Alana was conscious of the fact that he shifted to give her more room before she answered. Given her situation and given that he was male, how could she not notice? She did appreciate the gesture, though. His anger was palpable and his body responded accordingly. Alana was a mix of fear at his display as well as gratitude, though she could hardly express it. To know that someone was outraged at what had befallen her. Even if it was just an act, it made her feel as though she mattered. And this wolf was a complete stranger as well. He had no reason to other than on the principle that she was a member of the pack that he was now in charge of. Could he really care purely on the basis of hating such an act? The thought that he would protect her was not something that crossed her mind. She had thought her predicament would be ignored at best. When he spoke, she shook her head, still not quite willing to meet his eyes for any period of time.


“He did not say his name, no. I know what he looks like though,” she swallowed. How could his image not be imprinted on her mind? She had been standing there one moment, thanking her hero and then suddenly he had turned on her. She hadn’t had a chance. “He was mostly black, but with some spots of grey. There was white on his chest and legs. Maybe on his stomach too. His eyes were surrounded by white. And his chin.”


She paused for a minute, trying to get her breathing under control. It seemed that every time she spoke of him or even thought of him, her stomach would tighten and her breath would come so shallowly that it was almost a pant – though she kept her mouth closed.


“I fear…” The words caught in her throat and she had to begin again. “I fear that he followed me here. I caught his scent. I haven’t seen him but…” She trailed off before turning to meet his gaze, the first time since she described the male, trying to convey the importance of her statement. “I believe he followed me here.”


She looked away again as soon as she was finished speaking, wishing she hadn’t mentioned thinking he was here. This alpha didn’t know her. Obviously she had been through a trauma but he would probably believe her paranoid now. She had probably just lost the only chance of having someone on her side.


When he offered that he did not know what to do with children, a slight smile crossed her face, though it did not erase the tension there. She was worried about having children. She had never planned it and certainly did not want to do this on her own. There was no way her children’s father would be allowed to be in the picture, though. She would fight with everything she had to keep that male away from any children she had. Speaking of fighting, she met Tesseract’s gaze, a hint of her real personality – not the beaten down version of herself she was currently – glinted in her eyes.


“I would not be able to thank you enough if you could teach me to protect myself and my children. I learned what I could from my mother, but she mostly just advised me to never get close enough to anyone to be in danger.” The glint faded now as she was brought back to her current situation. She wouldn’t be in this much trouble if she had just listened to her mother’s advice. “I would like to learn to heal as well. It would be good to be useful.”


The frail smile was back on her lips, though it was holding more steadily than it had through the rest of their conversation.
“Until I learn to protect myself, I would very much like someone to aid me. At least until I know whether or not my attacker is hiding here somewhere.” She avoided her gaze shyly again. She had caught his scent, it really wasn’t paranoia! “Although, I would like to meet whoever you assign before I fully agree, if that is alright.”


Maybe there really was hope for her here. This alpha seemed to honestly want to protect her, to keep her safe. In the back of her mind, Alana had been considering leaving Glorall. To returning to the freelands and living as a shadow, as she had done with her mother since her birth. It wasn’t a happy life, but it was a safe one. She would definitely prefer happiness, though.




“speaks like this”

Alana
. female . six years . 29 inches 85 pounds . no mate . no life . Glorall .