Plus One

After everyone else left Alex asked me, “You sure you can do this pretty boy?”

I nodded, “Yeah. I know I can. I’ve done it before.” I picked up Faelen easily and I carried him to the middle of the floor. “Well not at this age, but I’ve forced wolves from wolf to human on many occasions. It’s partially why Dom likes me to go after his rogues. Though he says he loses them a little when I do, but it keeps his people safer so he allows it.”

Alex turned to walk away, “You can stay. Faelen won’t hurt you. He’ll be under my control.”

“You aren’t a wolf.” Alex added mostly for himself.

“But I’m an alpha. It’s why Adrian let me go, and why he swore fealty to me. So I can do this. But if I do, he’s part of the family. He’ll be pack – more so than anyone else. He’ll be mine until I release him.”

Alex sighed, “Yours?”

“I will be his Alpha, his pack leader. I’m responsible for him, his actions. I need to take care of him.”

Alex laughed, “So just like one of the family.”

“More so but yes.”

“More so?” Alex asked, “How can you take care of someone more than family?”

“Faelen is an omega. He will never be able to take care of himself.”

“Wait. Adrian was thinking something about you being an omega.”

I grinned up at Alex. “I would have been if I hadn’t had this power. Why do you think I have that submissive streak?”

Alex sat down with us, “How can you be both?”

I shrugged, “How can I be Venatori and carry Theranthropy? How can I control vampires? How can I know what an ancient language says when I’ve never seen it before.”

Alex laughed, “Point taken. Let’s get on with it.” Alex put his hand on the boys head and ran his fingers through his mostly clean hair, “We got you.”

I hadn’t expected Alex to sit down and be this close, I wasn’t worried, but I was grateful that Alex was who Alex was. He said he wasn’t a good guy – didn’t do nice things without a reason. Everyone has a reason to do nice things. His might be a little skewed, but who was I to talk.

I let the power flow through me, like I’d done earlier, this time I focused it only on Faelen, on the quivering boy in front of me. But the moment he felt the power the shaking stopped and he looked at me with those big brown eyes and here was a faint smile on his downtrodden face. He found home. I knew it and he knew it. Alex knew it.

The first change was always painful and when the first bone cracked he screamed, but Alex and I were there to comfort him. This was Alex’s first time watching a changed up close and personal. It was painful to watch the body bend and break and change. And it was slow the first time as the body learned it’s new form. It felt like forever that Faelen screamed in agony.

But it had only been ten minutes and there was a larger than average sized wolf panting in front of us shaking out his chestnut colored fur. He lapped at my face, and then at Alex’s. “He’ll need to stay a wolf for a while before we help him change back.”

I ran my fingers through Faelen’s shaggy hair and smiled. “That okay with you Fae?”

There was a brief howl and the pup followed after us as Alex opened the door. “Rider and Laker are going to have to go through that.”

I nodded, “Most likely.”

“Will you force them to?” Alex asked.

“No. Not unless they want me to.”

“Free will and all that.” Alex muttered.

“Something like that. More like it feels like I’m raping them, taking something from them if I make them. Which is why it was important for me to get Fae’s consent.”

Alex wrapped his arm around me, “I know pretty boy. What else do we need to do while we are down here?”

“Get what information we can about what was going on down there.” I said.