A shifter in the water

Enzo POV

My blood boiled for a second when I sensed someone near the moon bath. I didn’t want to be disturbed tonight. The silence and serenity the bath afforded me were perfect for a stressful week.

Then I saw her standing on the edge of the mouth of the pool. No one came in that way. It must have been a drunk she-wolf or something.

I was about to yell when the faint scent of strawberry and cranberry floated in the air. My pupils dilated, and my wolf clawed at me from within.

“No,” I pushed him away.

I searched for my clothes. I needed to get away from here before my wolf made me do something stupid.

That’s when I heard her scream. I turned to see her plummet.

“No!”

I dove under just as her petite body disappeared into the dark blue waters.

My wolf went crazy. He went to the edge of my skin and nearly made me shift. I pushed my limbs towards her as the powerful current sucked her to the bottom.

I didn’t know who she was, but one thing was for certain: I couldn’t lose her.

Once I reached her, I pulled her to my chest and carried us both to the surface.

“Why would you do that?” I yelled.

She was stiff in my arms. Her eyes were closed, and her body was cold. I carried her out of the water immediately.

What were these college students up to?

“Blaze!” I called my right-hand man. “Blaze!”

Where the hell did he run off to this time?

He came out of the bushes. “I’m here, Alpha. Geez, can’t a guy smoke in peace? What happened? Who is that?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” I grunted.

The scent of strawberry and cranberry hit me in the face. It was undeniable and alluring.

“Let me take her,” Blaze offered.

I growled and flashed my canines at him. “Don’t touch her.”

Blaze raised his hands and bowed his head in a show of submission. “She’s all yours.”

I shook my head. I’m already not acting right, yet I couldn’t put her down. It was like she was glued to my body, and I liked it that way.

“Just get the car,” I ordered.

Blaze nodded and ran off.

I grabbed my shirt and covered her with it. I had so many questions, and most of them weren’t even for her. Blaze came back, and I carried her to my SUV. I sat in the back seat with her.

She trembled violently, and panic kicked in.

“She’s shivering,” I said.

“That water’s freezing,” Blaze commented.

“No one’s ever gotten hyperthermia from it,” I replied.

Her lips turned blue. I looked closer at her soft face and noticed the busted lip, the cut on her forehead and claw marks on her neck. The properties in the pool’s water would heal the injuries in no time, but the thought of someone laying their hands on her almost caused me to shift on the spot.

Blaze sensed the tension in the air and eyed me from the rear-view mirror.

“We’re almost at the pack house,” Blaze said.

“Make sure a healer’s there when we arrive,” I ordered.

“Yes, Alpha.”

He didn’t need a phone to make the request. We had little use for them in the shifter region. We used the mind-link to communicate with our pack members, no matter how far away they were in the region.

I stared at the young woman shivering in my arms.

Something’s wrong, I could feel it. A she-wolf shouldn’t be reacting like this, no matter her rank.

Blaze parked behind the pack house building so the members wouldn’t be alarmed when we walked in with an unconscious girl.

“They have a guest room ready,” Blaze said.

“She’s going to my room,” I mumbled.

Blaze sighed, but didn’t fight me.

I wish I could fight myself, but all reason had been turned off until further notice.

I placed her fragile body on my bed. She didn’t even stir. It was a long fall, but not for a wolf! The healer, a woman who worked for the university, walked in with a heavy bag.

She shook her head and removed my shirt that covered her.

I noticed the petite pink bodysuit she wore had been torn apart and exposing her breasts. Luckily, Blaze and any male wolf were out in the hall.

“Poor Alexandra, she really took a beating,” the healer said.

“You know her?” I asked, surprised.

She nodded. “Of course. She’s the nicest girl at the university. She’s Professor Sara's biomedical assistant.”

“Do everything you can for her,” I ordered.

The elderly woman nodded. “Of course, Alpha.”

I marched out of my room, but couldn’t go far. If I got too far, my body responded violently. I paced the hallway instead.

“I want names. I want to know everyone who attacked her,” I ranted.

“We don’t know what happened, Enzo. Fuck, we don’t even know who she is,” Blaze said.

I stopped and glared at him. “Her name’s Alexandra. Find out everything you can about her.”

Blaze nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”

Blaze walked off to find the information I needed.

She certainly wasn’t from my pack.

Even though the five packs in the shifter region shared major facilities like the hospital, shelters and the university, the packs kept to themselves.

The healer walked out of my room with a warm smile. “She’s going to be fine. She needs to be kept warm and to make sure she eats when she wakes up. I’ve done all I can tonight. Call me if anything happens.”

I sighed, but I wasn’t satisfied. “Fine.”

She bowed and walked off. I battled with myself not to walk into my room. I didn’t know what would happen if I did. My wolf wanted one thing, and my mind told me to do another.

I could sense the trouble brewing.

Blaze marched back to me, and he looked grim.

“Just tell me,” I mumbled.

“She’s Alexandra Westwood. She lives in a studio apartment in the River Pack, and she’s in her final year of university.”

I ran a hand threw my hair. “Fuck.”

So she is in college.

“That’s not all,” Blaze said with a bitter smile. “She’s half-human, Enzo. That girl in your bed doesn’t have a wolf.”

That explains why the fall affected her so badly.

“Wait, half-human?” I questioned.

Blaze nodded. “She’s the only one in the shifter region.”

“How—”

Blaze frowned deeply. “Don’t you remember opposing her inclusion into the region?”

I froze. I did?

“Every member in the Supreme Court voted to let her in, but you!”

It all came back to me. Ellis fought me tooth and nail on that decision. Since I’m the Sovereign Alpha, I get the final say. I never laid eyes on her, and I never paid attention to her name.

What had the moon goddess done?

She put me in a boatload of shit.

“Take her back to her studio, now,” I ordered.

“What? Are you sure?” Blaze’s brows knitted together.

My wolf fought me. He pushed me to say the dreaded word and make the deadly declaration. I pushed him down before he got us in trouble.

“Get her out of my pack, immediately.”