Five years after loosing her mother and being blamed for her death Amber can't live in Blue Moon Pack anymore. After discovering she's a runt, her family turns their backs on her and her mate decides that he doesn't want her. Running seems to be her...
I was in the kitchen with Myles and the twins getting some lunch together when the twins started fighting over the last piece of cherry cheesecake. I just rolled my eyes and went back to the half-eaten sandwich on my plate.
"You got the last piece of chocolate cake!" Tyler complained
"That's only because you got the piece before that!" Zack fired back.
"Well before that you got the last box of Thin Mints!"
"I bought that box for me, it's not my fault you scarf them down like there's no tomorrow. I saved my Thin Mints and didn't eat them all in one afternoon!" Their obsession with food was driving me to insanity.
"Why don't you cut the cheese cake in half... that way you both get the last piece." I meant for the suggestion to solve the problem, and it did for a minute. Then...
"No way! You got the bigger piece!"
"They're the same size!"
"You always do this! You always cut one half bigger than the other and then take the larger piece!" I nearly punched Tyler in the face just to get him to shut up.
"UGH... FINE! Take my piece instead! I DON'T CARE!"
"Thank you." Myles' voice was quiet but when I heard it, I turned to see him glaring at the twins. I don't know how much more I would have been able to take. I swear sometimes those two act like three year olds instead of the sixteen they are.
"Do they always fight like that?" The sudden appearance of Alex's voice from the doorway made me jump out of my skin before I relaxed.
"That is going to take some getting used to..." Myles said under his breath. I completely understood and agreed with him, as a pack we were used to Kole and his silent movements, but he was big and easier to notice. Alex on the other hand was small and almost disappeared when she wanted to.
"This is almost a daily occurrence when it comes to the twins. Whatever you do, don't mess with their food." I answered her as I got out of my chair to walk over to her. "How are you feeling?" she gave a small smile and cast her eyes downward before answering me.
"Pretty good. A little achy in some places but I'm sure those pains will go away once I build up my strength in training." her comment caught me off guard. She was training already? I turned to Kole for conformation.
"You're training her already?" my voice was steady, completely opposite of what I was feeling. Alex just got out of the hospital a few hours ago, she wasn't ready to be training.
"Doc cleared her this morning and there was no talking her out of it. She did pretty well for someone who's never trained before." My eyes widened and a growl ripped its way out of my chest. I didn't miss the fear and uncertainty in Alex's eyes as she shifted and moved farther from me (which just so happened to be closer to Kole.) He however wasn't as responsive to my anger, he narrowed his eyes at me and stood his ground.
"It doesn't matter if the doctor cleared her, she needs her rest! She nearly died last night!" I turned my attention to Alex who was now practically shaking where she stood, "You nearly died! I can't believe you would jeopardize your life like that!" I was interrupted by a growl to my right.
"She wasn't in jeopardy and I made sure to watch her closely. At the first sign of complications I made her take a break. She was and is perfectly safe." Kole's words were cold and factual. He didn't get angry at my outburst and part of me knows, that's the only reason I took a breath and came to terms with the fact that she was okay.
"Fine... just don't overdo it. I don't want you back in the hospital." She nodded but didn't seem to relax until I moved back to the table. My back was to them as I headed back to clean up my plate. I still wasn't happy about her training right out of the infirmary but I would get over it, it was my job to make sure she was trained anyway.
"Woah Alex, nice ink..." Tyler's words stopped me dead in my tracks. Ink? As in a tattoo? I turned back to put context to the comment, but when I saw Alex's neck the only word crashing around in my head was tattoo.
"You got a tattoo?" my attention turned once again to Kole, "You took her to get a TATTOO?" I was furious and all Kole did was frown at me. It's not that tattoos are frowned upon, but it was a permanent change to someone's body and they had done it in one evening.
"It's actually not a tattoo." Alex's voice was soft and almost afraid. "They're my spots."
"What?" all the anger disappeared from my body. Her spots?
"Just like my eye, my Cat healed my shoulder and covered the scar with my spots." My eyes got wide as I examined her neck closer. When I noticed that they were leopard spots and the skin around them didn't show any sign of tattooing I relaxed again and just looked at it in awe.
"Will the mysteries of Cat shifters never cease?" Myles mumbled under his breath.
"Well I guess with Alex being the only surviving shifter after a rejection there's no telling what is normal anymore. For all we know she could sprout horns and permanent fangs." Tyler made 'fangs' with his fingers as he explained the possibilities. Zack took a moment to respond but when he did he erupted in laughter and got both me and Myles going as well. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Alex looked down at the floor and what I think was her tongue moving inside her mouth to feel her canines as if checking to make sure her fangs were not coming out.
"Don't worry Alex, Tyler just likes to be overly dramatic and make stuff up." She nodded but didn't verbally respond, instead she moved over to the breakfast bar and grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl on the counter. Kole had grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge then took the apple next to Alex's hand. I watched closely and noticed the lack of fear in her eyes and her body language, she didn't flinch away from him or stiffen up at his closeness. At first I thought her ease around him might be because they were both Cats and could relate to each other. I hadn't realized that Alex was truly comfortable with Kole so close, and Kole looked almost happy standing next to Alex.
"I have to go run the afternoon training." Kole practically whispered, but his comment was for Alex's ears only the fact that I heard him was nothing short of an accident. Before he left he pulled out a stem of catnip and handed it to Alex, then placed his hand on her shoulder as he walked around her, only breaking contact when his arm couldn't make the reach. Once he was out of the room Alex became on edge, it was as if someone flipped a switch and put her into panic mode. Myles noticed the sudden change of attitude as well and looked at me in question.
"Hey Alex... why don't we take you to the mall so you can get some clothes." Zack drew our attention and I was hopeful for the distraction.
"I don't have any money..." her voice was low and she didn't make eye contact.
"So... We'll buy you something. Kind of like a welcome gift." Tyler pitched in and smiled. Alex took a minute to respond, but when she did she gave a small smile and nodded. I guess we're going to the mall today.
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(I do not own this picture, but this is what I imagine Alex's spots would look like on her human body)
