Runt and Giant

Misha smiled.

"That's not a problem. She will simply join the Boulder pack as well."

Something occurred to Tim, and he realized that, while far from ideal, the prospect presented the opportunity he had been hoping for. An opportunity to save Kayleigh from Tanner. He forced himself to smile.

"Th-thank you, s-sir. I a-accept your offer."

Misha beamed.

"That's a good puppy. I wasn't really giving you a choice, but it's nice that you're not gonna fight this."

He looked up and addressed all the lycans that stayed to watch.

"That's all I wanted. Everybody can go now."

After a pause, the wolves moved to leave.

Once Tim had gotten dressed again and Misha had left, Kayleigh walked right up to Tim, grabbed him by the ear, and dragged him off to somewhere they could speak in private. The omega whined and whimpered, but didn't fight his sister and let her take him out into the woods.

Once they were a good distance away, Kayleigh released her brother.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" She demanded.

Tim rubbed his ear. "Wh-what do you m-mean?"

"You just dived right in to being that beast's plaything! Don't you have a speck of pride?"

"But K-Kayleigh, I did that f-for you."

She folded her arms.

"Explain to me why you being Misha's boy toy is in any way beneficial to me." She could guess the reasoning, but if Tim really had done something that stupid she needed to hear it from him.

"Kayleigh, we b-both know that Tanner is g-going to take you when you t-t-turn twenty. If you're p-part of a different pack, he c-can't do that. You s-s-said that Tanner would force you by threat-t-tening to kill me, but Misha w-won't let that happen. This is the answer t-to all our p-prayers."

The beta pursed her lips.

"No, it isn't. You can't act like the thing that would have happened to me happening to you is totally fine."

"You d-don't have to worry about m-me."

"Yes, I do, and you know why?" She was raising her voice. "Because if I don't, nobody else will, yourself included! I don't want you to sacrifice everything for my sake! Live for yourself!"

Kayleigh could see tears well up in her brother's eyes. Even so, he did what he could to stay composed.

"Sis, it'll b-be alright. If this is the p-price I have t-to pay to keep you safe, s-so be it. A-and it w-w-won't be so bad. Mi-Misha said he'll t-take care of me."

"Tim, we know Tanner. Knowing him, he'll have his fun with me, sire a few pups, then get bored and move on to somebody else. I don't want that, but at least I know what to expect. We don't know Misha. He has no obligation to keep his word. He could treat you like shit for the rest of your life for all you know. I don't want to be the reason why that happens to you."

Her brother gave such a sad, bitter smile.

"I get t-treated like shit all the t-time anyway. I'm used to it. All I-I want is for you to be s-safe and us to b-be together. It's okay."

Kayleigh gave her brother a hug. She was taller and stronger than him, so he was swallowed up by it.

"You're a good person. I want you to be happy. I don't want you to do something so foolish just for me."

Tim started crying a little.

"As l-l-long as we're t-together, I'm h-happy. It'll be alright."

Kayleigh sighed. "I hope you're right about this."

The two siblings hugged a bit more before breaking apart and returning to their duties.

*****

In the dead of night, Tanner used his concealment abilities to sneak over undetected to the area where the omegas slept. He looked around, and saw his mark: Kayleigh's runt of a brother, Tim.

He had never thought of Tim in regards higher than he would an insect before, but that day he learned that the pup would do whatever it took to meddle in his plans to take Kayleigh. That sniveling little runt was going to ruin everything.

Tim was sleeping alone, away from the other omegas, which was convenient for Tanner. That made it easy for him to noiselessly pounce on the boy without the others noticing. He clamped his hand over the pup's mouth and picked him up, easily lifting the tiny wolf with his burly, alpha-male frame.

Even Tanner would admit that he wasn't the most morally upstanding person, but what he was doing he had never even considered before. Still, he figured that there wasn't any other option at that point.

He was driven by two things. The first was his lust for Kayleigh. He had been alive for almost thirty years and had never wanted a female the way that he wanted Kayleigh Vance. He'd been patient, even tolerated the bullshit tradition of having to wait until she was twenty. He wasn't going to let anything stop him when it was so close to her birthday.

The second motivating factor was his hatred for Tim. Tanner was no fool, he could discern the omega's plan. With Kayleigh in another pack, the customs made the courting and mating much more complicated. What was more, his ace in the hole was always how he would use Tim's life as leverage to make her agree to his demands. Now that Misha had taken an interest in the boy, that plan was ruined.

Tanner was livid. He was an alpha male, a powerful, dominant beast of a lycanthrope. He always got what he wanted and took without asking. But that little rat had taken away what he was after. The simple thought that such a weak, cowardly pup could beat an alpha male such as himself without lifting a finger had his blood boiling.

The runt was the source of all his problems. The runt needed to be eliminated.

Once he was far enough away from the pack that nobody could hear him no matter how much he screamed, he released his hand from the pup's mouth. He was expecting him to writhe and squeal anyway, but the boy remained calm and tried to negotiate. It was the classic move of a weakling. It pissed Tanner off.

"P-p-please, Tanner," he whimpered. "let m-me go. This w-won't work."

"Like hell it won't, you little shit. My life would be better if you were removed from it completely."

"B-but Kayleigh will know y-you did this. She'll h-hate you even m-m-more."

"She doesn't hate me, you just convinced her to not trust me. With you gone she'll love me soon enough."

The alpha was clearly delusional. Tim tried another tactic.

"If I d-die, what w-will you do t-to make her compliant? Y-You wouldn't be able to use m-me."

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. If I do nothing, I'll never have Kayleigh. I need to dispose of you."

"Wh-what about M-Misha? I eagerly ag-greed to his offer. What w-will you tell him when I'm n-not there tomorrow?"

"I'll figure that out. I'm sick of playing twenty questions with you. Shut up or I'll kill you right now."

Tim shut up.

After a few more minutes they had arrived at the intended destination: a cliff by a large river.

"This will work."

He got the omega on the ground and pinned him down with his weight. Tim desperately tried to wriggle free and escape, but he was far too weak.

Tanner transformed himself into his hybrid form: all the best features of both his halves. He raised his clawed hand and smiled a gnarly grin full of razor sharp teeth. The runt screamed and he began his attack.

The next few minutes was a flurry of claws, teeth, fists, and blood. Once he was satisfied that the pup was close enough to death, he picked up his body and flung it to the river below. The omega landed on a leg, and Tanner could hear the sickening crack of the bone breaking. The body rolled a few more times and landed in the river, which swept it away.

Tanner grinned. The boy would die, whether from blood loss or drowning. His work done, he left to return to the pack.

*****

Tim told Paine the whole story, and as he did the man got more and more angry. By the end of it he was seeing red. His rage was directed at two men.

The first was Misha. All things considered, Misha hadn't done anything too bad, so Paine was pretty sure it was mostly the imprinting that fueled it. Just the thought of anybody else laying their hands on his Tim pissed him off. Misha wanted to keep the boy as a servant, use him as nothing more than a fuck-toy. Paine would sooner die than let that happen.

Much more of his ire was aimed at Tanner, though. He now had a name to the man who almost killed his baby boy. One way or another, he had to be brought to justice.

"I want to hunt Tanner down and murder him," Paine growled.

"I-I'm more c-concerned about what will h-happen to Ka-Kayleigh. Her twentieth b-birthday is almost here."

"Consent is still a thing among werewolves, right? He can't just force her into doing whatever he wants."

"Maybe, b-but if he's capable of attempted murder wh-who knows what else he'll d-d-do?"

Paine pursed his lips.

Tim got visibly frustrated.

"I wish I c-could do something, but I'm s-stuck here! I c-can't even help m-my little sister when she n-needs me the most!"

Paine rose to his feet.

"You've done enough. It's time for me to step in."

"A-are you sure? This has n-nothing to do with you."

"You're my mate. I'm involved whether you want me to be or not."

He got a map and walked back to the bed.

"Where can I find your pack?"

Tim shook his head. "You c-can't just go t-to them like that. They'd be able to sense a-an approaching human and run."

"Well, I can't just sit back and do nothing! Is there a way I can send a message? I need your sister and all the others to know what happened to you!"

Tim pondered for a minute, then got an idea.

"Morgan!"

Paine cocked an eyebrow. "Who's Morgan?"

"Morgan is K-Kayleigh's best fr-friend. She's an alpha, and sh-she's the best nose in the p-pack."

"How does that help us?"

"M-Morgan knows my scent. H-How long was I out?"

"You were unconscious for two and a half days after I pulled you out of the river."

"Okay, b-by now, my scent has f-faded from the area. If she smelled s-something of m-mine, she'll know I'm alive and be able to t-t-track me down."

"Are you sure? You did most of your journey by river. Wouldn't that wash away the trail?"

Tim hadn't thought of that.

"Does it have to be your scent, or can she track anyone?" Paine asked.

"She c-can track any-b-body."

The giant smiled. "Then how about this: I'll leave something of mine and something of yours in the same place, somewhere Morgan will find them. Your fresh scent will let her know you're alive, and my scent will give her a trail to follow."

Tim looked hopeful. "That sh-should work!"

The two of them spent some time formulating their plan. The idea was for Paine to do most of the trip at night, when Tim was asleep and the wolves weren't on red alert. Tim picked a spot that he knew Morgan liked to frequent and gave Paine advice on what to do and how to do it unnoticed. By the evening everything was lined up.

Paine made a hearty dinner for them both and got ready to leave. Before he was out the door he took a moment to talk with Tim about something.

"Tim, I just wanted to let you know how proud of you I am."

The boy raised his eyebrows. "What for?"

"You were willing to do so much for your sister, even if it was at your expense. Not a lot of people can do that. You're a lot braver and stronger than you give yourself credit for."

Tim blushed.

"I really do admire you, baby. You might be small, but you have strength where it really counts. I'm honored that I'm lucky enough to have you as my mate."

The omega was at a loss for words.

Paine reached out a hand and cupped his boy's cheek.

"You've spent your whole life taking care of others and neglecting yourself. It's time that somebody took care of you. You've done all you could. Let me handle the rest."

He leaned in and kissed Tim's lips. This kiss was more passionate than the one earlier that day. Paine opened his mouth, used his tongue, and even lightly nibbled on his boy's lower lip. Tim was ecstatic. It flooded him with a pleasure better than any he had experienced. He was disappointed when his giant pulled away.

"I love you, Tim. You're my precious baby boy, and I'll protect you to my last breath."

Tim felt a tear leak out.

"I l-love you, too, Paine. Please b-be careful out there."

Paine nodded sagely before making his leave.

*****

Things were bad, and Kayleigh suspected that they were going to get even worse.

Tim had been missing for four days. Well, officially he was missing, but Kayleigh had the horrifying suspicion that Tanner was responsible. All she could do was look for him and pray that Tanner hadn't killed him. She just knew that he had something to do with what happened, but he denied everything and she had no proof. Any trail that the pack's trackers could follow would likely have dried up, and despite her best efforts she was starting to lose hope.

She was helping cook breakfast when her best friend Morgan approached her and got close so they could converse quietly.

"Kayleigh, keep your body language neutral. Tanner's watching."

The beta gave the alpha female a slight nod.

"I was doing my rounds this morning when I found something that could lead us to Tim."

Kayleigh had to fight to remain calm.

"What did you find?"

"It was clothing that had his scent on it, and it was fresh, too. I knew it wasn't where I found it at any time before today."

"That means you can find a trail, right?"

"Well, that's where things get a little strange."

Kayleigh risked a quick glance upwards. Tanner was indeed staring at her.

"I don't care how strange it is. I need to find my brother."

Morgan drummed her fingers against the table.

"It wasn't just clothing with Tim's smell on it. It was tied to another piece of clothing, and that scent is one I don't even recognize."

"Then that would mean somebody outside the pack found Tim."

"Exactly. What's really crazy is that whoever that other scent belongs to is a human."

Kayleigh was surprised enough to stop her motions for a moment.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. I don't know how, but the scent of a human is unmistakable."

"Let me take a shot in the dark and say there still isn't a trail for Tim, but there's a clear trail that leads us to our mystery human."

Morgan blinked a few times. "Yes. How did you know that?"

Kayleigh shrugged. "Deduction, I guess. The clothes were obviously left as a message by that human, and I think that message is that Tim is alive. I'm sure that if we can find that human, they'll lead us straight to Tim."

Morgan nodded. "I'll follow that trail."

"I'm coming with you."

Morgan tried her best to not glance over at Tanner. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"This isn't negotiable."

"Just think about it, Kayleigh. If you're right, and I'm pretty sure you are, Tanner tried to kill Tim. What would he think if you just went off in a very specific direction like that with me?"

"He'd probably be able to guess what was going on," the beta conceded.

"Exactly. It's for the best if he thinks you're still in the dark."

Kayleigh let out a frustrated sigh.

"I hate how I can't do anything to help Tim right now."

"Just be patient. I'll go and let you know what I find. Now we should probably end this conversation, or Tanner will suspect something."

Kayleigh risked a quick glance at the pack's alpha. "Yeah, you're probably right. When you find Tim, do me a favor and smack him for making me worry so much.

Morgan chuckled. "You should just wait to do that yourself when he gets back."

Her friend smiled and nodded before Morgan left.

*****

Paine was exhausted. He had spent all night hiking and made it back to his cabin in the morning. Still, he couldn't sleep yet.

He quietly opened his front door and walked inside, careful not to wake Tim. He put on a pot of coffee, and while he was waiting he walked over to the bed.

His baby boy was fast asleep, curled up on his side and breathing steadily. He wasn't sure how much of it was the imprinting, but Paine saw utter perfection when he looked at Tim. He looked like an angel.

Paine knew that taking care of Tim was his new purpose in life. He would be able to redeem himself and do some good in the world if he could keep his mate safe.

He poured himself a big mug of coffee and went to his front porch, sitting on the chair he had when he wanted to sit outside. He needed to stay awake; he had to keep watch.

Sipping his coffee, he looked off in the distance, in the direction he had come from when returning home. If Tim was right, somebody would be coming, and he wanted to meet them when they arrived.

*****

Samuel was relieved to be getting close to returning to the Boulder pack. He had been sent out as a scout over a week ago, but had a hard time getting back on the trail and following his pack's scent. They had clearly gotten into an altercation with another pack, an ambush from the looks of it, and he had found some graves where his fallen brethren had been put to rest. Samuel was fully able to survive in the wild on his own, he was able to use his human, wolf, and hybrid forms in different situations, but his nature as a half-wolf dictated that he be in a group.

He finally got to where he knew his pack was when it was late in the morning, and was surprised to see that they were camping with a different pack entirely. He tracked down his mother Alia, who was discussing something with his uncle Misha, and they told him the situation.

Samuel had been resting for about thirty minutes when he felt something that lit up his entire body. It was a smell, the most divine, perfect scent he had ever experienced.

Could that really be...?

He sat up and sniffed the air, following the scent. He made it to another large group of wolves, most from the Romulus pack, and found what he was looking for: a beta girl with dark hair, who was playing with some pups.

He forced himself to stay back until she was done, not wanting to interrupt, before approaching her.

"Excuse me, may I talk to you for a bit?"

The girl turned to face him and her eyes widened. He could tell that she was getting the same idea that he was.

He subconsciously puffed out his chest a bit to look bigger. For an alpha male, he wasn't really tall, only about an inch taller than she was. He tried for his most charming smile.

"My name is Samuel Costanza. I'm from the Boulder pack."

The girl nodded. "I heard about you from Alia. I'm Kayleigh Vance from the Romulus pack."

She held out her hand to shake, but Samuel surprised her by getting down on one knee and gingerly kissing her hand. He smiled and looked up at Kayleigh.

"I can see that you're feeling the same way I do right now. Please, Kayleigh, will you allow me to scent you?"

Kayleigh nodded, a bit nervous, and Samuel approached, trying not to make any sudden moves. He slowly wrapped his arms around her body and sniffed her hair, feeling her smell him, too. He continued, getting even closer and sniffing more aggressively. The smell was like a drug to him. He couldn't get enough of it!

After a few minutes, he pulled back and looked into Kayleigh's eyes, which were a beautiful shade of blue.

"Kayleigh Vance," he said, loving the taste of her name on his lips. "You smell perfect. You smell like you're mine. Please, tell me that you feel the same way."

The girl nodded, smiling.

"I think you might be my mate, Samuel."

Samuel was so happy he thought he was going to cry. He had been waiting for this moment for twenty four years. He gave her a hug.

"How old are you, darling?"

"I'll be turning twenty in a few days."

Samuel grinned. "That's wonderful. I won't have to wait much longer."

"Wait for what, exactly?" she asked teasingly.

"I think I'll leave the details to your imagination."

She giggled. After a few seconds, she looked like she suddenly remembered something and got more serious.

"Samuel, I'm absolutely overjoyed that we found each other. This is one of the best things that's ever happened to me, but I'm dealing with some problems of my own right now. I can't just drop all of it."