The Breeder

IV - Kenan

I stood at my desk, my fingers twitching.  The veins in my forearms raised as the fury beneath my skin threatened to rise.  My skin rippled beneath the white, pressed-collar shirt, and my shoulders shook with a shiver.  Tonight my beast was on edge.  Rogues weren't as common as one would think.  Most would succumb to whatever society pressures were necessary to maintain the status within the pack.  To be kicked out of a pack was viewed worse than death.  To be cut off, alone, left to wander all your days was inconceivable to most.  The pack was life.  

My body hummed waiting.

It's a she-wolf, Alpha. One of my pack warriors by the name of Cale mind-linked to me.  

No other trespassers?

No, Alpha.  She's heavily injured.

My beast seemed to calm slightly, a sigh of relief left my lips.  Rogues were dangerous creatures.  Malnourished, blood-thirsty creatures that reacted aggressively without thought of consequence.  There was no reasoning with them and many packs had suffered great losses by not being on the defensive.

I tilted my head back, turning my neck side to side.  The muscles had gone stiff.  I ran a hand through my dark hair, my thoughts drifting to the injured she-wolf.   Where did she come from?  Was it a ploy of distraction left by a rogue? I froze as the thought flitted across my mind. I needed to see her.

With determination I left my office, closing the door behind me.  The thick mahogany door closing with a soft click.  I walked outside to the infirmary, it wasn't more than a quick jaunt.  A small clinic with double glass doors, a low roof and flowering shrubs lined the sidewalk.  Once inside I walked to a room where a lot of commotion was happening, moving the thick grey curtain out of the way.

There lay the she-wolf on a hospital bed.  Both of the pack doctors were busy making an assessment as they checked her vitals and made notes on their charts.  The female pack doctor looked up.  Her cheeks flushed as she paused in her assessment to acknowledge him.

"Alpha," she dipped her head.

"Lana," I replied. 

I stepped closer eyeing the she-wolf.  The she-wolf lay dormant.  In fact she lay so still that if you didn't pay close enough attention you could miss the almost non-existent movement of her ribs from breaths too shallow.  She had beautiful gray fur, though patches were missing around her ribs.  Her front paw twitched.  

He softly let his fingers graze over the soft fur on her head down to neck.  A pleasurable tingle crawled up his arm the moment he touched her.  He was captivated by the beautiful color of her wolf.  His body shivered as his skin rippled.  This time however it wasn't in anguish - anticipation and then worry over the she-wolf as she softly whined.  He frowned and dragged his hand down her side.  The pleasurable tingles never leaving.

"Alpha, may I speak with you outside?"  Lana asked. A frown on her face and the medical clipboard grasped in one hand to her side.

He nodded and hesistantly removed his hand from the she-wolf's side.  Walking out of the room, Lana pulled the curtain closed.  A frown pursed her lips.  Lana paused a minute.  

"Before I tell you, you need to rein in your beast.  I saw the way you touched her.  She's your mate isn't she?"

I turned to look back at my mate only to stare at the grey curtain and nodded.

"Lana," I growled slightly, starting to become irritable.  

"You're not going to like what I have to say.  The she-wolf has been very poorly treated.  You noticed the patches of fur missing from her ribs.  Her hips are badly bruised and there are many fractures toward the base of her spine and down the length of her tail."

She looked at me with concerned eyes for her leader and Alpha.

"Your mate was raped... many times."  She whispered the last words.  

Lana looked at her pack leader, waiting for him to say anything, for the beast within to emerge.  He looked at the grey curtain again and said nothing.  His hands at his sides clenched, the only outward sign of aggression he gave.  

"I'll need to run a rape kit and a pregnancy test, "she paused, "Alpha?"

He turned back to Lana. 

"Have you ever heard of breeders?"

He bristled this time.  A low growl reverberating in his chest.  Of course he had heard of them.  Some packs were savage, uncaring towards their females.  They beat them into submission until the she-wolves obeyed without thought or question.  Mindless wolves were what they were.  He didn't allow any brutality to reside in his pack.  Pack lines were formed by respect.  Respect begat trust.  Trust begat loyalty.  Loyalty begat a pack submissive to his rule without aggression.  Couples mated and happily began having litters on their own.  

"With the abuse she's sustained, I believe she may have been one.  I will be monitoring her, but sitting close to her might help calm your wolf."  Lana spoke softly using a familiar tone she often used on agitated wolves.

With a heavy sigh, he walked back into the room, moving the curtain aside.  Standing beside her, his heart constricted.  A breeder?  His eyes roamed over her body, his eyes glinting with hatred as his beast fumed.  He wou-

His thoughts were interrupted when his eyes glanced at the she-wolf's.  Surprised to see the golden color to her eyes, he stared not moving.  The she-wolf's eyes widened, the fear visible in the whites of her eyes and the way her body trembled.  She shakily tried to stand up on her front legs, trying to get away from what she perceived to be a new threat only to fall back down to the bed at the weakness within her bones.  Tilting over the side of the bed, she yelped at the sudden impact of the tiled floor.  He raced around the bed, eyeing the troubled she-wolf.

"I won't hurt you." He softly promised as his large, muscular arms wrapped around her body.  He sat down on the floor as he pulled her to his chest.  The she-wolf whimpered in protest.  Her fur shivered as her body trembled and shook.  He ran his fingers down the top of her head down her spine half-way down her back, avoiding her injuries.  

"Shh... you are safe here." He cooed in her ear.  His nose nuzzled into the side of her neck.  The pleasurable tingles coursing through his body.  His chest hummed at their close proximity.  The she-wolf stopped trembling in fear though a shiver still coursed through her fur.  The she-wolf turned her head looking at him with her bright golden eyes then brought her nose to his neck.  With a sigh, she snuggled closer him a soft purr coming from her chest.  He could feel the reverberations through their close bodies.  A new feeling, he wasn't quite sure yet how to respond.

"My name is Kenan, my beautiful mate." She shivered in his arms as he whispered in her ear.  In the next moment he could feel her muscles spasm and bunch and her skin ripple under his fingers.  

"Don't."

But she continued to shift.  Bones crunching painfully as they returned to their rightful place.  She groaned painfully as bones not completely healed forced themself into their original position.  The she-wolf had been in her wolf form for longer that she could remember.  Since way before she became a breeder.  Her grey fur receded as her pale skin emerged through her transformation.  Long black locks of hair cascaded down her back.  She lay across Kenan's waist in the same way her wolf had, without a stitch of clothing not that she noticed.  Her chest rubbed across his through his white shirt in soft gasps.  Almond, brown eyes reached his longingly.  Lips parted to speak, but when nothing was said she looked away and cleared her throat.  She looked back into Kenan's eyes.

"Jenna.  My name is Jenna." she replied very hoarsely.