The Alpha & I

Looking at the door there was no handle, her hand tightened around the young boy’s as she thought about kicking it in. But would that damage him in some way? It properly wasn’t the best idea to be forcing things in here. For all she knew she could cause him permanent brain damage.

“How do we get you open...” She muttered as she placed her free hand on the door. She felt him stiffen beside her as the black ooze coated her hand. “You don’t know, don’t you?” She asked him.

He swallowed and nodded. “It will just open, but only when I want it to...but I’m scared, I don’t want to face him or the wolf.”

Shaking the ooze off her hand she knelt beside him, taking both his hands in hers. “Breaking free is the scariest thing we can do, I’m right here with you and I won’t let anything happen to you, okay?” Lifting one of her hands to his cheek she closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his. “You're too important to me.”

“Why do you care so much for me?” His voice had changed, no longer the little boy’s, but the deep questioning voice of the man she knew.

She opened her eyes startled to see he had returned to his fully grown state. His blue eyes stared deep into hers.

“Because I feel a strong connection to you. And I want to get to know you better.” She confessed. “We’ve only just started our journey, I can’t say goodbye to another person, not now.”

He tilted his head slightly, his forehead still against hers. He closed his eyes as he breathed her in. “I know you; I don’t know how... it’s still... clouded.”

He helped her to her feet, his eyes still closed. His hands wrapped around her, causing her to gasp. “Your statement made me extremely happy, thank you.” He breathed, whispering in her ear.

A shiver ran down her spine, oh how she had missed him, but now was not the time. However, his roaming hands had other ideas. “Tristan, we really should focus.”

“That is kind of my problem, I can’t. I want to know more; I want to remember.” Opening his eyes, he looked to the door. “This appears to be the problem.”

Still holding her with one arm, he turned his attention to the door. He placed his free hand on it and pushed it open, it creaked and groaned as it slowly slid over the ooze-covered floor. Inside was too dark to see clearly, but as the door opened it revealed something unsightly.

Tai had been staked down to what looked like a dissection table, his body pinned in place by threaded rods. His blood pooled under his form mixing with the black ooze and dripped from the table to the floor.

Tristan froze, his body glued to the spot, fear welling up and parallelizing him. Sirena hated to leave him like that, but this would be over if she just got Tai out.

Sirena ran to the wolf as a figure caked in sludge slid his way toward Tristan, only its face visible. The figure's face looked eerily like Tristan's but held a more defined older look to it, defiantly his Father.

Sirena frantically tried to pull the rods from Tai’s body but they wouldn’t budge.

“Tristan has to pull them out.”

Sirena’s head snapped up as the wolf spoke, it was odd to hear him out loud, but it made sense since they were already in Tristan’s mind. She made a frustrated sound but understood, she’d have to get him over here and past his father.

Spinning on her heels she reached for the monstrous figure, but her hand went right through it, grabbing nothing but the sludge. She cussed under her breath; this wasn’t an enemy she could fight.

“TRISTAN! MOVE!” She yelled.

This seemed to snap him out of his shocked state, he shook his head and ran past his father and straight to the wolf. He grabbed hold of one of the rods and yanked it out.

The wolf whimpered as the figure snapped its head unnaturally backwards, rather than returning around and heading for Tristan again.

Tristan had only managed 3 rods by the time his father grabbed hold of him. Sirena had tried to stop it, but her hands were no good, she couldn’t grip anything.

Tristan was flung with great force into the wall, he gasped as his body impacted the hard surface, she swore she could hear bones breaking.

She ground her teeth, she’d promised to not let anything happen to him, but here she was, utterly powerless. She grabbed one of the rods that had fallen to the floor and swung it at the creature.

It impacted and she recoiled shocked, then it made sense. She couldn’t hurt anything in his mind, but other objects within his mind could.

“Go! Get Tai, I’ve got this.” She insisted to the hunched over Tristan behind her.

He nodded and lunged for the table reaching for another rod. His father followed suit, but this time Sirena was ready for him. She spun putting as much power as she could into the swing and hit the figure in the abdomen.

She managed to stop it, but the rod became stuck as the sludge monster absorbed it into itself. She muttered a cuss to herself as she let it go completely, not able to get it back.

But it had just been enough, Tristan pulled the last rod out and the wolf moved with a swiftness that had her in a state of envy.

Tai snarled as he jumped from the table and lunged at the figure forcing it to the ground.

The sludge oozed out of the creature, as though it were alive, it tried to coat the wolf's legs, trapping it once more.

But Tai was too fast, snapping at it with his jaws and flinging it to the side. The wolf wrapped his teeth around the thing's neck and bit deep snapping it to the side. Tristan’s father stopped moving and lay limp, while the sludge from his body seeped out and disappeared into the ground.

Now that the commotion was over the wolf turned to the human man still standing. “You found it fit to lock me away again!” It snapped bearing its fangs.

Sirena cringed, the venom in the wolf's tone sent shivers down her spine. She wasn’t sure she should intervene, but she found herself running her hand through his fur. He nuzzled into her and sat beside her, calming slightly.

“And you got our mate involved, unbelievable!” He growled at the man who stood staring back, dumbfounded.

“Tai, I came of my own volition.” Sirena dropped to her knees and hugged the wolf close. The beast closed its eyes and sighed into her. “I don’t think Tristan did it on purpose, you’ve been infected with some kind of demon poison.”

The wolf opened one eye and stared at her with a questionable look. Tristan moved forward and sank to the floor in front of the beast. Worry and regret across his face.

“My mind is still clouded, I don’t understand it myself, but Tai, I’m really sorry. I need your help; we need to flush the corruption out.”

“If we do that anything foreign will leave, Sirena will be forced out too...” Tai clearly didn’t want her to leave yet.

“I’m right beside you when you two open your eyes...” She paused for a moment. “I’m not sure how to get out of here, so that might actually help me.” She frowned creasing her brows.

Suddenly Tristan clasped his hands to his head and gasped as his face scrunched up in pain. Tai was on his feet in an instant, his eyes wide.

“We don’t have much time; it’s trying to revert him back to the child. And I do not wish to kill Tristain’s father a third time...” He concurred as he began to understand the situation. “I will send you on your way now Sirena, and then take care of the rest With Tristan's aid, so don’t worry, I’ve got this from here.”

Before she could reply she felt herself being thrown. Her breath caught as the world spun and she was forced back into her own body. Gasping for air she hadn’t been ready for that. She sat up abruptly, several hands coming to her aid as her head spun.

Your back, did everything go okay? The warm soothing voice of her hybrid brought her back to a steady calmness.

Yes, they were both trapped but they should be fine now, just give them time. Finally blinking her eyes open she faced the worried expressions of the on-lookers.

Taking her hand from Asha’s she placed it on Tristan’s forehead. His rugged breathing had stopped, his fever had subsided, and no more black ooze was pouring from his eyes, mouth or nose. She sighed relieved.

“Come, let’s take him to the pack house, Tai will surely take a bit to flush out all the corruption.” She told them.

The two Alarians followed her and placed him in his room. Before They left they pulled Sirena to the side.

"The leopard still believe they can not breed?" Zero asked.

"Yes, they only managed to be successful around some 20 years ago by cross-breeding. They think it is a curse." She explained.

The Alarian shook his head with a heavy sigh. "The cycle was reset quiet sometime before that, they have been misled for so long."

"The cycle?" She questioned.

"There was a time when all children, humans, shifters, elves it didn't matter, they were all still. That is not the case anymore, make sure to spread the word."

"The curse is lifted?" She looked between the two shocked.

"It was never a curse, that's what the shifters were either told or believed. The truth is a lot more complicated." Asha lightly laughed. "But for know your mate needs you, the rest can come later."

Thanking them she then informed Gail that she would stay with Tristian until he woke. But the rest of the leopards that wished to stay and join the pack would need to be taken care of in the meantime, she asked him to handle it. He accepted without question.

Once everyone was gone, she washed him down and cleaned the mud, blood and remaining black ooze from his body. He hadn’t been injured thankfully only his mind had been savagely attacked.

It took several hours before he began to stir. He grunted as he opened his eyes. Blinking a few times, he looked up at her.

“Who...are you?” He asked in a soft unsure voice.

Her heart fell, and even Mia was in shock.