? I thought they were a genetic branch of shifters.” Graham says.

I nod. “They are. Created when Lefu tried to turn a shifter.”

Hunters brows come together. “How do you know all this?”

I tap my temple. “The hive mind. Centuries of memories. Including Lefus.”

Zander crosses his arms. “And you never once thought of sharing this with us?”

I clench my teeth. “I’m not exactly a sharing type person.”

Zander shakes his head. “Whatever. This ends now. We’re blowing this wide open and shutting you down. It’s over.”

Fredericks sighs. “No, son. I’m afraid it’s just beginning.”

He looks behind us and lifts his hand. He crooks his fingers and we turn to see soldiers flood the door.

“You’re weapons. Now.” Fredericks demands.

Zander looks at him and looks at all of us. He ticks his head and we nod.

He turns to Fredericks. “Not a chance.”

He pulls his weapon and fires at Fredericks who dives under his desk.

Sawyer grabs the box and stuffs it in his pack while the rest shift and fight their way out.

We hear alarms go off as the wolves and my hive run at the unit soldiers.

They come from every hallway with weapons and wolves.

The Alphas jump on their own fellow soldiers, tearing out throats, ripping off limbs and exchanging gunfire

My eyes glow green and I drain a soldier. I feel the increased strength and swing punches. My sisters claw and bite at them.

We throw soldiers through the glass walls and the broken window is flooded with Alphas to tear him to shreds.

The entire underground was filled with scream, pleas and growls. The hallways ran red with blood.

Scientists tried to escape, but my sisters drop them to the ground and tear out their necks.

I elbow a solider and grab his neck from behind me. I flip him over my shoulder and he lands on his back. I sink my fangs into his skin.

As lights and alarms blare, even more soldiers deploy into the lab. There must be a base down here.

“Zander, it’s too thick!” Ash growls as he rips off a head.

Zander shoots three. “ We need an exit!”

I search a body. “Here!” I hold up a key card.

I tell them to retreat and run for the outer doors.

We run through the halls with the soldiers trying to cut us off and chasing us the whole way.

I get to the door and swipe the card. It beeps. I swipe it again it beeps again. “Shit! The alarms must have triggered a lock down.” I try to get my fingers into the crack and pull on the doors.

“We can do this.” Hunter grits his teeth and shoves his fingers in to pull on the other side.

We both pull with everything. Brody and Ash jump in. Zander and the others plant their hands on the doors to push.

We’re all straining and growling.

The soldiers enter the hallway and take aim.

We stop and prepare to fight again when the door explodes behind us and we fly into the large group of soldiers. All of us are blown to the floor.

We all sit up in visible pain as the smoke from the door billows into the hall.

I look into the cloud and a hooded figure in a white cloak enters the hole.

She stops and throws her hood off. “Quickly…come on!” She shouts.

Jakes eyes go wide. “Mom?”

“Come on!” She grits and throws her hood up. She turns and we all scramble to our feet.

Once outside, we run toward Phoenix.

“NO! TO THE MOUNTAIN!” She yells.

We turn and she shifts, picking up her cloak. The Alphas shift and follow her up the mountain. The solders shift and follow us.

My sisters climb the rocks as the snow rages. We jump on soldiers that are too close.

We all race through the snow and ice with the Alliance on our asses.

The woman stops and shifts. She pulls out two vials out of her cloak and throws them just above the Alliance.

There was an explosion and rocks tumbled down the mountain into the Unit soldiers.

She turns back to her wolf and runs ahead.

The woman shifts at a cave. “In here.”

We dip into the cave and she stops at the end.

“It’s a dead fucking end!” Ash growls.

“Is it?” She smirks.

She waves her hand and a screen appears on the rocks. Much like what Titus uses.

She punches in a code and the rock pushes in and slides.

“Let’s go.” She waves us into a cavern.

We run in and she presses a button. The cave fills with air to stir up the dirt floor. I watch as our footprint disappear.

She shuts the door.

Jake and her exchange looks and she turns. “Come with me.”

We follow her down a long cavern and it’s filled with lights. The walk was a rather long one. It was also dead quiet as the Alphas try to figure out who this person is. Jake already knows and his face shows his feelings.

She comes to the end and opens another door.

We walk out into snow and ice.

“Wait a minute.” Zander pushes through. He stops.

We all look at the pack house and the village houses.

“You’re here.”

A very blonde wolf with red and blue eyes walks up.

He smiles and gives Zander a bro hug. “Long time no see.”

“Christian…what?”

The woman joined them. “I’ve brought some friends for dinner, but I see you know them.”

Christian nods. “Of course I do. Except them. Vamps?”

Zander nods. “They’re friends.”

“OK. What the fuck is going on here?!” Jake yells. He glares at his mother.

“I suppose I have a lot to explain. First…introductions. I am Faith Wallace. Jakes mother…and the Shaman.”

She looks at all of us and our jaws all go slack. Jake himself is fuming so much, stream is rising off his shoulders.

“I will explain everything, but first, let’s get you all clothed and out of the cold.” Faith says

Christian laughs. “Don’t worry. We have lots of beer. Come on.”

He wraps an arm around Zanders shoulders and leads us all to the pack house.