Trashed & Treasured

19

Shock. Horror. Amazement.

That's all I saw around us in the still silence of the once noisy field; what was once filled with chatter, laughter, and music. Trent's wolf was still bowed in front of Dominic who was still in full-on attack mode, glaring at the young Alpha with the most vicious snarl.

Suddenly the boy that was with Trent walked up behind him, dropped down to one knee, and he, too, bowed his head. Almost instantly, like a nearly collected row of dominoes, every wolf within the crowd wearing the same color wristband as the young Alpha did the same. Dominic looked over the crowd of bowed wolves and I got this sense of contentment from him. As proud as a lion he sat back and looked them over again before looking my way.

When I let our eyes connect it was like every other time I looked into them. I was stuck, in a whirlpool, but I also noticed that his eyes were the same as in human form; grayish brown with gray around his pupil. Only now, the gray looks silver. He's gigantic; eye to eye with me while sitting. That feeling of pride I sense in him came over me and produced a smile on my face involuntarily. To them, he must look freakish and scary. To me he's beautiful. I don't remember when I began walking toward him, but I found myself at his side running my hand down the silver streak in his fur. Smiling wider as he voiced his satisfaction with a light growl.

Kenya and Braden approached from the other side, cautious and wide-eyed. I totally understand why they'd be scared given his size could best be described as monstrous. Still, bothers me for some reason. Sensing that, Dominic nuzzled my neck quickly then turned to Kenya and Braden. He lowered his head to them in acknowledgment, but Kenya and Branden bowed to him surprising us both.

A sudden flash from somewhere in the crowd of still standing people jolted us and before we knew it there were flashes coming from everywhere.

"We need to get him out of here." Braden stood pulling Kenya with him. Accompanying the flashes now were whispers and among those was the word "Council". The last thing we need right now is to be back in front of them or to even have our names in their mouths.

Braden pulled his keys from his pocket and shoved them into Kenya's hand, "Take Jade and Dominic to the truck then bring it closer to the gate. I'll stay behind to watch your backs."

I know Kenya wanted to protest because I could see it in her face. Instead, she just bit down on her lip and nodded for us to follow her. Dominic started moving, stopping when he noticed I wasn't going with them. He nudged me with the tip of his nose, pushing me toward the gate until I started walking on my own. Once we reached the gate he shifted back into human form gripping my hand as he picked up our pace from fast walking to running.

"Here," Kenya pulled a pair of jeans from the back of the trunk and handed them to Dominic. Frantically she fumbled with the keys shoving the right one into the ignition starting up the truck and shifting it into gear. The second Dominic closed the door she pulled off speeding through the parking lot, bringing us to a screeching halt in front of the gate where Braden jumped in and had her pull off again.

"What the fuck was that, man?" He started the second he got in. "I've never seen anything like that before! Did you see how they bowed to you? That shit was amazing!"

"But you bowed, too," I added softly, confusion evident. "Why?"

Braden turned in his seat his eyes going back and forth between us. "Because we had to. My wolf demanded it."

"Mine, too." Kenya glanced at us through the rearview mirror. Ok, this is gone from weird to scary. First, our eyes and now Dominic's wolf. I feel sick, light-headed like I'm going to pass out from this overload of questions and confusion running through my head.