Under the Skin

Chapter 3

Like he did for the past week, the first thing Alec did after waking up was to go check up on his mate. The ache in his heart only grew as the days passed by, and despite falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, he always woke up exhausted. 

He knew his close friends were worried for him, but there was nothing they could do to alleviate his pain. The only one who could help him was his mate, but he didn't seem to recognize Alec as his mate, which was the main root of the beta's pain. If he didn't know any better, he would think he was interacting with a regular wolf. But the scent and his size couldn't be mistaken. He was truly a werewolf. 

At some point, Alec and Thomas had brought the healer to take a look at his mate, but even the healer didn't have an answer for him. 

"It seems like the human and the wolf are not connected to each other. This may be why he hasn't been able to change back." She stood up from where she was crouched in front of the wolf, looking at the beta.

"I'm sorry, but this is beyond my skills. Maybe he will change back on his own. In the mean time, I'll try to speak with healers from other packs to see if they can help us." They both thanked her for her help. 

Alec felt a hand on his shoulder, but the beta averted his gaze. He didn't want to see the pity in Thomas' eyes. The alpha saw his friend didn't want to talk about it, and he began to walk back to the training fields to supervise.

"You won't kill him, right? His my mate." Thomas had stopped in his tracks. He was turned between his desire to reassure his friend and his duty as the pack alpha. 

"We won't make a decision before he changes back and hear what he has to say." 

Alec was frustrated, feeling like everyone was against him and his mate. Still, deep down, he understood why. 

Before they made the decision to kill every rogue that trespassed on the territory, there had been many incident when the rogues that were brought to the main house for questioning lashed out, and pack members had died because of this. 

Since the wolf had also attacked one of their members before the found him, they had even more reason to take him down. The instinct to protect the pack was ingrained deep into every wolf, especially those with beta or alpha designations, and letting a threat moving freely around the camp went against their very nature. 

With a deep sigh, Alec tried to push those thoughts aside. He rounded the corner of the main house and looked at the post, where his mate was tied. He froze in his step when he saw that a thin boy had replaced the wolf. 

He quickly snapped out of it and hurried towards him. He got down on his knees and tried to shake him awake. The beta grew even more worried when he noticed how cold his skin was. He realized that he had probably been laying in the cold snow for hours.

Alec cursed as he grabbed the key for the collar he kept close at hand in case he needed it. After the collar was removed, he scooped the boy in his arms. He shifted his hold so his head could lay on his shoulder instead of hanging limply over his arm and quickly began to jog to the healer's den. 

The woman startled when he burst inside without knocking, but she went still when she saw the form in his arms. 

"My mate shifted, but I don't know how long he spent laying in the snow." She gestured for him to place him on one of the cots she kept for sick wolves. They heard the boy moan slightly, though he was still unconscious when Alec placed him down.