The Exiled Alpha

Chapter fourty-one

Before the movie ends, most of the children are already fast asleep. The only one up with me is a five year old girl named Stephanie. She's one of the kids I get most along with. Her long dark brown locks are curled tonight and she has big golden brown eyes that follow my every single movement. I walk around the three sofas, pulling the blankets over the other four kids.

"Not tired?" I whisper to Stephanie and she shakes her head at the question. A small smile rises to my lips as I turn off the movie when the credits roll on.

"Mackenzie." Stephanie calls for me, her soft voice making me look over to her. "Why can't you shift yet?" She asks me and I inhale a sharp breath at the question. I walk over to the sofa we've been sitting on the whole evening and crouch down before her.

"The Moon goddess doesn't think it's the right time for me yet. I guess she thinks I have to stay with you guys a little longer." I smile at her and she shows me a big grin, one of her front teeth missing.

From the five kids I babysit every full moon, Stephanie is the youngest. The oldest is Kenny, an eight year old boy with medium long black hair and light grey eyes. He's one of the calmest kids in the five, besides Steph. Brody is seven years old and his younger brother, Ben is six. The younger sibling looks like a total copy of Brody, just in a much shorter form. Annie is also seven years old.

I nudge my head for Stephanie to follow me and we head into the pack house kitchen. I usually stay up the whole night to make sure everything is alright with the wolves in the den. I have the next day school free, which means a longer weekend for myself than for the others.

"Want some food?" I ask her now in a normal tone of voice, since we're far away from the sleeping children. "Yes!" Stephanie cheers, which makes a smile grow on my face. The moon is already high up in the night sky and it's been about three hours since everybody went into the den.

"What would you like, grilled cheese sandwiches or scrambled eggs?" I ask, my head almost inside of the fridge to see what we have inside it. "Grilled cheese, please." She answers and I almost congratulate myself for guessing correctly.

I take the toast and cheese and set them on the counter, before grabbing the butter out of the fridge. I stop in my tracks, turning around to look past Stephanie and through the window. The strange feeling hasn't left me yet, it has only increased more.

"Is something wrong?" Stephanie asks me, twisting in her chair to look over her shoulder. I press my lips in a thin line, reminding myself I can't worry the pups about this. They are already worried of their safety since they're not with their parents.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Steph. I'll go check it out just in case." I tell her and head out of the kitchen.

I unlock the door and step out of the pack house, closing the door behind me. The cold night air envelopes me in a hug that makes me shiver. I wrap my arms around myself to create much needed warmth, while looking around the street. I strain my ears for any type of sound in the night, but there's nothing to be heard.

I clench my fists by my body, realizing I don't hear nothing. Literally nothing. On usual nights you can hear crickets and the hooting of an owl sometimes. But tonight, there is no sound at all.

I stumble backwards into the pack house and lock the door behind myself. My anxiety tightens my chest and I feel like it's hard to breathe all of a suddenly. No, Mack, this is no time to have a panic attack. I need to stay with the pups, I tell myself, pressing my open palm against my chest and breathing into it a couple of times.

Then I head back into the kitchen, where Stephanie patiently waits for me. Her big golden brown eyes look over to me.

"Anything?" She asks me and I force myself to shake my head. "Nothing. Everything is perfectly fine." I tell her, going back to the counter to make her the grilled cheese. I put them in a toaster quickly, one of the big meat knives catching my peripheral vision. I put the ingredients back into the fridge and turn over to Stephanie.