Running Home

An Unexpected Twist

POV Zander

You could hear Kyle attempting to calm Tytus down inside of my office as we walked into the Pack House, part of me didn't like this guy one bit, I didn't trust him the other thought I'd be acting the same way or worse if I was being kept in the dark on the woman I loved. It was obvious this guy had a thing for Alex, I could give a s**t and would rip him in half if he ever moved on it, but for now I was willing to keep him around if only to find out everything he knew of Alex before she found her way into my life. 

"WHAT THE HELL DID THAT DOG DO TO HER!?" Tytus boomed. "Man you've got to calm down, there's a lot to fill you in on and I don't even know if I could explain it as well Zan" Kyle calmly said. We walked in to Kyle standing in front of Tytus completely red faced. 

"Why don't you sit down Tytus" I growled. Alex squeezed my hand and looked up at me, "I can try to explain everything we know so far." I moved around them sitting at my desk pulling Alex onto my lap, she smiled and leaned into me, I glanced over at Tytus who looked to be fuming which made me smirk. "Alex tell me what happened, why are you letting this creep all over?" Tytus groaned. It was almost like she hadn't noticed anyone else was in the room until he spoke which was fine with me, she instantly stood up. "OH TY I don't even know what's going on, I passed out, the Dr. gave me something to counter act whatever was killing me, and now I'm a wolf!" Alex spoke so fast I don't think he even caught everything. She walked across my office and instantly threw her arms around his neck. "ALEX" I growled. She jumped looking towards me causing Tytus to pull her in scowling in my direction. "GET OFF HER NOW!" I stood up and slammed my hands on my desk. I knew I needed to control my wolf, Alex didn't understand what it did to a mate when someone was touching their mate. I could feel my wolf fighting to take control. 

POV Tytus

I was going to kill this guy, whatever was going on with Alex was his fault, and he will be damned if I let him yell at her like that. "Cool it Mutt she can make her own damn choices" I wrapped my arm around Alex's waist. I'd missed being this close to her, there was a period of time after she moved into the apartment that I thought she might finally give in to us being together. She was constantly texting me over to watch a movie after work, which would end up with her asleep on my lap. Some nights she'd startle awake from a dream looking panicked but most of the time we'd wake up in the morning in the same spot, she'd apologize and scatter to get ready while I made her a cup of coffee. 

Alex moved herself out of my arm but I could see something was wrong, her forehead wrinkled as she looked to the floor. Oh this guy was dead, I've never seen Alex without her confidence and edge, my fists clenched at the thought of this psycho touching her again. Alex stood directly between us looking almost lost in thought, then looked over at Zander, "When did you say Dr. Gable would be here?" she asked. Zander was still fuming, his eyes were still almost completely black, but at the sound of her voice you could see the tension disappear from him and he softly smiled at her, "She didn't give a time babe, she just said later today I'm sure she wanted you to get settled in before she came by." The tone of his voice was sickly sweet and made me roll my eyes, this guy was laying it on thick. Alex nodded her head and sat in the free chair between Kyle and Zander, I don't know if this was purposeful or because it was technically speaking the only available seat. This seemed to make Zander happier and he shifted himself back down into his chair, leaning slightly back like we were all old friends. After a moment Kyle sighed, the tension was so thick in the room you could hardly breathe, "Zan why don't you tell him what you explained to me?" "I was hoping to be able to discus this with Alex alone but since I see that isn't going to happen" Zander glared, Alex leaned over and reached for his hand, "I know you told me back at the hospital but I wasn't thinking clearly can you explain it again? I trust him" Alex said almost pleading. Once again it seemed like Zander melted at any contract from Alex, what the f**k is up with this guy, I've known her for years and would kill for her but I'm not whipped like this. 

"Our Pack has a protective barrier once you get so far up the mountain, it keeps the Pack safe from any outside shifters or people who could do us harm. It was set up long before I took over as Alpha here, and essentially drains that being of their energy unless they leave the area completely" Zander started to explain. I snickered "So like an invisible dog fence?" Kyle shot me a look to not push my luck. "Except this is to keep intruders and riff raff out" sneered Zander. "So how did it effect Alex? Just because she was going after you? Technically you came to find her" I scoffed. "It shouldn't have" Kyle said, almost hoping I understood what he meant and stopped there. Alex sat quietly, you could see her eyes searching trying to find answers that weren't there. "If she had been human it would have never weakened her, people can walk directly up to our village, we've never had someone stumble upon us without notice since no one comes this far up a gated dirt mountain path. The moment she collapsed I knew Kyle hadn't cleared her as well as I expected, but I couldn't just leave her there" Zander's eyes shot to Kyle. "Man I found out everything I could, not a single one of our contacts ever mentioned she was a shifter, and Ty normally has a keen eye for them" Kyle pleaded. "It seems our little pixie here had her wolf suppressed to the point it was undetectable even to her" Zander said curiously. Suddenly Alex's head shot up, "How would I have never known I was a wolf? I mean at some point as a kid wouldn't I have I don't know felt something, grown differently, been NOT normal?" she questioned. "That's exactly what I'm trying to find out babe, I've got the elders and Dr. Gable working on it now" Zander smiled. "So you're telling me Alex has always been a wolf and she just didn't know? Or are you just feeding her this BS and whatever your Doc slipped her turned her into one of you just so you could keep her? I swear to god Kyle I thought you were better than that bullshit I'll kill you if.." Just then Alex slapped me "I don't need your protecting!"she shouted "you've known Kyle almost your whole life that's how I started working with him so don't go accusing him and pretending to be some knight in shining armor. I was doing just fine until I stopped in your damn town." The whole room was silent, Zander's face didn't know to be angry at what I was accusing him of or laughing that I was just smacked across the face, Kyle's jaw was slack in shock of what was happening. I wanted to snap back at her like we always did when we fought, she stayed because she liked my company, she moved into my apartment to stay closer to me, is she really going to act like it wasn't all her choice? Clearly she had been better with me than moving each night like a drifter. I slunk back in my chair, her hand still burning on my cheek, and shut my mouth. Alex still fuming turned to Zander, he opened his arms to gesture for her to come closer, and in an instant her shoulders slumped down and she went straight to him collapsing into his chest. Was that a sniffle I just heard? In the years I'd known her never had I seen her cry unless she was laughing too hard. "We're going to figure this out babe don't you worry" Zander softly whispered as he pet her hair. 

Alex POV

I don't know why but being close to Zander was like a security blanket, I felt like I could release all my emotion onto him and he would just catch it. The warmth of his arms right now almost made me forget about the entire day or the fact that a few days ago I didn't even know he existed, yet here I was snuggled against him like I'd known him my whole life. I glanced over at Tytus who I could see was hurt and confused, I didn't blame him but sometimes he acted like I was some delicate flower. I could feel Zander's form under his shirt as I leaned against him, even though his touch was extremely gentle, his shoulder and chest flexed each time he passed his hand through my hair. What I wouldn't give to just take him right on his desk, after all what's a better stress relief than being pounded on top of a cold hard desk. I shifted in his lap at the thought, and he must have read my mind somehow because his eyes were lusting after me, I felt my cheeks get warm and slightly bit my lip. A low groan came from his chest and he pulled me in closer to him, inhaling slowly, I saw a flicker in his eye and then he looked towards Kyle and Tytus. "What I know for sure is until we figure out who and why someone did this it's not safe for Alex to return back into town. For all we know whoever did this had a reason good or bad and we need to know what that was before she can go anywhere. I've never heard of a wolf being suppressed like this and it seems like Dr. Gable has never seen it happen to the point that they were unaware they were a wolf. We know if was some spell that caused it to happen which is why the medication the Dr. gave Alex worked. Dr. Gable is looking into Alex's past as we speak and the elder council is searching their records for a missing wolf. Children don't leave their Pack's without record, somewhere there has to be a record of you" Zander looked back at me with a worried expression. It seemed like he was as confused as I was with all of this, I didn't even know my parents and he's telling me there is an entire Pack out there that I used to belong to?

"Kyle why don't you take Tytus to the kitchen and maybe show him around the area while Alex gets settled in and we can meet you for dinner?" Zander stated. Kyle nodded, Tytus looked like he wanted to protest but he quickly tightened his lips deciding not to, I assume because I'd made it clear I didn't need him protecting me just moments ago. As they shut the door behind them, Zander turned my chin towards him and his lips crashed against mine. His tongue flicked parting my lips apart and I wanted to swallow him whole. Our mouths battled each other for dominance and my fingers ran up and laced into his hair slightly tugging as his kiss grew deeper into my mouth. A low groan escaped his throat entering my mouth as our tongues danced around each other. His hand left my face trailing down my side finding its place at the crease of my thigh, the other was still firmly grasping around the small of my back. I could feel his fingers tense and slide under my ass slightly lifting me up as he squeezed. I felt hot with desire, my skin flushed and I pushed myself closer into him. He pulled his lips from mine and I frantically searched his eyes for an answer as to why he stopped. His eyes flashed the deepest black I'd ever seen before going back to normal, he deeply inhaled, as he did his muscles flexed under his shirt and I could feel his need for me hard beneath my lap. He stood up lifting me around his waist with ease, "lets take you upstairs so you can be more comfortable" Zander said with a low deep voice making me quiver. I bit my lip and leaned in planting my lips back on his, he softly pressed his back onto mine, pulling away as he began walking out of his office. Thankfully he'd suggested going upstairs because as we had only made it a few feet down the hall until Dr. Gable ran straight into us. "Oh I'm so sorry Alpha but I was trying to get here as soon as I could, your block was up or I would have linked you directly" Dr. Gable bowed slightly. "Let's go into the office" Zander stated immediately turning on his heels still refusing to put me down. We shut the door and Dr. Gable sat directly in front of Zander's large oak desk. Zander sat keeping me on his lap with an arm around my waist, "Dr. what did you find out?" Zander questioned. "Alpha the orphanage faxed me over Alex's file, it took some pressure to get the information we needed but this is much more than I was expecting, sir I don't have names of who released Alex to the facility, but what I do have is a note from either the intake nurse or her parents I haven't discovered which. But whoever it was left a small piece of paper in the file with our Pack's name listed on it" Dr. Gable waited for Zander's response. Did that mean I was from here? Had my parent's left Zander's pack and hidden me away? Or had his pack kidn*pped me and then hidden me away?