Mating the Female Alpha
Chapter 75 – Cora is a shapeshifter!

Landry's

POV

"I want every inch of this kingdom to be searched; am I understood?" Landry barked to his men.

"Yes, sir!"

"Report to me everything you can. Nothing is too small."

As the gammas departed from the palace, Landry shifted into his wolf form and began sniffing around the outside of his palace. He could smell her blood; it was still fresh. But as soon as he leaves the palace grounds, the blood scent disappears. She must have gotten into a car and driven off.

He couldn't smell the smoke of the car exhaust though.

What does that mean?

"It was Cora. She was here. The ground reeks of her."

Amon was right; Cora's scent was everywhere, as was Bernice's.

"Did she say she was going anywhere?" Landry asked Jessie, who was behind him. "Was she meeting Cora again?"

"I already said that she said she was getting air..." she answered.

"But you said Cora was here previously?" Landry asked. "To talk to Bernice? How long ago?"

"Maybe an hour or so ago..." Jessie answered, wariness in her tone. "You don't think Cora did something, do you?"

"This way!" His wolf was tugging him in a specific direction. He picked up the scent of the blood they smelled earlier.

As they neared a wooded area, the scent grew stronger. They soon stumbled upon a rock that remained on the ground, glossed over in blood.

It smelled of Bernice.

That was all the proof Landry needed.

Where had Cora taken her?"

...

Bernice's POV

My head ached when I woke. A throbbing pain that caused me to wince. As I struggled to open my eyes, feeling that they were swollen. Perhaps I was hit? But I couldn't for the life of me remember what had happened.

I groaned miserably, trying to recall the events that led me to this spot. I struggled to move my arms, feeling the rope that was tying me together cutting off my circulation. The area I was in was damp, I could feel it under my body, and it smelled of mildew and rotting flesh.

I grimaced at the smell.

As I peered around the room, I couldn't see anything. It was incredibly dark.

I felt blood staining my features; I wanted to touch it to find out how badly I'd been hurt, but I couldn't move.

How long had I been here? And where exactly was here?"

"The more you move, the more painful it'll be," I heard a familiar voice amid the darkness.

I tried to squint my eyes to see through the darkness, but I was only met with more pain.

"You aren't getting out of here anytime soon, so I would make yourself comfortable," the voice said again.

This time, the owner of the voice, stepped forward. The rays of the moon shined through the small window, dancing off her features and illuminating her face, revealing her identity to me. Cora.

I should have known she had something to do with this. I didn't think she would go to these extreme lengths to get me out of the way, but I guess I didn't really know her at all.

She did take advantage of Landry when they were young and tried to get pregnant without his consent to trap him into marriage. The memory of Jessies' words made me feel sick. "What did you do to me?" I croaked.

I didn't care about the pain I felt in my head or the fact that I could hardly move because I was tied together. But I felt utterly powerless; I couldn't even feel or hear my wolf within me.

"Just a little wolf's bane poisoning," Cora said with a faint smile and a glimmer of humor in her eyes. "Nothing too serious. A small dosage is enough to keep you weak and keep your pesky wolf away." I struggled against the rope again, but it only tightened, digging into my wrists and legs. I winced in pain as the ropes began to burn in my flesh.

"And the ropes have been enchanted to keep hurting you if you struggle," Cora laughed with a headshake. "Face it, you're trapped."

"Where am I?" I demanded to know; I felt angry, but I was too weak to actually show it. So, it only came out as a squeak.

"In a layer," Cora answered. "Do as we say, and you won't get hurt. Too badly..."

"Who's 'we'?"

"We," I heard another voice coming from behind Cora.

This was a man, and the sound of his voice sent a harsh chill down my spine. I got a strange aura from him and it wasn't just because his voice was dark and threatening sounding. He was different.

He came into view, standing beside Cora and I saw that it was a tall and bulky-looking man with long, sleek, black hair and eyes that were so dark they looked black. Like they were all pupils with a small tinsel of gold outlining his pupils. "Hello, Bernice. I've been wanting to meet you for a long time. I'm glad to finally have you here. Thanks to my spy... Cora..."

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat as I glanced at Cora. She beamed as if she was proud of herself.

This man was clearly a vampire.

Cora was working with the vampires?

"You were a spy?" I whispered to Cora. "This whole time?"

"Don't act so surprised," Cora chuckled, waving her hand in dismissal. Lord Alaric offered me something that Landry could never give me..." she paused for effect as she lowered herself to meet my gaze. "Power."

"You would betray your own kind for power?" I asked her, hearing the betrayal in my tone. "Did you ever care for him? Or were you just using him to get ahead?"

"Do you really need to ask that question?" Cora asked with an eye roll. "Look... it's not personal. But we need Landry to be at his absolute weakest if we want to take him down. With you out of the picture, he will be at his weakest." "I'm just an omega now; I'm dying in a few months. I'm not much of an ally to him anymore," I told them.

Cora just scoffed.

"I wasn't talking about your fighting abilities, idiot," she said, standing to her feet. "I'm talking about your effect on his heart. He loves you. With you gone, he'll be miserable. He'll be weak and pathetic. He'll be vulnerable."

My heart sunk into my stomach at her words; I struggled against the ropes again, but the burning was too much for me to handle and I screamed out in pain.

I felt the vampire lord, Alaric standing over me. His aura was dark and left me frightened; though, I tried not to show it on my face.

"Such a pathetic little thing," he breathed. "Difficult to tame."

I thought about spitting at him but knew no good would ever come from that.

"He's going to come looking for me. Once he finds me, you will be sorry," I threatened between my teeth.

"That's where you're wrong," he said, motioning for Cora to stand closer to him. "We already have that figured out."

I looked at Cora who just smiled with delight. Soon, her entire face began to transform, along with her body. I gasped as I stare around her familiar and new face.

She was me.

"Cora here is a shapeshifter. She can turn into anyone she meets," Alaric explained with a proud gaze as he stared around Cora's newly formed body. "She's powered by the moon. When it's a full moon, she can stay shifted for longer. Which happens to be tomorrow."

"He'll never buy that that's me. None of them will fall for this," I told them, but even I wasn't sure. She looked exactly like me. "Wrong again," Alaric chuckled. "They will never know the difference."

"Oh Landry, I love you so much," Cora mimicked my tone. "But I can't be with you any longer. I must leave and never return."