Mating the Female Alpha
Chapter 51 – A new body was found.

Bernice's POV

It's been hours since Jessie had left. She was so upset at first when she found out that I was the female Alpha, but it seemed she understood by the end of my explanation.

Landry had gone back to interrogate the vampire spy. She was being held in the dungeon holding cell. He didn't want me anywhere near her, but I couldn't help myself. I wanted to find out answers for myself.

I went down the long corridor until I reached a set of stairs, leading down into the dungeon. I was surprised that there wasn't anyone guarding the door that led into the dungeon, but I realized why as soon as I made it down the stairs.

Landry was leaving the holding cell area; he sealed the door behind him with a couple of guards trailing after him. They all looked so serious and wary. Landry had blood splattered on what was once nice clothing, and blood stained his flesh as well. I frowned, staring around his disturbed face.

He didn't notice me at first, but once he did, he paused on the stairs.

"You shouldn't be down here," he says tiredly. I don't say anything in return, I just stare at him. "She's dead."

"You killed her." It wasn't a question.

"She was useless," he muttered, passing me to go up the stairs. I followed them closely.

"Did you get any information from her?"

"She wouldn't tell me who sent her. But she did say that the vampire spy we've been looking for, her real name is Talia. They are both working for a much bigger organization. An organization in the vampire territory that has vowed to defeat me once and for all."

He pauses for a moment to gather his thoughts.

We already knew that the vampires wanted to take over our territory; the bears wanted that as well. They find us weak and unnecessary. We have a large amount of land that they find we aren't deserving of. It's been a battle of land for a long time; a battle we weren't going to lose.

"In order to defeat us, they need to take out the best warriors..." Landry says, gravely.

We resurfaced into the corridors, and he stopped walking. The guards stayed a distance behind us, giving us some space to speak alone. I gaze up at Landry, wondering what was running through his mind. He looked so worried. He met my eyes and I saw something in them that I didn't recognize. It made my heart skip a beat, something I wasn't expecting. I swallowed the lump in my throat, hoping he didn't notice the redness lurking around my cheeks.

Now was not the time to be confused about my feelings.

"You are one of my best warriors and they know it. They want to take you out," Landry finishes explaining, and I realized why he was upset. Because they weren't going to stop until his best warriors were dead. They weren't going to stop until I was dead.

I wasn't going to let that bother me though. I was stronger and faster than most. I can put up a fight when needed and I have proved that countless times. I wasn't sure why Landy was so worried about that. The amount of vampires I have killed, he should know I was more than capable of protecting myself and those around me.

"I'm not going to rest until every vampire spy is taken care of," Landry assures me, keeping his eyes locked on mine. "One of them is bound to lead me to the organization that is in control of them."

"Let me help you," I say to him in return. "I feel helpless here. Maybe if I...”

"It's too dangerous," he says quickly, shaking his head. "I'm not letting you put yourself in danger. Especially when you are weakening before my eyes."

"Pardon me, Alpha King. But don't mistake my pending death as a weakness. I can still kick ass when needed. I think I just proved that when saving your sister's life," I said, narrowing my eyes at him and folding my arms across my chest. He stares at me for a long while, like he wanted to protest. But he doesn't. That pleased me and I smile, satisfied with myself. He doesn't say much more, he turns away and starts down the corridor. I follow behind him, trying not to seem too winded.

I thought about Jessie again. I hadn't expected to tell Jessie the entire truth about who I am, but it only seemed right. She found the information off Landry's computer, and I knew she wasn't going to believe any of the excuses we were to come up with.

She promised to keep my secret though; so, I had to trust her.

But still, I don't think she's ever going to think about me the same again. I hope I didn't lose my one and only friend in this. My stomach turned into a knot at the thought of it.

"What's on your mind?" Landry asks, turning to me before going into his study.

"Jessie..." I admit, peering up at him. "I worry she hates me for lying to her. I don't think she will see me the same way."

"Jessie will get over it," he says in return. "We did this to protect you. She can't fault you for that."

"I know," I tell him. "I would hate for her to think less of me."

"We can go to her palace later if you'd like. We can speak to her once more and see where she stands in all of this."

I liked the sound of that; I gave him a tired smile and a head nod.

"I'm going to return to my room," I tell him. "I feel a little tired all of a sudden."

He nods and watches as I walk away.

...

Landry's POV

The smell of the vampires' blood was still in Landry's nose. He watched as her lifeless body lay limp on the ground, drowning in her own blood. He was always planning on killing her eventually. She did try to kill his sister after all, it was almost right.

Maybe that's why she refused to say anything more about her bosses. Because she knew she was going to die anyways.

It didn't matter anymore; the spy was dead. However, the other one, the one that posed as Jessie's maid and tried to kill Bernice the first time.... Talia .... was still out there somewhere. She was plotting and getting ready to attack again. Landry wasn't going to let her get to Bernice.

"Alpha!" A mindlink had opened and his beta's voice was loud in his mind. "You are needed, it's an emergency."

Landry stood from his desk.

"What is it?"

"Another body has been found in the forest. We can't tell who it is. It's been mangled."

Another body?

"Was it a vampire attack?"

"I don't think so this time. I think it was rogues."

Landry left his study right away and went straight for the forest. His beta and a couple of his warriors were already on the scene. Nobody had bothered touching the body; they knew Landry would want to see it for himself. He didn't bother telling Bernice about this just yet; she seemed exhausted and needed to rest.

This would only cause her to worry.

As he showed up in the forest; he saw a body laying limp in the dirt. It was an obvious female, but her body was covered in dirt and blood. Telling from the dirt under her fingernails, he could tell she tried to put up a fight but failed miserably. Her hair was torn out of her head in clumps and lay around her body like a decoration.

They left her here deliberately as if they were sending a message to him.

Her face had claw marks digging through her flesh, making her unrecognizable. But as Landry took in her appearance and got a glimpse of her clothing his breath got caught in his throat and his heart plummeted into his stomach. He knew exactly who this was.

"Tina..."