As Kayla clawed her way back to consciousness, the first thing she noticed was the smell. She could smell dogs and cats everywhere. Then she realized that the surface beneath her was cold and hard instead of warm and comfortable, like the couch. Her heart racing, she slowly opened her eyes. When she saw the cold and sterile white walls around her, she sat up quickly, swinging her legs off of the metal table on which she'd been laying. Her ankle had healed completely, so she didn't hesitate to jump down onto the floor, her feet making next to no noise when they made contact with the tiles.
The young omega turned around, looking for a way out. That was when her eyes fell on her brother, unconscious on a metal table like hers, his shirt cut away and his skin bloodstained.
"Oh, God," Kayla breathed, quickly making her way to Logan's side, putting a hand on his chest and trying to shake him awake.
"Logan, wake up," she hissed. "Come on, Logan, please wake up. We've gotta go; come on!"
Logan refused to wake up, but Kayla could hear his heart beating strong, and that was going to have to be good enough for now. She heard someone coming outside the door to her right, and quickly left her brother's side, instead going to stand right beside the doorway, her eyes beginning to glow yellow as her nails sharpened into claws. She waited quietly, her heart pounding against her ribs, until, at last the door opened. The second the approaching person put a foot over the threshold, Kayla grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt and threw him up against the wall, against which she had just stood. Immediately, she put her hand on his neck, curling her fingers so that the razor-sharp tips of her claws were positioned over the man's jugular; just a little bit of pressure, and she could rip his throat out.
"Move, and I kill you," Kayla snarled quietly. "Who the hell are you?"
To Kayla's surprise, the man before her did not look afraid. His chocolate eyes showed shock, but not fear. The look on his face definitely spoke to how uncomfortable he felt, but still, there was no fear.
"Kayla," the man said gently, causing Kayla's eyes to widen considerably, "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
"How do you know my name?" Kayla demanded. "Who are you?"
"My name is Doctor Alan Deaton," the man told her. "Among other things, I'm a veterinarian. Your brother brought you to me."
"That's impossible," Kayla applied more pressure to the man's neck. "My brother would never do that. He'd never take the risk. Now who are you, really?"
Before Deaton could repeat himself, the door opened again, and Kayla felt herself get thrown backwards. She landed hard on the tile floor in front of the table on which her brother was resting. The young girl quickly scrambled to her feet, taking up a defensive position in front of her brother as her teeth sharpened into fangs. Across from her, a boy about her age had pushed the vet behind him and was in a position similar to hers, claws extended, teeth bared, and red eyes glowing. Kayla's stomach dropped at the thought of going up against an alpha, but she stood her ground, her sense of self-preservation being overrun by a need to protect her brother.
"Stay away from us," the young omega growled, her eyes wild as she searched for an escape.
"Kayla, we're not going to hurt you," the alpha insisted, though he didn't relax at all. "We saved your life; why would we do that if we wanted you dead?"
"You tell me," Kayla snapped, years and years of running having nearly obliterated her ability to trust anyone apart from Logan. The eighteen-year-old nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Kayla," Kayla immediately recognized her brother's voice, but she didn't turn to look at him, refusing to take her eyes off of the alpha before her. "Kayla, it's okay. We can trust them for now. They saved our lives."
Kayla hesitated, still uncertain, but at last, she relaxed, allowing her claws to retract and her teeth to dull. The alpha across the room mimicked her actions, relaxing as soon as she did. Only after they were both back to normal did Kayla turn and hug her brother tightly. Logan returned her hug, knowing how terrified she must have been to wake up and find him unconscious and covered in blood in a strange place. After a moment, he pulled away and jumped down.
"Kayla, that's Scott McCall," Logan introduced the young alpha. "He's Derek's alpha."
"Derek from last night?" Kayla asked, surprised; she thought they'd seen the last of him.
"Yeah," Logan confirmed.
"Glad to see you're okay," Scott said sincerely. "Deaton wasn't sure you'd both make it for a while."
"What happened?" Kayla demanded, her guard never falling for a moment.
"The trap you stepped in was coated in wolf's bane," Deaton explained. "Derek cut his hand on it when he freed you, and when he woke up, he couldn't even stand. He called Scott, and Scott called me, and when Derek told us what happened, we knew you would be in serious danger, so Scott went to find you."
"I was following Scott in the car, and someone started shooting at us," Logan picked up the story where Deaton left off. "They got Scott to crash his bike, and when he was out of the way, they shot me in the shoulder with a wolf's bane bullet. Scott's the only reason we didn't both die out there."
"Yeah, speaking of that," Scott spoke up, "who was shooting at you?"
Kayla and Logan exchanged glances, a silent conversation passing between them for a moment or two before Logan turned back to Scott.
"We have no idea," the boy lied convincingly; it was, after all, partially the truth.
"You know, you really shouldn't lie to an alpha," Scott said with a smirk. "I know you're lying. Come on, guys, we're not going to hurt you; we could help. But you have to let us in on the big secret. Who was trying to kill you?"
Again, the twins were silent. Finally, Kayla spoke up.
"It's a really long story..." she said slowly, hoping to deter them from digging further. Her hopes were dashed when Scott simply grabbed a chair and sat down.
"It's winter break," he said with a sigh. "I've got nothing but time."
Logan shifted his feet uncomfortably, folding his arms over his bare chest and looking down, trying to figure out where to begin. When he spoke, his voice betrayed just how tired and weary he'd become.
"Well, I guess the only thing to do is take it from the beginning."
I hope you enjoyed chapter 3! I have a lot more waiting, but I need those reviews, so, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, just shoot me a couple sentences about what you thought about this chapter or the last two. Thanks!
