Rogue Wolf

Ch 30 home

Michael looked at me with disgust. Max gazed at me with a furrowed brow and confused look. I couldn't blame either of them. I didn't even know what to think of what I just said.

Home. I knew the storybook version; house, yard, parents... two of them, and siblings.

What had I ever had?

Shelter from the weather outside but never the storms that often raged inside the walls of what I once called home; that's what I'd had in the past. The city itself had been my backyard, that safer-than-home place I went to play.

Parents? A non-existent father, or maybe a parade of possible fathers. A mom who took care of me and loved me when, and sometimes if, she remembered I was there; but never at the price of her company. Siblings? Only those who shared my passion for parkour, and I had left them to be on my own long ago.

I felt tears welling up in me, again, and I couldn't stop them. At least I wasn't sobbing this time. I turned away so no one would see.

Looking around, I knew I could accept this place as home. I already had. I wasn't sure when it happened; maybe it was the look on Max's face right before he opened the doors here. Never had I wanted to be someplace the way I wanted to be here. I wanted to see it as Max remembered it, maybe even better. I wanted to help make it that way.

I wanted to forget the stench of that piss-filled room that was Alpha's territory, the way I had already forgotten my room at my mom's. I delighted in the light from the top skylights, the breeze from hidden vents, even the early morning watering as the sprinklers came on for a few minutes.

Max came up behind me, placing his arms under mine, hugging me from behind. I leaned my head against him. More than the place itself, it was my Max that made this home.

"What was it like, to be homeless?" he asked, his breath warm against my ear.

"Lonely," I said after a pause, "but I didn't know I was lonely, until you." I turned around in his arms, smiling shyly at him despite my tears. When had I ever been comfortable in someone's arms?

How could I explain what life was like for me? More importantly, how could I tell him I hadn't really been homeless? Though the more I thought about it, I might as well have been, in a way. I've taken care of myself for so long now. It felt good to have someone else take care of me, someone who wanted to take care of me!

His fingers brushed away my silent tears.

"I'm glad you can accept us as both home and family."

"I accept you," I told him with a smile, but he frowned at my words.

"The pack is family. The Alpha King says so. You must look at the guards as family as well."

I gave a slight chuckle. As if you could command someone to accept people you don't want to as family.

"Yeah, let me introduce you to my brother named Guard and my other brother named Guard," I said derisively. "Hard to see them as family." Suddenly I realized I hadn't been addressing my Max with his title. "My Alpha Maximus," I said quickly, looking down some, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"Names," he said suddenly, "they should be using names as well." He gave me a strange look, tilting my chin up so I was looking at him again. "You understand this. You understand everything the Alpha King wants done. He said I knew what needed changed, but I don't think I do."

He studied me intensely, to the point I was almost uncomfortable. I felt that stirring within me, and I was tempted to go to my knees in front of him. I didn't know how else to express what I was feeling. He suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me further away from Michael.

"You must help me," Max practically hissed quietly in my ear. "I do not want to fail the Alpha King, but I do not know what to do, what he wants. He said the abuse has to stop, all of it. You are my Beta. Give what commands you need to. You see things like the Alpha King does. You are so much like him!"

I stared at Max in amazement. He was almost panicking with the thought of failing the Alpha King. He doesn't know, I thought in disbelief. He really doesn't know how shitty Alpha made life for everyone, including Max himself. And he wants me to give the commands to make life even better here.

I did go to my knees then, sinking down without even thinking about it. "I obey my Alpha. I will protect the pack," I said softly. The words had been said before, at Alpha's cruel command. This time they were brought forth from me because of the awe and fear of the Alpha King that had my Max almost in that panic. This time I meant them, for my Max.

When I looked back up at him, I knew I had that adoring look on my face. It wasn't by design this time, but came naturally. I was rewarded when my Max gave a relieved sigh, smiling down at me.