The Shy Alpha

Chapter Twenty Two

They'd been searching for a few hours now, and Alexa could almost see dawn arising, and she felt her nerves pick up dramatically. It wouldn't be long before her father and Alpha Derek were up and about, and coming into her room to check her, if they hadn't already done so. They had to hurry up, or she knew there would be a lot of very angry and very concerned wolves coming after her. She bared her forearm and rested it against her forehead, wincing when she felt the fever getting stronger. She needed to find Hunter, and fast.

Demitri walked ahead of her, flanked by about half of the rogues that were with him in the clearing, the rest of them had headed out to search for Hunter. The scouts could be as quiet as they wanted according to Demitri, but he didn't want to remain unprotected if Hunter decided to attack them first. Alexa wanted to defend her mate, tell them he wasn't a monster and wouldn't attack unprovoked, but she'd heard them talking, and she wasn't sure what mental state he was in anymore.

Alexa was slowly starting to struggle to walk through the leaves and over the logs, her body aching to rest, but her mind refusing to give up, even if for just a few minutes. The baby kept on moving around as well, even more so than normal, and she was desperately hoping that it was just from nerves and the impending meeting with Hunter, than anything else.

Suddenly, she lost her footing, and found herself falling to the ground, before she stopped in midair, her arms outstretched in front of her face to protect herself. She was put back upright again, and turned round to see Demitri standing off to the side, his arms wrapped around her, their faces barely a few inches apart from each other and his cheeks bright red from their closeness. Her heart pounded madly, she hadn't been this close to a male that wasn't her Alpha or her father since Hunter had left, and the look in his eyes as he stared down at her, was so full of wanton lust that she didn't know what to do.

Alexa could see Demitri leaning forward, his breath hitting her lips, but she quickly pulled away from him, not wanting to risk anything happening that shouldn't. Demitri sighed, his shoulders slumped, "Sorry Alexa, it's been quite a long time since I've been that close to a female that wasn't afraid of myself or the wolves with me... Guess I got carried away." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, and she smiled slightly at him.

"I understand, don't worry about it," she answered, still staying away from him, her hand placed protectively over her stomach. She couldn't risk another blow to her mating.

"No, I'm still sorry, you're mated and despite not being part of a pack, a mating still means something to me. I promise you'll have no more issues from me, or my men," he explained, his head held high, his eyes showing the truth behind his promise.

She nodded, and went to carry on, but stopped when the wolves in front of her halted and began growling in warning.

"Alexa stay back, he's here..." Demitri warned, stepping on front of Alexa, his arm outstretched across her chest to protect her. Fur started to sprout from every pore, and his canines extended, dribble pouring down his chin. Every wolf there was on high alert, and Alexa hadn't even heard a single sound that might mean Hunter was near by.

That all changed when the sound of frozen leaves being broken in the distance reverberated throughout the air. Suddenly, the wolves and Demitri closed in around Alexa, whose heart sped up madly at the prospect of seeing Hunter again.

A low growling echoed from between the trees, that swayed slightly in the breeze, and at that moment she knew it was him. She could see a large form moving through the trees, claws crunched tightly into the bark as he moved himself forward. A snout followed afer, lips pulled back in a menacing snarl, canines vibrating with the growl that tore through his throat. His red eyes shone through the blackness of the night, seeming to almost glow with the moonlight shining down on him. His fur was matted more so than when she last him, and even though he was on his hind legs again, she could see he was fighting not to fall down and stay on four legs. It was unnatural for a wolf to stay on their hind legs for too long, and despite seeming to favour that position when he first shifted in front of her, it was starting to take its toll on his body. His ears were pressed flat against his head, his entire body in a warning stance, almost daring the rogues facing him to attack, taunting them. There were deep scratches lining parts of his arms and torso, battle wounds from the many fights he'd endured since they last saw each other.