Part 28

Evan was the first to see the rescue party return. Sprinting down the stairs, he headed straight for Randy, his eyes widening as he reached his mate when he saw the state Justin was in. But before he could even open his mouth to call the alphas, Hunter was at his side. The alpha's face paled considerably when he saw the unmoving wolf in Randy's arms. Taking Justin's limp form he carefully cradled him murmuring sadly, "What the hell happened to you, Angel?"

He glanced up as Shawn joined him. He stared at his mate, his wolf whimpering slightly when Justin didn't respond to the little surge of power he sent over him. Giving Hunter a reassuring smile Shawn reached out and laid a hand flat on the unconscious wolf. Closing his eyes a moment Shawn concentrated using his powers to reach out to the Justin's sprit. He gave a little sigh of relief and opening his eyes he looked at Hunter and murmured, "He's just unconscious. Take him upstairs, get him cleaned up and he should come round."

Hunter searched his mate's face. He knew Shawn was right, the Alpha Mate had a skill for reading the pack but even so having Justin lying so limply in his arms unnerved the big Alpha.

"He'll be fine," chuckled Shawn, landing a soft thump on Hunter's hip as he ordered, "Shoo, upstairs now!"

Growling at his mate's cocky little display Hunter narrowed his eyes, glowering at him before turning tail and carrying Justin into the house.

Shawn waited for Hunter to disappear before turning round and running his gaze over the decidedly muddy rescue party. Punk was looking as bored as ever although Shawn did note the way he was petting Daniel's head, playing with the scraggy blond fur that fell over the slim wolf's eyes. He chuckled to himself wondering if Punk realised that despite all of his sarcasm and biting barbs the entire pack knew if the need came he'd do everything in his power to protect them.

He looked away when Punk cocked an eyebrow at him, turning his gaze instead to the middle pairing. He noted the way Randy was leaning on Evan, the beta's hand gripping his mate's shoulder as he caught his breath after carrying Justin back. He noted the way Evan's eyes didn't leave Randy's face, the obvious love and adoration the little wolf still felt for his mate still all too visible in his expression. It made Shawn smile that despite everything they had been through that Evan could still love Randy so unconditionally and have that love returned.

He wiped a hand over his mouth trying to hide his grin as he turned his attention to the other little group. His gaze lingered on Alex the longest, his wolf chuffing with impish delight at the way John and Josh were both subconsciously supporting the obviously tiered shifter. Josh had an arm around Alex's waist, the little omega snuggling into the larger shifter, offering him the comfort of the pack without even realising it. John was slightly more subtle but Shawn couldn't help be see the way the lead gamma's hand flexed and caressed Alex's bare shoulder.

"Where's Ted?"

Shawn jumped at the question. He hadn't even realised Cody had joined them but as he quickly scanned the returned party, he slowly realised to his horror they were indeed one member missing. Randy frowned then looking to either side his frown deepened to a scowl as he replied, "I don't know. We were so caught up on getting Justin back safely I…he was with us when..."

"You bastard!" yelled Cody storming off the deck and heading straight for Randy, "You didn't even realise he was missing!" he aimed a swipe at Randy but Evan blocked him. He grabbed Cody's fist, snarling angrily, "Lay one finger on him and I will bite you so hard you'll wish you'd never come back."

"Back off, short arse!" spat Cody ripping his hand out of Evan's grasp, "No one asked for your option, anyway."

"What did you call me?" snarled Evan, his wolf's anger shining in his eyes as he readily himself to retaliate.

"I called you what you are," hissed Cody, his face contorting with anger, "I called you..."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" roared Shawn grabbing Cody by the collar and hauling backwards. Pushing the sniffing man away he ordered, "Just shut your mouth."

He glared at Cody a moment sending a little power flare towards the angry pup making the younger man flinch slightly and look away. It wasn't the display of submission that Shawn had hoped for but it was the best he was going to get.

Glancing back at the others he raked them with a hard stare, asking, "What happened? Where did Ted go?"

Punk shrugged, not in the least bit shaken by the sudden outburst of tempers, and replied with barely contained amusement, "Who knows. Maybe he wandered off to start another life." He paused then fixing his gaze on the now sulking Cody, he added sarcastically, "Couldn't really blame him."

"Fuck you!" hissed Cody. He glared at them all then sniffed angrily, he exclaimed, "He's my mate and he's missing and no one of you cares. Not one of you even noticed he wasn't there and now I'm the one who's getting yelled at for being upset when..."

"Cody," interrupted John, the big gamma offering his distressed pack mate a faint smile, "Just calm down a moment."

He stepped away from Alex and Josh – ignoring the little whimper that escaped from Josh's throat and the way Alex's hand lingers on his arm - and took a few steps towards Cody. He froze the moment Cody snarled at him, the younger man actually going so far as to snap his teeth at him.

"Easy there, snappy," chuckled John, trying as always to be the peacemaker for the pack, "It wasn't that we lost him on purpose. We were just preoccupied with getting Justin back to safety and…"

"You didn't lose any of the others!" yelled Cody brattishly even though he had a point, "You'd have all been worried sick and running all over the place if you'd lost Josh. But none of you notice that Ted - my Ted - was missing and the…"

"I'm not missing, I'm here."

Cody spun around on the spot eyes wide with surprise when Ted padded towards them. He had his hands shoved in his pockets and he was wearing the strangest expression. For a moment Cody was frozen to the spot then the next he was running towards Ted. Flinging his arms around the big man, he hugged him before pulling back and slapping him right across the face, yelling, "You scared me half to death!"

Ted simply rolled with the slap keeping his face turned away. Raising a hand to his stinging cheek he rubbed at it a moment then drawing in a deep breath he drawled softly, "Don't ever slap me again, baby boy."

Cody look so scared by what he had done Ted didn't know whether to hug him or spank him. Instead he simply gazed at him and sighed again. With a sad huff Ted looked past his agitated mate towards the rest of the pack. He didn't blame them for looking confused. He was confused as well; confused by what was going on, by the changes he knew were happening around him. He finally let his gaze drift towards Shawn and as their eyes met, Ted gave the saddest of smile and murmured "Sorry. It was my fault. I needed space…" he hesitated a moment before pulling his gaze back to look at Cody and murmuring, "…I needed time to think."

"About what?" breathed Cody, his eyes growing wider and wider with fear as he sense something was wrong with his mate, "Teddy? Please you're scaring me. Time to think about what?"

Ted reached out and, cupping Cody's face with one hand, he murmured, "About us, Baby-Boy. I needed time to think about us."

X x x x x

Hunter gently lay the little wolf on the master bed. Pausing to stroke the spiky black fur he let his eyes roam over the slim figure searching for any visible injuries. Other than the injury to the back leg – which thankfully felt like a sprain rather than a break - it looked as if everything else were just cuts and bruises sustained during the tumble. Retreating to the bathroom, Hunter quickly grabbed a bowl and washcloth. Padding back into the bedroom he sat on the edge of the bed and laid a hand flat on the wolf's flank. Closing his eyes he let his wolf reach out.

Using his powers as alpha he reached down into Justin's subconscious searching for the trigger that would rouse the South African shifter. Finally he found what he was searching for. Allowing his wolf access to even more power, he bit his lower lip trying not to grunt with effort as his lupine side desperately sought to wake the little wolf sprit. After a few moments there was a reaction, a little stifled whimper that sounded in Hunter's mind, a noise that was replicated by the little wolf lying beside him. Slowly opening his eyes Hunter was in time to see the little wolf start to regain consciousness, the dark eyes blinking themselves awake.

As he became more and more aware of his surroundings, the little wolf started to get agitated. Pressing down Hunter soothed, "Easy, Angel easy, you're safe. You're home." He stroked his hand along the mud soaked fur soothing, "Don't fight the change, Justin, let it happen."

Lying as still as possible, the little wolf gave a pathetic whimper then shuddered as he shifted back to his human form. A cry of pain broke the silence and suddenly a hand was gripping Hunter's arm as Justin tried to fight the shift.

"Don't fight it," growled Hunter, sending a power surge towards the submissive wolf, letting it wash over him helping him compete the process as quickly as possible.

Hunter winced, flinching as Justin arched up off the bed. Justin cried out in pain as the shift completed before falling back onto the mattress panting with the effort of the assisted changed.

As Justin tried to get his breath back, Hunter dipped the face cloth in the water and started to wash away the more visible grime. A few minutes later Justin was as clean as he could be without bathing. Sinking back onto the edge of the bed, Hunter reached up and stroked the messy hair, his fingers trailing along the edge of Justin's face as he soothed, "Good pup, just breathe," he stroked Justin's back trying to help ease the pain and confusion he could feel swirling in the lesser wolf's mind, "Just breathe, good boy."

Slowly Justin managed to get his breath back under control and as he started to piece together what had happened, he screwed his eyes shut and gave a little whimper. When Hunter didn't respond, he blinked his eyes open and staring up at his Alpha, he gave a pathetic little yap and whimpered, "I'm so sorry, Baas."

Hunter didn't reply at once. Instead he simply stood up and pulling the bedspread up he laid it over the decidedly naked form, hiding Justin's body from view. Smoothing the smooth silk into place, he bent down and brushing a kiss against Justin's forehead, he murmured, "I know, Angel. We'll talk about what happened when you've had a chance to rest. For now just get some sleep."

Then before Justin could say anything he turned and padded out of the room, pausing only to turn the light off and steal one last lingering look at the man filling his bed before striding out of the door and leaving Justin to rest and recuperate all on his own.

TBC x