An Alpha's Alpha

Mind

It had been a long time since Kelsey had felt the wind whistle through her hair. Even longer since she'd basked under the light of the moon. Caught between two worlds, it felt as though it had been centuries since she was last lucid and in control of her own body, but then again, it may have only been seconds.

She cricked her neck and let her arms dance in the breeze. Her toes curled and dug into the damp earth beneath her as her lungs filled with the scent of trees, the earth and- blood. So much blood. But there was something else there, something that had pulled her from her unconscious mind and brought her back into the real world.

Snapping out of her small reverie, she turned her head to the direction her wolf had been running when she'd tripped, rolled and transformed back into her human body mid-leap, her mind in one piece, for a change. She could hear the clash of claws and snarls of the battle forging ahead, but she couldn't quite bring herself to move. It wasn't that she was scared. When in her right mind she'd been a skilled fighter - no, it wasn't fear that had caused her to pause, instead, it was a smell. One that had been weak but was growing stronger by the second.

She turned from the sounds of battle and let her eyes scan the tree line in front of her. Her attention skipped over branches and leaves, small animals and birds - but paused when they spotted two glowing orbs.

The look in them shot through her, her heart skipping inside as her wolf recognised the animal before it. A glimmer of familiarity echoed through her mind. Hadn't she seen this wolf before? Hadn't she smelt his scent? Flashes of consciousness replayed in her mind. A moment here, a hand lingering on her cheek there. She'd pieced together enough from her wolf's memories to know that she'd been more conscious over the last few days, but only now as the wolf emerged from the shadows and walked towards her, transforming as he did so, did she realise why.

"Mine." The words fell from her lips before she could stop them. The sentiment driven by her wolf but irrevocably echoed by her. She didn't know this man, couldn't remember his name to save her life, but both her body and her wolf knew that he belonged to her, and her to him.

In the back of her mind, a memory provided the cause. This wolf was her Moon mate. The one soul fated to intertwine with hers. An irrevocable bond, a bond not even death could end. The bond could give life, but it could also take it. If she died, he died and vice versa.

By the time her brain had processed what he was to her, he stood before her, as naked as she was. Their wolves watched from behind their irises. The two stood in silence, their breathing the only sign of life as they each searched the other's eyes.

"Kelsey." The man spoke her name as though he knew her, jealousy panged through her stomach, insulted by her own ignorance.

She went to tell him she didn't know his name, but he seemed to guess her words, "I'm Liam. We've met. Well, I've met you at least. You are lucid, right?" Insecurity flashed through his eyes, chased by a hint of fear.

Kelsey smiled, "yes. I think. I-I think it's because of you. I think your scent, I think it's been bringing me back." She choked on the lump in her throat as a tear rolled down her cheek. Her hair shifted across her shoulder as the wind changed direction, bringing a smile to her face. What it was to feel again.

"How?" Liam whispered as his arm raised and gently cupped her cheek, triggering memories of the same moment from a deep crevice of her mind.

"I don't know. I think maybe the bond between us is healing me." She whispered, tears flowing now as a mixture of emotions churned inside her. Hope. Heartbreak. Loss. Happiness.

Liam nodded, hair falling across his face. "I'd wondered. I didn't tell anyone that you were mine. I think your pack were suspicious. I think your alpha, Cassidy, knows."