Ferocious

Chapter 14

The Visitor and The Broken Wolf

Astro opened his eyes slowly as he woke up feeling much relieved,

he felt the pressure of another person close to him still asleep and he could only wonder who it was,

He tried not to make any sudden movements as he turned so as not to wake the person.

'Wait, this is Aubrey' he thought to himself when he was able to look and discovered who it was beside him.

Then he discovered another presence looming right above them,

He glanced up and saw startling blue eyes staring down at them both with probably surprise and amazement those eyes.

He forgot to be stealthy and rolled a few paces away from the person then crouched, ready to pounce should it be an attack even though he knew at the back of his mind that it wasn't,

But Aubrey woke up then and she as well noticed the blue eyed lady staring at both of them in amazement.

"Nike? Nikky is that you?" Aubrey exclaimed completely knocked out of her sleepy haze as she rose to a sitting position.

"Well yes couz, it is really me, now I gotta ask, is this really you Aubrey? and who is this hotshot that finally got you to bed with him uhn?" asked the visitor Nike who apparently is Aubrey's cousin,

she had a mischievous grin on her face as she asked the question.

Aubrey glanced back at Astro who had stood up to his height during the exchange between the cousins.

She flushed visibly, getting red with shy embarrassment even as wild thoughts came to her mind;

'Was he always this tall and handsome?' She thought,

"I must have fallen asleep beside him" she said aloud as she stood up and went to hug her cousin.

"Well thanks for that clarification Miss obvious, because it didn't look like that before" Nike stated after the hug in pure sarcasm that only got Aubrey reddening some more as she went back to sit.

"Uhm, hi, I'm Astro, I work here and well I kinda live here as well, I got sick and Aubrey was kind enough to bring me here and get me treated, she must have been so tired she fell asleep next to me, I assure you it is not what you're thinking" Astro jumped in trying to save Aubrey from any other jibe attacks by her cousin.

"Oh well, hi, I'm Nike, pleased to meet you, and of course I know its not what it seems here, I just like to throw some jibe at my elder cousin here,

Believe it or not we've been trying to get her to have a boyfriend for ages now but she just wouldn't budge, so I know it wouldn't have just happened overnight, not without me knowing at least" Nike said supplying too much info and still getting Aubrey flustered.

"Ok Nikky that's enough thank you" Aubrey quickly jumped in, saving herself by stopping Nike from giving out anymore information about her personal life.

Nike has always been like that though, a wonderful little sister in every sense,

always in a cheery mood, sarcastic in entirety, jovial and overly friendly.

Aubrey could see definitive changes in her little cousin though even if her personality remained the same,

Her brunette hair was longer, her startling blue eyes seemed more mature, her face was also a perfect oval now giving her a model-like look and her fair skin was well toned with a light tan.

Her body curved more perfectly and she had definitely grown taller,

she'd grown from a girl to a lady since Aubrey last saw her.

"Whoa, how long has it been Nikky?, you look awesome" Aubrey stated,

"A little over five years now couz, I'm fifteen now so I gotta look the part" Nike answered with a twirl and wave of her hair.

Astro moved and offered Nike a seat, to him she could pass for much younger than that, he guessed she must be supernatural as well, so to confirm he scanned for her aura and found a pulsing magenta color at her core.

"You're a beta!" Astro declared in total amazement as he remembered Dr. Darlan's words that betas are secondary colors at the core of their aura, totally disrupting the sisters conversation in the process.

"Urrmm yeah so?" Nike asked a bit confused and irritated,

"I'm sorry but I've never been in close proximity to one before, in fact I'm just seeing one so close to me" Astro said getting his awe all over his face.

"Hey Aubrey is your boyfriend for real?" Nike asked but this time she was plainly confused.

"He is not my boyfriend..."

"She is not my girlfriend..."

Aubrey and Astro stated simultaneously.

"He is not from around here so the alpha beta omega concept is a new territory for him, but that is besides the point, how did you get here and why are you here Nikky?" Aubrey asked her cosin in concern.

Nike wanted to continue the conversation of the 'not from around here hot guy that is working and living with her cousin, but the reason she was there is more important.

"Well I had gotten to the house but you weren't there so I tried here and met the doors opened, then I found you here.

As for why I'm here, your father sent me to warn you, a pack from the Nordic region approaches, one you know of,

The Stockholmien pack" Nike stated gravely.

Astro noticed all the color drained from Aubrey's face as she heard the name of the pack, right then he knew something terrible was on its way.

"If they are really coming, why isn't he here yet then, why is he sending a warning?" Aubrey asked referring to her father.

"Your dad is in our city, he came in late last night under the pressure of being chased,

he is currently being hidden by my pack, we do not know what danger he faces only that the threat is real,

He said they'll be here in ten days, I'll be here for that long as well cos you'll need the protection,

He also told me the alpha is your only hope" Nike supplied.

"Oh My goodness, this isn't happening" Aubrey said totally upset,

"Wait he mentioned an alpha as my only hope? Did he say who it was?"

Nike pointed to Astro "your father mentioned his name".

*

Astonishment has been going around all day,

Now it was Aubrey's turn to get surprised speechless.

"You're an alpha?" Aubrey asked in a low tone facing Astro.

"Yes..., No..., I mean, I think so" Astro tried to think of the best way to answer but kept coming up blank.

"Are you or are you not?!" It was Nike that asked this time, suddenly she is now getting serious and her ever present smile had vanished.

"Well its complicated, the doc told me I had the qualities of an alpha and that I can become one, he hasn't gotten around to telling me how to become one" Astro supplied thinking he had somehow messed up something important.

"Hmmm, well you've got less than ten days to figure it out and come into your role fully, that is the only way you can protect her from the impending threat" Nike stated pointing to her cousin.

"You really believe you can become an alpha?" Aubrey asked him with a sliver of hope in her eyes.

"Well your dad believed it and right now it seems it is the exact thing you need to overcome this problem, so I believe it too, I'll become alpha, no matter what it takes" Astro answered.

Then they decided to go to Aubrey's house so they can discuss better and plan out their actions for the next nine days before the pack arrives,

So Astro did the rounds around the clinic, attending to the animals currently on admission and feeding them all as well then he closed the clinic and they all went in Aubrey's car.

Astro had discovered the car initially belonged to her dad but he had to give it to her so she could move about more safely,

right now though he started to feel there's more to the story of why Aubrey needed to be protected so much that even her cousin had to come since her father couldn't.

On getting home, Aubrey brewed coffee for them all and brought microwaved cookies as well, then they all sat to discuss.

Astro kept looking around the neatly polished room, a couple of art hung from the walls about, most were about animals,

He could just glimpse a bookshelf right off the corridor, he was sure they'd be filled with medical stuff relating to animals as well.

He also started wondering which corridor led to Aubrey's room, he wouldn't want to mistakenly enter Dr. Darlan's room in search for Aubrey's.

'Wait what am I thinking' he thought and mentally shook himself.

"How is my dad doing? Did he seem okay?" Aubrey asked Nike when they were all seated,

"Oh cmon, he is fine, he is in good hands you know, Mom will protect him even if her whole pack has to suffer the brunt of it" Nike replied.

Astro felt the need to get clarification,

"Wait your Mom is the Alpha of your pack?" He asked Nike.

This time she didn't seem irritated by his question as she replied,

"Yes, my Mom has been alpha since before I was born, she is quite capable of protecting Darlan"

"Then why doesn't Aubrey just go over to where your pack is so she would be protected by her Aunt's pack?" He asked again,

"No, that can't be, the journey is a bit long and the threat might get her on the way if they learn of her movements which they will,

besides, if the Stockholmien pack discovered she is with our pack, they would come all battle ready and really fight for her, we can't get involved that way" Nike answered.

Astro felt he was getting closer to clarification, so he drove on,

"But why is that? Why is it that its just one guy that would be effective against such pack and not a fully formed and powerful pack?"

Aubrey and Nike looked at each other and a silent agreement happened between them, they both knew he has to know everything if he is to be as effective as needed.

"Astro, my mother was the junior sister of Nike's Mom, they were both in the Stockholmien pack before Nike's mom ascended and became alpha and then left for their hometown to create her own pack

My mother wanted to go with her elder sister but by that time she was already the alpha's mate so she wasn't allowed

But eventually she rebelled and left, what she didn't know at the time was that she was pregnant

As she got to her hometown and met up with her elder sister they discovered the pregnancy so to cover up they had her marry Darlan who was an emissary to the pack at the time" Aubrey explained.

Now Astro understood, he had initially thought it had to be some kind of rare miracle for a werewolf to be born from the copulation of a human and a werewolf in the first place, but now he understood that wasn't the case.

"So the doc isn't your biological father" he stated,

"No, but he is my father in every way, he protected me and catered for me and brought me up in the best possible way,

Even after my mother died and he had to do it all alone because in the pack my mother had been estranged especially because of the issue of the pregnancy since it belonged to another packs alpha

So I was left out of the pack but I had the hope of joining once I developed, then when it was time for development I still had issues and it was so bad that we had to just leave there and come here" Aubrey said further shedding light on the crisis at hand.

"Wait you had issues at development? what kind of issues?" Astro asked with a feeling like he could really relate.

Once again Aubrey and Nike glanced at each other and that silent communication and agreement happened again,

Astro felt he knew how they were doing it and what they were doing, but he couldn't remember even though it was just on the tip of his memory

Then Aubrey continued "when I developed, it was an incomplete development,

I have all the senses and skills of a werewolf, but the furthest I can transform into a werewolf is glowing eyes and extended claws

I can't turn beyond that, no full transformation, hence I couldn't join the pack, or any other pack for that matter because I'll automatically be the weakest link of the pack and I'll have no value or power whatsoever to add to the pack"

Astro couldn't believe what he was hearing but it all made sense; why her father said she'd always declined joining any pack and why he always looked out for her to be protected, and why Nike offered to stay to protect her as well.

At this point Astro knew that he now had even more reason to protect Aubrey unlike when he thought he had to protect her from other packs just because she doesn't want to join any,

He knew now that it wasn't that she didn't want to join a pack, it was that even if she wanted to, she couldn't because once they find out her condition, they'll reject her harshly eventually and some might even decide to kill her for being broken.

"I understand now, but what is now the issue with the Stockholmien pack?" Astro asked trying not to dwell on Aubrey's condition because he understood how she is feeling.

Nike decided to answer this time,

"We recently had a defaulter amongst our pack, she left the pack and unfortunately she went to join them, and they found out about Aubrey being the daughter of their alpha,

but what she as well doesn't know is Aubrey's condition because only very few knew about it in the pack

Now they want Aubrey back in their pack and if they find out about her condition she'll most likely be killed, no alpha would want a child like that"

Aubrey had her head down, tears had welled up in her eyes,

"No one would want a broken thing like me in their pack, and definitely no alpha would as well, they'll want to do me the favour of killing me so I could come back again well formed and unbroken" she said tearing up.

Astro moved closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder,

"Hey, you are not broken, and even if it is your bio father or any other alpha that rejected you then they're the fools and the broken ones,

and as of now you are a member of my pack, they can't touch you if you're in a pack already

I'll protect you, we'll protect you, I have an idea, one that might really work if we could pull it off

All I need is to just figure out how this alpha stuff I am is, then we'll be set"