Alpha and Omega

Chapter 6

Gwen slept in his arms through the end of that movie and through most of another. Bucky let her sleep. She needed the rest from whatever Hydra had done to her and she hadn't rested very long in the medroom at all. He would've let her sleep longer, but the jolted away part of the way through a movie at a loud noise in the movie. She started awake, sitting up, and casting around for the danger.

"Shh. It's just the movie. It's alright, you're safe," Bucky soothed, stroking her back until she calmed. He hadn't thought that the movie would be loud enough to wake her, but he'd forgotten about the explosion. "I didn't think about it. I just let it go in random order," he told her apologetically when she had calmed.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep," she murmured once she knew it was safe, even as she was snuggling back up with him. She wasn't anywhere near awake.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her more securely in his lap. "Didn't want you to fall off." He knew it was partly a lie, an excuse to hold her. An excuse to cuddle her close and keep her safe.

"Mmm" she murmured contentedly. Wolves liked cuddles and she didn't mind cuddling in his warm arms whatsoever. "Overprotective alphas," she grumbled with such good nature that it sounded more like a fond saying than her truly grumbling.

He smiled warmly at the adorable little wolf in his arms. He thought over her words. He was usually called a mother hen, not an alpha. He had to address that, even if she was mostly asleep in his arms. "I'm not an alpha," he reminded her gently. He didn't want her thinking she was surrounded by her own kind and thinking that she was back among them. She'd just be sad when she woke and realized that wasn't the case.

She still hadn't woken all the way and answered without thinking. "If you ever turn into a werewolf you will be," she informed him as if it were obvious how it worked and as if it were obvious that he could become a werewolf. She didn't understand how little was known about her people.

Bucky blinked at her statement as he tried to take in her words. "I'm not turning into one, I don't even know how that's possible," he told her gently. He didn't want to make it sound like he didn't want to be one of her kind, but it wasn't anything he was even considering at this juncture.

"It's possible" she told him matter of factly, as if this were just common knowledge. "Don't let werewolves in wolf form bite you if you don't want to turn,"

"Oh, okay. What if they bite when in human form?"

She shook her head. She was more awake now and sat up a little to look at him. "No effect. Lycanthropy is only contagious in wolf form. Even being like this," she gestured to her wolf ears to indicate the partial form "isn't enough"

Bucky's attention was drawn to her ears when she drew attention to them. He reached out to gently touch them, though did so slowly, letting her decide if she wanted him to touch her or not. She leaned into his touch and he smiled as he pet, then scratched behind her ear. "So can you make them and the tail come and go at will or not?" he asked her gently.

She hesitated and he saw that the subject was painful for her. He almost took back his words when she answered. "I could at one time," she said softly, leaning into his touch, seeking comfort from the physical contact, "but Hydra forced us to stay in this form constantly to identify us at a glance. Now I can't turn all the way back human," she admitted softly.

Bucky growled softly. "That's stupid, though they weren't ever the smartest. You can't blend in to a crowd. How did they expect to sneak ones like you in? You'd make terrible spies," that was Hydra's thing, hiding in plain sight.

"We were puppies when they took us. We didn't know we'd get stuck if we stayed in one form too long. And it was years before any of us were trained enough to go on missions. By then, the damage was done," she explained with sorrow in her voice that she'd lost one of her forms because of Hydra.

"Oh, I'm sorry, doll," he hadn't meant to bring up something painful, he was just curious. His curiosity was going to get him in trouble if he wasn't careful. "Is it painful, to have them exposed like that?" He asked, petting her soft ear, his thumb tracing the edge as he did.

She shook her head, though not enough to dislodge his thumb. "Not at all," she replied, her voice a purr that did naughty things to his libido. "Same with the tail," she added before he could ask, knowing that's what he'd ask about next.

"Can I..." He couldn't form the words. It seemed like more intimate of a question that he'd intended. He couldn't help staring at her face, memorizing it, memorizing all the details, how gorgeous her eyes were.

How hard it was not to kiss her.

Fuck.

She nodded and sat up, disentangling herself from the blanket so he would admire, and pet, her very soft tail. Tails were the pride of the wolves in hybrid form and hers was kept soft and cared for, even in Hydra. They'd learned quickly that the wolves became despondent and useless if they weren't allowed to care for their tails.

Bucky was curious about her wolf form, but he'd save that curiosity for another time. He reached for her tail and stroked it softly. It was softer than he even imagined and she purred in pleasure, her eyes closing as he stroked her tail. Though she'd never admit that she was purring. He also noticed her lovely figure now that she wasn't buried under the blankets. She was a touch too thin, but she'd fill out after a few good meals.

Remembering that had been in his arms, started to create an issue for him and he couldn't remember his pants being so tight when he put them on that morning.

He grabbed a couch pillow for his lap.

She looked confused at his actions when he grabbed for the pillow. "Did your leg fall asleep or something?" she asked innocently, concerned. She was just rescued, of course she wasn't thinking of such things as sex. Or relationships.

Or how very much Bucky wanted to kiss her.

Shit fuck damn that wasn't helping his tenting pants.

Her purrs of pleasure didn't help the situation any. He shouldn't have asked to pet her tail. He wanted to do more, but knew she was off limits. "Its for you. So that it's more comfortable if you want to sit back for another movie," he lied quickly. It was for her, just not in the way he was implying.

She accepted the lie, not bothering to tell him yet that she could smell lies. Instead, she cuddled herself back in the blanket and settled back in his arms. Though laying on the pillow, positioned where it was with his current problem probably wasn't helping matters.

No, it wasn't helping matters at all.

Fuck!

He bit back a groan, letting the pain help to distract him. He hadn't been affected by the few other women they'd saved. Why her? Why now?

How could he move forward with a relationship with her without hurting her?

How soon could he kiss her?

Fuck, this wasn't helping.

Fuckfuckfuck

She noticed his pain and sat up again, looking worried and whined softly that he was in pain. "Are you alright?" she asked him with such open concern that he couldn't help feeling his heart warm at her concern.

Luckily, Bucky was saved from coming up with an answer by Friday announcing: "Dinner is served"