Alpha's Chosen

18

Cole's POV

I make my way down at four thirty, utterly surprised to find I'm not the first one here... but Meredith and Bella are.

Meredith holds a clipboard, her face slightly scrunched as she looks between it and the back of the open van.

Her friend, however, seeming to be little help as she leans against the van and yawns loudly beside her.

I approach. Bella halting mid-yawn to try and turn and show her respects.

Alpha Cole coming out more like "Malpha Mole".

I eye her warily, wondering just what Meredith sees in this one before the woman herself straightens and turns.

As she turns, so too does her torch, the glare causing me to instantly wince as the light invades my eyes.

"Cole.....oh.... goddess" she squeals, quickly lowering the torch as I work to recover.

"I'm so sorry are you..." she begins, a loud bang halting her words.

"Sh*t Mere" Bella exclaims as I look up, my eyes clearing enough to see Meredith bent over, her weight supported on the back of the van as she holds her shin.

Towballs.

"Sh*t" I whisper, moving closer and picking her up to sit on the hood of the SUV behind us.

"Go get ice" I order Bella.

The wolf smart enough to scurry off as I slide Meredith's leggings up to scope the damage.

"Ah" she winces as the material tightens, my fingers moving to the seem to rip the material free instead.

Even in the darkness I can see the redness, the blood pooling in the area, a bruise I'm sure soon to follow.

My fingertips press around the bruise, testing just how good of a job Meredith has done.

"It'll be fine" she says, attempting to pull her leg from my grasp.

"I'll be the decider of that" I reply, moving her leg side to side and up and down to ensure she hasn't broken any of the bones.

"Satisfied?" she asks as my eyes look back up to hers.

Somewhere in the chaos her torch has managed to turn itself off, so reaching between us I press down on the button turning it back on.

I shine the torch down on her already swelling shin, letting her see for herself before my eyes move back up to hers, "Do you have medication in your bag?".

"Medication?" she asks, brows furrowing as she does.

"Pain killers, anti-inflammatories" I clarify, my annoyance blossoming into full-blown rage at the slight shake of her head.

"You're staying here" I state, hands again coming to grasp on her waist as I move to place her back on her feet.

"Wait... wait wait wait... what?" she says, giving me pause as her hands reach out to hold onto my arms.

"You're injured" I state the obvious, the obvious she is bluntly trying to ignore.

"It's a bruise" she frowns, "Its nothing" she tries.

"You're hurt" I repeat, again trying to lift her down only for her to hold tighter, leaning closer as her pleas move to quiet whispers.

"Please don't make me stay here.... if my father... my brother.... It's an opportunity I won't have again".

"You're hurt" I repeat in a low growl, my eyes moving up to hers as I do.

"You want to make it worse by hobbling around Red lake all day? Show each and everyone of them how vulnerable you are?".

"They already know how vulnerable I am!" She says, voice rising as she does, "All they need do is inhale and each and everyone of them know my darkest secret! You have no idea how it feels for the entire world to think they know you, your strengths and your goddess damn weaknesses! No, you get to walk around and have your strengths displayed over your damn chest!".

I can see the tears welling in her eyes. Today, meaning more to her than I ever thought.

"Fine" I groan, finally placing her back down on the ground as I do.

She looks up at me, brow creasing, head tilting as she tries to figure out what exactly I'll do next.

"Hospital first".

The two simple words slipping from my lips bringing a beaming smile to her lips, one that has me needing to sigh and look away.

Goddess, why do I care?

The smart thing to do would be to leave her here.

Promise her tomorrow.

But instead I find myself stepping forward and lifting her into my arms, much to her annoyance, to take her to the pack hospital myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Not a word" she says in way of greeting, the wolf before us closing his mouth and swallowing his words before ushering with his hand to the closest private room.

His office I presume as I set Meredith down in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"I only need medication. Anti-inflammatory" she says, an eyebrow raise from me making her roll her eyes and release a small huff of her own before she adds "And pain medication. Happy?".

I shrug, moving away from the pair and looking to the walls of the small office instead.

'Anatomy of wolves'

'How much is too much?'

'Wolfsbane and its effects'

Poster after poster.....

"Do you study any human medicine?" I ask, turning to find the pair halted mid-conversation, or more mid-argument as their attention instead turns to me.

"It's very similar..." the wolf begins, pausing when I raise my hand.

"No. I have not" he corrects.

"Has anyone here?" I implore further.

The shake of his head letting me know George planned for Meredith's safety but not her health.

I turn, allowing the pair to continue their conversation or more argument about alerting their alpha.

Meredith winning this one... or at least she thinks she has.

"He has probably already linked him" I say, the door barely closing as I do.

"I know" she sighs, "They never look into your eyes when they lie".

"Can't blame him for following Alpha's orders" she adds her voice moving to fill the silence as she continues, "Why did you ask him that? About humans?".

"Because you're not a full wolf, are you? Yet he stands here ready to treat you".

"I'm not a human either" she states, crossing her arms defensively as she does.

"Mmmmm" I hum, "Couldn't hurt to learn though, could it?".

And its quick but I can see the crease of her brow as she considers my words because she shakes the thoughts free.

"I'm not a human" she repeats and I nod knowing thees not much more I can offer her.