Alpha Code
Chapter Nine

[Kin’s POV]

The next morning

I knew I had fallen asleep shortly after talking with my dad. Happily with my Mate against me in our bed. As late morning came it was even better. It was the best feeling waking up with my little Mate curled up in my arms. He was so warm against me that it made me smile. I could spend the rest of my life just like this. It was pure bliss and the happy sounds coming from Julius made me believe he had to agree. Ra'ne hadn't woken again during the night, of that I am more than happy about.

Ra’ne began to whimper a little in his sleep and I moved to make sure he didn’t feel trapped by my massive size and his eyes shot open. I saw that he was scared but it lasted for only a few seconds before he began to pout a little. All because I moved. Goddess he was adorable.

I smiled at him, and moved back letting him snuggle his way back to where he was. This time when he whimpered though, I made him lay on his back. I opened up my senses more and could sense a dull ache coming from him.

“You are hurting yourself on purpose right now and it stops.” I said very seriously. He flinched his hands going up to protect his face instantly. I felt like an asshole. “Baby, I swear I am not going to hit you. I love you Ra’ne. I am terrified to lose you, please understand that baby boy. I need you.” I said to him, practically begging him to stop hurting himself. Needing to pull him closer but hesitant to frighten him even more.

He had been pushing himself to stay awake and now he had wanted to be so close to me, he was hurting himself again. I cannot and will not tolerate his pain, not when it can be prevented. It will do far more damage to me than him. Julius and I were already close to becoming a Berserker.

“I-I’m just not used to this. My head is still spinning.” He whispered softly placing his small hand on my chest. It was something I found very adorable. He always had to feel the beats of my heart, just to make sure I was real and not his imagination.

“My little ember you need to understand that you are no longer among the savages of the Ironclaw. You are free of them forever and I will never let them have you again.” I said to him pulling his hand up to my mouth to kiss his fingertips. “Baby, I have already sworn to love and protect you for the rest of our days. Let me do that.” I said with a cheeky smile on my face for him.

He giggled a little before wincing and settling back on the bed again. The sound of his laughter was like heavenly music to my ears. I always wanted to heat that sound.

“Are you hungry my ember?” I asked softly running my fingers through his hair. The feeling was so soft against my skin and it was a feeling I was going to love getting used to. He nodded but refused to let me move from his side. I smiled down at him and kissed his forehead.

“Stay for a little more.” He breathed against me as his stomach growled loudly, making his face flush a bright pink. He was starving but he craved my touch far more.

I chuckled a little and ran my fingers through his hair again. “We will sit here for another few minutes but not for longer.” I said, bending to kiss his forehead again, relaxing against the bed again for a little while with my little Mate. Giving him this wasn't hard as long as he let me get p to feed him.

[Ra’ne’s POV]

Kin’s warmth was something straight out of my dreams. I didn’t know if it was just his natural body heat or if it was a mixture of natural heat and all that love he had for me. It was in every word and every touch. Every movement he made was filled with his love and devotion for just me. Being sensitive to things had made my life hell but maybe now I could enjoy it.

It was like I was living in a dream, one I never wanted to wake up from. When I woke from that nightmarish vision, he didn’t ask me anything other than when it was going to happen. Not only did he believe me but he trusted me enough to give him the needed information that Skie had forced the vision into his own mind.

I had spent the night yelling at Skie for doing that but we had come to the conclusion that Kin and Julius were our Mate and they had just accepted it. They hadn’t even seemed fazed by what I had done, like at all.

‘We will have to ask them about that.’ Skie chimed in as I felt him try to stretch inside my mind.

I had to agree with my Wolf on this one. ‘For now, let’s leave it. I wanna just enjoy the food.’ I thought as Kin brought us a plate of fruit and a glass of milk.

‘Is that milk!!!’ Skie exclaimed almost happily/excited

I took the glass from Kin, with a smile as he sat the plate of fruit on my lap, and took a sip ‘Yup!’ I replied happily, quickly downing the full glass in half a second.

“Whoah!! Slow down little ember!” Kin said with an amused chuckle.

“We’re sorry!! We love milk!!” Skie and I exclaimed happily our voice a solid mix of Wolf and Human. Kin looked at us a little shocked before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“My sweet you never cease to amaze me and we have only been together for a few waking hours. It should not be possible for you both to speak at once. Julius has his own voice yes, but only I can hear it, when he speaks to you, he must use my voice. Skie just projected his own voice through your mouth at the same time you spoke.” Kin said with the sweetest smile on his gorgeous face.

“Is that bad?” I asked softly, a scared look in my eyes as Skie shied away from everything. Even he knew when to hide. The showing of his power was always a bad thing for us. We were always beaten and so much worse.

“Oh no my ember. It’s actually a very rare thing. It does happen just not often. It is common with Omegas with a Beta Wolf.” Kin replied, a thoughtful look coming to his face.

I tilted my head to the side curiously, getting him to beam at me. “What does that mean?”

“It means that you my sweet Mate are one of a kind. Your Human is classified as Omega because you are very timid and small for your age, but I think that is due to the lack of care. However, Skie who is an essential part of who you are is actually not an Omega.” Kin explained thoughtfully, giving me something to think of as I picked at my fruit plate. I didn't think there were others like me. I knew Skie was a Beta, we both did but we had hidden that fact.

He was smiling at me; I could feel his emotions over the distance in the room. He went to his desk to shuffle papers around and read something while letting me think with Skie. Kin let me do that. He let me think through my problems by myself or with Skie. He never pushed me into anything I wasn't ready for.

‘He is so accepting of us Ra’ne.’ Skie said trying to distract me from what Kin had actually just said.

‘Skie, are you a Beta?’ I asked him bluntly. Already knowing the answer but for some reason I needed to hear him say it to me. Clearly.

I could hear him sigh, ‘Yes, I am. That is why I hate being forced to hide and take so many orders when they don’t make sense and put us in danger. We are different Ra’ne, you and I are not like the others of our kind in case you haven’t already noticed.’

‘I’ve noticed, Skie. What do you want from me?! I’m scared of everything, I’m so tiny compared to the others. I can’t shift to let you free, I’m worthless.’ I said my own doubt surfacing. I had always had that self-doubt within me. Because of all of the years of degradation, starvation and the beatings, I had lost all my confidence. I felt worthless and that nothing I ever did was good enough for anyone, especially my own Wolf, who was basically myself.

Skie had all the confidence and he had been forced to be quiet for so long that now he was going insane with his confinement. How could I ever be enough to have a Beta Wolf of all things? How could I ever contain such a great creature?

‘What do you want to do Ra’ne? Do you want to be small all your life and remain in the shadows? Or do you want to step into the light with our Mate and grow?’ Skie asked me softly.

His words held meaning and it was more than I could really imagine but I knew what I wanted. I was tired of being hidden away from the rest of the world. Forced from all the beauty of it and I knew that Skie, Kin and Julius would show me so much more, if I just gave them the chance to show me. I had to stop being so scared all the time and now was a good time to start.

“I want to grow.” I said aloud, getting Kin to look over at me curiously.

“Then we will grow.” Skie said, as our eyes closed and we fell into a deep sleep, a smile on our face. We have a chance now.

[Kin’s POV]

I heard both Ra’ne and Skie and their words but the meaning behind it was lost as they fell asleep.

I flashed to their side both Julius and I in a state of panic. He was breathing easily so that was a good sign but his state worried me. He was eating and having a conversation with Skie and now he is passed out cold. That worries me. He was even still holding a grape in his tiny fingers.

I linked with Arion, wanting him to come check on my little ember. Thankfully, my parents had an entire wing built for just me and my training things so I had a guest room across the hall from my room so Arion was close. He was at my door immediately and checking Ra’ne almost as quickly. It took him only seconds and when he looked back to me, he was smiling.

“His Wolf has taken over and is healing him at an unprecedented rate. The way this is going he will be able to stand when he wakes up. They still need to eat but he is gaining some weight.” Arion reported happily.

A weight I had not noticed before was instantly lifted from my chest allowing me to breathe much easier. Thank you Skie. It was something else that was just added to how amazing my little ember was. He was something I had never encountered before and I was worried about his mental state more than anything.

Could he handle the changes Skie wanted from him? Could he handle it and still maintain his individuality from Skie? Julius kept reminding me how different they were and I was worried that they would become unBalanced and Ra'ne would disappear.

I was beginning to understand why Grissa taught him that Omegas and their Wolves did not speak to each other Grissa was afraid of Ra’ne’s potential power. Of what my little ember could have become.

Grissa had hidden Ra’ne away in the basement because he was afraid of the power Ra'ne would have had. Now that he was free Ra’ne had no more limitations on him and he was probably scared and unsure of what that meant for him. I wanted to help him but at the moment I could do nothing but let him heal.

I had been working on a way to get him used to his new surroundings when he was able to stand and now that Skie had taken over his healing, I would be able to show them so much more than just the walls of this room. More of the world that had been taken from him.

I smiled at my little Mate as he slept. His face even seemed to have more color now. I was happy that he was healing faster now but I was still very worried for him.

‘I think that is just your OCD, Kin. I am not going to disregard my own concern for them, but you are bordering on the obsessive. They will both be just fine and if they have a problem, we are both here to pick them up when they stumble.’ Julius pointed out bluntly.

‘I think there is more to this than just Skie is a Beta and Ra’ne is an Omega. I think this goes deeper than that. If Skie is a Beta then why didn’t he just rip out of Ra’ne and make them go Rouge? There are questions I have no answers too because there is no way Grissa is a strong enough of an Alpha to keep that little Beta down.’ I countered logically and thoughtfully. Thinking of how strong Skie had to really be for him to be able to heal fast than Arion could see.

Our little Mates were something not normal, and if we were going to keep them safe, we needed more information. There was a reason Grissa had him beaten so far down and why he had been so afraid of someone so small. Normal Alphas do not see a Beta as a threat, not unless they possess Alpha blood or some other unknown trait. Not all Beta families give birth to only Betas some have in fact produced a few Alphas. It was not common and more often they produced a Beta or Omega, but it did happen. Those have split from their Pack to create their own with their mother Pack’s blessing or hatred depending on the situation.

‘What happened to their blood relatives? His mother and father.’ I continued my rant seriously.

‘Alright ass I get the point. You have very valid questions but we still have no answers. How do you expect to get them? We can’t just grill our Mate about all of that because it hurt him.’ Julius questioned, snarkily.

That comment gave me pause, because he was right about that. Ra’ne’s health came first, always. I needed to replace another way to replace my information. Then I got an idea that made Julius growl before I even really got it fully formed in my mind.

‘Kin Barric BloodStar!! Don’t, seriously we don’t need to go that far.’ Julius said almost begging me not to finish my thought. However, it was too late because I wanted answers. I knew of only one reliable way to get what I wanted.

‘I’m going to give Solon a call. I’m sure he can dig up something on our little Mate for us no problem.’ I said with an evil smile coming to my face as I reached for my phone.

Julius quickly yanked my arm back, making me growl at him. ’Think about this for a second, do you really want all of the Shadows to know about Ra’ne and how he is our Mate?’ he asked me curiously, making me growl again. I knew the risks but Ra'ne's safety was paramount to our own survival.

’Jules, stop being such a pussy, this is how we get our answers. Solon and the Shadows are how we get what we need to keep him safe and hopefully we will replace out a few things along the way. Like what actually happened to our own damn Mate. Do you not remember how we fucking found him? He was chained to the ceiling by his damn wrists near death and you wanted to tear Grissa apart and start a war. Well I still want a damn war over that. My rage has not subsided or gone away.’ I said getting Julius to actually shrink away from me a little. I laughed a little to myself I was even scaring my own Wolf in my desperation to keep my Mate safe.

Well you know what, DAMN IT ALL!!! Ra’ne came into my life and has made it that much better by just breathing the same air as I am right now. He was my Balance and I had FINALLY found him. Now someone or something threated to take him from me and there was going to be far more than HELL to pay for anyone who came within 50 feet of my precious little ember.

I could feel Julius fade into my subconscious and I sighed. I would make it up to him later but right now I needed to make sure that our Mate was safe.