Alpha Axel

Seventeen

I stared at myself in the mirror, looking much like a child in her father's clothes. Dallas dwarfed me, but realizing how small I was in his clothes, I felt tiny. I had to roll his sweats in both the waist and the legs, and he didn't have anything that would hold my chest. I had spent the better part of an hour scrubbing my body of grime and thoughts of the place I came from, and the clothes were like silk against my skin. The water had been dark from everything that I was covered in, and my skin was two shades lighter being clean.

I turned, my body shining in the steamed mirror, and a small yelp left my mouth when I saw the ink that littered my skin. A beautiful wolf and some sort of print nearly covered my entire left shoulder and down my back. A quick knock on the door came, and Dallas pulled it open with worry etched onto his face. I let out a scream and I pulled his shirt close to cover my chest, and I felt my face flush with embarrassment.

I watched his eyes darken, his gaze looming over me before he cleared his throat, "Are you okay? I heard a scream." He leaned against the door frame, clearly trying to play off what had just happened. I turned away from him, showing him my back, and I heard him step forward. His touch was light, like a feather on my skin, sending chills down my spine. He traced over the ink, taking his time as he trailed his fingers down my back.

"I'm not sure what this means, especially because you're not a natural-born shifter. I'll bring it up to Alpha Mason, but I can also see something under the ink like it was a coverup... You're just becoming more and more of a mystery aren't you, Sky?"  I felt Dallas's hand pull away from my skin, his warmth already fading. I turned back to him, only to find the space empty.

I turned back to the mirror and slipped the shirt over my head. It slid well past mid-thigh and I ended up tucking it in the waistband of the pants. I shook out my hair, the damp curls hanging loosely around my shoulders. I stared at my reflection again, peering into the deep brown eyes that I didn't recognize. Who am I?

With a shake of my head, I left the bathroom, hanging up the damp towel as I walked out. The sun had begun to sink into the horizon, casting a warm glow through the windows as I walked down the hall to the kitchen Dallas had shown me earlier. He had his back to me, the stove in front of him alive with food in various pans, the scent mouthwatering.

"It smells amazing." My voice was light as I walked over to the table that was off to the side, close enough that I could see Dallas's body ripple beneath his shirt but far enough away for comfort. I watched as he jumped lightly at my words, his head turning and his eyes briefly meeting mine.

"Yeah well, I figured that if you were desperate to scarf down some dumpster food, the least I could do was give you a good meal." He grabbed a spatula and scooped out the contents on a plate before setting it in front of me. The largest burger I had ever seen set dead center of the plate, nearly touching opposite edges. It dwarfed the bun, and the toppings seemed to spill out of it. Dallas must've noticed my expression of a sheer surprise because a light chuckle escaped his lips, "I normally cook and eat for a werewolf, so you might be surprised by your new appetite."

I raised my eyebrows at his words, but he didn't say more as he turned his attention back toward the stove. I gingerly lifted the burger, hesitant to take a bite, but once I did, I devoured it. Before Dallas had even turned back around I only had a few bites left, and was quickly finishing them as he faced me once again.

My cheeks were full of food, my jaw working quickly so I could chew it all up, and I finally took a deep breath as the food slid down my throat. Dallas's eyes trailed over me, amusement clear on his face. Another burger was poised on the spatula in hand, and he quickly grabbed another bun and slid the sandwich in my direction. It went down nearly as quickly as the first.