I'm Alpha

I make it to Janessa and start checking her body. I look to see if she was hit multiple times, but she wasn't. I try to find the wound and see that her shoulder is bleeding. I exhale a bit. A shoulder wound is not too bad. There is no exit wound which isn't the best, but the shoulder holds no vital organs. I put Janessa's head in my lap and start to gently tap on her cheeks, but get no response. I lean in closer and can tell that Janessa is breathing, but it is pretty rapid. I lift her arm up and let go, but it quickly drops to the floor. This seems to be an extreme reaction to a shoulder wound. I check her body again thinking that I may have missed a major wound, but I didn't. It is just her shoulder. I take a look at the wound and I notice some smoke coming out of it. It isn't a lot, but it is enough to be concerned. It is almost as if her skin is burning from the inside.

I hear feet pounding the ground and stopping right behind me. I hear a gasp that sounds feminine and a grunt that sounds manly. "A…Alp-" I turn towards the voice and I see a woman standing there with her eyes glazed over. I look over to the man and I can't shake the feeling that I've seen him before.

"What's wrong with her?" He asks in a gruff voice. I stand up and pick Janessa up, bridal style.

"Are you her people?" They both nod. "We need to get her help, now." They look at each other then back at me. They nod again and take off the opposite way Janessa and I came in. We would need to go through the building rather than through the window. I'm getting worried. I feel like we will run into the team that works for the Reese Corporation, the same team that attacked me at the apartment. Surely, we've been here too long. My watch buzzes just as I thought that. That means we have five minutes left before exposure. I didn't realize this all happened so fast, but I'm grateful. I'm not sure we would have made it out like this.

I follow the duo outside and into an SUV. The woman is driving, the man is in the passenger seat and Janessa and I are in the back. I try to wake Janessa up again, but it is futile. She is breathing erratically and is not responding to any stimuli. I look at the wound again and see the smoke coming from it. Just then it hits me. I know what is going on. "Hey, guys...I will need to take the bullet out."

"She is driving as fast as she can. I'm sure she will make it to the hospital just fine." I shake my head in response.

"Her reaction to the bullet is too severe to be nothing. This must be a silver bullet." The man seems frozen at my words and the woman keeps looking back at me through the rear view mirror. "I really think it would be best to take this bullet out now. It will aid in her recovery." I wait a minute or two for a response and get none. I pull a knife out of my back pocket and flip it open. I lean down close to Janessa's ear. "This is going to hurt a bit. I'm sorry, but it's necessary." I sit back up and use the knife to open her wound more. Janessa jerks in my arms and a small sound comes out of her mouth. Once I open the wound, I dig my finger into her shoulder. Janessa yelps, but her eyes remain closed. I feel around and finally make contact with the bullet. Thankfully it wasn't too deep or else this wouldn't have worked. I'm able to pull the bullet out. It is pretty smashed up and looks like it may have shed a few fragments. I look ahead to the duo. "Can I guess that you need the bullet out of the car?" They look at each other, but say nothing. I roll down the window and throw the bullet out of the car. The man hands me a towel and I press it to Janessa's wound to stop the bleeding.

"So…..are you both werewolves as well?" It became pretty obvious what Janessa was when I saw her reaction to the bullet. For her to be out like that over a shoulder wound, it had to be silver. I have seen that reaction before. The woman clears her throat.

"Uh…..well….."

"Look, I'm sure you could smell that there were werewolves with us when we rescued the children. Clearly I'm aware of your existence and haven't told. If I had, I'm pretty sure I'd be dead." The woman nods.

"Yes, I'm a werewolf. My name is Lana." I nod to her. The man clears his throat.

"You look so familiar to me. Do I know you?"

"Uh….I'm also a werewolf. I'm Markus." I look at him a bit harder then, it hits me. The blonde hair, the tattoos…..the guys who were following me.

"Weren't you and another guy following me? Didn't I beat your asses??" Lana giggles a bit and Markus looks pissed. He just grunts but doesn't answer which I take as a 'yes'. I just shake my head. "How much longer?" At that moment, we swing in front of a building. It looks like a hospital and there is a doctor and a nurse waiting outside with a gurney. As soon as the car stops, they rush towards my door, throwing it open. I help them get Janessa onto the gurney and I watch them rush her inside. I walk to the waiting room with Lana and Markus, hoping that Janessa makes it out of this okay.

~Janessa~

I can feel the sun on my face and it's annoying. I just want to sleep, but all of that light is making it impossible. I feel completely comfortable, except for a dull throb in my left shoulder. I must have trained too hard yesterday. I shift around a bit and take a deep breath. Mmmm...pine cones and ocean. I love those scents. Wait, pine cone and ocean? I crack my eyes open and look around the room. There are white walls and bright lights. I turn to my right and catch brown eyes looking at me. "Drake?" I croak out. He smiles at me and squeezes my hand.

"There you are. I was wondering when you would wake up." I close my eyes again and the events of last night come flooding back to me.

"That bitch Samantha shot me." Drake sighs. I turn to look at him and I can see guilt all over his face.

"Yeah. Well technically, she shot at me, but someone thought it would be a good idea to push me out of the way." I can feel my face get flush.

"Well, I couldn't let you die."

Drake kisses my temple and whispers in my ear, "Thank you." Drake sits back up and traces small circles on the back of my hand. "I wish she hadn't gotten away." The door opens and Dr. Marsh walks in.

"Ah…..Al- Uh, Janessa. It's good to see you up." He checks my vitals and takes a look at the chart. "Looks like you are doing well and you can be released today. I will be back with the paperwork." I nod to him and he leaves the room.

"So what rank are you?" I look at Drake completely flabbergasted. How the hell can he ask me that question? What does he know? Drake notices my gaze and he laughs. "Yeah, I know you are a werewolf." I clear my throat.

"H…hh…how did you find out?"

"Well, it was pretty evident when a shot to the shoulder damn near killed you. I figured the bullet was silver and I took it out on the way here. The doctor said that probably saved your life. You were in surgery for 2 hours getting a fragment removed." I quickly look away. He knows that I'm a werewolf so I'm sure the rejection is going to come. I should have told him from the beginning. "Hey," Drake says softly. He gently grabs my chin and moves my face towards him. "Hey, Janessa, I get it. I know why you didn't say anything. Don't worry....we're good." Drake gives me his panty dropping smile. That must be what it is because I swear my core feels like it is leaking. He leans in and kisses me. "So….what's your rank?" Drake moves back and I sit up in bed. I look at him with a grin on my face.

"I'm Alpha."