All it Takes is Love

Byron quickly shifted and pulled on his shorts. Then he jogged over to where she was and dropped to his knees. He paused, biting his lip nervously before looking up into her face.

“I’m… I’m not sure I can pull it apart. I’m not that strong.”

She whimpered begged, “Please try, it hurts so much.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” Byron agreed. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hands on the trap. “Get ready to pull your leg out as soon as it’s loose.”

She nodded as she bit hard on her lip. Letting out a slow breath she got a good grip on her leg and whispered, “I’m ready.”

Byron pulled with all his strength wishing he had just a third of his dad’s legendary strength. He felt his muscles bunch in his biceps and grunted with the strain as sweat broke out across his forehead.

Finally, the jaws of the trap began to move. As soon as she could, the girl yanked her ankle free. The trap snapped closed.

Byron’s arms quivered from the stain of prying it open.

The girl fell backward in a faint.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Byron heard his wolf whine with concern. Taking deep breaths, Byron sat trying to stop the shaking so he would be able to stand. As he did, he watched the girl, hoping she would come too soon.

After a few minutes passed and she still was out, Byron realized how stupid he was being. If he didn’t get her to the Pack doctor all his efforts would be wasted because she would bleed to death.

So, he picked her up, even though he still felt shaky, he drew on his wolf’s strength and quickly began to run back to the Packhouse where the doctor had his clinic.

When he arrived, he ran inside but saw the clinic was empty, which is pretty much normal due to quick healing. Now wasn’t the time for it to be deserted though, the girl needed help. So, he yelled, “Doc, doc, where are you?”

An older gentleman in a white lab coat walked out of a room wiping his hands.

“I’m here, Byron,” the doctor stated. “What’s the emergency?”

“I found this girl caught in a hunter’s steel trap. She’s bleeding pretty badly,” Byron explained.

“Hm, is she-wolf?” The doctor asked. Then he headed for a room with Byron close behind him.

Realizing he didn’t know the answer to the question, Byron brought the girl's head closer to his. Taking a deep breath, he took in her scent. “Um, she smells human. What’s weird though is that when I came upon her, I stopped a bit away from her and when my wolf whined, I’d almost swear she heard me when she shouldn’t have if she were human.”

“That is strange,” the doctor agreed. “Well, it’s something we’ll have to ask her about with she awakens. For now, lay her down here, and let’s have a look. Shall we?”

So, Byron lay her on the table carefully.

The doctor began to clean her wound. “It looks as if she got torn up pretty badly, almost to the bone. She’ll need stitches to stop the bleeding but if she has any shifter genes in her, even with the gashes this deep, she’ll be fine by tomorrow,” he muttered as he worked. “Although she’ll be weak because she lost so much blood.”

“Sloowww to heeaalll…” the girl said in a slurred tone as she began to come too.

“You heal slowly?” Doc questioned.

She moaned but nodded her head yes as she struggled to hold her eyes open.

“Alright. Are you a shifter?” He questioned her.

She nodded once more. “I- I’m an f-freak. Half-human and half wolf.”

“That doesn’t make you a freak dear,” the doctor said softly. “It just makes you a halfling and there is no shame in that.”

She sighed softly and said with a sad look, “It does if both of your parents are beta wolves.”

He looked up from his stitching to smile at her. “No, dear, it doesn’t. It just means that somewhere in your parent’s linage one of them has a human ancestor. Sadly, most don’t want to admit to those nasty humans in the gene pool, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Anyway, sometimes it skips generations, then bam, one is born. That’s just the way it is, no need to call yourself a freak over it because it could happen to anyone.”

She nodded slowly but didn’t look as if she really believed him.

The door behind them suddenly opened. Turning, Byron saw his dad standing there with a stern look on his face.

“Patrol saw you run through here like your tail was on fire, son. They alerted me, so I came to see what was going on,” Dad stated.

The girl whimpered and tried to cringe back.

This brought Dad’s attention to her, and he sniffed the air. “Human?”

“Half,” Byron answered.

Dad stepped closer and stared at the girl.

She whimpered again.

“What is your name girl?” Dad asked in his Alpha tone.

“M-my n-name is Lynn MacMillan.”

“Are you from a Pack close by here?” Dad asked.

She nodded. “Yes, sir. I’m from the Simmion Pack.”

Dad frowned. “Simmion. They’re off to the east of us. Their alpha is Alpha Raymond I believe.”

“Yes,” Lynn whispered. “Please don’t send me back, sir. I’ll do anything you ask, even go far away, but don’t make me go back.”

Dad raised his eyebrows at that. “Alright, Lynn. I can see there is a story behind this. How about you enlighten us.”

Lynn glanced at Byron, and he gave her an encouraging look.

Returning her gaze to his dad, Lynn began by saying, “My father is the beta of our Pack. I have two sisters who are both mated and living in their mate’s Pack. I’m the runt of the litter, I guess that’s what you would call it anyway.” She sighed and ran her hand through her hair in agitation.

“I was born half-human and I became my father’s shame,” she continued. “Now I wasn’t mistreated or anything, my parents love me, of that, I don’t have any doubts. They just don’t love me as much as my sisters. Anyway, when I turned sixteen, they thought I should be able to shift, but I didn’t. Mom did a little research and found that oftentimes a Halfling won’t shift unless they find their true mate.”

“So did you find your mate?” Dad asked.

“No. So when I turned eighteen and still hadn’t found him, my parents began to worry. You see if a wolf is without a mate in our pack, they become what I call slaves. Although the Alpha calls them servants. Anyway, they are responsible for all the cleaning and cooking at the Packhouse and in the Alpha’s home,” Lynn explained.

“That doesn’t seem right,” Byron murmured.

Dad and the doctor nodded their heads in agreement.

“So did your Alpha send you out to find your mate? Is that how you ended up here?” Dad asked next.

Lynn shook her head. “When I turned eighteen and was still without a mate, my parents practically made me a prisoner in my home. I think they thought if they did this, the Alpha would forget about me, but he didn’t. Three days ago, I turned nineteen. This morning the Alpha called my dad in for a meeting. When dad came home, I heard him tell my mom that the Alpha feels he’s given me long enough to find my mate and shift. Tomorrow I’m to start working in his home as a maid. His son is known to… to… abuse the help. Knowing this, I got scared and I ran.”

Lynn finished her story and lay staring at the man in front of her. Byron was handsome in a classic Ken doll way with his blue eyes and blonde hair. He was shirtless so she saw that his chest was lean, though muscular, and he had a bit of muscle in his biceps, just not bulging and grotesque kind like that of her Alpha and his son. In fact, she really liked the way he looked and couldn’t help but want to reach out and touch him.

After a moment, he spoke, and his words threw her for a loop.

“I found her caught in a hunter’s trap, Dad,” Byron solemnly stated.

If he said anything after that, she didn’t hear it because all she could focus on was his use of the word dad.

Is the Alpha his dad?

“Dad? You don’t look like an Alpha,” Lynn mumbled. She couldn’t believe he was the Alpha’s son.

He gave her a sad smile. “That’s because I’m not an alpha. I’m a… something. My pack calls me a peacemaker but you’re right, I don’t look like an alpha.”

He wasn’t an alpha? How was it even possible for an Alpha to not have an Alpha son? Still confused, Lynn whispered, “Oh. Well, thank you for rescuing me.”

“You’re very welcome,” Byron murmured back.