Chapter 20 - Shift
Alyssa's POV:
My ears were ringing and the metallic taste of blood was on my tongue from my canines elongating. I could hear the muffled voice of my mate and could only hear snippets with any clarity, "baby, it's not what it looks like, please listen to me."
I didn't care what he had to say.I was done being used. I was done. The betrayal of the bond had been painful, but now that that was behind me. Caitlin taking Dalton was hardly a loss, the loss of my best friend hurt so much worse than the loss of that dead weight. But this? My body was on fire. My heart was torn in two. My throat throbbed with unshed tears and my head pounded with my wolf's need to escape and I couldn't focus on anything else.
'Shift, let me out!' My wolf howled.
'Kill her. Kill her for touching mate!' She pushed again.
I saw red. The next thing I knew my bones were popping in and out of place and I was landing on all fours. My mate was frantically trying to calm me down and had locked the door. My wolf turned and looked over her shoulder at the glass window, .
'Yep, that will do,' She grumbled in the mind link and out we went, glass shattering all around us as we made our leap from the window.
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Brent's POV:
'You didn't think to fucking mention that you had been in Caitlin's cell?' Anderson raved at me through the mind link.
'Her fucking cell man! You went into the cell of the woman that her ex-mate slept with and didn't even think that you would reek of her? ' He snapped at me. I stayed silent. I couldn't even speak. I messed this up so, so bad. I just hoped I could get to her in time.
Her wolf was fast, incredibly fast, and magnificently beautiful. Her fur was pure white and had an opal sheen to it. She was still smaller than my wolf, but by far larger than any other female wolf I had seen with my own two eyes. If I had any doubts left about the power she possessed, they were now long gone. She had managed to dupe and outrun an Alpha and a Beta. We would eventually catch up to her, but it was proving to be a much more fair race than anticipated.
We finally reached the cells. Alyssa's wolf was looking for a way to break in, but there was silver on every bar, having been placed on full lock down at my immediate request. Anderson and I went flat to our stomachs behind the hedges, attempting to sneak up on her.
'I know you're out there. Get away from Alyssa. She is pure, she is good, she deserves love!' Her wolf growled into my mind. Once again I underestimated her wolf's power. Of course, our scents were easily detected by her.
'I do love Alyssa and she is all of the things you listed if you'll just lis-,' I was attempting to plead my case but was cut off.
'You smell of Caitlin! You do not love her! You are just like Dalton. Using her for her power. I won't stand for it!' She snarled at me. I could see her baring her teeth in our direction through the gaps in the hedges.
'CAITLIN WAS RAPED BY DALTON! I WAS RUNNING A SURVEILLANCE ON CAITLIN AND THAT'S WHY I SMELL OF HER!" I roared through the link.
Damn our wolves are protective, but her refusal to let Alyssa regain control was starting to piss me off. She makes a great Luna, but I did not enjoy this power being used against me. I had definitely learned my fucking lesson on this whole communication thing.
'You assure me that is what happened?' I could sense the shift in energy, the fury somewhat subsiding.
I quickly linked Anderson, 'tell her it was just the surveillance and that is why I smell like her,' I barked at Anderson.
He did so and the beautiful white wolf walked a little closer. I stepped around the hedge and whined for her to come to me, baring my neck in surrender. I thanked the Moon Goddess above me as she stalked closer. As soon as the wolf was inches from me, Alyssa regained control and fell to the ground sobbing. Having ripped her clothes with her sudden shift, she was completely nude. I shifted immediately and pulled the bag of clothes I had secured to my ankle. They were mine as I kept these packed for a quick grab when needed. However, I could get us both decent with only my garments. I would wear shorts and she would wear a shirt.
I quickly pulled the shirt over my sobbing mate's body, and quickly pulled the shorts on. I picked her up bridal style, and carried her through a less used trail to give her privacy from prying eyes.
"Why didn't you just tell me?" She cried into my chest. "You could've mind inked with a heads up, something. I was so angry, and hurt," she sobbed harder. Her fist came up weakly thumping my chest in frustration and sorrow.
I kissed the top of her head, "I should have, my love. I absolutely should have, but I was already late and just so ready to get to you. I honestly assumed you'd be at the airport and I could shower and then speak to you on the plane. I swear I didn't plan to keep this from you," I begged her to understand.
With my side of the bond wide open, so she could feel that my reason was honest and genuine, her side of the bond finally began to soften. By the time we'd arrived at the airport she was content in my arms.
I set her down on wobbly legs and once I was sure she was steady I went for the bag I had Anderson prepare. A change of clothes, shoes, and some personal care items.
I had chosen a pair of black joggers, a pink sweatshirt, and some fuzzy pink house shoes I had actually already purchased as a surprise for the plane. I wanted her to be comfortable and when I saw them in her favorite color, I had to grab them. I never knew bubble gum pink was an actual color until I met this woman.
After a fast shower and a change of clothes, she emerged refreshed, and looking adorable in her comfy outfit. We paused to fill out paperwork and finally boarded the plane. Tenley immediately ran to us. She jumped into Alyssa's arms and we continued our way to the couches further toward the back of the plane. The girl's settled in as I placed our carry-on bags on the couch opposite of us. I turned back around and sat down, pulling both girl's onto my lap causing giggles to erupt from them both. This was heaven. I was absolutely sure of it.
We had settled down and Alyssa laid her head on my lap, my hands running lazily through the damp strands. Even her skin was beautiful. A beautiful olive with the slightest tan, accentuating the freckles across her face, neck, and shoulders, making me want to kiss every single one.
A sniffle from Tenley's direction took me out of the moment, "are you crying Ten," my mate asked softly.
"I am a little bit," the pup whimpered.
I pushed for Alyssa to sit up, holding out my arms to Tenley, "baby girl, come here. What's wrong?"
My chest constricted. Did she miss home? Her father? I wasn't jealous by any means, he was her dad, but I had no clue how we would break it to her that she would probably never see her him again.
"DeeDee said she would help me get back to daddy and I don't want to go back to daddy. I want Daddy B to be my one daddy. Daddy is a monster and I don't want him! He is scary!" She wailed, catching the attention of the entire plane. Alyssa stood up immediately to close the thick curtain divider; to give Tenley somesort of privacy.
"Who is DeeDee?" I mouthed to Alyssa, she responded letting me know it was Dalton's mom.
Alyssa returned and knelt down in front of us where we sat on the couch. She looked lovingly at her child, "baby, if you never want to see him again, you don't have to. You are right, he is a very scary man, and you are safe, baby girl. Brent is going to protect us. I promise you. Isn't that right Daddy B?" She asked looking up at me. I was doing everything I could to keep my cool. I was fuming at the thought of that scum getting his hands on either of my girls.
I took a deep breath, letting it expel slowly, "yes, Daddy B is going to keep you both very, very safe," I said looking between the both of them.
She hiccuped and said, "I don't want you to be called Daddy B. I want you to be just daddy. My one daddy. I don't want two daddies."
Tears instantly pricked my eyes and it took everything in me keep my composure. I pulled them both into me as tightly as I could without hurting them. I was so very thankful Alyssa closed that curtain, very much enjoying moment, just the three of us.
We sat like that for several minutes. I opened my bond to both of them. Letting nothing but peace and contentment flow to calm them. However, I had a plan to set in motion the minute we got off of this plane. Whatever this woman thought she was doing, hypothetical or not, she had just opened a very large can of worms for herself. I would also be lying if I said I wasn't happy that Tenley had come to this realization on her own. Dalton deserved every last bit of what was coming to him, but Tenely was a child and getting her to somehow understand he wouldn't be around was something Alyssa and I both had been battling. To say It was a huge weight lifted was an understatement. Still, I couldn't help but to feel so much sorrow for her that she had to live the life she had for the past four years. I would spend the rest of my life making it up to her.
Soon the even breath of the toddler and my mate hit my ears, both of them had fallen asleep. We only had about an hour of the flight remaining, but I hoped they would both feel refreshed once we landed at home.
At some point I had also allowed myself to fall asleep, being awoken by the captain alerting us that we would be landing soon. The girls were still asleep on me, but unfortunately I had to wake them up .
"Alyssa, my love, we're about to land at home," I softly spoke, causing her to stir. Her movements were a chain reaction and soon both of them were awake and alert. I laughed at their eagerness to stare out the window at the pack below. This was by far one of the best days of my life and I wanted to take every last bit of it in.
We landed and I handed Alyssa a pair of slip on shoes and packed her house shoes in the carry on. Alyssa attempted to help with the bags, but I waved her off, easily handling them on my own. I motioned for them to exit the plane ahead of me and I followed close behind.
It was dark when we landed. The events of the day had us arriving well after the time we planned for. Thankfully I rescheduled the introduction for tomorrow evening and not the night of our arrival, as I had previously planned.
It was somewhat of a surprise for my girls and I had pushed it so that they could have a day full of "pampering and glam," per my sister's words. She insisted I let her plan a day for them and I couldn't really deny that they both deserved a day of relaxing fun.
An official ceremony would follow, but I wanted a welcome party of sorts to be done right away.
We finally ascended the remaining steps of the plane and walked onto the tarmac in the chilly November evening. Thanksgiving was three weeks away and the weather would continue to get colder and colder. Wolves weren't exponentially affected by cold, our body temperatures running much higher than humans. The only problem was that the increased warmth only benefited you if you had your wolf. Tenley wouldn't shift for about six more years.
"It's cold!" She protested. Alyssa quickly picked her up and snuggled her to her chest with Tenley burying her face in Alyssa's neck. The sight squeezing my heart. I wasn't sure I'd ever not be so affected by them. I was immensely grateful for their existence and that they were mine.
We walked quickly to the car. I pulled the door open for them before rounding to the back of the SUV, tossing the bags in, hopping in on the other side, and finally we were pulling away.
"We are headed to the pack house for now," I softly spoke in the dark car.
"I moved back into the Alpha quarters after Maci left. I had no use for all the space in the ranked wolf neighborhood. It hasn't been lived in for quite some time and I had planned to have it ready for our arrival, but I figured we could plan the renovations together and make it our home, I hope that's okay? We can of course just live in the Alpha quarters and bulldoze the house and rebuild if it makes you uncomfortable that another female lived there," I nervously added.
She laughed and placed her hand on my forearm, "babe, we are not bulldozing what I am sure is a perfectly good house, but I will absolutely take the offer of renovating it to fit our families needs. Thank you for waiting and including me." She smiled and leaned forward for a kiss, which I happily obliged.
"Yuck! Why are you guys always doing that?" Tenley exclaimed, dramatically slapping her hand to her forehead, causing her mother and I to laugh.
"Oh, look," I pointed out the window, the pack house now coming into view, I grinned widely, "welcome home, ladies."