WARNING! This chapter contains themes of rape. If you are uncomfortable with that topic, you may want to avoid this part of the story.
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Rhys carefully stepped out into the main room of the precinct. He smelled fresh blood and looked cautiously to note that the nightshift secretary was laying perfectly still on the floor behind the reception desk in a pool of dark red.
The man steeled himself against the visage, rage boiling up inside. He knew what was going on. It would be impossible to cover it up now. As soon as he killed this alpha, he'd start evacuating the pack. Maybe a neighboring pack would take them in as refugees or something. Rhys wasn't optimistic.
He could still smell the alpha and knew he was still in the building somewhere. The scent of the other wolves wafted to him as well. They had mostly shifted into their wolf forms, which was going to make this even harder.
A small sound from behind indicated that Agent Shepherd had spotted the body of the secretary. It was only then that Rhys was relieved to have her around. Any other woman would have gasped, maybe cried out, and most likely would have backed away in terror upon seeing that much blood around a lifeless body. Any other woman would be a liability in this moment, and Rhys wouldn't have thought less of her for it. It took a special person to stomach that much gore without mentally breaking down. He was one such person. Apparently, so was Shepherd.
For all the head butting, all the battles for dominance and control, Shepherd was no different than he was. She was a human version of an Alpha female just looking out for her own family and people as best she could. It was in that moment that Rhys realized he understood her better than he had thought. All of her stand-offish behavior, all of her arrogance and "all-business" mannerisms, they were all a defense mechanism to help her deal with the pressures of being an Alpha in a world that needed them, but certainly didn't understand them.
Rhys didn't have time to ponder these implications. The Alpha wolf was too much of a threat and had already killed out in the open. Rhys gestured for Shepherd to move to his right and cover him as he stepped forward to check the secretary for a pulse. Shepherd nodded once and veered right without question, eying the room carefully for any sign of trouble as she went.
Thank god,
Rhys thought in relief as the difficult woman worked perfectly with him, rather than taking this as a chance to assert that she was in charge. It was one less thing to have to worry about and he actually felt a measure of comfort knowing that a perfectionist like her had his back.
Rhys padded over to the lifeless body with the skill of the silent predator that lived inside of him. Carefully, he stooped and delicately pressed his hand to what remained of the woman's neck. He wasn't even sure why he was checking for a pulse; there was no way she had survived the attack. The cold stillness at his finger tips confirmed it and also solidified his resolve. This alpha was as good as dead.
The snapping sound from behind the receptionist desk instantly drew his attention and he jerked his to the side with just enough time to see the enormous wolf jump out and tackle him. Rhys's hands went up instinctively to shield his face and neck from the maw of teeth violently snapping for him. Given the size, this was likely a beta, not that it was going to help Rhys's odds in human form.
The beast wrestled with Rhys for control, ripping and tearing at the meat of his arm, and just when Rhys considered shifting to finish this fight quickly, two gun shots echoed through the precinct and the large beta was hurled to Rhys's left, dropping dead before it hit the ground. Rhys had just enough time to whip his head to the right and take in Shepherd, still in her kneeling firing position with the barrel of her Glock still aimed at his direction and smoking.
"Rhys! Look out!" She shouted, jumping to her feet just as the Alpha male came barreling out of a dark hall way, heading straight for Shepherd. The male was followed by three other betas, all in wolf form, and quickly descending upon the duo faster than they could respond.
Shepherd emptied the rest of her clip at the alpha male with little result. She had landed two bullets in it's shoulder, but a head shot was the only thing that would bring a wolf like that down. The beast snarled and growled as it lunged forward, leaving Shepherd little option but to bolt down the hall and out of the building entirely.
Rhys panicked and shifted in an instant. The 260 lb wolf shred through his clothing like tissue paper and tackled the first beta that dared to attack him. As far as alphas went, Rhys was somewhere in the middle. The rogues' alpha was slightly larger than he was, but these betas were no match for the black and grey haired wolf with deep blue eyes, even with his injured arm.
Rhys veritably roared as he pounced on an approaching enemy, pinning him to the ground and tearing out his throat in a gory display of violence and dominance. Another beta took the opportunity to attack him from behind, essentially mounting him and clamping his teeth into the back of Rhys's neck.
The powerful alpha was nothing but rage and hardly even felt as the razor sharp teeth sunk deeply into his skin. With a violent shake, he sent the beta soaring into a nearby wall, the tell-tale sounds of cracking ribs echoing through the building. The beta yelped in pain at the hit but remained undaunted in his approach. He stumbled to try and regain his footing just as Rhys was upon him.
Rhys's maw found the tender and exposed neck with a seasoned ease and dug his razor sharp claws into the beta's soft belly. In a single move, he both ripped and tore at the smaller wolf, freeing his trachea and spilling his guts all over the tile floor at once.
At this point, the final beta decided to fall back. He was trying to back away from Rhys and follow after the alpha, but Rhys had lost complete control over his ability to think rationally and was driven only by the need to spill their blood. They all had to die and it was going to be horrific.
The powerful alpha lunged at the beta and latched onto it's hind leg. The beta let out a yelp of panic, howling for his alpha to come aid him, but it was fruitless. In a violent shake, Rhys yanked the leg out of socket, causing the beta to wail in pain. In another shake, he had almost completely torn the leg off.
