Chapter 22

Edwards Pov

The heat from the blistering hot sun feels like heaven. It's pretty hot, shifting is going to be the quickest way to reach old oak river. Without thinking about it, I had already shifted, shaking out my deep black fur as I did. My paws pounded into the dry ground, leaving a trail of powdered earth in my wake. In my hurry, I pass multiple pack members who quickly jump out of my way as I run through the town. Nothing was going to slow me down today, I was going to the river! The whipping sound of the long grass sounds like music to me, joy filling me as I know the water is only seconds away. Head first, I leap into the river, rolling around in the cool fresh water as I do. Snout first I dive deeply into the crystal blue water and emerge back as a man, shaking my now shorter, much shorter, dripping wet hair out. Hearing a songlike giggle, I spun around to locate the fascinating melody. I can not say I was not surprised to find a blonde beauty sitting at the water's edge, dipping her toes into the cool water.

Instantly I was drawn to her, her lips were full and the perfect shade of pink, as though a petal had been plucked from a rose. As I looked closer, she had the clearest emerald green eyes and her nose was dotted with freckles. I was sure at this moment I must be dead as I was sure this woman was an angel! "You looked like you were having fun there." She spoke gently with a smile that could brighten a dark room.

Before I even said it, I was sure we hadn't, I would remember her anywhere. "I don't believe we have met before..." I started hoping she would fill in the blanks and, sure enough, she did not disappoint. "Oh, are you sure, perhaps you have just forgotten me?" She feigned offense. I chuckled "Trust me, yours is not a face I would have forgotten." Her eyes looked at the ground as her skin turned a delightful shade of red, like a blush red Paionia - my mother's favourite! Looking at her enchanting face, they may well be mine now too. "Which part of the pack are you from?" 

"Oh..." she shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she hesitated, "... I'm not from this pack, I have a different type of pack. A small pack, tiny really - there's just a handful of us." She tells me, clearly watching for a reaction. "... It all gets a bit much sometimes, so I sneak away and enjoy what I can." she gestures to the river. I knew the feeling! I watched her toes as they twirled in the water, her long legs on show as she had pulled her white dress up to free them. She was a goddess, I was sure. "Do tell me, what is your name, miss?" 

She smiled, truly seeming to enjoy the conversation. "I am Anastasia." 

"Anastasia. I have to say I most enjoy your name." 

"You keeping your identity a secret, sir?" She asked, her eyes flashing with mischief. 

I pursed my lips playfully, I would like to keep this conversation going as long as possible. "You can call me Ed." I flashed her a smile and, wanting to impress her further, I added. "I'm the next alpha to the earth pack." Her face dropped as she attempted to scramble away, stray rocks plopping into the water as she tried to leave, given this new information. Honestly, it was not the reaction I had hoped to get. Not daring to move towards her, I tilted my head trying to gauge her reaction, as she was now crouched in a defensive position, preparing to defend herself if needed. She'd stand no chance. If I wanted to harm her, I could - I would never, but I could. She likely knew this already and yet stood fixed in her pose. You had to admire her, ready to protect herself if needed, no matter who her opponent was. Finding the situation amusing, I decided to take it further - my eyes began to burn as I accessed my gifts, shaking the ground beneath her feet. This resulted in her sliding back down towards me rather than away, her eyes stuck on me as though she thought she was the hunter - given the circumstances, I would have thought she'd act more threatened. She was holding firm, even with the ground trembling beneath her, she refused to fall in. Casually, I swim over to her, splashing as I near her. When I get within a foot of her, only to be abruptly stopped as a sheet of water shoots up, like a pane of glass goes up between us. Trickling my fingers along the water's edge, I smirked. "What's a water wolf doing all the way out here?" She returned the smirk, still keeping her stance, "That is not your concern, Alpha!" 

What is her problem with me being of Alpha blood? She must rank pretty high herself to have access to these kinds of gifts. I throw my hand up in defeat and paddle back a little. After a few minutes of her watching me, never dropping the barrier for a second, I have to ask "You not tired of holding that barrier, surely it's clear you don't need it?" She raises her brow at my comment but doesn't drop it. Taking in a deep breath, I dived under the water to swim. I love the feeling of the water enclosing my body, like a hug from the river. I slowly release the air in my lungs, one bubble at a time, watching it float straight back to where it belonged out of the water. When finally all the air was gone, I remerged expecting Anastasia to have fled and, sure enough, the barrier was down and she was gone. That was a shame. I had been enjoying the company of the strange water angel.

...

"You keeping your identity a secret, sir?" She asked, her eyes flashing with mischief. 

I pursed my lips playfully, I would like to keep this conversation going as long as possible. "You can call me Ed." I flashed her a smile and, wanting to impress her further, I added. "I'm the next alpha to the earth pack." Her face dropped as she attempted to scramble away given this new information. Honestly, it was not the reaction I had hoped to get...

Drews Pov

The door clicked gently behind me as I entered the room for my shift with our father. "How's he doing?" I asked. Isabella and I have been struggling to get along these last few days but were trying to put this aside - it's hard for us all right now. "He has spiked a fever, he is burning hot and keeps mumbling about something and repeating though I can't work it out."

She looks tired, she has dark circles under her eyes and her usual clear skin is breaking out. I nod, acknowledging what she's shared with me, "Has he said anything to suggest he knows you're here?" I ask, hoping this could mean he's waking up.

She shook her head, "No he just keeps mumbling about secrets, being alpha, and a woman named angel I think." I wrack my brain, I don't know who he could be talking about - the omega angel?

"The omega?" I'm confused. What secrets could he have with her?

"Maybe," she shrugged her shoulders, and you could see she was giving up. This all weighed heavily on her, more so than the rest of us. Not that we weren't struggling, we were, it's just that we seemed to be dealing with it better than Isabella. "Why don't you take a break from the duties, go relax." She shook her head at me furiously before I even got to finish. She was always stubborn. I remember when we were kids she would always stand her ground, even when she was wrong and she knew it. "Bells come on, you're no good to anyone if you burn yourself out. Take the day to rest, and enjoy yourself. We will let you know if anything changes." I didn't think it would work but I could see her twisting with the decision, she must really need the break to even consider it. "Anything... and I mean anything changes, you will find me immediately?" her voice cracks slightly as she speaks as if she's expecting the worst. "If anything changes, you will be the first to know," I tell her as confidently as I can, I need her to believe me, I need her to take this break - my whole world is out of control right now, I can't afford to lose her too. "I promise." Adding this last bit pushes her over the edge, as she reluctantly nods, rising slowly for her the chair which scrapes across the floor as she does. There was a slight tremble in the room as I gestured her away, trying not to make my desperation known. " Go on then get out of here, Bella, enjoy the day for me." she gave me a small smile, leaving the room. Thank goddess she left when she did. If she had picked up on the tremble she would never have gone. I've noticed them a few times now. Trotting over to my father, I planted my thumb on his eyelid to pull it open. His skin was on fire and for a second I thought he was hot enough to actually burn me. Damn! I had hoped I'd be wrong, but pulling back his eyelid only cemented my theory in my mind. Staring back at me was my father's lime-green eye. He was accessing his power unconsciously. The trembles were getting stronger, it wouldn't take long before the others started to pick up on it. I first became aware of it yesterday, the day after he fell ill, it was barely even a flicker but I felt it - I looked around the room expecting one of my siblings to be struggling to contain their emotions, but no one else even registered the movement. s**t, what are we going to do? He clearly has no way of controlling his powers in this state. What will happen if he continues to access them - will he shorten the time he has left by exerting himself uncontrollably? Will it get to the point when the trembles turn into full blown earthquakes? If so, what would we do? How would we even stop them? My mind knew the answer but my heart couldn't go there, not now - he's hung in for almost 3 days now, that's more time than we ever thought. He may make it if he can pull round. Maybe his fever will burn the poison right out of him. One of the nurses entered his room. She was dressed in a light blue uniform. This allowed the pack to quickly distinguish her when needed. Her brown hair was pinned back into a neat bun which made her long face more prominent. She was a normal size, not thin or large, but she had no real shape about her. Well, that's not true, a rectangle was a shape. She had a pretty face but seldom spoke to anyone. She came in, changed the bandages on my father's leg, and forcibly fed him a healing elixir and a potion for the pain. She had a sadness about her, you could feel the air felt a little cold when she entered the room. Sure enough, she came in and went about her business silently. I was staring into space, focused on a loose thread hanging from the seam of her top. She gently cleared her throat as if to get my attention. Yikes. How long had I sat staring at her hip? I shook my head trying to bring myself back to the present "Thread." I tried to explain but she just looked on puzzled as she placed the sheet back over his still injured leg and left. You wouldn't even know she had come into the room if you weren't there to see it happen - everything was exactly the same as before.

Taking a seat to the right of my father, where Isabella had been sitting. This position allowed me to look out the window and watch the world go by as we waited for something to change. The last time I was with Sara she was standing at that window, looking out at the scenery. What had she been thinking? Was she really just trying to plan her escape? I close my eyes to better picture her. Her perfect curves, her long tussled hair from our moment of passion, her voice as she purred into my ear "Yours..." My heart yearned for her an indescribable amount. Had she taken me for a fool? Ezra's words echoed in my mind, "Smarter men than you have been tricked by uglier chicks than her." I hate how he talked about her like she was just another girl in the crowd. Finding myself lost in thought, we were back in the bedroom, seconds from bonding- surely she wouldn't do that if she had something to hide? Unless our connection was not part of the plan. You can't plan for that. My body was reacting to the memory, my p***s growing hard at the sheer thought of her. My inner wolf was going mad. I wanted to hunt her down and find where she went. I needed answers. Sara left two days ago in the midst of all the drama and nobody has seen her since, nothing to explain what had happened, but this scrap piece of paper asking for forgiveness. Unless this was the plan, take down the alpha and leave the son too distracted to realise what was happening next. Ahhh! My mind was going around in circles, needily searching for the right answer, but nothing seemed to fit. Nothing I was willing to accept. My body urged me to find her. To claim her. I couldn't understand this foreign need. As if on queue, Addison tapped gently while opening the door. "Hey, how you doing babe?" Ugh, her calling me that now made my skin crawl. Crossing my legs, I changed my position to hide my recent thoughts.

"Fine. Just going over things..." I trail off not wanting to talk about it.

She walks across the room swaying her hips as she does, she has tiny clothes on barely-there shorts and a crop top that barely covers her breasts. I swear each time she visits she is wearing less and less. Traveling up behind me, she placed both hands on my shoulders and started massaging them, "You're so tense, no wonder with everything you've been through." it felt so relaxing as she worked my tight shoulder muscles, but a part of me wanted to cringe away. Shrugging her off, I stood to face her. If she wants to chat, that we can do, face to face. I was ruined, Sara had ruined me. No touch will ever compare and I was not ready to believe she did this, not yet. Addison's eyes traveled to my groin as they widened with delight- she clearly believed that was her doing. Backing me into the corner, I wanted to tell her to move. I was about to. Grabbing her shoulders, she pushes into me, her hand going to my still hard p***s. A growl began in my throat. How dare she touch me? It was instinctive, I didn't want another woman touching me. "I am so sorry things have been so, so hard for you." What the hell is wrong with her? What is she playing at? It was as if the alpha wasn't dying in the same room as us. It all happened so quickly, she placed a kiss on my neck, moving up to my lips. Having had enough of the charade, I quickly pushed her away, causing her to take a few steps back. What was that smell? A shiver covered my body starting from my lips. She smirked over at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.