Alpha Axel

Four

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The moment that I walked back within our pack borders, my shoulders slumped in absolute relief. I began to run, the familiar smells and feeling of being home giving me new energy. The first movements of the pack were beginning, and the more familiar faces I saw, the happier I became. I walked up to the pack house, the familiar oak doors weathered, but the knob had always been easy to turn. I stepped in the house, about to shout my homecoming, when I heard it: sobbing. A woman's wails were coming from the upstairs bedroom, and I began to climb the steps. I could hear that it was coming from the far end of the hallway, my parent's room. 

I walked up to the door, laying my hand on the cool surface. I could tell that the sobs belonged to my mother, and I could hear the hushed voice of my father trying to calm her. I knocked softly, my knuckles soft against the door. I heard a break in the crying and the soft shuffling of feet to the door. It opened slowly, revealing my mother's puffy face, her eyes red and swollen as tears still ran down her face. Her eyes widened as she saw my face, and she let out a small squeal as she threw her arms around me. Her hold around me stiffened as I heard her take a deep breath in. 

"Why on earth do you reek like wolf?" The ice in her tone was anything but forgiving. She pushed away from the hug, eying me wearily. The man's shirt and shorts still hung from my petite frame, hanging past my knees. I did smell like him, but his scent was the only wolf's that I wouldn't mind being covered in. 

What am I saying?! There is no way that I would ever want him. 

"I uh, found some extra clothes in the woods, I'm assuming  for when they shift, and I managed to make my way back here." Her eyes were weary, but she gave me a small nod. There's no way I could tell her that I found my mate. She would kill me if she knew that I was mated to an Alpha of all things. 

"Okay, honey. I'm just glad you're safe. Why don't you get showered and cleaned up, we have funerals arranged for those that were lost. We uh- we even had one arranged for you. We assumed that they took your body like they took Lane's. Those bastards- they had me believing that they had taken both of my children." Her shoulders stiffened again, and she gave me a look before shutting the door right in my face. I jumped at the force behind it, but I understood. My mother had just believed that she lost both of her children to the same pack. Her feelings are spiraling around. 

I walked back down the hallway to my room and fell onto the bed. The softness of the sheets was nothing compared to Axel's, but these were mine, I felt safe here. 

Stripping down, I jumped into the shower, letting the hot water take all of the dirt, grime, and scent of wolf from my skin. I ran the shampoo through my messy curls, wishing that the past few days never had to happen. The hot water helped to relax my back, but the tightness wasn't gone completely. My body ached for some sort of relief, the pain being just a constant dullness since- since Axel had comforted me. 

I shook my head, the water droplets flying everywhere. I would not think about that- that wolf. I just couldn't. If I ever saw him again, if, then I would reject him. Plain and simple. There was nothing else I could do. Being with him would erase everything I had worked for, and it would be like going against who I was: a hunter. 

I turned the water off and grabbed a towel. I wrapped it tightly around myself and walked out of the bathroom to grab some clothes. As I searched through my shirts for my favorite, I hesitated. I could just put Axel's shirt back on... I shook my head again. Why were these thoughts clouding my mind? I was going to reject him, I shouldn't be thinking like this. I grabbed a pair of black jeans and a simple white v-neck. The funerals held by hunters were simple and respectful. They were times of celebration and happiness of the person for the life they lived.