Once they were safe Alyson looked at the pup in her arms.
"You found a pup?!" Mason asked trotting over to Alyson.
"Yeah he's the only survivor," Alyson said darkly.
"What's his name going to be?" Mason asks.
"I dunno yet I was thinking something like Kai. What do you think?" Alyson asks the pup.
"You know in Navajo it means willow tree," Collin says.
"And those are to symbolize the moon," Hayden says.
"How fitting, then. Huh, Kai?" Alyson asks the pup in her arms.
"I think he'll be a great member of the pack," Dustin says surprising everyone.
"Yeah! He'll have Alyson to baby him and us to teach him how to be a wolf!" Mason says. The party chuckles.
"I'm going straight home, I'll see you guys whenever I see you!" Alyson says rushing home.
"We'll meet you there after we change back," Dustin says.
"Gotcha," Alyson says rushing home. She puts the pup in her backpack as she climbs up the tree and into her room. She gently puts Kai on her bed and leaps to her phone to research how to make him something to eat. She finds an article on a wildlife support page to use 2 cups of goat milk, 2 eggs, 1 cup plain yoghurt and a tablespoon of Karo Syrup. Luckily her family had weird taste in milk. She carefully trotted down the stairs and prayed she could still find one of their baby bottles. She made the nasty concoction and heated it up. She then quickly went back upstairs and searched the many boxes of stuff in there. She sighed in relief as she found a bottle for newborn babies. She put the food in it and lightly squeezed the tip of the bottle to make sure the thick formula came out.
She'd finished just in time as Kai started to squeal in hunger. Alyson picked the pup and allowed him to find the nipple, he clamped down on it and started to suck on it happily. Alyson sighed in relief.
The boys came up just then and swung open her door.
"How is he?" Mason asks petting Kai softly.
"He seems fine for now, the formula I found doesn't seem to be making him sick. I'll have to go into town tomorrow and get a mini-fridge for this stuff, get more of the supplies, and more baby bottles," Alyson says as Kai finishes the bottle. Alyson releases a loud yawn.
"What are we gonna do about the Skinwalkers?" Alyson asks.
"First you aren't doing anything about it, we're going to ask the elders when we get home. You're going to sleep and take care of Kai," Hayden said. This rubbed Alyson the wrong way,
"What do you mean I'm not going to do anything? I want to help! Those things murdered the pack! I'm not just gonna sit back and let you all handle this!" Alyson argued.
"You can't help Alyson! You're just a human!" Hayden said making Alyson flinch. Hayden's tone made it seem like an insult to be human. Her expression drops. The atmosphere changes.
"Yeah, I guess you're right I am just a human after all," Alyson says her words empty. Hayden's eyes soften.
"That's not what I meant," Hayden says moving closer to Alyson.
"Don't bother, go home and speak with your elders. I'll just stay away and be my just human self," Alyson says turning away from the four boys.
"I think we should leave Hayden," Mason says grabbing his brother's shoulder.
"But-"Hayden starts but Mason cuts him off with a head shake.
"Okay, see you soon, Alyson. Mason put our numbers in your phone call us if you need anything," Hayden says leaving.Hayden gently closed the door and looked at his brothers.
"You fucked up man," Mason says as they walk home.
"How bad?" Hayden asks gulping.
"Dustin bad," Collin says.
"Hey!" Dustin says.
"No, I'd say much worse. Did you see the way her whole face dropped?" Mason says kicking a rock in their path. A crushing boulder of emotion hit Hayden suddenly, not his but Alyson's. He could feel her tears as she cried. He wished he could turn around and comfort her, but knew he couldn't since he was the one who wounded her.
"Especially what just happened with the wolf pack, she seemed really close to them," Collin says. Everyone's emotions were put down by the tense emotions Alyson was feeling.
"Even I feel bad for her, did you see the way she went crazy on the Skinwalkers?" Dustin says looking down.
"Yeah and when she found the Alpha, god I nearly broke down crying," Mason says.
"I'm impressed she could hold it in this long," Collin says. Hayden couldn't find it in him to keep talking about Alyson.
"What are we going to tell the elders?" Hayden asked changing the topic.
"We first need to get a hold of them, then we'll get there," Dustin says. Hayden shuttered at the thought of talking to the elders. They gave off such power and negativity it made Hayden's skin crawl.
But he did and they were not happy about the information.
"They're attacking wildlife now?" The oldest asked his name was Dark Rider.
"Yes Dark Rider and they killed a whole pack of wolves," Dustin says.
"We'll send reinforcements they should be here within the next week," Dark Rider says.
"You're Father also told me of something else of importance. That one of you has found their mate," The eldest female spoke, her name is Willow but everyone calls her grandmother Willow. Hayden felt his cheeks flame, how dare father tell them, he hasn't even told her yet.
"It is I, Grandmother Willow," Hayden says stepping forward.
"Where is she?" Dark rider asks.
"She's not here," Hayden says his cheeks flaming even more.
"Is she gifted?" Grandmother asks.
"Very much so. She speaks to animals and has reflexes like lightning!" Mason says.
"This doesn't involve you, Child. I was speaking to your brother," Grandmother scolds.
"I'm sorry Grandmother," Mason says. She nods at him.
"The thing is though I haven't told her yet," Hayden says embarrassed.
"Why on earth not Child?"Grandmother asks.
"Well, We only just met and I've upset her," Hayden says.
"How so, Child?" Grandmother asks.
"I told her, she couldn't help us," Hayden coughs awkwardly," And I accidentally offended her by saying that she was just human and that she couldn't really help us..."
"My god boy! That's horrid! You need to apologize to her, she could be useful to the pack!" Dark rider comments. Grandmother elbows him and gives him a look.
"Give her space, child. I'm assuming the loss of the wolf pack was a heavy weight on her heart, yes?" Grandmother asks.
"Yes, She heard them howl calling their pack members for help. And when she found them she was devastated. Only one pup survived she took the poor guy in and named it Kai," Hayden said getting carried away.
"She seems great. I'm happy you found your mate child. She also seems to have good taste in names, you'll have to bring her home next time you come and confess soon she deserves to know!" Grandmother Willow says smiling softly.
"I'll try grandmother," Hayden promises. The elders end the call.
"Nothin' like love advice from the elders, huh?" Collin teases.
"Shut-up, Collin!" Hayden says embarrassed," I wonder who they'll send over."
"Probably someone from Canada," Dustin says.
"Aw man, then that'll probably be Nate and his family! I hate those guys they're too stuck up!" Mason says.
"I hope not he's a real ass. I heard he tried to steal his brother's mate, you better watch out Hayden," Collin says.
"I don't think I have to worry about him. Alyson will most likely kill him if he tries to filter with her," Hayden says.
"You do have one hell of a feisty mate," Collin says.
"I can't believe she stood up to Dustin like that! I thought he was for sure going to eat her! But she looked him dead in the eye was like' You don't scare me.' Even though I could smell the fear on her but it was mixed with such hard determination I think she would've won if you two fought," Mason says.
"I would've ripped her apart!" Dustin argues.
"You wouldn't have laid a hand on her and I swear if I hear you growl at her one more time I'm gonna feed you to a skinwalker," Hayden said deadly serious.
"You really shouldn't mess with her Dustin. Either she'll kill you or he'll kill you," Mason said.
"Imagine if she was a Were, she'd be the Alpha for sure," Collin says.
"She'd have my vote for sure, she's scary as hell," Mason says.
"She's a girl she can't be an Alpha, stupid," Dustin says.
"Well, she can be if the male Alpha lets her," Collin corrects.
"Would you let her be Alpha Hayden?" Mason asks.
"Hell yeah! She thinks walking on tree limbs is fun and completely safe. And you remember when she said Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I saw every ounce of that when she killed all those Skinwalkers. It was scary yet awesome," Hayden says.
"You better grow a pair before you tell her about the whole mates' thing because if you don't she'll be ruling your life forever," Dustin says.
"Just because I said I'd let her be Alpha -If she wanted- doesn't mean I I'll let rule our relationship! I'd prefer to co-alpha with her anyway!" Hayden says.
"Now stop talking about girls and go to bed," Their father calls out. The four boys say their goodnights and head to bed.
~~~~
Alyson held Kai close as she thought about what happened that day. She'd lost the whole pack and they turned into Skinwalkers. She almost got malled by Dustin. She learned the trick of telepathy. She got a new friend. Lastly, she was told she wasn't good enough. Her eyes were raw from tears.
"You know, Kai, If that's how they want to be fine. Screw them I don't need to help them! I can go back to picking berries and now I can take care of you!" Alyson says snuggling closer to Kai. He gives a soft yawn and slips under her blanket.
"Yeah I think bed sounds good too, buddy," Alyson says. Alyson wakes up to the sound of Kai's whining. She sat up and grabbed a tissue and took Kai to the bathroom to help him use the bathroom since he can't do it himself yet. He's quite again for another hour or so when he's hungry again. Alyson feeds him helps him burp if needed.
As she does so she checks for baby teeth or milking teeth. None yet but they look like they're growing under the skin and about to pop out. Thank god! Alyson thought. She wasn't very fond of this formula and wanted to get him on real soft meat soon.
After he's fed he goes back to sleep and so does Alyson. Before she knows it, it's time to be a functioning human. She put Kai in a bag, luckily the store allows pets or she'd be screwed.
She then asked herself how the hell is she going to get a minifridge to her room? She'd figure it out when she got there. She took her car(she'd bought it with the money she had saved up from working part-time at the ice cream parlour in town). She placed Kai in the passenger seat and buckled him in just to be safe. She then left the house.
She made it o the supply store in good time. She only had a few hours to get what she needed. Though she did pack a bottle just in case. She quickly got out of the car and grabbed Kai.
"We're gonna get you some supplies!" She said as she walked through the isles. She put Kai in the front seat of the cart. She picked out a cool little doggy bed for him, a few cool toys for when he got older, and some animal skins for him to chew on. She also grabbed a minifridge and a microwave-both on sale- and all the supplies she needs to make his formula as well as the next step of the formula: incorporating baby food meat with no onion in them. She also grabbed him a water bowl. She pushed everything to the check out line and waited bored. She cashier had finally come she paid. Thankful she never spent any money out of her check.
She put Kai in the front seat before unloading all the stuff in the car. The trip back was uneventful.
Once home she took everything but the Minifridge up to her room by climbing the tree. She then Put Kai on his heated bed and went to take the minifridge to her room.
"You're really decking out that room huh?" Her father said as she carried the heavy fridge.
"Yep! It makes me feel very independent!" Alyson says putting the box down.
"I'm glad. Do you want a hand with that?" Her dad asks.
"Nah, it's surprisingly light," Alyson says half lying.
"Alright let me know if you need a hand setting it up," he says turning the page of his newspaper.
"Will do," Alyson says picking the heavy fridge up again and unlocking her door. She carries the box and puts it by her bed. Kai whines softly.
"I know bud I'll get you your bottle as soon as I go get the microwave," Alyson says running back downstairs and getting the microwave from her car. She lugs it upstairs and grabs the bottle. She puts it in the downstairs microwave and tests it. When it's warm enough she goes back upstairs and feeds the pup. Then she starts to put the microwave and the fridge where she wants it and sets it up. That alone took another two hours and by then Kai needs to go to the bathroom. So she did that and plopped back down.
"You're a lot of work you know that?" Alyson asks. Kai sneezes at her. "Why I never!" Alyson says faking hurt.