Ninja Turtles Meet The Huntress

Decisions

As night began to fall, the turtles began to prepare for a nightly patrol. Raph disappeared off to his room again, unable to follow his brothers even though the swelling had mostly disappeared. Even though she was still upset with him, Gabby followed him back to administer her last saliva bath. He just stuck his leg out and she licked across the injury, taking her time and making sure to completely saturate the area. It was important that he was sound for the following day. Everything depended on him breaking the Alpha bond with her mother. Then the others would be able to choose their loyalty to their old she-alpha over their loyalty to Aiden. When she was sure she had covered the area she shifted to her human form and eyed her Alpha wearily.

"Do you really think you'll be able to beat my mom?" She asked.

"Yeah." He replied.

"I need you to." She said, her voice strained. "I can't go back to him. I would rather die than give him a pup and my next heat isn't that far off. I need you to understand that if you don't beat her then I will die and Gracie is next in line to be his prized breeder. I think she would rather die too and that would send my mom rogue. The fate of my entire family rests in your hands. If you can't save us it will be too late."

Raph's usually guarded expression softened. "My brothers and I have always protected the people of this city." He said. "I'll do my best to do the same for you guys."

She was surprised that he hadn't given her some tense or angry response as he had the entire day. She focused on the Alpha bond between them and sensed the protective side of his nature surfacing. He may not have liked the thought of being saddled with a bunch of wolves, but he really hated the thought of someone being able to hurt them while they were in his home. Maybe he wasn't as big of a jerk as he seemed. She gave him a tense smile.

"I'll have Ronnie check out your ankle in the morning. She's medically trained. Get some sleep. Big day tomorrow." She said and she walked out, leaving Raph in a state of confused feelings of irritation at being told to go to bed and protectiveness for the little wolf. He sighed and headed for his bed, deciding that Gabby was right and it was best to be rested.

Raph was once again jerked awake by the lightest touch on his skin. He sat bolt upright and took in the sight of Gabby, her face strained and circles under her bloodshot eyes as though she hadn't slept in days.

"Ronnie needs to check your ankle." She said. "And then we need to get the Alpha bond reformed before Aiden demands answers. If we don't do it now it may be too late."

With a sigh, he climbed out of bed, stretching his powerful muscles and grabbing for the various pieces that put his outfit together. For the first time, Gabby really noticed the silver duct tape that snaked across his shell. If she weren't so concerned about the danger everyone was in, she would have asked him about it but instead she hurried him into the living room where all of the wolves and master splinter were awake and waiting.

"Sit here and let me see your ankle." Saffron said.

Raph sat on the couch and she took his ankle into her hand, massaging the area and bending and rolling his foot to test his range.

"Is there any pain at all?" She asked.

"No. It feels great." Raph said.

"I can't feel any evidence of the break or any sprain. Short of an X-ray there's no other way to tell if it's healed or not. I'm confident he's healed though."

Brandy stood up and faced him. "Is there any particular place you want to do this?" She asked.

"The training room." He answered and led them into the space he and his brothers sparred. All of the wolves shifted into their wolf forms and lined the edge of the room.