Saved By The Alpha
Chapter 11

I found myself staring out into the backyard as I finished off my coffee. Luna was sitting with Bella on the living room floor, reading her a story. I checked my phone again, but Remus still hadn’t gotten back to me — I could only assume that meant he hadn’t heard from Agent Foxrun yet. He assured me he’d let me know if she was able to get any more information, and I had no reason to disbelieve my half-brother.

All this sitting around and waiting, though…

I sighed, staring blankly at the fence around the backyard. What I really need is a run, but…

The fence was high, but it wasn’t that high. If there was even one nosy neighbor, odds were, they’d notice a huge, black wolf-dog running around. Admittedly, I wasn’t particularly large for an alpha werewolf, but I was still an alpha, and that made me much larger than most other shifters. I was certainly larger than any dog or even a dog-wolf mix. Most people couldn’t tell the difference between a wolf and a hybrid either, and the last thing I wanted was for someone to call animal control on me.

What I needed was a forest or a park.

An idea struck me suddenly, and I downed the last of my coffee, turning back to the girls. “Hey, Iris, you want to do something different today?”

She glanced up, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Like what?” she asked, tipping her head to one side.

“I thought it might be nice to see some nature. There’s that park in Austin. We could go for a run. I could really use a change, and maybe a shift would help you, too,” I suggested.

Iris’ brows furrowed, and she paused before glancing down at Bella. “But what about her? I don’t think she shifts.” She paused again. “If she does, I assume she would have by now.”

I paused. I hadn’t considered that. I couldn’t remember exactly how old I was when my father first took me out to shift, but I was definitely a small child. Perhaps that’s unusual? Was it just because I was an alpha? I frowned. Didn’t Bella’s mother claim she was an alpha, too?

I tipped my head back at Iris. “How old were you when you shifted for the first time?”

“Hmmm…” Iris paused, scratching her chin. “I guess I’m not entirely sure. Probably four or five? My parents took me out to the woods with the other pups my age. The alpha oversaw everything, just in case…or I assume that’s what he was doing there, anyway.”

“Well…” I offered a cheeky grin. “I am an alpha, and she is somewhere between three and four. We don’t know when her birthday is. She probably doesn’t, either, so for all we know, she might be almost four.”

Iris pursed her l!ps. “…do you think we missed her birthday?” Her gaze shifted from me to the little girl who’d abandoned the book once Iris had stopped reading. She was happily playing with the connection blocks a few feet away.

I blinked. “What? Oh, I don’t know. If we did, we can have a big party for her later. Or if she doesn’t like that, we’ll take her somewhere fun.” Do kids that young like theme parks? Maybe there were some for them.

Focus, Eli.

We could deal with that later — like when this business with Project Night Moon was all said and done. “C’mon, Iris,” I weaseled. “It will be good for us. Bella needs outside time, too.”

Iris hesitated only a moment before she nodded, getting to her feet. “All right,” she said. “But if she seems uncomfortable, we don’t make her shift, okay? I’ve never seen other children shift outside of my friend. And myself, I guess, but I didn’t see that.”

I gave a nod. “Of course.” After all, I’d never overseen it either, but I certainly wasn’t going to put Bella’s safety at risk. In the worst-case scenario, Iris and I could take turns watching Bella in the forest while the other took a quick jog around the woods or something.

I turned to the little girl. “What do you say, Bella? Do you want to go to the park?”

She glanced up and gave a small nod. “Wolfy?” she asked, tugging her toy into her lap.

“Of course,” I replied, happy she was starting to talk to me without too much prompting. “Wolfy can come too.”

Bella wasquiet on the drive over to the nearest park. I wasn’t sure if she was nervous or if this was a normal level of quiet for her. It was hard to tell when each conversation we had was a pleasant surprise.

After we pulled in, Iris got Bella out and situated while I checked the area. It was a weekday and well after the start of normal working hours.

Ugh. Well, I hope Amber has the good sense to get in touch with me if there is something major going on at the firm — and if not me, then my father.

She also had contacts at Longbow Investment’s main branch, of course. I had an assistant because the idea was that I wouldn’t be there constantly. In fact, I was supposed to start splitting my time between the United States and London. The only boon in this situation right now was that I’d brought on two new clients before I’d gotten wrapped up in this Project Night Moon bullshit.

I sighed and shook it off. I’ll call into the office after this run just to check in with her.

Iris and Bella walked around the car, and I smiled, putting work into a compartment for later. I couldn’t let these thoughts ruin my focus for now, especially if Bella might shift.

“Let’s head farther in,” I suggested.

Bella let go of Iris’ hand, dashing forward into the woods. My heart leaped forward as a cold sense of terror slammed over me like a storm surge coming in from the ocean. “Bella!” I called, springing forward. The last thing I needed was for the little girl to disappear into the forest.

She only got a few yards away, stopping and crouching down. “Look!” she said, pointing at something in the foliage.

I stopped next to her and bent down, smiling, when I realized she was pointing at a small lizard. It had clearly noticed her, flaring a colored patch under its chin as it started aggressively doing push-ups like a college boy in the gym. She giggled as she watched it, her eyes wide.

Honestly, I was impressed she’d noticed it from where we were standing. Well, that probably means her senses weren’t stunted from her time in the facility. If her eyesight and hearing were still well above a normal human’s, that could only be a good thing.

“What’s it?” she asked, looking up at me with a little smile.

“That’s a lizard,” I explained, smiling back at her. “He’s doing push-ups for you.”

A moment later, I pulled out my phone and opened the app store, quickly downloading something. Thankfully, the determined little fellow was still doing his angry aerobics by the time I pointed my camera at him. A few moments later, the iNaturalist app informed me this was a green anole. Given it had an orange fan — or dewlap — coming from its throat, it was clearly male, and it was doing push-ups in an attempt to discourage us from eating him. The thought made me chuckle.

“That type of lizard is an anole. He thinks you’re big and scary,” I told Bella, nodding at the anole.

She frowned a little, finally looking at me. “Scary?”

I nodded slowly, getting to my feet. “Mhm. You’re big compared to him! He doesn’t want you to squish him.” Or eat him. But I was pretty sure Bella wasn’t about to eat a lizard, and I didn’t want to traumatize her, either.

She looked back at the lizard before mimicking me, slowly standing back up. “No squish,” she said, taking a step back. “Bye-bye!”

She waved at the lizard before turning back toward the trail, wandering away from us again. Iris came up to my shoulder, clearly trying to mask a grin as we followed after Bella, not letting her get too far ahead. “Apparently, we should have done this sooner,” she murmured, nodding to the little girl as she darted back and forth, pushing rocks over or stopping to stare at something in the foliage.

“It seems so,” I agreed, allowing myself the smile anyway.

I could only hope she enjoyed a run in her wolf form just as much.

After Bella hadher fill of exploration, we trekked deeper into the woods, replaceing somewhere secluded and far enough from the trail we wouldn’t be discovered by a casual hiker or midday jogger. We found a small clearing, and I crouched down next to Bella.

“Are you ready to let your wolf go for a run?” I asked, tipping my head to one side. Iris joined me.

Bella looked from one of us to the other, eventually giving an awkward shrug. I wasn’t sure if that meant she’d shifted before or not, so I tried prompting her again. “Have you gone for a run before, Bella?”

Again, the little girl looked at us both before dropping her gaze. She shuffled her feet and shrugged again.

“It’s okay no matter what the answer is,” I reassured her, sensing she was afraid of giving a wrong one. “I’ll help you if you need it. You won’t get in trouble.”

“Your wolf is your friend,” Iris added, tipping her head to one side. “And it’s okay if you need a little bit of help. Eli helped me and my wolf, too, because I hadn’t seen her for a while. That’s okay.”

Bella looked up, watching Iris intently. I was about to ask her another question when Bella’s gaze finally shifted to me, her expression changing. “Mommy said no.”

I blinked. “Your mom said no?” Her mom wouldn’t let her shift?

When Bella nodded, I had to fight not to scowl. I opened my mouth, but Iris leaned over, squeezing my knee as she leaned in to whisper. “Her mother probably didn’t want her shifting in the facility. Didn’t want those creeps to hurt her.”

Of course.I mentally berated myself for thinking it was because the woman was trying to quash Bella or something. Of course, she would want her daughter to hide her wolf. If humans didn’t know children that young could shift, there was no reason for them to learn that little fact. If they didn’t know Bella was an alpha, there was no reason to reveal it. Her status would have been more obvious in her shifted form.

“That’s okay,” I said quietly, turning back to Bella. “We’re safe here. None of those bad people will know.”

Bella didn’t look convinced, and she looked back over at Iris. Iris smiled warmly, giving a small nod. “Eli is right. And you want to stay in touch with your wolf. You don’t want her to get lonely, right?”

The child paused, but eventually, she gave a small nod.

“Okay,” I said, turning to Iris. “What if you shift first so she can see your wolf?”

For a moment, she looked like she might balk. I hoped she realized I didn’t want to go first only because I didn’t want to scare Bella. I had no idea who, if anyone, she’d shifted with before. I didn’t even know if her father was an alpha, too, or if she’d ever seen a pack alpha change shape.

I might not be the largest alpha in North America, but I was significantly bigger than your average shifter, and even some other pack leaders.

Iris seemed to catch on after a moment and gave a nod. “Okay,” she agreed, standing up and stepping back. I glanced up to watch, briefly wondering if she’d be able to without assistance, but I didn’t have time to have a second thought. A breath later and there was a white wolf standing before us, her eyes bright and ears pricked forward.

Bella stood with wide eyes, looking over at me as if she’d just witnessed something magical. In a sense, she had. I beamed at her. “Iris’ wolf is so pretty, isn’t she?” I said, nodding at her. “Would you like to pet her?”

When Bella looked a little uncertain, I motioned Iris over. She stepped over and pressed her face into my hands, tail swaying behind her as I stroked her muzzle and face, smoothing my hand over her velvety ears. After watching for a moment, Bella stepped forward, encouraged, and gave Iris’ muzzle the gentlest of pets.

Iris made a pleased noise, tipping her muzzle to give Bella’s hand the tiniest of licks. Her whiskers pressed forward, and she stepped closer, brushing her nose close to Bella’s face. Her whiskers barely k!ssed the girl’s rosy cheeks, and Bella giggled, a smile breaking back over her face. “Soft,” she said happily, glancing back at me. “‘ris soft.”

“She is,” I agreed, nodding sagely. I could sense Bella’s wolf stirring now. I had sensed her a few times before, but she’d simply existed as some sort of undercurrent. A feeling, perhaps, that had helped Bella stay alive, even if she might not know why.

Iris lay down on the forest floor next to Bella, her tail thumping against the blanket of fallen leaves. I waited a few moments, allowing Bella to pet her and get a little more comfortable before speaking again. “Are you ready to try?”

The look of uncertainty returned to Bella’s face, and she frowned, chewing on her lower l!p. “It’s okay,” I said. “It’s okay if you can’t. Just try. You won’t be in trouble, I promise,” I reassured her.

Finally, Bella nodded and took a step backward. She stood there, staring at me. I could sense her wolf stirring, but nothing else happened. She probably doesn’t have much — if any — practice, I realized. I smiled at her, not wanting Bella to panic and retreat that nothing was happening.

“Is it okay if I help?” I asked, tipping my head. “You’ll feel my wolf.”

I didn’t want to just cast my alpha over her and frighten her. The last thing I wanted was to cause Bella to be afraid of shifting entirely.

She didn’t say anything but trotted over to me, grasping my hand as she nodded. “Okay,” I said. “I need you to look at me, okay? I need to see you for my wolf to help.”

Bella paused, but she looked up. Red began to tinge my vision, and I hummed softly. My wolf pressed against Bella gently as if introducing himself before he began to tug on her wolf. It was much simpler than it had been with Iris. Iris’ wolf had been mired down in doubts and was tangled up, weakened by years and years of hiding.

Bella’s wolf was simply young and inexperienced. She was a pup, confused and uncertain, but after a moment, willing to follow after him. She let go of my hand, and a moment later, there was a tawny wolf pup standing where a girl had been moments before. She was bigger than you’d expect such a young pup to be, but that didn’t surprise me, given her mother had said she was an alpha.

I’d never seen a wolf quite like her before. Her coat was thick and rugged — much more rugged than you’d expect from a southern wolf. Her tawny coat was almost bronze or gold in places, with a lustrous shimmer.

There was a deep red undertone, but she was far, far larger than a red wolf. Those were quite small, even at full size. The more I looked at her, the more I realized she was large, even for an alpha. Once Iris stood up and walked over to her, I realized Bella was almost to her belly.

Iris was really quite average, as far as wolves went — maybe even a little larger than the average you’d replace in the continental United States, being an arctic wolf. But that meant Bella was far larger than she should be for her age, measuring as tall as a ten-year-old. Alphas were bigger, but the disparity was much less pronounced before puberty.

Huh.

I decided not to say anything. Bella had already looked so unsure of shifting in the first place, and I didn’t want her to think she’d done something wrong.

After a few moments of stumbling around on feet too large, Bella was off like a shot, darting into the underbrush as some small critter made the mistake of scurrying around in the leaves. Iris blinked, wheeling around to chase after her, leaving me to shift as quickly as I could and hurry after the pair.

The rest of our run went a lot like that — Bella heard something and took off. Iris and I would run after her, keeping her out of too much trouble as her wolf’s prey drive caught on to everything that made even the smallest noise.

She seemed a bit more aggressive than I remembered being, but she probably hadn’t had much — if any — time to shift outside of the facility. She probably had no practice tempering her wolf’s desires. It was something we could work on later if it didn’t sort itself out.