'I thought Clarissa was on patrol with you?' Raph asks while undressing.
'She was, not sure why she's even still around.'
We both make it outside a second later, starting up into a run and shifting midair. It doesn't take us long at all to meet up with another two pack members also heading to the border, but neither of them seem to know what exactly is going on either, as they just shake their head.
We speed up, making it there in less than a minute and I freeze immediately. Raph is behind me, so he doesn't see at first, but there's no way I can let him, he would only get himself hurt. Without thinking I charge, right at the boy standing outside the border, desperate and for good reason. Right in front of him Clarissa is keeping him out, as she should be as port of patrol, but behind him are three rogues, running straight at him. I don't have much time, definitely not enough to explain to the pack members what is going on, so I just grab the boy, twist him around and use his weight to throw both of us inside the pack lands, immediately after covering him with my body. I cannot let any of the pack members get to him. Luckily for me, all three of them are preoccupied with keeping the rogues behind borders, but I know as soon as they are far enough away, they would do what their duty asks them to: get rid of the intruder. Even if that means manhandling me.
So I shift back, keeping the boy underneath me an quietly whisper 'stay still' to him. I don't pay attention to whether he heard me or not, instead I address Clarissa and the other two directly.
'I know the boy, he's not a threat, I will send him home soon, just let him rest to make sure the rogues don't find him when he crosses the border again.'
'We can't let you do that Donovan. I can't confirm his identity, so at the very least we need to let the Alpha know and decide.' Clarissa sighs at the last part. I know she is making a massive exception and it's really only because we've become quite close friends over the years. Right now, this is a relief.
'Can we meet at our house please?' I ask, while slowly getting up. I hear another sigh escape her, before she sends the other two wolves to go report to the alpha, probably deciding to stay with us to be on the safe side.
'Sam.' Raph's voice is simply a whisper as he stands stone still where he had to stop earlier. I help the boy up as he only has eyes for his brother.
'Raph!' he sobs as he runs to him, throwing his arms around Raph's torso in what seems to be quite a grip for an 11 year old. I can't suppress the little smile that plays on my lips at watching this. Raph is still frozen, but suddenly his eyes find mine with a helpless question. I only smile encouragingly at him and mouth 'go', before turning to Clarissa to explain. Only, I'm not quite sure what I'm explaining in the first place. I have absolutely no idea how Sam got here, I'm fairly sure the pack wouldn't allow him to leave to find us, let alone being able to dodge my mum to do it alone. Immediately, a coldness washes over me at the thought. Does that mean...?
'Your mother is fine. She doesn't know I'm here.' a voice calls from behind me. I turn around and sure enough, Sam's eyes are trained on me, even though he's currently being squashed by Raph.
'So this is Raphael's brother? From your old pack? How in all that is holy did he end up here? Thought your old pack hates you?' Clarissa asks bewildered, and I can't even fault her. I'm confused as well.
'Let's go home and wait for the Alpha. Then you'd better spill, kid.' I playfully threaten. Sam just giggles and pats Raph's arm in an attempt to let him go. I highly doubt that will happen anytime soon, but I'm also aware that he's probably been listening to everything that's been said as well. He's not one to completely miss things. And I'm not wrong, because Raph hoists Sam up onto his hip, apparently deciding to carry him home like he would a young child.
Sam protests the whole way, but eventually just settles into an embarrassed pout.
'Clarissa, can you see whether we have any food for Sam?' I ask her once we've arrived and she immediately catches on, grabbing him from Raph's arms and setting him down, practically pulling him inside.
'What, no! Why did you have her do that. He's back now, I want him to stick to me!' Raph complains. It's clear he's not thinking straight, but I just need a second to talk to him.
'He can't stay, you know that.' I have both hands on his face, just to make sure he's looking me in the eyes as we're talking.
'But he's finally with us.' His face is panicked now and I know I need to deal with this before the Alpha gets here and everything just becomes more complicated.
'Look, however it is he managed to get here, they will not take long to figure out where he is. They'll find him and they'll find us. And no one will be better off like that. They'll take him back either way, probably punish him and then deal with us. The pack won't be able to defend us, you know that. If he returns alone, he can just say he met a girl in town or something. We'll find a way to get him, I promise you that, but we can't be hasty with it now.' Halfway through my little speech I pulled him into my arms and I'm rocking him back and forth, trying to ease some of his pain. I know I was harsh, but there's no other way for him to understand. It won't turn out great for anyone if he just stays now.
My hand slowly caresses his hair, then I fist it slightly, not enough to hurt him, but just enough pressure for it to be reassuring. I know he wants to cry, but I also know that he's aware just what kind of situation we're in right now. There is no place for crying right now. He holds on to me for dear life, but suddenly, his hands on my back are gone and he's pushing away from me, only to stand next to me and grab my hand. Right in that moment, the Alpha appears from the denser part of the forest, followed by Randy and a curious looking Elif. Of course.
'Right, so what is all of this commotion about?' he says. At least he doesn't look angry.
I look at Raph and realise he probably does not want to talk right now.
'Samuel, Raph's brother appeared at the border. He was being chased by rogues so I dragged him onto your land for safety. I will personally escort him back.'
'Right.' the Alpha is clearly deliberating this in his head, before nodding to himself once. 'Where is he now?'
'He's here, Alpha.' Clarissa says from behind me, appearing from our little house with Sam in tow. The boy immediately darts to Raph and holds onto his free hand.
'Clarissa!' the Alpha's voice boomed, 'you just do not seem to get it. Everyone else is doing it, but you still insist on not calling me by my name. Call me Marc, not Alpha. We grew up together, for crying out loud. And you don't call Randy Alpha, why just me? It's not fair!'
'Sure Alpha Marc.'
The Alpha throws his head back and groans in frustration.
'Randy, Randy!' Elif's so called whisper is loud enough to interrupt her dad's exasperation easily and I immediately look at her. She is roughly pulling at her other dad's sleeve, forcing him to bend down to her with an eye roll. Really though, no matter how much he pretends he's annoyed with her, the fact that he spoils her rotten is blatantly obvious. When he's close enough for her satisfaction, she puts her hands around her mouth to whisper in his ear, but it's loud enough so even we hear what she's saying.
'Look, he's so cute!'
I chuckle while Randy only proceeds to smack his own hand onto his face.
'Yo, Marc, your daughter has a crush.' he casually says to the Alpha.
'My daughter?' the Alpha responds with a raised eyebrow, 'We talked about this love, when she's in love, she's your daughter, not mine.'
I can see the snarky reply on Randy's face, but their bicker is interrupted by Clarissa clearing her throat pointedly.
'Shouldn't we get back to the matter at hand, Alpha?'
He only blinks a couple of times, before Clarissa groans as well, before gesturing to Sam.
'The boy.'
Everyone's eyes shift to "the boy" who is currently hiding his blushing face behind Raph.
The following silence is rudely interrupted by a squealing Elif that is excitedly jumping up and down while yanking at Randy's sleeve.
'Alright, alright, everyone calm down.' the Alpha finally goes on, although the only one that really needs to calm down is probably Elif.
'Samuel, you need to get back home. I don't care how you got here, but you're putting these two in danger by doing so.' he addresses Sam with a stern voice. But he's also a father, so he adds a small smile for good measure.
'I'm sorry.'
'Nothing to be sorry about, boy. Wanting to see family is normal.' he smiles again, then turns to us, 'we just got word back from patrol. The rogues are still there, you won't be able to just let him go at the border. He can stay the night, but if they're still there in the morning, you need to find a way to get him out. Otherwise we'll have an even bigger problem.'
'Thank you.' I say earnestly.
'Don't mention it.' he smiles back, then turns around to his mate and daughter, 'now I'll have to get these two devils home before I have to start having daddy talks to my daughter.'
'I'm not a devil!' both Randy and Elif yell at the same time and no one even bothers to disagree.
All three of them leave and Clarissa promises help if we need any before doing the same.
'Alright then. Let's get inside, shall we?' I say before walking ahead of the other two.
I can barely take two steps though before I'm pulled to a halt by two little arms around my upper body.
'That was so overdue. I missed you.' Sam's voice said from my back and I have to look up to the sky to stop from crying myself. This boy has grown so much in my own heart during the time I've known him. Saying I missed him is by far an understatement.
And so I hold on to his hands for a while, just to disguise the fact that I'm shedding tears over a simple hug.