Taking Down the Alpha

24 Should Have Hated It

After the officers finished taking everyone's statements and dealing with the situation, we had no more issues. The guy who had run off after the rogue returned empty handed, although he was as delighted as his friend to discover that not only had they helped, they had helped the Troublemaker's mate. It came as no shock to me that people admired him, but I hadn't been sure how much of that was the bond talking. I wasn't exactly without prejudice in his favour.

"Your fight was so amazing," his fan gushed. It was sort of endearing to see a grown man look like he was ready to wag his tail for my mate.

Al chuckled. "Well, my fight was pretty good, but your friend here subdued a rogue and assisted my mate and her friends. And you helped, too. Much more impressive to me."

The beat up wolf was already healing, but the damage from his fight was still visible. He was bashful about the praise and the superfan looked ready to faint.

"Yes, thank you so much," I agreed, smiling. I made sure to get their contact information for future reference. Perhaps there was some way I could reward them later.

The doctor onsite for the fight was the next to arrive. Al insisted that he check me over, even though I protested that there was no need. He pronounced me perfectly fine other than my bruises, patched the helpful stranger, checked Denise out and proclaimed that she largely just needed to get some rest. He also informed me there was nothing he could do to get Liana to shift back. She had to want to shift back, and she didn't seem interested in doing that.

She apparently needed convincing.

While Al kept talking to the doctor, I went and sat down beside Liana. She opened one eye and looked at me before closing it again, completely disinterested. "Come on, Liana. You need to shift back so that we can go back and get some sleep. Remember? You're not a fan of late nights. And don't you want to get all that blood off of you? You hate blood."

She yawned, but didn't move another muscle.

"Liana. This is your hopefully future luna speaking. Shift back now."

Liana opened her eyes again. She tilted her head and looked as if she were considering my words.

Then she flopped her head back down.

"Come on. Liana, time to shift back." Maybe if I used her weakness for putting other people first against her. "I'll be really upset if my plans get messed up because you can't shift back. And look, Denise got hurt and the doctor said she'd need rest."

Liana whimpered and turned her head towards Denise. It was a good sign she was still aware somewhere in there. Andrew cradled his mate in his arms.

After watching for a moment, she looked at me with pleading eyes as if begging for assistance. Maybe Liana was just having trouble shifting back? She had to do it. Even if she somehow fit into her little car like this, how could we sneak a blood-soaked wolf into a hotel?

Al had finished up his conversation with the doctor and came and stood beside me. "Can I try?" he asked.

"Sure."

He got down low and looked directly into Liana's eyes. He stared her down until she whimpered.

"Shift back, Liana." His voice was harder than I'd heard it, and even I felt the power. He had to be an alpha by blood. It wasn't surprising, but it was further confirmation.

Liana whimpered again, and she stood up on shaky paws. She looked up at him, her eyes pleading.

His voice grew softer again. "Feel your body. Shifting is natural to you, even if it's unfamiliar. Feel your muscles, your bones. They're all the same parts you've always had, just slightly different. You're still you, and you can be whichever form that you wish to be, because it's all you."