--- Zac ---

From the pinkish glow in my room, I could deduce that it was still very early in the morning when someone knocked at my door. I rubbed the sleep off my eyes and opened. Ben was standing outside, fully dressed and with an impatient look on his face. Yikes. The plan was to let him steam off for a few days before running into him again. But here he was, beating me to it. 

He walked past me and sat in one of the two leather armchairs in front of the large window facing the lake in the distance. Unsure of what to do, I remained standing. He sighed.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Zac. Sit down."

Hum. I sat down in the chair opposite his and stared out the window. It was a beautiful morning, but too early for this. We sat like that for a couple of minutes before he started.

"Tristan called just now, not being detailed. They have the girl."

I opened my mouth, but he motioned me to let him continue.

"But there are complications. Henry Johnson is with him. As I am sure you know."

The last sentence was bitter and cold. But I still felt like the conversation was going better than expected. I moved to talk, but a movement from Ben silenced me again.

"And there is a woman with them, too."

A woman? I had no idea who that could be and furrowed my brows. Again, he continued:

"The woman is in bad condition, and the girl is unconscious."

Now, I couldn't stop myself.

"Is she badly hurt?"

I braced myself. He looked up.

"The girl? No, just passed out. As I said, Tristan couldn't elaborate."

I leaned back in the chair and let out a heavy sigh of relief. Ben looked at me quizzically.

"This girl... she got to you? You seem to care about her."

I looked out the window again, trying to find a way to formulate a sensible sentence.

"She felt so extremely lost and alone, and I felt protective of her. As she was someone dear to me."

He moved uncomfortably in his chair.

"Family... yes. Zac," he started, and I finally looked him in the eye.

I could see that he was struggling to say something, something that meant something. So I waited.

"Zac, I love you. You are my brother and my only family, and I don't want to lose you," he said, putting his finger up in the air. "But you are stretching my patience here."

I breathed for the first time in two days, and the oxygen felt good in my lungs. I grinned.

"Well, if you weren't such an asshole all the time, I wouldn't have to."

Too soon?

He laughed.

"Jerk."

Then his smile disappeared, and he stared out the window again.

"I don't know what to do with the girl situation. We don't need her, and since the Johnson boy is also there, he can brief his father on her non-threat status. They won't be interested in her."

"The woman - is she human?"

"I don't know. Tristan only said she was in bad shape."

I asked if he knew where they were, and he provided the general area. We only sometimes visited this area, as it was dense with humans. We went into towns for everything you could expect but rarely socialised with humans. Not this pack, in any case

"Hmm..." I started. Why don't we have Tristan put them up in a hotel room in the town east of there, which would be sort of southeast of here, and let them recuperate there? It would take them two days to get there."

He gave me a scrutinising look, and when he didn't reply immediately, I continued:

"And then.. we just let them go. We could.."

He looked up. I swallowed and continued.

"We could offer them to come here, but that depends on whether the woman is a werewolf."

He nodded.

"Yes, yes. Let Tristan set them up in a hotel and pay for a few nights. He can offer them the chance to come here or let them do whatever. The Johnsons shouldn't be a problem now, as the boy has assessed her status. And tell Tristan to give a full report once he is back. He was very short on details on the phone."

--- Hild ---

Tristan's phone ringing luckily broke the awkward silence I was sure we were all experiencing. He picked it up, got up, and answered the call while moving farther into the woods for privacy. There was no need for privacy, though, as the call was short. I could only make out some "Yes," "Ok," and something that sounded like "Yes, Alpha."

He returned promptly.

"Ok, so Alph-" he looked at me and stopped. "I mean, there is a town a couple of days from here to the east. Why don't we aim for that? We can stay here or somewhere else until everyone is strong enough to run. Or walk."

I was sure more could be said, but he didn't elaborate. Henry had also been on his phone, and I noticed it constantly beeped when he started it. Someone was missing him. I would have guessed a girlfriend if not for the almost serene way he looked at the girl in his lap. Come to think of it, maybe she was his girlfriend; it was not like I knew any of them. But.. wouldn't he then have been the one she addressed before passing out? Yes.

Henry spoke.

"I can do one better. My father wants me back, and since I can... uhm..."

He looked at me warily.

"... attest for the non-threat here, there is no need to... uhm..."

He was looking at me again.

"... pursue anything. I have asked for a car and can give you a ride into town; it is on my way anyway."

That would work. I had been in this area only for a couple of months and not drawn that much attention to me as I never worked where I lived. The town they spoke of was opposite where I had come, and no one would know me there.

"Fine. But just to be clear, the girl stays with me," I said, giving them a stern look.

For seemingly caring so much about the girl, they both look surprised at the thought of me considering not taking her with me, which I, of course, would. Somehow, this girl was connected to my rescue, and I owed her everything.

They both nodded in agreement, though, and another silence ensued.

"Thank you," I looked at them in earnest.

"You should thank your hero there."

Tristan indicated the girl in Henry's lap.

Henry looked down at the girl, smiled, and tentatively caressed her hair gently. She still had her scarf on, the one covering her face, and I could see his fingers were itching to remove it.

"Maybe we should remove the scarf and let her breathe fresher air?" I suggested.

He smiled towards me and nodded.

"It is probably for the best."

He pulled it down just a little, but enough to be able to trace her cheekbone gently with his thumb. I couldn't help but smile and looked up to see Tristan do the same before he turned to me. He paused for a second as if having an internal debate, but then he continued.

"Can I ask you a question?"

I nodded.

"Sure."

"How did you... like why were you in there?"

"Oh, heh. That is a long story. I met a guy when strip... when working, and we hooked up." Or rather, I needed a place to stay.

They gave me an uncomfortable look.

"And I kind of moved in after a while." After three hours, I had nowhere to go. "Long story short, he lost his job and started to pile up some debts to the local drug lord, and yesterday, they came to collect."

I looked down. There ya go, fellas. Not the bedtime story you were expecting? Not a damsel in distress, but rather someone who should've known better?

"I'm sorry you had to go through that."

I noticed that he was hesitating again. It was as if I had yet to answer his question as expected. He gave a sideways glance towards Henry, swallowed, and then continued.

"Why didn't you.."

My anger was instant.

"Oh. Really? You think it is my fault? I should've done something, but since I didn't, I should blame myself. Is that what you think? Too late, pal, I blame myself for all of the shit that has happened to me already, so I don't need your help with that," I snarled at him.

He raised his hands in a friendly gesture, completely taken aback by my anger.

"No, no. I am sure you did what you could. I was just wondering - why didn't you shift? You could've easily.."

I was now fuming.

"Why didn't I what again?!"

I now shifted my stare between them, making them even more uncomfortable. Then Tristan looked at me quizzingly.

"Shift. You do know what I mean, right?"

I had no idea what he meant, but something in his voice made me realise he was genuine in his question. I calmed down.

"Shift? I don't understand what you are talking about."

Two sets of eyes widened in surprise and stared at me in shock. Then, they looked highly uncomfortable.

Henry leaned forward, almost forgetting about the girl in his lap.

"You mean, you don't know... what you... you don't... oh... hmm."

No matter how genuine these guys seemed, I was tired now and not up for riddles. I rubbed my forehead.

"You know what, guys? It has been a long night and some pretty tough hours for me. I am hurting all over, so please, no riddles here. I am just not up for it."

Tristan exhaled deeply, swallowed, and very gently took my hand.

"Uhm," he paused and waited for me to look up at him, which I did. "What I will say now will probably sound very strange to you. I am, and please believe me on this; I am not saying this in any way to hurt you. I know you have been through hell in the last 24 hours."

He leaned forward and squeezed my hand.

"I am telling you this now, even though I know you are tired and hurt and in pain. I am telling you this because it could help you."

I looked at him and waited. Believing all his words.

"Have you never felt that some part of you is missing? Or rather, let me rephrase - have you always been alone?"

I furrowed my brow. He saw my confusion and continued.

"Not alone, like you have never had friends or things like that. When you are the only one around, are you always alone?"

He tried again.

"I mean, like in here or here," he pointed first at my head and then at my heart. "Have you never felt another presence there?"

"Do you mean like in here?" I pointed to my head.

He nodded.

"Yes, like someone talks to you in your head."

Now, it was my time to widen my eyes in shock. Did he mean..?

"I... I had. I had. I.. I had," I grabbed his hands and almost cried it out. He squeezed them again.

"It's your wolf."

Thirty-two years of never having had a normal conversation with a man, I had the weirdest, yet it felt like the sanest.

Thirty-two years of being strong, and here, in my weakest moment, I suddenly felt stronger than ever.

Thirty-two years of being completely alone and then finding out I was never alone because I knew, somewhere deep down, I knew.

I knew he was right.

"My wolf," I whispered.

I heard what he was saying and knew it to be true, but I didn't understand what it meant.

As if he could hear my thoughts, Tristan said:

"You are a werewolf."

Then he smiled and looked at Henry and the girl.

"Just like us."