02 - Chapter Two - Cora Bradley's Point Of View.

It was barely six am when the sound of truck doors slamming had me leaping out of bed to check just who the hell was trying to come over now. I barely got to the door when the door was unlocked and thrown open, showing a worried Zack.

"Cora! You are ok. Where is he? The wolf."

"Zack! What the hell are you doing here? I told you not to come over. I said it was fine!"

"The hell it is!"

"Zack, It is six in the damn morning!"

"I don't care! Where is the wolf?"

"Calm down! He is injured, and It took me hours to put him back together. I swear if you so much as touch one hair on his goddamn head, I'll make sure Marcie never had to worry about accidental children again."

"Cora, I told you to be careful of strange wolves!"

"I am being careful, and it's not like I actually knew he was a shifter when I brought him home. He looked like a normal wolf."

"Oh yeah, Because that's really safe too!" Zack yelled at her, frustration clearly showing on his face. They had been friends for many years, but he also treated her like a baby sister who needed his protection. He always acted like her older brother.

"Zack, he was drugged and really would not move far. He was in an almost body cast."

"You mean that one laying on the floor over there in pieces?"

"Zack, I understand I upset you, but I am a grown woman and it is six in the morning. I would really like you to lower your voice and stop yelling at me now."

"Upset? Cora, I am livid!"

"I don't care that you are livid. Stop yelling at me, Zack."

Zack was really livid with me. I could see he was visibly shaking, but he seemed to have missed what I didn't. The crack in the doorway to the bedroom and yellow eye shine from inside. Zack didn't notice the other male until he cleared his throat.

"Of course, If Cora is going to bring home a wolf, it's you." Zack snapped, his eyes ringed with yellow.

"You know each other?" I said, looking between the two men. Neither said anything, they just glared at each other. The question was on the tip of my tongue, ready to be asked again, when Zack finally spoke.

"Cora, this is Kalib Woodlee, The Alpha of the pack I belong to."

"Alpha? Do you mean like your leader? Why are you glaring at him, then?" I asked, wondering if he would actually answer some of my questions.

"I'm glaring at him because he had been gone for over a month. He said nothing, just left a note and left his brother in charge."

"He left someone in charge. That should be enough, shouldn't it?" I said, wondering.

"Zack is mad because I didn't leave him in charge. But even if I explained why I left, he wouldn't understand." The male said from the doorway. Speaking for the first time.

"I am not mad that you left your brother in charge and not me."

"Then why are you mad?"

"Why am I mad? Did you get brain damage? I'm mad because you just up and left your position in our pack. As your beta, I am supposed to know what the hell your plans are!"

I watched the male, Kalib, limp towards Zack. They were going to beat each other. I placed myself between the two of them. Zack looked at me and looked down before looking right at Kalib and back at me. Zack grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around me, right down to my ankles.

It didn't take too many brain cells to figure out this was because I was only in my housecoat and Zack didn't like how exposed to Kalib I was. Hell, Even I felt Kalib's eyes on me. I sighed deeply at Zack's actions. He just glared at me.

"Cora, go back to bed. Kalib and I can solve our problems right here."

"Zack, no."

"Cora, I wasn't really asking. Go back to bed."

"I spent hours putting him back together! You are not about to tear him apart. I will beat you!"

"I don't need you to protect me," Kalib said sharply.

"Don't speak to her that way."

Kalib looked at Zack before looking at me again.

"You have been speaking to her this way since you got here."

"We can sort out our issues out of Cora's house. You're coming back to pack land with me. After all, you are the fucking alpha!"

Zack grabbed Kalib and pulled him right past me and out of the house. He didn't fight back. I was super worried he would not be ok. But Zack seemed to lighten his pulling when he got him out to the truck. He said nothing else to me. He just left once the Alpha was in his truck. Pinching my nose, they frustrated me with whatever the hell just happened here.

Tossing the blanket back on the couch, I stomped to my bedroom. I looked at the bed, wondering if maybe just going to bed was the best option, but I couldn't. I couldn't shake the feeling that Zack was going to hurt himself or Kalib.

Pulling out a sweater and jeans from my closet, I ditched the housecoat and pulled them on. Grabbing a ponytail off the dresser, I tossed my hair in a messy bun and stomped back to the kitchen. The evidence of my looking after Kalib last night was on the counter.

I flicked the kettle on and grabbed an instant coffee pouch. I only ever used them after a long night when I needed to wake up. This fit the need. I was stupid; I had to be. The only thought in my head was to head to Zack's house and demand to know what he was going to do to Kalib. Zack was going to be pissed with me, but I didn't spend all that time to have him damage Kalib more. Kalib was hardly even healed enough to be moving, but he refused to accept that. He said he was fine, but I knew he wasn't.

Grabbing my coffee in a metal cup with a lid, I grabbed my car keys and made my way to my car. I sat in the car making sure this was what I was actually going to do before I chickened out. The air outside was chilly, and I was underdressed, right down to the flip-flops I had on my feet.

I started the car and groaned. I was actually about to go after Zack for this. I knew where Zack lived because I had been there for holidays and dinners. Feeling bad for just dropping in on Marcie like this, but it was important.

The sun was just up in the sky when I pulled into the driveway. Getting out of the car, I abandoned my coffee and went up to the door. I didn't even have to knock. Marcie opened the door for me.

"I told him you were going to follow him when he explained to me what was going on, but he claimed you wouldn't."

"I know, Stupid move. But call me invested."

"You don't have to explain a thing to me, Cora. We both know how Zack is."

"God, Isn't that the truth?"

"Zack and Kalib are on the third floor, in the office."

"Zack made him climb all those stairs! For shit sakes."

"I tried to tell Zack not to make him climb all those stairs, but he wouldn't listen."

"That man's anger blinds him. I swear, too, all that is holy, I'm going to beat him."

Slipping my flip-flops off, I stomped up the two flights of stairs But stopped short when I heard them arguing.

"And what would you have me do, Zack? We both know that this injury will never heal and that I am going blind. I am lucky to be able to walk. I can't protect shit now!"

"Kalib, you can't just abandon your position. We can work with this."

"You know we can't. Once word gets out that I am in no position to lead, there will be those who challenge me. I am incapable of leading now."

"We will make this work. Kalib, Have some trust in me, we can work this out. And Cora, If you plan on listening to our conversation, you might as well come in and listen. You are not hiding from either of us there."

I walked down the hall and opened the door, both males looking at me now.

"I hadn't meant to listen to your conversation. Honestly, I meant to come here and give you shit, you giant sack of crap. You don't just get to steal my shit. I fixed him. You just stomp your way in and take him. I spent hours making sure he was okay. I am invested in this shit."

"Cora, Kalib is a person, not a toy. He doesn't belong to either of us, but he has a job to do."

"You didn't seem to care that he was a person when you were shoving him into your truck or when you made him climb two extensive sets of stairs. You're going to mess up everything I did. I spent hours, hours fixing him. You do not know the extent of the bone and muscle damage I had to fix. He is going to need constant physio and help for at least a year!"

I looked at Kalib, who had his eyes closed and was pinching the bridge of his nose. Zack just exhaled.

"Cora, it is my job to make sure he is here and doing his job."

"I don't give a damn, Zack."

"Cora, none of this is——"

"I'm taking him back to my house. I don't care what you have to say, your patient care skills suck!"

Kalib looked at me then, and with the sunlight at the angle it was, I could see the spots in his eyes where he was indeed going blind. I understood he wasn't entirely just an animal, but I still wanted to help him.