Number 9: The Genetically Modified Werewolf

Chapter 12

"Slade!!" Little Ariana squealed, ran up to her older brother and wrapped her arms around his leg, grinning up at him. Bending down, Slade picked her up and held her in his arms.

The sight of an Alpha male taking care of his little sister would turn on a lot of females...to bad Nine looked like she wanted to make a run for it.

"Hello my little minion." He teased and tapped her nose lightly.

Pouting, Ariana glared at her big brother before her big doe eyes caught sight of a stiff Nine who was hoping to blend into the background.

Nine watched in horror as the little girl squirmed out of the Alpha's hold and then moved to stand in front of her - staring in deep curiosity and awe.

The girl was so small and vulnerable. With just a flick of her paw, Nine could send her body flying.

It was her very first time coming into contact with a child and knew from Dexter how weak they are. Never once did Nine ever experience being a normal child who was loved by their parents, teased by siblings and played with other kids her age. Only slaughter and death surrounded her.

Which meant that Nine had no clue how to act around children. Dexter told her that they could easily get hurt and need a lot of guidance. Apparently they didn't grow up like Nine - ready to kill on sight and could easily handle severe injuries, so she couldn't relate to them.

They were completely innocent and even the beast was confused to what the little one was. Nine was thankful that the beast didn't want to attack, instead chose to ignore the little girl as she was no threat to him.

"Hi! I'm Ariana!" she waved enthusiastically and smiled.

Nine could not move an inch as she stared down at the girl with wide eyes. She could feel the amusement rolling off the Alpha as he gazed at her intently. He too had a large grin on his face - clearly enjoying Nine's discomfort.

"You must be big brother's mate! You're pretty big for a female!" Ariana said, her grin growing.

"Ariana." Slade said with a stern tone, "If you don't have anything good to say then don't say anything at all."

Whipping her head to her brother, Ariana rolled her eyes, clearly showing she was spending too much time with her older sister Tori.

"I meant that as a good thing. She's so pretty and will make the perfect Luna!"

Slade couldn't agree more and nodded his head thoughtfully. "That is true." He moved his gaze to shoot Nine a wink but his green eyes only caught sight of empty air.

"Hey, where'd she go?" Ariana asked the very question her brother was thinking.

Feeling himself panic, Slade twisted around and searched frantically for him mate. Upon hearing giggles and laughter to his right, Slade snapped his head to see children trying to climb on top of a frozen, black wolf that tried to sneak away.

Slade let out a lung full of air in relief. Instead of going to his mate's immediate aid, he stood back, arms crossed and just watched her in amusement. For the first time since their meeting, Nine looked like she needed him. In fact, her eyes were pleading with him to save her.

She was literally a statue as the kids grabbed fists full of hair and tried to pull themselves up, probably thinking she was the closest thing to a horse. Her front left paw was slightly lifted off the ground as to take another step but didn't fully complete the process so it was stuck midair. Nine's head was low in the closest thing to a submission posture - easily accessible for greedy hands that tugged at her ears.