The Alpha Bond She Ran From

POV: Maya The playground was filled with children’s laughter and parents running after them to make sure they don’t trip. I sat on the bench near the fence and watched my Theo chase a butterfly across the grass. My coffee was getting cold so I took a sip from it. The just turned four. He had my dark hair and his father’s eyes. The eyes of the person I couldn’t let go of but had to. He laughed and ran around the playground with the dirt on his cheek and a beautiful smile like he didn’t have a care in the world. For one second everything was fine. Then the boy with the red sneakers pushed him. It happened so fast. One second Theo was laughing. The next thing this bigger kid had both hands on my Theo’s shoulder and slammed him back down into the dirt. “I’m playing here,” the kid said. Like he owned the playground. I was already getting up from the bench. My coffee spilled everywhere. Theo’s face turned red. He had that crumpled look he makes before he cries but I knew he wasn’t going to cry, it was something else. “Get off me,” Theo said. But his voice sounded deeper like he was boiling inside. “Make me,” the kid said. And shoved him to the ground again. Theo’s eyes flashed gold. I saw it from across the playground where I stood. It flickered like someone lit a match behind his eyes. His little hands curled up into fists and I saw his nails start to change slowly, getting longer, sharper. I ran. I grabbed him under my arms and pulled him back so fast his shoes left marks on the dirt. “Hey!” The kid yelled. I turned and looked at him but didn’t bother saying anything because this was more important to me. The kid went pale and ran off. Theo was shaking in my arms. His body was getting hot fast. His fists were still tight and when I looked down at him his eyes were still that scary gold color. I put my mouth right against his ear so no one else would hear me. “Theo. Look at me.” He didn’t look. He was staring at the kid who had already ran off to the swing. “Theo look at me NOW.” He turned, his eyes met mine and they were burning gold and wild. This didn’t look like my Theo, the one who was just chasing a butterfly minutes ago. I held his face in my hands. I forced myself to breathe slow so he would breathe slow too. “Count with me,” I said. “One.” He blinked. “One,” I said again. “Come on baby. One.” “…One.” His said with a shaky voice. “Two.” “t-two.” His hands opened up. The heat started going away. “Three.” “Three.” The gold in his eyes started to fade. By the time we counted to ten he was just Theo again. My little boy with dirt on his cheeks. I held onto him. Hopefully, the people around us didn’t notice. Moms were pushing strollers, kids were screaming on the monkey bars. Nobody saw anything. That’s the thing about hiding. People see what they want to see and nobody wants to see a four year old with claws and golden eyes. I pulled Theo onto my lap. He puts his face in my neck just like he used to when he was a baby. “You did good,” I whispered. “You did so good.” He didn’t say anything. He never does after he shifts like this. He just knows he has to stay calm once he’s in my arms. He knows there are places we can’t stay. I stood up and kept him in my arms even he was too heavy. I walked to the gate and didn’t look back. He wrapped his arms around my neck and asked. “Did I do something bad?” My chest hurt. “No baby.” I pushed the gate and started walking home. “You didn’t do anything bad.” He didn’t believe me. I could tell by how tight he held on to my clothes. He knows something is wrong with him. Something that always makes me grab him and run. He doesn’t know what it is but he knows it’s there. I carried him three blocks away from the playground before putting him down. He grabbed my hand and we kept walking home. And in my head I kept thinking the same thing over and over. If anyone really saw what he could do, that he could shift. We were dead.