The Alpha's Happiness

Chapter 3:

Chapter 3:

Xander clutched her close to him. He could feel the woman's sobs, his body shaking

along with hers. Her dark hair tickled his hand he had placed on his lower back, the feeling alien. Natalie had sheared her hair just above her shoulders so that each curl bounced and brushed her shoulder as she walked. Her eyes were closed, and her face pressed to his chest, but still he could picture the blue of her eyes.

Xander could still see the man after he had pulled him off. His dirty hair falling over his eyes, skin coated with a sheen of sweat.

"I'm sorry," he had managed to stutter, "She wasn't marked, I didn't know she was your mate."

This comment still bothered Xander, an image of his dead mate pulled to the forefront of his mind for the second time, "She isn't," he said, before he broke the mans neck with a twist of his wrist.

He had called two of his men he knew to be on duty to dispose of the body, before his attention had returned to the woman, and to his dismay, he noticed that she had curled into a tiny ball, her arms wrapped around herself as if to hold the world back. He had picked her up and strode back towards the direction of his house, his thoughts only those of concern for her.

...........

Lainey woke to comfort and snuggled deeper into the bed, her mind waking slower than her body. The sheets were silk, the comforter smooth, and the scent one she recognized. Idly, lazily, she wondered how she had come to be in Xander's bed. Memories rushed back at her. A zipper being pulled down, her zipper. Fabric pushed out of the way. Pain and humiliation. She burst into tears.

Xander had been hovering outside her door. Consequentially, he heard the first sob as she began to cry and burst into the room. He caught sight of her, lying in his bed, her head buried deep in his pillows. She was curled up in the same ball she had in the alley, arms tucked around her shins.

She felt the bed dip as he sat on the edge. He reached one hand over and stroked the hair back from her face. He had no way of knowing how she would react to his touch. Had no way of knowing how she would feel about any male touching her, but he comforted her in the only way he knew. In the way he used to calm Nat.

She shuddered initially, but accepted his touch. He wiped the tears from her face until they ceased to fall before he spoke. "I'm going to call the pack doctor." He announced, in typical alpha fashion, neither seeking nor receiving permission. She bolted upwards at his words, the shirt he had dressed her in dwarfing her small frame. "No," she whispered, horrified at the thought of being forced to tell what had happened. Ashamed of the fact that despite years of training she could not beat a lone rogue. Terrified he would think less of her for her weakness.

He looked down at her, his height apparent even while seated, and knew as alpha he could force her. He could demand that she be seen and her wolf would bow down to his. He also knew he wouldn't. His vision was full of the tiny woman, her hair cascading down and reaching clear to the bed, icy blue eyes still swimming with unshed tears. He was struck with the urge to get to know her, to befriend her, and knew calling the pack doctor would destroy his chance.

It was because of this that she found herself seated at his kitchen counter a short while later, a promise extracted from him to keep her secret. His back was to her, and she stared shamelessly at him, grateful for the girl who currently held his attention. She was beautiful, as he mother had been. The had the same hair, same eyes, same build. In fact, looking at father and daughter, it was hard it tell they were related at all. She looked at the girl, and saw her friend, long since dead, and felt the old pain well up again.