“What I should have done the day I returned you to Wolf Creek,” he said.
“Alec, wait.”
He was already in wolf form again, running away from me.
I knew I couldn’t risk shifting, but I couldn’t let him go after Tyler on his own.Fuck.I had to make a choice. Fast. If I went out there, my wolf could force me to connect with Tyler. Or I could stay in human form and risk letting years of rage get the better of me. As much as I wanted Tyler dead, I couldn’t risk being the one to end his life.
With a deep breath, I turned and ran toward Star’s house, hoping like hell I’d made the right call. My footsteps were unsteady in human form, I stumbled several times, and was pretty sure my feet and legs were covered in blood when I arrived. None of that mattered. I had to get help.
As much as I wanted to be the one to take care of myself and defend my friends, I knew there were things I couldn’t do on my own. Going after my mate, especially with my bond in the state it was in, was one of them.
I burst through the door. “Sheila! Malcom!”
I nearly collided into Sheila as I ran down the hall.
“What’s going on?” she demanded. “Where’s Alec?”
“He went after Tyler,” I said.
“Fuck.”
“What’s going on?” Malcom and Kyle joined us.
“Alec went after Tyler,” Sheila said.
The two males ran past me, not bothering with any other information before they headed out the door.
“Stay here,” Sheila said.
“Like hell I will,” I snapped.
“At least put some clothes on. You can’t risk shifting. You understand me?”
“I know,” I said.
“He already went through the entrance, right?” Shelia asked.
I nodded.
“You’re going to need these.” Star was holding a bundle of clothes in her hands.
I grabbed it from her and tugged on the shorts and tee shirt. She even had a pair of boots for me. They were about a size too big, but it was better than repeating my painful run through the woods barefoot.
“Come on,” Sheila said. “I’ll stay human with you. It’ll help you not shift. Just focus on me.”
“Thank you.” All I’d ever wanted was to be able to stand up for myself and fight back. It was killing me that I still wasn’t there yet. The difference this time was that I wasn’t getting the shit beat out of me for trying to do something I wasn’t strong enough for. For the first time, I didn’t feel sorry for myself. I had friends who were able to help me when I couldn’t do it all alone. And I knew I was strong enough to keep getting better.
You are an alpha.I was starting to feel the part, even if I couldn’t do everything I wanted to yet. Part of being a good leader was asking for help when you needed it.
Sheila and I headed out. The sun was setting and a cold wind cut through the air. I shivered but I wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or the anticipation of what we were about to face down.
Would we find Tyler? Would the others find him before we reached him? I had no idea what to expect. I thought we’d deal with this Tyler thing after we helped my dad. Nothing ever seemed to go as planned.