Only Omega.

Chapter Nine: Part One.

The next day I dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants, a black sports bra with my grey hoodie and trainers. It was around quarter past nine when we left the lake house following the instructions Rebecca had given us to a nearby clearing where the Tyrant pack trained. Doctor Clifton was already waiting for me by the time we got there.

“Ah Luna, you’re just in time for today’s session to begin” he said extending his hand in a formal gesture for me to shake and I did giving a polite smile as I glanced around the clearing. There were a handful of guys and one girl all gathered around chatting with no sign of Brett or Beau.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world” I muttered turning back to the Doctor who dropped my hand and motioned towards a few first aid kits with the standard medical materials needed to treat injuries.

“The rest of the equipment is in our pack’s medical wing” he explained, picking up what looked like a heart rate monitor and handing it to me so he could look for something else he couldn’t seem to find.

“Oh dear, I left the timer in my office, be a darling and take my son’s heart rate for me while I go get it, will you?” he asked running a hand through his light brown hair in frustration and handing me a clip board and pen which I took.

“Shore thing” I said glancing around at the group of people trying to find a guy that looked similar to Doctor Clifton in any way.

“He’s the one with the blue hoodie, I’ll be right back” with that the Doctor took off in the direction of the pack house with a grateful smile. I flipped through the papers on the clip board and looked them over when I felt someone staring at me.

"What?” I asked Hayden who was just openly staring at me with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his old green hoodie.

“Nothing” he said turning his attention towards the group where my first patient to be was laughing with a buddy of his, he had his head thrown back and his eyes closed.

“Well then guess I better get this over with” I muttered then started walking across the clearing towards the group while my eyes roamed over the papers.

“Cameron?” I asked stopping just short of the two chuckling guys to catch their attention as I quickly scanned the past results of his heart rate checks. When everything went silent I looked up at the guys and noticed that everyone was staring at me but I tried to ignore it and focused on Cameron Clifton.

“I have to check your heart rate and it looks like your sugar too” I informed then turned around walking back to the table set up on the side to house the medical gear. Cameron was a diabetic which explains why his father took regular tests.

“So you must be the new Luna to be huh?” Cameron asked jogging up to my side with a goofy grin spread across his lips. He had hazel eyes like his father but messy blonde hair instead of sandy brown “I guess but call me Rachel, Luna sounds so formal”

He chuckled at my words and bumped shoulders with me when we reached the medical area.

“I take it you’ve done this before?” he asked hopping up onto the gurney and started unzipping his sweater while I placed the clip board down beside him.

“A few times back when I was still part of my old pack” I replied with a nod, grabbing the heart rate monitor and strapping it to his wrist. He flexed and I proceeded to take his heart rate with clip board in hand “Why’d you leave it anyway?” I scribbled down his heart rate which was healthy then took off the monitor to replace it with a blood pressure monitor attached to his bicep.

“Because I couldn’t make my own decisions” I explained, pressing down on the strap around his toned bicep muscle to make shore it was properly attacked before motioning for him to pump at the handle.

“So you ran away?” I could only nod at his constant questioning as I jotted down his blood pressure then moved on to his sugar by pricking his index finger.

“Was it like one of those rebellious, bad ass moves or what?” I knew he was talking about running away from home and as I waited for the results on his blood sugar test I started scribbling down some additional information.

"Hey runt!” I froze and turned to see where the deep throated voice was coming from only to meet with the sight of Tate accompanied by Brett and Beau entering the clearing.

“Get over here!” Tate snarled at Hayden who gulped nervously then nodded unzipping his hoodie and holding it out for me to take. I took it and quickly pecked his lips saying “Good luck”

He gave me a small smile then took off jogging in the direction of the group. I stared after his bare back that was tones and square much like the rest of him. Hayden was slim but had clear muscles in his arms and back, he had the faint outline of a six pack and his sweatpants hung low on his hips.

“Hey Rachel!” Brett called across the clearing to me, flashing his signature smile as I waved at him and his brother. I then went back to Cameron and placed Hayden’s hoodie down beside him on the gurney.

"It was more a Romeo and Juliet type of thing” I replied finally answering Cameron’s previous question before I finished scribbling down the results of his sugar test.

“Well looks like that’s about it, you’re free to go” I said with a small smile as Cameron got up from the gurney and stretched out his sore muscles.

“Thanks…Rachel” Cameron whispered pausing right before he said my name. I looked up at him wanting to see his eyes but when I did he was already halfway across the clearing. I shrugged it off and continued filling out the forms on Cameron when Doctor Clifton came walking up with Alpha Caine and Brice following behind.

“Rachel” Brice greeted me coming to stand at my side while the Doctor hung his stopwatch around his neck.

“So is everything good?” Doctor Clifton asked staring out onto the clearing where a pair of guys were already battling it out.

“I checked all his vitals and everything seems to be normal” I said nodding and noticed how Alpha Caine shot me a look out of the corner of his eye. Brice shared a look with the Doctor then turned to me.

“You knew he was diabetic?” the Doctor asked with a raised brow almost as if asking me how and I just shrugged motioning towards the clip board on the gurney.

“Those are all tests that lead to diabetes so I just figured-.” I trailed off only for Brice to pip in and lean across to whisper to the Doctor knowing fully well that I could hear him “Looks like you have an expert on your hands here Zander”

Opening my mouth I was about to say something but stopped when Tate’s voice reached my ears “Common runt let’s see what you’ve got”

Sidestepping both Zander and Brice, I stood in front of them wanting a clear view of the two guys facing one another. Hayden looked torn like he didn’t know what to do .

“You just going to stand there or are you going to fight?” Tate asked tauntingly causing Hayden to lunge forward aiming a fist towards his jaw but before he could make impact Tate already had him on his back .

“Is that the best you’ve got runt?” Tate asked circling Hayden’s fallen form that was trying to sit up. Tate turned his attention to the side of the clearing where I stood watching and wound up taking his attention off Hayden. Before Tate could say anything smug Hayden sent a kick to his shin causing Tate to sink down to his knees with enough time for Hayden to get a punch in. Tate spat blood and with a murderous glance at Hayden he tackled him to the ground pinning his arms down beneath his knees and started punching Hayden repeatedly. I shot forward about to attack Tate when Brice held his arm out to stop me.

“It’s his fight Rachel, not yours” I growled lowly watching as Tate continued to drive Hayden into the ground like some mad bull on a rampage. It wasn’t until Caine stepped forward after nearly thirty punches to stop it that I managed to calm down a little.

“That’s enough!” even with the authority in his Alpha’s tone Tate didn’t stop instead he just kept sending punch after punch in Hayden’s direction.

“Get him now!” Caine snarled at both Brett and Beau who quickly stepped forward, each grabbing an arm to drag Tate away from the beaten body lying in the middle of the clearing. Brice lowered his arm and nodded when I shot him a pleading look.

“Go” he ushered jerking his head in Hayden’s direction and with that I took off running across the clearing falling to my knees beside a groaning and grunting Hayden struggling to sit upright.

“Here I got you” I said wrapping my arm around his waist to heave him into a sitting position. He hissed in pain and when I looked at his face I felt like crying. There was blood everywhere, his lip was splintered, his nose was broken and there was a cut just above his left eyebrow.

“Common get up” I whispered tugging him up to get him to stand but instead he fell forward with my back steadying his weight. Slowly I wrapped his arm around my shoulder and helped him limp towards the medical area. I had just managed to get him to sit down when Tate yelled.

"You know, now I’m wondering if you’re just as weak as your pathetic mate!” I took a deep breath and was about to start cleaning Hayden’s wounds when Zander grabbed hold of my wrist and Brice spoke in a low tone.

“You have a challenge, we’ll take care of him” he nodded his head towards Hayden shooting a quick glance towards Caine who looked as emotionless as they come with his arms crossed over his chest and head held high. I looked at Hayden for a second and felt a wave of rage wash over me.

“Okay” I said in a cold tone, nodding my head swiftly as I took to the task of unzipping my hoodie and tugging it off. The grey material was covered in blood when I set it down beside Hayden on the gurney and started wrapping my knuckles.

“Well, what are you waiting for little girl?” Tate yelled just as I finished with my knuckles and turned to Hayden reaching out to lightly trail my fingertips along the length of his jaw. He seemed to relax but flinched when I tenderly pecked his lips.

“Rachel” Brice said when I pulled away and without hesitation I turned around then started walking towards where Tate stood with dried blood covering his face.

“About time” he snapped narrowing his eyes onto me with so much anger swirling inside their rusty depths. I stopped a little away from him with my legs parted in a fighting stance.

“I’m not just going to make you bleed, I’m going to make you beg” I said with acid dripping from every word as I hissed them. Tate seemed unaffected but everyone else cringed at my deadly tone.

“I’d like to see you try, princess” Tate bit out and I shot him a death glare flicking a finger in a ‘come at me’ motion to get him to stop talking and start fighting. With a low snarl Tate charged forward barrelling straight towards me as I stood motionless waiting. As soon as he reached me he tried throwing a punch but I ducked and sent my own clenched fist into his stomach causing him to cough blood as he crumbled to his knees.

“s**t” he cursed when I sent a kick to his side, forcing him onto his back from the force of the strike. I circled him much like he did with Hayden and waited till he tried getting up again to send my fist colliding with his jaw. He fell back onto the ground spitting blood as I repeatedly started raining my fist down onto him like he did with Hayden except twice as fast with twice as much force. I felt his nose crunching beneath my fist with every hit and heard his pleas for me to stop but I didn’t instead I felt this overwhelming rage come over me forcing me to keep hitting him over and over again until-

“Rachel!” I froze mid-punch at the sound of Alpha Caine’s demand and reluctantly stepped away from Tate as both Brett and Beau tried to help him up off the ground. They dragged him to where Zander was waiting ready to assist while I headed towards where Hayden was sitting with his face already cleaned up apart from his wounds which were no longer bleeding.

“That’s enough injuries for today!” Brice called ending the training session before he turned to Caine conferencing about something. Snatching up the cloth Zander had used on Hayden I started lightly dabbing at his wounds while gripping his jaw in my other hand.

"What the Hell was that? You went all WWE smack down on him” Cameron exclaimed coming up behind me as I concentrated on cleaning the cut above Hayden’s brow. At least his nose was back into place.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, I suggest you stay on my good side” I muttered working my way down to Hayden’s split and bruised lip causing him to flinch back from the stinging pain.

“Sorry” I breathed lightly kissing his hurt lips before I continued cleaning them.

"I’ve never seen anyone take on Tate like that before” Cameron said sounding awe struck while I was still fuming. Hayden noticed and reached up to grab hold of my wrist of my hand that was working on his wounds, stopping me so that he could lean his forehead against mine.

"Yeah but I so saw that one coming” a new voice said this one sounding feminine as I took deep relaxing breathes with my eyes closed and forehead still pressed against Hayden’s. He tilted his head up and placed a tender kiss to my forehead bringing me back to reality.

“It was bound to happen eventually” Cameron agreed, nodding towards a girl with black curls and piercing green eyes. She was dressed in a pair of black jogging shorts with a grey tank top and neon green trainers.

“The guy deserved to be cut down to size” she muttered with her arms crossed over her chest and her back leaned up against a nearby tree. She turned to look at me.

“Just glad it was a girl that did it” I gave a faint smile when Brett and Beau came jogging up to us. Beau ran his hand through his messy tangle of dark brown hair while Brett went over to the girl and gave her a quick peck on the lips “Hay babe” was all I heard before Beau spoke with a deep sigh “Well that was interesting”

I shot him a look as he glared at Cameron who was breathing a laugh and shaking his head from side to side saying.

“No kidding how are you supposed to train that?” Cameron asked motioning towards me as I turned to snatch my hoodie up from the gurney to tie around my waist then took Hayden’s as I helped him up off the gurney.

"Especially since she just took out our packs best fighter apart from Caine and Brice” Brett piped in his eyes on me like everyone else’s while I stabled Hayden and helped him into his hoodie being careful not to hurt him anymore than he already was.

“You can’t” I mumbled when they wouldn’t stop staring at me and turned to face them with a clenched jaw. I was still a bit shaky after the fight.

“So I will” everyone froze at the sound of Caine’s voice and I locked gazes with him for what felt like an eternity but was actually a few seconds.

“Alpha” Beau turned bowing his head in respect towards his leader as the others only gapped at the scene.

“I’ve clearly underestimated your abilities so in return I’ll carry the weight of your future training” Caine said completely ignoring Beau as he continued to look at me as if I was the only one there. Straightening my shoulders I bowed my head to show submission.

“Thank you Alpha” I thanked as Brice came over with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his old faded blue jeans and his hair sticking up in all directions like he had been running his hand through it way to many times.

“So she’ll be training with us then? Including Drake and Liam?” he asked looking at Caine with one eyebrow raised. The Alpha nodded his head once, not even bothering to look at his second in command .

“Yes. She’s capable of taking them on judging from the way she reacted on my command” I thought back to the moment when Caine had ordered me to stop and I froze without hesitation to follow his orders “The way she managed to control herself was something I have yet to see in a young Alpha”

Brice nodded then held his hand out for me to take with an approving smirk that spread across his jaw.

“Welcome to the team pup” he teased as I took his hand and shook it once with a firm grip. When I let go he looked down at his hand as if he was impressed.

“A firm grip you got there” he commented nodding towards my hand as it dropped back to my side. Caine stepped forward so that he was stood only inches away from me towering over my much smaller frame compared to his.

“Tonight at initiation the whole pack will know of your place as my adoptive daughter-.” he paused when gasps rang from the people around us then continued with his jaw tightly clenched.

"Then tomorrow our training together will start at six” I nodded signalling that I understood and once again bowed my head in respect towards the Elder.

“Yes Alpha” with that being said Caine turned to leave with Brice following behind but the Alpha to glance back at me from over his shoulder.

“And don’t be late” he warned then left while everyone including myself stared after him. Brice shot me a thumbs up sign with one of his signature grins causing me to shake my head and breathe a laugh at his childish antics when he was already in his early thirties. I turned to look at everyone but Hayden groaned and started buckling over just in time for me to catch him before he could hit the ground.

“I got you” I whispered helping him back upright by allowing him to use me as something to lean his weight on. Hayden chuckled lightly when I pulled away from him as he leaned back on the gurney.

“I’m still a runt” he whispered lowly giving me a small smile that made my heart flutter at the sight of it.

"You’re still my runt” I shot back with a tender smile of my own causing his to widen at the memory. I slowly reached out to take hold of his hand and when I did he reached up to cup my cheek in his large palm, lightly tracing circles with his thumb.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” he said making me smile twice as big and bury my face into his chest while he wrapped his arms tightly around me in a comforting embrace.

“You’re more than amazing” I muttered causing him to chuckle while shaking his head in disbelief at me.

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When Hayden felt up to it we started the journey to the pack house for lunch. Rebecca apparently always made lunch after training and the whole pack was invited so we decided to go grab a bite to eat with everyone else.

“Adoptive daughter huh?” the girl whose name I found out was Marie, said coming up beside me with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her black unzipped hoodie.

"It was part of the deal” I muttered shrugging as I worriedly glanced at a hobbling Hayden who was surrounded by Cameron, Brett and Beau laughing like old friends.

“So Brett?” I asked shooting a teasing smirk in Marie’s direction causing her to turn her face away from me as an attempt to hide her blush.

“It just sort of happened at some party” she mumbled rubbing at the back of her neck as I bumped my shoulder with hers catching her attention “Hayden and I met at my eighteenth birthday party a day before I got engaged to one of my best friends” her head whipped round so that she was staring at me with wide eyes and her mouth agape like she’d just been slapped.

“Really? Wow so you-.” I cut her off with a simple not and looked down at the dirt road leading back to the pack house.

“We ran away to be together” there was a moment’s pause as she processed my words then kicked at the ground before she laced her fingers behind her head and leaned back to stare up at the sky.

“It must’ve been hard leaving everyone behind like that” she said more to herself than anyone else but I still decided to answer her.

“Yeah I guess but when it comes down to Hayden I’d give up everything just to be with him” I glanced at Hayden who was being shoved lightly for something he said that caused Cameron to laugh while Brett and Beau patted him on the back or gave his shoulder a quick punch.

“You really love him, don’t you?” Marie asked when she noticed me glancing back at the group of guys joking around laughing together.

“More than anything” I replied, turning back to face her with a small sincere smile plastered across my face at the thought of my mate.

“Have you ever thought of, I don’t know, starting a family with him?” I froze at her words and only when she turned back to look at me with a brow raised did I jog to catch up with her again “The thought has crossed my mind a few times yeah, how about you?”

She bit her lip and looked back towards Brett before she nodded with a glance at the ground “I’m considering it” I shot her a bright smile and when she finally looked up to see my reaction she returned it.

“Seriously?” I asked and she looked around as if she was going to tell me her biggest secret.

“Seriously” she answered nodding her head with a confident aura. I couldn’t help but let my smile widen even more as I looked at her.

“So what’s stopping you?” I questioned as we exited into the clearing where the pack house stood waiting with the smell of food dangling in the air .

“I’m not shore if he’s ready” Marie said and I quickly glanced back to where the guys were goofing around.

“He’d make a great father” I stated but as I did my eyes wandered over to Hayden wondering what it would be like to start a family with him.

“He has a thing with kids” Marie stated also glancing back but hurriedly averted her eyes when they met with Brett’s for a split second to hide her blush.

“So I’m shore he’s ready” I muttered giving her a small smile before my attention was drawn to the sound of someone calling out “Marie!” I turned to look at the brunette haired girl dressed in a simple white sun dress with brown sandals and a brown leather jacket.

“Hay Amy” Marie said nodding her head in Amy’s direction as she stuck her hands back into the pockets of her hoodie.

“Did you hear about what happened to-.” Amy started rambling but stopped when her eyes caught sight of me and widened to twice their normal size while her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

“Oh my gosh it’s her-she’s the-.” she didn’t get to finish her sentence before two men came up and cut her off. Both were well-built and wore only shorts, one was slightly taller than the other and had dark chocolate coloured hair while the shorter one had more of a rusty brown colour.

“The future Luna I presume?” the taller one asked with a deep tone in his voice looking down onto me at nearly Caine’s height but the Alpha was still taller.

“Who’s asking?” I questioned with a raised brow glancing between the two as Hayden, Cameron, Brett and Beau caught up to us.

“I’m Drake and this is Liam, we’re the Gamma and Enforcers of the pack” Drake explained then Liam, the shorter one, nodded stepping forward and offering me his hand. I took it and he gave it a light shake with a firm grip.

“We heard you’d be training with us after that stunt you pulled with Tate” Liam explained and I nodded dropping my hand back to my side as I glanced between the two.

“You’re really not what I pictured you to be” Liam said glancing me over taking in the dried blood covering my body, the baggy sweatpants and the messy hair.

“We would’ve guessed someone built and rugged would've served his ass to him not a girl with blonde hair and a pony tail” Drake continued also looking me over. I wasn’t shore what to say so I opted for being my usual joking self.

“Yeah well you guys should see what I look like on the inside” they both chuckled at my words while Amy stared at the two of them with fear in her sapphire eyes.

“I like you kid, you’ve got character” Drake pointed out with a jerk of his head in my direction while Liam crossed his arms over his chest and gave me a lop sided grin.

“You’ll fit right in with the best of us” I knew Liam was talking about the higher ranking members of the pack since both Marie and Amy stiffened along with Cameron at my side.

“Thanks” I said, shooting looks from one to the other with my fists clenched at my sides on edge because of their authority.

“No problem kid” Drake muttered with a breath of laughter while holding his hand out for me to take. I gave it a firm squeeze then turned to Liam.

“We’ll catch you later pup” he assured clasping me on my back with a huge grin plastered across his face before they both took off towards the woods chatting and shooting glances back in my direction every now and then.

“Did they just-?” Amy began, gapping after the pair of men in their late twenties or so while Marie in turn gapped at me.

“What?” I asked her with a simple shrug then started walking again with my hands now loosely hung at my sides instead of clenched in defence.

“They just talked to you and you act like nothing happened?” Amy erupted scurrying up to my side as I walked trying to ignore her awe struck aura that engulfed me and filled my senses with its stench.

“I was born and raised an Alpha, I’ve been around dominating wolves all my life” I replied and Amy stared at me in shock for some reason. It wasn’t until we reached the back porch to the pack house where tables were lined with food that I asked “Why so surprised?”

She instantly looked away and started taking interest in the food around us. I decided not to push her and grabbed a plate to fill with snacks before heading over to a picnic table off to the side where the guys and Marie were already waiting.

“My mate is Liam’s younger brother Ian” Amy suddenly said out of the blue causing me to stop dead in my tracks and look at her in all seriousness.

“Which means he has Enforcer blood” I announced and she nodded looking at the ground with an innocence to her.

“I’m an Omega” she whispered low enough for me to have to strain to hear her properly. I could sense the fear coming from her.

“And you’re afraid that he’d reject you because of your ranking?” I asked, raising a single eyebrow at her while tilting my head to the side. She looked up at me like a child would look to their mother for guidance.

“Yeah I guess” she breathed turning her gaze back down to the floor by her feet. I lightly bumped shoulders with her trying to gain her attention.

“If it’s meant to be then it’ll be. I accepted Hayden even though he’s an Omega and I’m an Alpha” the look in her eyes when her head snapped up to stare at me was something mixed with awe and shock. She glanced towards the picnic table blinking at Hayden.

“He-He’s an Omega?” she asked clearly surprised not expecting an Alpha to be mated to someone of such a low ranking .

“It’s part of the reason why I left my old pack, it’s illegal for Omega’s to be mated to Alpha’s” I explained, nodding then gazed down onto her slightly shorter frame. Her eyes in turn were focused on a guy with light brown hair and laughing blue eyes talking to Cameron at our table.

“Does he know?” I asked her and when Ian turned to look at her, she instantly turned her gaze to the floor so that he couldn’t see her eyes.

“No” she breathed explaining why she looked away so quickly. Mate’s meet when their eyes do but females can sense it well before their eyes even lock.

“Then look at him” I said urging her to look up into his eyes still looking at her with some sort of confusion and longing. Taking a deep breath she slowly raised her head and met his eyes causing his blue ones to widen at the sight of her. I watched as they instantly fell in love and wondered if Hayden and I looked anything like that when we first met.

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I was done with my plate and Hayden was on his third when I decided to head inside to help Rebecca with the dishes. The petite woman was already at work when I entered the kitchen with our plates in hand.

“Oh hello dear what can I do for you?” Rebecca asked as she struggled to put a clean plate in the top shelf above the counter. I set the dirty plates down on the kitchen table then took hers.

“Here let me help” I offered sticking the plate back into the cabinet before shutting it. Rebecca gave me a heart-warming smile.

“Why thank you child so how can I help you?” she asked turning back to the sink as I started scrapping scraps into the trash before handing them to her.

“I just thought I’d help out with the dishes” I said shrugging my shoulders while discarding some sliced ham into the dustbin “That’s not necessary dear, I-.” I cut her off before she could continue her protest by handing her another plate to wash “I insist besides it’s the least I could do after everything you’ve done for me”

She looked at me for a minute then turned her focus to washing the dish in her hand.

“Well if you insist” she muttered shrugging her shoulders before she decided to change the subject.

“I heard that you’d be training with the boys starting tomorrow, want to explain how?” she asked as I placed the now scrap free plates down on the counter beside her and started drying the already washed ones.

"I got into a fight with Tate” I said sticking a plate into the cabinet beside the fridge. Rebecca stopped washing to look at me with wide eyes.

“My goodness dear are you alright?” she exclaimed dropping the dishes and grabbed one of the kitchen cloths to dry her hands as she came over to examine me with my head clutched between her hands.

“I’m fine really” I tried to assure her but she kept looking me over as if expecting me to be injured.

“Nonsense child, you’re covered in blood!” she argued when she noticed all the dried blood coating my body and clothes. That’s when she noticed my slightly bruised knuckles.

“I wrapped them” I explained since they weren’t cut or bleeding but instead just badly bruised.

“Exactly how hard did you hit him?” Rebecca asked looking up at me with wide eyes since it would’ve taken a tremendous amount of force to bruise your knuckles after they’d been wrapped.

“Hard enough to break his nose” I muttered but really wasn’t shore since I was too lost in rage to pay attention to anything other than beating Tate’s face in .

“Goodness dear what were you thinking?” she asked wetting her cloth then started cleaning my blood and dirt smudged face.

"I wasn’t” I said going back to the fight which I didn’t even remember. In that moment my wolf was the one taking swings and barking orders.

“Like a true Alpha” Rebecca mumbled probably thinking about her mate when he’d suddenly erupt for some reason. One of the pack warriors suddenly walked into the kitchen.

“Luna the Alpha wishes to see you in his office” he announced then turned and left with a quick glance in my direction bowing his head to show respect. Rebecca sighed.

“The ceremony starts at eight” she said tossing her bloody cloth into the trash before she headed towards the door.

“I’ll send someone to help you with your dress” she informed then left leaving me standing there in the middle of the kitchen blinking at the doorway. The clock above it read two thirty five which meant that I had little over six hours to kill so I decided to go for a run.

I stripped behind a tree and shifted, clasping my hoodie between my jaws as I took off on shaky legs through the forest trees. Glancing up at the sky through the tree branches I could see the beams of light reaching the forest floor through gaps in the leaves. A light breeze whistled through the woods and whispeed through my thick cream coloured fur. My paws bet down on the ground in sync with the sound of my pounding heart and ragged breaths but everything came to a halt when a wailing sound reached my ears. I stopped and looked around to find the direction it was coming from eventually figuring that it was coming from the North towards the boarder.

The sound was mixed with a small but strong heartbeat that matched mines pace equally. When I reached the border line I saw nothing but the forest brush of the No Man lands laid out before me. Everything was suddenly silent and just when I was about to turn around and blame it all on my imagination a loud wailing touched my ears. It wasn’t coming from the No Man’s but instead from up ahead along the border line. Following it I came to a small area surrounded by trees with a stream from the lake running through it.

Shifting back into my human form I pulled my hoodie up over my torso to cover myself as I listened for the sound again. Instead of wailing I heard a babbling sound that was coming from a nearby tree. I bent down by its roots and met with the sight of a baby wrapped in a white blanket looking at me with big blue eyes only to start crying again. Reaching out I tenderly scooped the baby up into my arms, cooing for it to stop its fussing as I looked around for any sign of its mother.

“Hello?” I called out but there was nothing but chirping birds, the babbling brook and the rustling of leaves in the light breeze.

“Is anyone there?” I called again but still there was nothing. The baby had grabbed onto my hand and was lightly sucking on two of my fingers with its small canines nibbling at their tips signalling that it was hungry. The infant’s scent made it clear that it was a Rogue pup but there was no other scent mixed in with its, meaning that the child had been left alone long enough for other scents to fade. Glancing around one last time I looked back down at the hungry baby .

“Okay let’s get you something to eat” I said then took off jogging in the direction of the lake house while keeping the bundle pressed firmly to my chest. By the time I reached the lake house it was already four o’clock and I could smell seven scents coming from inside. I burst through the front door and was met with the sight of Amy, Marie, Hayden, Ian, Brett, Cameron and Beau all gathered in the small living room.

“Rachel what’s wrong?” Hayden asked, standing up from his seat in one of the two arm chairs. That’s when the baby started crying again.

“Is that-?” Marie asked slowly rising from her place on Brett’s lap and stepping towards me “I found it-I don’t know what to do…it’s-.” I was ranting when Amy stood up and headed over to take the baby from me. Marie started heading for the door.

“I’ll go get Rebecca” she insisted then was gone with Brett following behind. Amy unwrapped the blanket to reveal a very thin and malnourished baby boy.

“Let’s get him cleaned up” Amy said heading down the hall and towards the bathroom. I hurried after not wanting to leave the infant’s side.

“Here hold him” Amy ordered handing me the baby so she could run a shallow bath with lukewarm water. She motioned for me to come over and I did, kneeling beside her.

“I’ll keep his head up, you wash” I did as I was told and started carefully washing the thin body of the underweight infant. Once I was done and had washed the small patch of black hair on the top of his head, Amy helped me to lift him up and securely wrap him inside one of the towels. When we walked out into the hall Rebecca and Zander were waiting for us in the living room along with everyone else.

“Marie said you found a pup?” Rebecca asked and I nodded still clinging to the baby as if he was my life wrapped in a brown towel.

“Let me see” she pressed and got closer so that she could see the babbling face of the Rogue orphan. A look of joy filled her eyes as Zander piped in.

“Let me do a check up on it” I nervously glanced at Amy not shore if I wanted to let the boy go or if it was safe.

“He won’t hurt him, I promise” she assured and with a nod I reluctantly handed the baby over to Zander who listened to his small but powerful heartbeat then checked his eyes and ears before turning to me.

“He looks fine just extremely undernourished and weighing next to noting” as soon as he held the baby out for someone to take I quickly snatched him up and held him to me like a protective mother would.

“It’s a Rogue pup, correct?” Zander asked and I nodded letting the baby play with my fingers again.

“Yes” I breathed and there was a moment of silence as he and Rebecca shared a look.

“Rogues do tend to leave what they see as weaknesses behind and since there’s a Rogue pack around this area I assume that the pup must’ve belonged to one of them” Rebecca explained out loud to what Zander had asked her through the pack mind link.

“So then we kill it, you said it yourself Luna the pup will only be a weakness to our pack” Beau said and instantly my wolf was on edge. I pressed the pup tightly to my chest and looked at him with eyes slowly turning black.

“Over my dead body” I threateningly warned in a low, cold tone that caught everyone’s attention apart from Hayden who was already staring at me.

“Rachel, you’re not seriously considering keeping him, are you?” Amy asked and even though she was the one that helped me, I could see it in her eyes that she was afraid of the Rogue inside the pup. I stayed quite not shore what to say.

“Rachel think about it dear, are you ready to mother a pup?” Rebecca asked as I turned to look down at the bundle in my arms who was waving his tiny arms around and babbling nonsense.

"My wolf’s already mothering him” I replied holding my fingers out to him as he grabbed them in his small but firm grasp then started sucking on them again.

“Very well then, the pup will be initiated into the pack along with the two of you tonight” Rebecca stated not even trying to put up a fight and I assumed that it was because she wasn’t able to have kids that she allowed me to keep the pup.

“Marie will help you with your dress, child” with that Rebecca made her way to the door as Zander stepped up with a white baby bag in hand.

“Something we have for unprepared mothers or in this case unsuspecting” I took it with a grateful smile and slung the bag over my shoulder.

“Thank you, Doctor” I said bowing my head to show my respect towards him as he started making his way towards the front door.

“Don’t thank me dear, Rebecca is the one who agreed to this” turning to look at the petite woman with sincere eyes, I bowed my head in submission.

“Thank you, Luna” she returned my faint smile then glanced at everyone else inside the room before she eventually stopped back at me.

“What’s his name?” she asked as if my reply would be enough thanks for a world of kindness and looking down at the baby boy in my arms one name stood out above them all.

“Holden” I breathed liking the sound of it and smiling to prove my love for the name.

“My little Holden” I repeated then started to coo at him while playing with his nose and feet. He laughed but it sounded more like babbling fits.

“In all my years I never thought I’d ever be a mother let alone a grandmother” Rebecca muttered stepping up to play with Holden as he looked up at her through tired sets of dark blue eyes.

“I have to go get things ready for the ceremony dear, you think you can handle the little cutie on your own?” she asked while making her way back towards the door. I smiled gratefully at her as I turned to face Luna herself.

“I think I’ll manage” I said nodding my head reassuringly. Rebecca nodded as well returning my sincere smile then glanced at Zander who was ready to go “Alright then dear, I’ll see you all tonight” and with that both Zander and Rebecca disappeared out the front door leaving me with something I’d never thought I’d have that early on in my life.

A precious little boy who would one day become the heir to the Alpha of the Tyrant pack and my mate, his father.