Behind The Alpha Book 5 Deacon

Chapter 26

(Chapter song ‘Inertia Creeps' by Massive Attack)
DEACON

The truck bounces and jolts as it races down the highways and roads. 
We got the all clear by 0800 this morning and I broke every traffic law in the book to get back to Falcon Ridge. 
Now we’re bee lining it to Jenny’s hometown.  I can practically smell her.  My arms have been aching to hold her.  I swear, I’ll have to control myself because I’ll crush her if I don’t. 
I lean back and close my eyes.  I place her gorgeous face in the front of my mind.  I can taste her as I kiss her in my mind.  I’m coming, baby.  Please hang on. 
We drove most of the day and then stopped at a site where we set up camp. 
Soldiers ran around with supplies as they erected tents. 
I stop in at the communications tent.  River, Hunter, Jake and Bastian are pouring over satellites and maps. 
I clear my throat.  “Any news?” 
River glances my way.  “Yes…We got the results back from the Croak you pulled off the rogues.”
I cross my arms.  “OK, so what is it?” 
“Bottom line?  Rogue sickness in a bottle.”  He says.
“Pardon me?”  I tilt my head and lean to him. 
He pulls up the sheets on his laptop.  “The base is the same.  Colorado toad venom and belladonna, but these…”  He clicks some buttons.  “These are the chemical compounds that force the brain to cut ties with packs.  The infection.  Regular rogue sickness can take months or years to set in.  This can’t take just a few hits.” 
“No.”  My face fills with shock.
“It gets worse.”  He clicks more buttons.  “These compounds trigger addiction.  Croak was mildly addictive.  You can crave it.  It can make you sweat, but once it’s out of sight, you no longer have a problem.  This, which I’m dubbing Crock-R, jack’s the addiction a hundred fold.  Gentlemen, we are looking the first addictive drug in the shifter world.” 
“And healing can’t stop it.”  I state.
River shakes his head.  “No.  The blockers created by the belladonna, stop healing.  The more that’s  injected, the more the belladonna blocks .”
“How are they getting past the overdose.  Jake almost died.”  I furrow my brow.
He clicks more buttons.  “This is where it gets weird.  There’s chemicals in here that aren’t on Torrents chemical inventory, but the signatures are the same.  It was created by the same person.” 
I glance at the chemical compounds spin on his screen.  “That person is?” 
Bastian crosses his arms.  “The Shaman.” 
“Faith?  Faith made this?”  I point to Rivers laptop.
River shakes his head.  “No.  Faith doesn’t have these compounds.  We checked.” 
“OK, so who else?”  I eye them both.  “Miranda?” 
Jake pops in.  “No.  Miranda has been under surveillance.   She hasn’t moved from Phoenix.”
“But that doesn’t mean someone’s not carrying them out for her.”  I suggest. 
“Given the concentration of rogues in the north, we think Lefu has a lot more skills than we think.”  River says. 
I nod.  “OK.  So, he has Shaman skills.” 
“It's possible.”  Bastian tick his head. 
“So, what does this mean?  They’re creating rogues?”  I ask.
“From what we understand, the chemicals will trigger Rogue Sickness, but it’s a different strain.  From what we see, it keeps the human aware.  This way they have the skills of the rogue, but are able to be organized.”  River puts down his laptop.
“This is impossible.  You know that.”  I say to him. 
“Since when has that stopped anything.”  River arches a brow. 
“Where are they getting the people?”  I ask.  “Who would be dumb enough to takes this shit.” 
River sits.  “Weak people.  Omegas…” 
Hunter was behind him.  He stands.  “Kids?” 
River looks back at him.  “Kids could be influenced, but I don’t know how great of soldiers they’d be.  They’re not exactly easily trained.” 
“No, but if you wanted something to spread, Kids would be a way to do it.”  Hunter says. 
“You think they’re using Kids to distribute this.  This is how the Croak got out?”  I lean on the folding table with my hip. 
Bastian scratches his temple.  “We're still trying to figure out how the original drug got out.  Our only theory is someone left Phoenix with it before we had a chance to destroy it.”
“They’ll target large packs.  Ones that won’t miss people.”  Hunter says. 
“That’s why they’re up by New York.”  I state.
“Axelridge.”  Hunters brows go up.
Bastian pulls out his phone and dials.  “I’ve been trying to get Finn on the phone.  I may have to pay him a visit.”  He puts his phone to his ear.
“We aren’t allowed in there.”  River says.
“I think he’ll forgive me when I tell him his kids are in trouble.”  Bastian says and leaves the tent. 
“Ok.  So what does this have to do with my building ending up in small town Maine?”  I ask River.
“That…I don’t know.  They may be connected, but I just can’t see the connection.”  River rubs his forehead as he leans his elbow on the table.
This is so frustrating.  I hate frustration more than I hate fear.  Put the two together and I need a run.
“OK.  Link me when you find something.  I’m in the woods.”  I say as I pull off my t-shirt.
“Don’t go too far.  We some lone rogues in the area.  We have a perimeter set up.  Don’t go past it.”  River informs.
“Got it.”  I say and leave.
I need to get my mind straight.  My wolf is put of whack and he’s not helping me think this through.  I need to turn his focus and expel some energy. 
I drop my clothes by a tree and call the wind.  My wolf stands in the spot where my body did as the wind dies down. 
OK, buddy.  Run this out.
He dig his claws in and takes off into the dark forest.
His pants and thundering paws already seem to calm me.  He smells the air as he runs. The forest clears the fog.  It gets rid of the distraction. 
The wind rushes through his black fur as we run around the trees. 
Jenny rides with me as he leaps and turns. 
He slows down and pauses for a few laps of a creek. 
I shift and wipe the water off my chin.  I look up through the branches and see the full moon floating in the sky.  Soon it will a deep blue.  It will tell me what my hearts been screaming since day one.  Jenny's my Fated. 
I park my ass on the forest dirt and lean my back on a rock.  I pick up a stick.  Resting my arm on my pulled up knee, I try to focus and figure out what’s happening.  How does this fit?  What pieces am I missing? 
The rogues attacked my town, then Jenny’s.  It makes no sense.  If it’s the building, why?  The room?  What do they want with it?
I raise my head as the piece fits.  “The Reaper.” 
I spin to my feet and am met with growling.
Three rogues come out the trees beside me.  I was so engrossed in thought, I didn’t notice. 
“Shit.”  I back up as I hold out my hand and eye them.  They shake their brown, matted, mangy fur as they lower their heads and step toward me. 
“Uh…Hi…um…Nice night.”  I chuckle as I look around for a plan. 
One, maybe two…let’s rock.  Three?  That gets dicey. 
I back up more.  “You guys want to tell me how you crossed the perimeter?” 
They all snap, growl and bark as their fur stands on end.
“I guess that’s a no.”   I spin, jump and shift. 
My wolf grips the ground like his life depends on it because it kind of does. 
The rogues are hot on my ass.  Their stink surrounds me and their barks are deafening. 
‘FUCK!  RIVER I NEED HELP?’  I link out as I turn around a tree. 
I’m grabbed from behind and my wolf twists.  The rogues bite at everything. 
My wolf grabs a head and bites hard.  The sick feeling of cheek bones breaking fill my jaw.  Warm blood coats my teeth.  The rogue screams and falls away from the dog pile. 
I spin and get on the back of one.  I dig my canines in and shake vigorously.  I feel the wolfs scruff start to tear when my own scruff is grabbed and I’m slammed into the dirt. 
Fuck!
The growls are so loud, they scare the birds who fly away screaming.  He throws me against a tree.  My wolf cries in pain.  He drags my ass out and I feel his mouth wrap around my throat.  I kick at him, but I can’t land a solid plant.  He throws his weight and starts to pull.  My wolf screams as he tries to bite. 
I feel the fight in me start die as pressure is applied to my throat. 
Then it’s like air rushed into my lungs as the rogue is ripped off.
I shift and cough it out.  I roll to my side and find where he went.  It took me a second for my brain to process the rabid dog fight happening just a few feet off me. 
River, Jayson and Luke are ripping at the rogues like dogs fighting over chew toys. 
I pull myself out of the way and try to catch my breath. 
Jayson and Luke tear one literally in half and River digs out the others spine.
They shift and run to me.  “You ok?”  Jayson says falling in front of me and checking my throat. 
“Yeah.  Just banged up.  There was a third.”  I inform.
“Luke.  Scent.”  River orders.
Luke nods.  “On it.  The fucker won’t get far.” 
“We need him alive.  He can tell us what’s going on.”  I stand and hold my side. 
“All I can do is try, but if he gives me an excuse, I’m ending him.”  He growls, turns and shifts.  I watch him bound into the trees.
“We'll bring him in.  You just get to the medics.”  River orders.
“Yeah, ok.”  I hang onto Jayson and hobble my way to the medic tent. 
Besides a couple of bruised ribs, some cuts and a fractured esophagus, I was fine.  I just needed to heal for a night. 
I laid my head down and closed my eyes on a cot. 
The run gave me no more clarity.  I’m still going out of my mind with worry and have this sickening feeling of no control.  As Alpha, this the worst feeling ever. 
I have to stop thinking.  I need sleep. 
‘…Deacon…’ 
I train my ear.  It’s like angel song.  It echoes and is the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. I search for it.
My mind is in a cloud.  The fog dances around my head. 
‘…Find me, Deacon…’
It sounds so far away.
“Where are you?”  My voice is closer, but still sounds as soft as the fog around me. 
‘…Find me…’
“I’m coming…I’ll save you…”  I tell her in the fog.
I’m laying down in the white blank space. 
“I love you.”
I can feel her.
I feel her presence.  Her lips hover over mine.  I can almost taste her. 
Like she’s floating above me, she seems to drift and surround me. 
‘…Find my heart, Dea…’
“I’m trying.”
I want to reach out and touch her, but it’s like I can’t move. 
‘…I love you…’
The fog clears and her lips graze mine.  I raise my head to kiss her, but jolt awake.
My eyes shoot open and I whip my head around.  I’m in the medic tent.
I sit up, rest my arms on my knees and rub my head as I find the line between fantasy and reality.  It felt that real.
“Where the fuck are you?”  I grit to myself.