“I'll be right back, Imma go grab you some clothes from my room” I said looking at Madox and then adding to mom and Ty “I'm gonna take him out in the woods so he can shift and heal.” Leaving the kitchen, I headed to my room linking mom again as I went.

“Mom, don't react but when he and I go outside can you go tell dad everything you just found out about him. I asked Kyle to try and talk dad into moving the training here for Madox safety. He can fill you in about what happened when we were leaving school today” I said climbing the stairs.

“Yeah sure sweetie. Anything else we should know?” he asked.

“Yeah, his bully is another wolf who lives in the pack house in Wind Walker” I said sounding disgusted.

“Alright, I'll let your father know. We should have an answer by dinner” he said and cut the connection.

As Conner left, I felt slightly uneasy but that was soon replaced with calmness as his mom kept talking to me.

“So, what kind of foods do you like Madox?” he asked with a gentle smile.

“Hmm, I like pretty much everything but I'm not sure what I'll be able to keep down since most of my beatings today were aimed at my stomach” I said lifting my shirt slightly to show them the bruising.

“Well the biggest thing will be making sure you have something to eat when you shift into your wolf and then something to eat when you shift back” Luna Kris said clearly understanding how this worked better than I did. A few minutes later, Conner was back. He had changed into loose workout clothes and was carrying a duffle bag. As I watched, he moved to the fridge adding a few bottles of water to the bag and then to the cabinet grabbing a box of protein bars. Placing the box in the bag, he turned back to look at his mom and Tyler before his eyes landed on me.

“What? Why are you all staring at me?” he asked.

“Nothing, I just didn't think you were planning to shift too that's all” Tyler said shrugging.

“I might, I haven't decided yet” Conner said a moment later. Then moving around the counter, he helped me down off the stool and supporting me like he had before we headed out the back door. As we walked through the woods, I asked “semi odd question but is Luna Kris really your mom like he gave birth to you?”

“Yeah, he's an omega like us but only some carry the gene to allow them to get pregnant. I didn't get that gift at least I don't think I did. I've never asked because it didn't seem important at the time” Conner said then we descended into silence again. As we got closer to a lake, Conner said “don't be so worried about it. Just relax for now. I know it'll hurt more but it'll also help more than staying human.”

“Yeah, I'll try but I'm not sure I can” I said sadly.

“Just focus on breathing as the change starts because you'll feel compelled to hold your breath from the pain but you need to force yourself to breath otherwise it'll take longer” he said as the lake finally came into view. Stopping in the clearing, he let go making sure I could stand alone. Going back towards the wood, he put down the bag he'd been carrying under the shade of one of the trees. Returning to stand in front of me with that stone faced expression, he asked “do you need help? I assume you want to keep your clothes in tact.”

“I may need some help, I'm not sure I can bend or even lift my arms all the way” I said a little embarrassed.

“Okay, let's start with your jacket and shirt. The jacket shouldn't be too hard. We'll do one arm at a time and then I'll pull it over your head when we get to your shirt” he said laying out a game plan that would cause the least amount of pain for me. Nodding, he unzipped my jacket being careful not to touch my chest then moved around behind me to pull it off my arms. We managed to get my shirt off next with minimal added pain. Adding it to his pile of my clothes, he knelt down to help remove my socks and shoe before reaching up to undo my belt grazing one of the bruises on my stomach making me flinch.

“Sorry, I know this must be a little uncomfortable since I'm practically a stranger” Conner said not realizing what happened.

“It is but that's not why I flinched, you grazed that bruise and it hurt a bit is all. I know it was just an accident so it's fine. Let's just get this over with” I said looking away as I felt my cheeks flush.

“Okay” he said and then quietly went back to removing my pants and underwear. Gathering my clothes, he stood back up and took them over to the tree before turning back towards me.

“Okay, shift and remember to breath” he said kneeling on the ground by the tree.

“Alright Reign, can we make it fast please?” I asked my wolf.

“I can but it'll probably hurt a hell of a lot more” Reign said clearly not wanting to hurt us anymore.

“Okay then do it in a way that causes the least amount of pain” I said taking a deep breath as Reign started the change.

Twenty minutes passed and a gorgeous gray wolf with amber eyes lay on the ground before me panting and watching my every move. Slowly, I turned towards the bag and retrieved a handful of protein bars, three bottles of water, and my knife before standing up. Then slowly, I walked over to the gray wolf to sit in front of him placing the bottles and knife on the ground next to me.

“I know you cant talk to me in that form. So, just shake your head yes or no. Are you hungry?” I asked watching him. Nodding, he lay his head back on the ground. Unwrapping all the protein bars in my lap, I asked “do you want me to feed you? Or if you want, I can put them on the ground. You can just pat the ground with one paw if that's what you'd prefer.” Waiting a full two minutes, I held out a protein bar in the open palm of my left hand. Slowly and carefully, he ate it from my hand being extra careful not to touch my skin with his teeth. We repeated this process for all the opened protein bars before I asked “are you thirsty?” Looking at me, he nodded. Reaching over I picked up one bottle of water and my knife which made him stiffen.

“Don't worry, I'm only using it to pop a hole in the bottle cap. It's the only way I've found to have a wolf drink from a water bottle” I said opening my knife and stabbing the bottle cap. Closing my knife, I placed it back on the ground by my side before looking at him and saying “okay, this might be a bit odd but I'm gonna have to spray it in your mouth. So, when you're ready open up.” Waiting a few seconds, Madox or his wolf opened his mouth letting me give him some water. As I was spraying it, I thought “hey moon, remind me later to ask Madox his wolfs name.”

“Or I could just tell you since you had me communicate with him earlier” he answered.

“Oh yeah. Then what's his name?” I asked.

“His name is Reign and he thinks you're amusing but feels like we've done this before. I told him you and your brothers have done this before which is why you had no physical or emotional reaction to everything” he explained.

“Well you and I both know that's not entirely true but thanks for covering for me”I said as I emptied the bottle into Reign's mouth. Focusing back on him, I asked “are you still thirsty?” Shaking his head, he laid back down relaxing for a bit. Gathering up the trash, my knife, and the unopened bottles I took everything back to the duffle bag. As I put everything away, I decided to shift too. As I took off my hoodie and shoes, I felt Madox/ Reign's attention shift to me. Choosing not to react, I folded my hoodie placing it on top the bag followed by my t-shirt then my socks, sweat pants, and finally my underwear. Fully naked, I moved out into the clearing a little ways away and shifted letting Moon take over.

As I watched, Conner gathered up the trash, his knife and unopened bottles I wondered what it would be like if he was my mate. It wasn't until moments later when he started removing his clothes, that I was brought back to reality. Seeing how gorgeous and muscular he was, I realized there was no way he'd ever want me even if we were mates.

“Hush, that's not entirely true. We wouldn't know unless he told us otherwise. Besides, he won't find his mate for another three months” Reign said trying to comfort me.

“That's true but if we were we wouldn't know for another year unless he told us” I said as we watched him shift. A few minutes later, there was a beautiful snow white wolf with the same emerald eyes staring at us.

“Oh my god, even his wolf is gorgeous” I said to Reign.

“That's not the only thing, white wolves are incredibly rare. So, he must trust us on some level to reveal that to us” Reign said surprised.
“Maybe, maybe he just knows he could kill us without much effort. So, he's not too worried about us knowing” I said a bit skeptical.

“Why would he go through all this trouble to help us like he's been doing all day if that was the case?” Reign asked. A few moments later, we watched as Conner's wolf stood up and slowly walked towards us. As he got closer, I started to think he was going to attack but Reign insisted he'd do no such thing and remained calm. Standing next to us, he nudged my front paw with his nose.

“He wants us to stand us if we can” Reign said.

“How could you possibly know that's what he wants us to do?” I asked surprised.

“I've been talking to Moon, his wolf since we left the school” he said casually.

“Wait, I thought only mates could do that” I said shocked.

“No, we wolves can communicate if we wish and since Moon knew Conner wouldn't mind he initiated communication first. He said Conner may looked stone faced but he is a very caring person and was worried about you” Reign explained.

“Okay, thanks. I guess we should try standing now” I said before lifting our head and trying to pull our feet under us. Pushing, we managed to stand but were a bit unstable causing us to wobble until Moon put his side against ours and waited until we got our balance. Looking at them, I nodded so he knew we were stable enough to stand alone and he stepped away. As we watched, they stretched like a languid cat making me laugh internally. A moment later, they walked away slowly pausing to look back. Following, their lead we caught up and walked side by side around the lake a few times. As we went, I could feel some of the soreness disappear. Eventually, we completed another turn and they stopped. Looking back, Reign said “moon says they're gonna shift back and so should we.”

“Okay, let's do as they say” I said crouching down on the grass. Midway through their shift, Reign started ours leaving me laying face down on the grass when it was finally over. As I lay there, I watched Conner stand on uneasy legs and walk towards the water. Walking in up to his knees, he sat down submerging himself in the icy water giving me a clear view of the tattoo he had on the left side of his ribs as he moved though I couldn't read it from this distance.

“Are you just gonna lay there or are you gonna come join me?” he said without turning around.

“Isn't it freezing? I mean it is February” I said still laying on the cold ground.

“A bit but it'll help with the soreness. You should know this as an athlete” he said turning his head to look at me sideways.

“Good point, it's just something I didn't think about since it's been two and a half years since I was in decent enough shape to play sports” I said pushing my self up into a kneeling position. Standing, I walked to where Conner was sitting and took a seat beside him shivering until the water didn't feel cold anymore.

“Nice tattoo by the way, I caught a glimpse of it as you stat down” I said trying not to sound like a pervert.

“Thanks” was all he said before touching it lightly and then laying back in the water enough to cover his shoulders. As he lay there, his body stiffened for a minute before relaxing again.

“Mom says dinner will be ready soon so we should head back if we wanna have time to shower before you meet everyone” he said sitting up.

“Yeah, okay” I said turning to kneel before fully standing up. Seconds later, Conner stood up and walked out of the water giving me a nice view of his back side as he headed for the duffle bag. Standing, I followed him. Kneeling by the duffle bag, Conner shifted his clothes to the ground before digging in the bag again. Moments later, he handed me a sweat shirt and a pair of sweat pants. As we dressed he asked “are you feeling better? Is there less pain than before?”

“Yeah and I can breath normally now too. So, thanks for insisting. I didn't know it would heal me faster if I shifted” I said pulling the sweatshirt over my head. Once we were dressed minus our shoes, we headed back to the pack house. Entering through the back door, everyone in the kitchen stopped to stare at us as we passed.

“Back to work guy, you're curiosity will be answered at dinner” Conner said sounding annoyed as he pushed me through the room faster. As we walked up the stairs, we passed more pack members who also paused to stare at us until we'd finally made it to Conners' room.

Entering my room with Madox in tow, I closed the door and dropped the duffle next to the hamper by the door. Turning to Madox, I said “you can shower first. The bathroom is over there. Towels and wash clothes are on the shelf above the toilet. I'll bring you clothes in a minute” as I pointed towards the bathroom door.

“Okay, thanks” he said before heading that way. Taking a deep breath, I headed over to my dresser and pulled out a pair of underwear, skinny jeans with fake rips in them, and a shirt then followed him to the bathroom. Knocking first, I opened the door and placed the clothes on the counter just inside without looking before closing the door again. Going back to my dresser, I pulled out another pair of underwear, a pair of dark jeans, and another on of my anime t-shirts then walked over to the bed. Sitting the pile of clothes on the bed, I took a seat facing the bathroom door. As I waited, I decided to lay back on the bed staring at the ceiling with my arms crossed under my head causing my shirt to ride up exposing a little of my mid section. Closing my eyes, I waited to hear the door open. When it finally did, I was expecting Madox to come back into the room but I didn't hear him move. Deciding to tease him, I shifted up onto my elbows and stared at him for a full minute before asking “see something you like?”