Three days had passed since I had taken in an omega from another pack, and my own was growing uneasy. Not, as one would expect, from any threat of his pack starting a war to take him back.

No, they were all worried because young Tsuki Takagi hadn't shown the slightest sign of waking up despite all of our efforts- and I had gone to efforts I wouldn't have for many of the wolves from my own pack.

I worried- and I drove Cean mad with it. I had a suspicion he was jealous; I wasn't nearly so kind with him when he was injured. But then, he wasn't as compliant as the unconscious boy I was caring for. He wasn't as pretty, either, which might have been part of his issue. As all true alphas would, I had a fascination with Tsuki which couldn't be denied.

Even sleeping, he was alluring. Though his face was bruised, and there was likely to be a scar where a gash was healing across his forehead just below his hairline, it had a sweet and delicate look which roused my protective instincts. His dark hair was splayed across the pillow case, his pale lips parted slightly as he breathed deep and even- a vast improvement on when he had come to me. And even though he was too skinny even for his smaller size, dark bruises across his whole body from the abuse of his pack, he was... beautiful.

The omega's blessing from the moon was clear, and he would have been absolutely stunning if he were healthy.

"Alyx," Cean sighed my name, sounding a little grumpy.

I jumped at the sound, frozen where I had been inadvertently leaning closer to the sleeping omega. A sheepish smile pulled at my lips. "I'm sorry. I-"

"Can't help it. I know. I can feel it."

My guilt eased slightly knowing that he shared the urge; it must have been flowing through the bond the mating ceremony had created between us. I fell back in my chair, leaning into Cean so that I could rest my head against his shoulder. With my eyes closed, I could feel him, the second heartbeat underneath my own. It had been a strange side effect, though I knew it was more incredible for him; mating to a child of the stars was rumored to have side effects, and those rumors were true.

For the most part, they were beneficial. Cean could share in my power as a child of the stars, the strength and speed as well as the influence over other wolves, and it put him very near the capabilities of a wolf despite him being human. We'd also learned he shared in my near immortality; he hadn't aged a minute since we had mated twenty-three years ago. Thank god, because with my youthful appearance, we would have been a horribly strange couple if he appeared to be the forty-seven years old he was now.

A knock at the door had me straightening, shaking off my soft, sentimental smile. "Come," I said, my voice soft.

The door opened to reveal a very familiar face. Unlike Cean, Kibba had aged. The human doctor's blonde hair was longer, tied at the crown of his head with the edge of the tail brushing the nape of his neck, and the pretty brazen color was run with soft streaks of silver. Wrinkles had formed around his green eyes which made him look kinder; even the wolves trusted him without question.

The wrinkles looked less friendly when he was frowning with clear annoyance. "I'm sorry, Alyx. I tried to keep him away, but he refused to listen. He's outside the house. I think-"

"You can't keep me away from him!" Though muffled by distance, I knew the voice, and sighed with understanding of Kibba's irritation.

"It was only a matter of time. He's damnably stubborn. I almost hope his son didn't inherit any of that bullshit pigheadedness from his father. He'd be a damn dangerous wolf if he did," I muttered, casting a glance to Tsuki. Dangerous, indeed, if he were stubborn and outspoken. Considering how he fell to his pack's abuse, however, he was either as submissive as most omegas or had buried his assertiveness deep inside.

Kibba gave a groan in response to the man's angry shouting. "What should we do? He's just one alpha, and a packless one at that. A few betas would be enough to force him out of pack territory."

"No, that might be a bit too extreme," I answered, though I regretted it. It had been relatively peaceful up to that point. "I can at least allow him to see his son."

"It's not his son you were worried about him seeing," Cean reminded me, taking my hand in his when I winced.

"Right. Let him in, Kibba- seeing his son will distract him long enough for you to find Haruka and inform her Ian is here. We should keep them as far away from each other as possible. They haven't seen each other since the night Ian nearly killed her; it's best to keep that from happening again, especially with Tsuki here." My gaze settled on the omega again, my throat tight. No, it wouldn't be a good thing for Tsuki to witness when he woke. It would be shocking enough when he learned Haruka was alive and relatively well in my pack.

"Got it," Kibba's affirmation pulled me from my thoughts again, and he hurried away.

Cean's hand tightened around mine as I took in a deep breath to steady myself. I could hear the stomping footsteps first, then the muttered cursing, before the door was slammed open to admit a panting, red-faced alpha. If he'd been a child of the stars, or even part of a pack, I might have been alarmed. But a mere alpha without a pack was no threat to a child of the stars with the massive strength of his growing pack behind him.

"Alyx, I can't believe-"

"Lower your voice, you damned idiot," Cean spat immediately. The wolf bristled, a snarl beginning to take shape on his lips, before my mate's gaze skipped to the resting omega.

The color immediately drained out of the alpha's face, and I tried not to be smug as he had to put a hand against the wall to keep himself steady. "Oh, god, Tsuki... what happened to you?"

"That's a good question, Ian. One which I could have answered over the phone, if you'd bothered to ask it then instead of ranting and raving about us not allowing a loner on pack territory following his attack on one of our own." My voice was sharp, but warranted. No matter how right I thought Ian had been in the feelings behind that attack, as a child of the stars, I couldn't let an attack on one of my wolves fall into silence.

Ian gritted his teeth, fingers curling into a fist against the wall. "What did you expect of me, Alyx? I couldn't leave my son alone on foreign territory-"

"What, you don't trust me?"

"That's not what I meant!" Sharp alarm was in his voice as he realized he had insulted me.

I shook my head slowly, irritation building. "He was with family half the time, and the rest I was here with him."

"Damn it!" Rage blossomed across Ian's face, old pain and anger. "You let the bitch near my son, but you wouldn't let me see him? You promised you wouldn't let her anywhere near him until-"

"You have no right to make demands of me when I used precious, rare resources to save your son." My tone was low and dark, near to a growl and filled with the unearthly timbre only a child of the stars could claim. It had Ian shutting up immediately, and even Cean drew back from me slightly. "Kibba and I worked day and night when he first came here to ensure he stayed alive. If we hadn't intervened, he'd have irreversible brain damage from the impact with the steering wheel. The seatbelt had broken ribs, and he had dozens of deep wounds from the shattered glass. With the wound to his head, his healing abilities were doing more harm than good; they were making him bleed out, and he was unconscious right after I pulled him out of the hunk of twisted metal which passed for a wreck!

"Not to mention how much smoke he must have inhaled from the engine fire. He would have died in that car if Kibba hadn't thought to bring the medicine the Moon Guard created." My voice was only growing darker, and I was glad Ian seemed to understand the gravity of what his son had gone through. Was still going through, thankfully unconscious. "And even that wasn't enough. He should have died, Ian. He would have died, if I hadn't-"

"Alyx!" Cean hissed my name, and alarm rose in me as Ian stiffened in response to the censorship.

"If you hadn't what, Alyx? What did you do to my son?"

Even I couldn't help the slight twinge of fear; it had been proved many times that parents could manage impressive feats when their children were in danger. "I... he would have died, Ian! What choice did I have! What did the risk matter as long as he lived?"

"You didn't. Alyx, tell me you didn't make him drink that shit. You know how dangerous it would be for a child of the stars like you, much less an omega like him! What the hell were you thinking?" He roared the words, and Cean surged forward.

In a moment, with borrowed swiftness which I could feel tickling at the edge of my consciousness, my mate had the angry wolf pinned against the wall. His elbow jammed against the man's throat, Cean leaned close and lowered his voice to a snarl. "I told you to lower your damned voice, you idiot. Your son shouldn't wake to you throwing a fit over Alyx saving the boy's life. If you'd watched over him properly, none of this would have happened."

"It was a car crash, how could I-"

"You really think he would have been going fast enough in the rain on a road with a thirty mile per hour speed limit to twist his car into a pretzel around a tree if something hadn't been wrong?"

Ian took in a sharp breath, but I didn't hear what he barked back. My attention was stolen completely by the cloyingly sweet scent which was filling the room. I took a deep breath of it before I realized it, and it was more intoxicating than Zeke's favorite whiskey. There was a soft haze over my thoughts as I got out of my chair.

I must have been the only one who noticed the slight hitch to Tsuki's breathing, the twitch of his fingers against the sheet. If I could think clearly, I would have been happy that he was finally waking, excited to talk to the omega. But my mind was wrapped up in the sweet scent. It tugged at me, drew me in with a strength I couldn't understand. The sound I made had gotten me hell from Cean before, an attempt at a growl with a human throat which came out as a deeper moaning sound as I leaned over the slowly waking boy.

"Alyx?" Cean's voice was loud- and it thrummed through the bond between us, the shock of it stopping me just before my lips could touch Tsuki's neck where the scent was strongest.

I couldn't bring myself to move yet, battling my instincts. "Get Ian out of here."

"Excuse me? Alyx, what the hell-"

"Get out! Do you really want the first thing your son to know when he wakes up from almost dying to be that his father has been lying to him since the day they met?" I snarled the words, and was met by silence. "That's what I thought. I will take care of him, Ian, I swear by the moon." The oath made me shudder, the power of the words helping me to draw back from the intense temptation in front of me.

"You heard the man- or do I have to do it myself?" Cean could sound impressively threatening for a human, and I heard the door close on a muttered curse. My mate's arms were around my waist a moment later, gently drawing me back from the stirring omega. "Jesus christ, I can feel that. If it's this strong for me, I can't imagine... what is that?"

"His scent," I breathed. "It wasn't this strong when I pulled him out of that car, and he was awake and bleeding. This is... I want to bite him."

"I know," Cean murmured, a hint of his teeth against my neck as he dealt with his own urges. "Be strong."

I took in a deep breath, which proved to be a bad idea. It had me pulling against Cean's grip on me, the hold Tsuki's scent had on me growing as the omega gave a soft whimper of pain- the first sound he had made since he had passed out in my arms. His scent grew stronger, until his eyes opened, revealing a beautiful silver color I had never seen on another wolf.

"Where-" Tsuki's first attempt to speak ended with him choking on the air in his throat, tempered by whines of pain while tears built in his eyes.

His obvious pain overwhelmed my urge to sink my teeth into him, to mark his neck and claim him as my own. The protective instinct surged instead. He was in pain, and I needed to help. I was at his side in an instant, helping to raise his head so that he could get better breaths in.

Confusion filled his gaze as he stared up at me, vulnerable and trusting. "Who...?"

"My name is Alyx Bronwin," I said, my voice as calm and soothing I could manage while dealing with my warring instincts and the tumult of emotion which accompanied them. "Welcome back to the world of the living, Tsuki."