Alpha Cole

ALPHA COLE POV

We had left the big city a little later than I had intended and my Beta, Danny, started whining about his stomach.  He had skipped breakfast to run a bit of security for the meeting between me and three other Alphas I was checking out and he was making sure I was well aware of his sacrifice.  We stopped at the little diner right outside of Joshton and popped in to grab a quick lunch before driving into our territory.  The pack house was still a ninety-minute drive, even though Joshton was only thirty minutes from the border.  My territory is huge and the terrain is treacherous so driving is slow.  It’s faster to shift and run to the packhouse than it is to drive there.

We popped in and took a seat in the corner booth.  It’s a habit.  Always pick a good vantage point with your back against a wall and exits accessible.  This booth was good for that.

Danny looked over the menu and decided to get the Cuban sandwich.  It was nothing like what you could get in Miami but it was good and it was hot and Danny liked to pretend he was cultured.  I was planning on a hamburger. 

The waitress was a gorgeous thing that I had never seen before.  She was tall, probably close to six foot, and her hair was the color of molten gold.  I knew it wasn’t a dye job because it was shiny and almost shimmery.  I would love to touch it.  Her eyes were a beautiful sapphire blue and she was lean.  Most of our female warriors are built like her but they had more bulk in their muscles.  This girl was all sinew.  She looked strong but incredibly feminine.  She was probably one hell of a fighter.  Too bad I was mated and my mate was a vindictive bitch.  I would love to get to know this one intimately, even though she was quite a bit younger than me.   I waited until she got closer and looked at her name tag.  Addie.

To my surprise, I could smell her wolf.  My wolf was perked up and paying attention but wasn’t overtly excited.  We decided she wasn’t a threat. 

Addie told us about the special and I changed my mind about the hamburger.  I really wanted the pork chop special.  When Danny ordered it, also, I raised my eyebrow at him.  “What?” he asked.

“You don’t like pork chops,” I stated.  He shrugged.

“Dunno.  Just sounded good.”

The pork chops were served up fast and we ate them quickly.  Danny kept an eye on the people coming in and out and I kept my eye on Addie.  She sure was serving up a lot of pork chops.  We finished up and lingered a little.  Something was off.  I knew it and it was nagging on me.

We left and Danny tried talking to me a little bit about my plans to take over the two nearest packs to me.  We had gone to the meeting so that I could feel out the Alphas of those packs and, hopefully, lull them into a false sense of security thinking we would be allies.  I don’t have allies.  I was twenty when I took over the pack.  In fifteen years I have doubled the size and increased the power tenfold.  We are the pack that everyone fears. 

When we got back to the packhouse, my mate came out of the door to meet me.  I kissed her on the head and made an excuse, heading to my office.  I was bothered by the girl in the diner and I needed to do some research.  Something was nagging at me, something I had read a long time ago in a book or learned at school.  I pulled some books off my shelf, mind linked an elder to come to my office, and then started reading.

The knock at my door startled me.  I barked a gruff “come in” and Elder Todd slid into the room.  I didn’t much like him, nor him, me, but we had an agreement.  He didn’t piss me off and I didn’t kill him.

“How can I help you, Alpha Cole?”

I told him a little bit about the girl at the diner.  “She would tell people what to order and they would order it.  They did it completely normally, as if they made the decision, but it was the decision she wanted them to make.”  I omitted that both Beta and I also ate the damn pork chops. 

Elder Todd steepled his fingers and looked over the top of them at me.  He wasn’t that much older than me but he had habits that made me feel like a stupid pup again.

“Sounds like Shawishi.”  He stated this like I would know what that was.  I didn’t say anything, just let him sit in his smugness.  When I didn’t immediately question him he sighed and then explained.  “It’s one of the five original gifts from Selene, the moon Goddess.  It’s the gift of persuasion.  Someone with this gift can persuade someone else to do something.  The person being persuaded has no idea that they are and they think it’s their idea.  Some people may question why they have done something later but rarely do they realize that they had this gift used on them.  However, I am not sure that this is what it is.  There is only one wolf alive that would have this gift and when the bloodline dies out, the gift dies.  It is believed that all of the gifts are gone.”

“Bloodline?”  I wasn’t sure how something like this could die out. 

Todd nodded.  “Not just the bloodline.  The direct bloodline.  If you have the gift but have no offspring, it would go to one of your siblings that was birthed from the last person that had the gift.  I you had no siblings and died, the gift would have no one to pass on to.  It dies too.”

Interesting.  I was silent again, thinking.  If Addie truly had Shawishi, it would be an asset to me and my pack.  Her gift could take years off from my plans.  “How could I tell if this woman actually has this gift?”  This was something I needed to know before I got too excited. 

Todd looked bored.  “You should know by looking at her wolf.   Legend says that the wolves of those blessed by the gift are precious metal wolves.”