Part 26

Alanna squealed in alarm as the back door was kicked opened and a Shelley-shaped whirlwind burst into the kitchen, demanding, "Where is he? Where's Chris?"

Evan, struggling to calm Alanna down, grunted, "Upstairs..." then noticing the near murderous look on Lex's face, he called urgently, "Lex wait, Shawn's with him and…"

"I know. He's the one who hurt him," snarled Lex the venom in his voice enough to make Evan actually gulp in surprise.

Without wasting any more time Lex continued to storm through the house but his whirlwind was brought to abrupt halt when he came face to face with Shawn. The Alphamate was standing on the bottom step of the staircase that lead up to the upper floors, gazing sadly at his other favourite trouble maker.

"Lex, he's…" he started but he didn't get any further. It was a little hard to talk with Lex's hand wrapped around his throat.

Using all of his power Lex simply threw the Alphamate back against the all, and pinning in him place with his body, he growled, "What the fuck did you do to Chris?"

Shawn grunted in response, his hands scrabbling at Lex's wrist, trying to ease the grip around his throat. It didn't work. Lex was too angry, too terrified about what had happened to his mate to really be aware of what he was doing.

"What did you do to him?" demanded Lex his eyes flashing with lupine anger.

"Lex…" gasped Shawn, fighting to keep control of his wolf and not to give into it's increasingly violent demands for him to knock Lex flat on his back.

"I felt his pain," spat Lex, staring at Shawn with something near desperate anger, "I felt him screaming…What. Did. You. Do?"

"Lex, I was just…"

Suddenly Lex stumbled sideways. As Shawn gasped for air he reached out trying to pull his furious mate back, knowing how dangerous Hunter's temper could be if really roused.

"Don't you ever touch my mate like that again!" roared Hunter loaming over the shaken Lex.

He stared at the younger man, power rolling off him in waves, strong enough that Lex couldn't help but shrink back, his inner wolf cowering at the sheer anger radiating off his alpha. But then, almost as if someone flipped a switch, Hunter's expression change. With a sad sigh he glanced at Shawn then reaching out he pulled Lex closer. Giving the smaller man a hug he growled, "Go take care of your mate and I'll take care of mine."

Lex glared at him obvious defiance burning in his eyes. But then after a few moments he seemed to think better of vocalising his annoyance. Instead he pull back from Hunter's paternal embrace, threw Shawn what could only be described as the evilest look of all time and sprinted up the stairs heading straight for his room and his stricken mate.

Hunter watched him go then flicking Shawn a look he snapped, "Just tell me Chris is oaky."

Shawn bristled slightly at the tone Hunter was using. Rubbing his sore throat he glowered at his mate before replying gruffly, "Well he's no worse than he was before you left."

"I hope to God you're right," murmured Hunter staring at Shawn. He shook shaking his head adding sadly, "because otherwise Lex is gonna kill you."

Shawn bit his lower lip and rubbing the back of his neck nervously, he replied shakily, "Yeah…I know."

X x x x x x x x

As he rounded the bend, Randy frowned. He could see Dan's scraggy wolf standing right on the edge of the hillside path, the grizzled blonde wolf hanging over the side staring down into the valley below.

"Dan?" rumbled Randy coming closer, "What have you got?"

The wolf turned and gave him a confused yap before going back to staring down into the valley. Closing the gap between them, Randy joined him on the very edge of the path. Resting his hand on Dan's shoulder, he followed his pack mate's lead and stared down into the abyss. As his human eyes adjusted to the view he took a sharp intake of breath and swore under his breath. A good way down the hillside, on a tiny ledge he could just make out the form of a spiky black wolf. Increasing his grip on Dan's shoulder and, without taking his eyes of the fallen figure, Randy let out the loudest pack howl he could summon up.

As the call echoed around the valley, it was joined by other voices, the rest of the pack answering his call. Drawing in a deep breath he stared down at the non-responsive figure and called, "Hold on, Angel – we're coming."

X x x x x x x x x

Hunter grunted as he felt Randy's tentative telepathic touch brush against his wolf. Quickly dislodging Alanna from where she had been sitting on his lap, he handed the sleepy little girl back to her second father, Evan's eyes searching his face expectantly as he took Alanna back. Hunter favoured him with a warm smile absently ruffling the soft dark hair as he moved away them. Stepping out onto the deck, he looked out over the pack lands and replied, "Tell me he's okay."

"Too early to tell," snapped Randy, his link wavering as the beta tried to focus on his Alpha's signal. "He's fallen quite a way down the hillside. I'm waiting for the others to get here before we try and rescue him."

"Be careful," ordered Hunter gruffly, "I don't want any of you getting hurt trying to get to him."

"We will be," Randy's link wavered before disappearing totally before coming back the beta snapping, "John and Alex have got here. I'll let you know when we get him."

Before Hunter could reply Randy had gone, leaving him feeling strangely unsettled, concern and worry for his pack starting to eat at both his human and his lupine sides.

X x x x x x x x x

John reached Randy first, Alex a few steps behind. Randy frowned when it took Josh more than a few moments to catch up with the others. The normally sprightly little wolf was looking decidedly worse for wear.

"What happened to Josh?" gruffed Randy, his wolf relaxing slightly as John touched his arm.

"Lex had a bit of fit and managed to catch him right around the face with a flailing arm," explained John, waving away Randy's angry growl adding, not really his fault. "Something happened to Chris back at the house. Lex felt his pain through the mating bonds. I'm just grateful he only smacked Josh across the face – it could have been a whole lot worse."

Randy glowered at him but nodded, understanding all too well how intense the feelings could be when passed through the bond. He let his eyes linger on Josh a moment before turning back to the matter at hand. Without speaking he lead the newly arrived trio to the edge of the path and pointed.

As John looked over the side, he shook his head asking with huff, "How did he get down there?"

"I'd say he fell," replied Punk as he finally trotted back down the path.

He'd been scouting out the surrounding area trying to see if there was some clue to what had actually happened. Ignoring the glare John gave him, he turned to Randy adding, "From the paw tracks and the mud up ahead, I'd say he was sprinting full speed when something made him jump, he lost control and tumbled over the edge. There's no sign of a struggle and there are no other track marks."

"He must be really injured," breathed Alex, biting his lower lip when the pack all turned to gaze at him. He offered an almost apologetic smile adding, "He's been down there all night and he didn't send up a single howl calling for help. I mean I've been around you guys for a while now and you are always howling at each other."

Randy cocked his head wondering why John and Josh were both suddenly blushing. Ignoring the sniggers from Punk and Dan, he nodded rumbling, "True and that coupled with the fact that he's not moved since we got here means he's either unconscious…" his voice caught tin the throat and he took a moment to compose himself before adding, "…or worse."

"No!" exclaimed Josh franticly as he realised what Randy actually meant. He rushed forward slipping on the loose soil. Instantly John grabbed him puling the smaller man back snapping, "Jesus Josh! Be careful! We don't need you falling down there as well!"

"I'm not stupid," mumble Josh flinching at the way John glared at him. He hated it when the older wolf was angry with him. But almost as soon as his wolf started to sulk it was suddenly chuffing happily, loving the way John draped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer.

Brushing a soft kiss against Josh's spiked hair john replied wearily, "I know but you still need to be careful. Okay?"

Josh nodded trying very hard not to nuzzle his face against John's shoulder. He bit his lower lip trying to hide his smile as he realised john had shifted position slightly, moving so he was now between Josh and the edge of the hill.

Alex watched them for a moment his eyes lingering on the near perfect way josh fitted under John's arm. It was only the petulant, "So what are we actually going to do?" from Punk that snapped him out of his more than enjoyable daydream. As the wolves huddled around Dan, all talking at once, Alex wandered closer to the edge. Taking care not to tread on the loose earth, he carefully scouted the terrain below. It was steep but not too steep that anyone or anything with enough agility couldn't climb up and down it. He narrowed his eyes then without looking at any one, he asked, "Does anyone know how heavy Justin is when he's a wolf?"

"Strangely enough - no," replied Punk folding his arms over his chest, "We don't go weighting each other every full moon."

Alex didn't raise the bait instead he looked over at John and Randy and explained, "My tiger can easily get down there and back up on its own but I'm not sure about with a wolf on my back."

"He'd guess he'd be about the same as Dan," offered John looking at the others for support. They all looked blank. Huffing John added, "They're different builds but I think they'd be pretty close."

Alex nodded then crouching down he looked at the scraggy wolf curled up at Punk's feet and asked hesitantly, "Do you mind if I pick you up a moment?"

"You do know we're not lap dogs, right?" snapped Punk but a single growl from Randy silenced any more comments.

The scraggy blonde wolf got to his feet and waited. As Alex wrapped his arms around his four legs and lifted him, Dan couldn't resist licking his face. He chuffed with wolfish laughter at the grunt of surprise Alex gave in response. After a few moments Alex set him back down, patting him on the head, before he looked over at the others and confirmed, "I should be able to do it."

Randy studied him, the crystal blue eyes boring into Alex's soul before the beta of the pack gave a sharp nod and barked, "Do it. We need him back up here as soon as possible. Who knows what injuries he may have suffered."

Alex nodded understanding the need for speed. Loosening his belt and pulling his t-shirt off he handed them to Josh, asking with a flirtatious wink, "Hold these for me?"

Josh took the stuff blushing slightly as his eyes roamed over the now shirtless torso in front of him. Clutching Alex's things to his chest, he watched in awe Alex shifted. One moment Alex was grinning at him then the next a large white Siberia tiger was standing there, shaking his head, huffing to itself as it settled into its fur.

"Damn it, A-Ry," grinned John, absently licking his lips, "You are one big beautiful cat." Josh nodded absently his eyes glued to the tiger's face and the sparkling blue eyes.

Alex gave a low purr of appreciation and, not caring about the amused sniggers from the others, he licked first Josh and then John, purring loudly when they both reached forward to pet him at the same time. Head butting each man in turn, Alex gave a low rumbling call before turning on the spot. Then before anyone could stop him, he simply broke into a sprint and leapt off the edge of the hill. As the wolves rushed forward they were in time to see the tiger jumping and sliding its way down towards the narrow ledge and the unresponsive little wolf sprawled across it.

TBC