Alpha Charming | Rheon

ELEVEN

"What are you doing here?" She asked in a panic, her eyes darting between the wolf and me, "You can't be here, he'll tear you apart!"

I wanted to ask who that was but already had this sickening feeling I knew the answer.

But as if my presence gave off a certain sense, I saw the wolf twitch its ears before turning to face me. Blood drained from my face when I saw its eyes - Rheon's eyes - staring at me, burning into my soul. My feet were rooted in one place when he took a threatening step forward...

"Rheon." His head jerked towards the voice, snarling at Emric when the older man placed himself between me and him, "You have to calm down, son. Control it."

I was holding my breath the whole time. What caused him to wolf out like this? There wasn't a full moon until the end of the week, and last time I checked, Rheon had perfect control over his shifts when he first showed it to me the other day.

Emric reached back with his hand to shove me towards the door and that's where he made the mistake. He barely touched me when all hell broke loose. Rheon completely lost his mind and lurched forward, snapping his jaws at his father, and missed Emric's arm by mere inches. Seren took her chance and rammed into him from the side, throwing him off balance for no longer than a second to get him away from me.

"Ash, run!" Reyna called from the far end of the room, however, in vain. Rheon had already gained his footing. But instead of directing his attention to me, he bolted for the windows. Even if Alexander had superpowers, he wouldn't have been able to stop his brother from breaking through the glass and disappearing into the night.

The Balfours all exchanged looks before one by one, they shifted. My eyes were the size of UFOs when I found myself in a room full of bear-sized wolves, each of them somehow representing their human form in some way.

Craig, however, was the last to shift, but not before pointing at me with the words, "Stay 'ere, lass. We'll be back in a wink."

I watched him grow ears and a tail before salt and pepper fur grew all over his figure. In less than three seconds, the strangely optimistic Scot who drove me to the castle and who turned out to also be a duke changed into a wolf. In the utmost grace, he leapt out of the window, and followed his family over the castle grounds to track down his nephew.

A series of howls followed shortly after the pack left. My body remained still as a statue as I listened to the echoes in the distance. I've seen some weird shit in my life; I watched a tape of my mother giving birth to me via C-section, I've seen my aunt Izzy get arrested for punching a delivery guy for forgetting her chicken nuggets, and I once saw a woman put sliced pickles in her ice cream and ate it.

But none of those had anything on what I just experienced.

Once my body got over most of the shock, I rushed to the window and gazed into the darkness. It has started raining a few minutes ago and an icy draft of wind and rain swept into the study. Gooseflesh erupted across my arms and legs, causing my teeth to clatter as my eyes searched the dark for any moving shapes. There was this nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that wondered what would happen if the pack failed to bring Rheon back. What if he hurts them or worse, they hurt him?

'Listen to Craig,' the tiny voice in my head said, 'There's nothing you can do anyway, you don't know anything about werewolves and their issues. You'll only end up getting hurt or worse.'

But I couldn't just stand here and do nothing, that's not the type of person I want to be.

Besides, I'd rather be out there in the rain, searching for a werewolf that might maim or kill me, than stay here with that shadow figure looming somewhere in the shadows.

With newfound determination, I climbed through the window, careful to avoid the shards of glass, and sprinted head-first down the lawn towards the lake. The cold and wind caused my eyes to tear up as the rain lashed down on me, drenching my hair and clothes.

Only when I reached the pebbly shore of the lake did I realize I should've brought a flashlight with me. Not even the light of the moon could penetrate the dark clouds to provide any assistance in Operation Finding Rheon. I blindly wandered down the shore, squinting against the rain to navigate my feet in the right direction.

There was no way I could find Rheon like this and with his sense of smell gone, he couldn't find me either. It was a long shot, but all I could do was hope his sense of hearing was sharp enough to pick up my voice through the storm. I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled, "Rheon!"

This was absurd.

Absolute madness.

"Rheon!" My voice broke in the cold. Any longer and I might catch hypothermia in this weather. After nothing happened, I had enough. At least I could say I tried and woke up with the flu to prove it.

However, as I turned around my breath caught in my throat.

I stood face to face with a wolf. Its fur glistened in the rain, giving it an oil-like appearance as it glowered at me with those striking blue eyes.

Swallowing dryly, I willed my voice to work, "Take a deep breath, Rheon. You have to calm down."

His deep and throaty growl rumbled through the ground and up to my feet as I lifted my hand, sending shiver after shiver through my body. Perhaps it would've been wiser to stay at the castle.

Call me brave or incredibly stupid, I reached out to him, holding my breath the closer my palm neared his face – might I add, his head was bigger than those gym balls they use in aerobics!

Please don't bite me, I thought as his eyes locked on my hand. Scratch that, please don't eat me, I'd taste horrible anyway. Not even mosquitoes seemed to like my blood.

I was starting to feel lightheaded for holding my breath so long and was beginning to think, one way or another, I'm going to die that night. But as I was on the verge of fainting, Rheon flinched back and started to shrink. I was frozen in place as I watched the tail and ears and fur disappear until all that was left was his naked form crouched on the pebbled shore.

Remembering it was still raining cats and dogs, I stripped off the robe I wore over my pajamas and covered his shaking form. At least he's a bit more decent now.

"Come on," I whispered and helped him to his feet, "Let's get you out of the rain." He didn't utter a word as we travelled up shore back to the comforts of the castle.

It didn't take the others long to return and find us in the kitchen. Rheon's hands were wrapped around a steaming mug of coffee while mine was already empty. Don't ask me how, but I managed to get him to his room so he could get dressed - as satisfying it was to see him shirtless and all, I felt cold on his behalf. We might yet survive without catching hypothermia.

Rieka rushed to her son with concern written all over her face, engulfing him in a hug. "You had me worried sick."

"Second that," Victor muttered as he rummaged through the fridge for a snack.

"What happened tonight?" Emric asked in his soothing tone, placing a comforting hand on his son's back, "Rheon?"

I wanted to tell him Rheon hasn't spoken a word since he shifted back, didn't even respond when I asked him whether he wanted tea or coffee. Which explained why I was surprised when I heard him replying to his father.

"I saw her," his voice was nothing above a whisper. However, nobody was prepared for what he said next. "I saw Lucine. She's back."