Page 1 of Aleko
Episode 1
Club Paradiso
Alex
“If you want her that bad, you could try talking to her.”
Alexander Ash tore his eyes off the dancefloor to glare at Sebastian. His beta flashed him a grin, teeth gleaming white against his brown beard. Sebastian looked to be in his mid-twenties but was actually fifty-seven and was enjoying the scruffy, ruffian look that he hadn’t been allowed in his birthpack. Alex thought about denying the fact that he’d been staring obsessively but decided there wasn’t much point. They would both know he was lying.
“She’s here with the drug dealer and the Russians,” Alex said, glancing back at the girl below them. She was dancing near the private tables that Galatas, the drug dealer, had paid for. Her honey-colored hair stood out amongst the dark-haired Greeks and periodic splashes of bleach blonde and rainbow locks. Her body pulsed in rhythm to the pounding bass beat, but he got the feeling that the music wasn’t speaking to her. She was dancing because Galatas had told her to—not that it made her any less mesmerizing.
Alex took a small sip of whiskey and forced himself to look away from the girl. He couldn’t afford to be distracted. With Hudson and Killian both absent, the pack was pared back to himself, Sebastian, and Pellos. Just like it had been in the old days. Even Luca, their friendly wizard, was in Syria on a mission. Alex had sent them all away. Each mission had been vital to their pack’s continued survival, but he felt naked without his packmates. They were teetering at the point of getting everything they wanted, but they were also at their mostvulnerable. And now there were warlocks in Greece for the first time in a decade.
And none of that seemed to matter every time he looked at the girl.
He and Sebastian had been camped out on the upper balcony of the Club Paradiso for the better part of an hour, waiting for their quarry to arrive. The spell Alex had performed had clearly landed here, but there had been no sign of warlocks so far. Just Galatas and the girl.
Alex closed his eyes and checked on the sparkling blue dots on the inside of his head. Hudson was in Germany. That was as clear to Alex as if a map was in front of him. Hudson was feeling deep conflict about something. Reflexively, Alex picked up his phone from the table and dialed it. Once more, it went straight to voicemail.
“No luck?” asked Sebastian, and Alex shook his head in frustration.
“I sent him to Germany. It was supposed to be a safe trip to the Nazi archives. I don’t understand why he hasn’t called. Hell, I don’t understand why he hasn’t come home.”
“But he’s OK?” Sebastian was worried. For as much as he and Hudson clashed, Sebastian also loved Hudson like a younger brother.
“Mostly? I don’t know. Periodically I think he’s about to die. Or maybe he thinks he’s about to die. Whatever he’s doing, I’m starting to think he’s trying to give me an aneurism.”
Sebastian chuckled, and Alex shook his head in frustration.
“I don’t understand,” complained Alex, finally giving voice to his worry. “He went to the archives and found the records we were looking for. I sent him pictures of the damn ship. I don’t understand why he isn’t back already. He was so excited when I talked to him. I understand that not everyone will be as excited about finding theStrumwolkeas I am.”
“We are, actually,” said Sebastian. “Or nearly anyway. The Nazis killed all the magic and the Supernaturals in Greece. I know your connection is more personal, but finding out how and why… If we could do that…”
“If we could fix Greece, the other packs would accept us,” said Alex. “They might still hate us, but they would have to accept that we’re really a pack.” He sighed. He knew he was preaching to the choir. “Step one is finding theStrumwolke,and we’re so close.”
“This close,” said Sebastian with a grin, holding up a thumb and forefinger with only a sliver of air between them.
“So, where the hell is Hudson?” demanded Alex. “Why isn’t Luca back? Why are the warlocks here now? I’m starting to think that fate is against me.”
“You’re being paranoid,” said Sebastian soothingly.
Alex growled unhappily.
“And what of Killian?” asked Sebastian.
“He’s… fine.”
“And we’re not talking about why he had to go to Tibet?”
“Can we just focus on warlocks,” growled Alex, evading the question again.
Alex didn’t think he could give voice to the hope that Killian would be able to return with a spell for making werewolves. Pellos had been the very first member of Alex’s pack despite being human, and he was destined for a human death unless Alex could change fate. Pellos was like Alex’s son, and sometimes hope hurt too much to even speak out loud. Sometimes it felt like Alex’s entire life was about the Herculean feat of changing the life that fate had set out for him.
Born in America to a stable, if boring, pack out of North Dakota, Alex and his brother Howell had enlisted like every other young man in 1942. Only Howell had seen it as his chance to break from the pack, see the world, and seek adventure.Alex had stuck with his other packmates and been sent to the Pacific. Howell had become part of a Supernatural team of soldiers for the Allies in the European theater. But months before D-Day, Howell and his entire team had been sent to find a Nazi S-Boat, theStrumwolke,and no one had made it out alive. TheStrumwolkehad gone down in the Aegean, but not before detonating a magical payload that had killed a thousand Supernaturals and stripped Greece of magic.
Upon hearing the news, his pack had irrationally turned on Alex, blaming Howell for the deaths and, by extension, Alex. He’d been stranded on an atoll in the Pacific, and after his escape, Alex had spent nearly seventy years searching for theStumwolkeand proof that Howell hadn’t caused the tragic Night of 1000 Deaths. Alex wanted exoneration for Howell. He also wanted to prove to everyone that the pack of misfits he’d gathered weren’t simply lone wolves looking to stay fed but a pack, a family, and wolves of honor.
Alex scanned the crowd, pretending to look for warlocks and allowing himself another look at the girl. He sighed in frustration. Right now, he wasn’t so much a wolf of honor but a wolf in rut. The girl called to him.
