Considering they were in a deep, dark forest that most people would be terrified of, Alex finds drifting off to sleep incredibly easy. On the other hand, Isabelle was scared out of her wits; every single noise, whether that be a branch snapping or an owl hooting, made her practically jump out of her skin. Isabelle's neck was getting sore from snapping in the direction of every noise; she wasn't sure if this was because she expected bulkoso to suddenly appear or a giant bear.
Are there giant bears in these woods? I should've asked if there are giant bears
Isabelle thinks to herself, looking down at his relaxed form, he seemed so settled, he also looked much younger when he was asleep, just like he did when he smiled.
Isabelle so wanted to reach out and touch his face, but even she knew that would probably be creepy if it woke him up, so she decided against it and rested her head against the tree she was leaning up against.
Isabelle takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, trying to relax and push all scary thoughts out of her head. Sure, she was technically a werewolf, but she knew she would probably be useless if faced with real danger. Good job, Alex was here. Isabelle took a moment to make a wish, pleading for anyone who would listen to return her beloved cat; she knew nobody understood it, most of all Alex, but that cat was her best friend.
Bulkoso had always been there, the person who listened to her cry and comforted her the way nobody else had been willing to do since before Alpha Jay had died.
Alex's head lolled on Isabelle's shoulder, making her jump slightly. She almost reached to push his head away, but instinct and maybe the mating bond already forming caused her to stay still. The contact, no matter how small was somewhat comforting to Isabelle, something that she had also not experienced since Alpha Jay, particularly around men, they had been demonised to her in the past few years but she could already see that being around Alex and even the little contact with Jackson that not all men were the same. It allowed her to believe that maybe one day she could be confident around men again.
Isabelle is pulled out of her deep thoughts by another rustling sound, making her head turn to her left. She watches with narrowed eyes as the rustling gets louder. Seconds pass in bated breath, and Isabelle, feeling a newfound confidence, inches away from Alex, but as the noise gets louder, she starts to feel terrified and is ready to shake Alex awake when a familiar ginger cat pops his head from around the bushes.
Without thinking, Isabelle jumps to her feet with tears in her eyes causing Alex to fall flat on his face on the floor. His eyes flutter open with a groan as he rubs his now aching head. Isabelle heads towards bulkoso, ready to pick him, but at the last second, he turns on his heel and runs in the direction he came from. Isabelle starts to chase close behind, and Alex jumps to his feet to follow.
"Bloody cat" he grumbles angrily. The chase continues until Tobias reaches a fallen tree, he nimbly climbs straight onto it with confidence. Isabelle weighs up her options, the tree is surrounded by thick, dark mud, but the longer she stands at the base of the tree, the further Tobias gets; she simply can't lose him!
Shakily, Isabelle climbs onto the tree and starts to try to walk across, halfway across the tree, bulkoso sits down patiently waiting for his owner to reach him, he somehow has a hilarious look on his face, Isabelle could have sworn he was smiling at her but now was not the time to think about that as every extra step Isabelle took the shakier she became on her feet.
Werewolves often have incredible balance, but a lack of training or practice meant this skipped Isabelle. She was the complete opposite; she usually fell over her own feet, let alone trying to balance on a tree trunk.
It wasn't long before Alex caught up with Isabelle, he watched her with an amused look in his eyes.
There was some concern, but he was pretty confident that even if Isabelle fell from the tree, apart from being very muddy, she wouldn't come to any harm. There was absolutely no chance Alex was going to climb onto the tree himself, he told himself that he wasn't going to do it because one of them needed to be on dry land if Isabelle happened to fall into the mud.
Alex watched on in confusion at how shaky Isabelle was, it was basic training that most pack members did for balance, you built the basic foundations after shifting for the first time (usually 13/14) but it was something you were supposed to dedicate time to for the rest of your life to ensure something like this didn't happen.
As much as it was endearing to watch Isabelle, he had never seen someone with so little grace when doing such a simple task, even some of the youngest werewolves would have already managed to reach bulkoso by now.
As Isabelle gets closer, bulkoso stands ready to turn around and go further back along the tree trunk.
"No bulkoso!" Isabelle yells in a panic, "Stay where you are!" She begs, waving her arms around to show bulkoso to stay still, but mainly to help with her balance. "Be careful, Isabelle", Alex shouts, biting the inside of his cheek nervously.
On her next step, Isabelle completely loses her balance, one leg goes up, and her arms flail around before she crashes down to the side, falling spectacularly into the mud with a SPLAT. A small scream leaves Isabella's mouth. This time, Alex has to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing. She wasn't hurt, and honestly, she just looked adorable.
When Isabelle managed to resurface from the mud, she had a smile on her face before breaking into laughter, which is music to Alex's ears. Alex lets out a laugh too as she struggles her way trying to get out of the mud.
Bulkoso decides he has worried her enough and makes his way across the trunk towards Alex with ease, he sits at Alex's feet with a look of 'Hurry up, what is taking so long?' to Isabelle as she squelches her way out of the mud. Alex finally takes pity on her and reaches his arm out for her to grab onto, misjudging his strength, Alex pulls too hard, causing not only Isabelle to come flying out of the mud, but she lands right against his chest, leaving an Isabelle-shaped mud patch over him, leaving them both laughing again.
Heavy with mud(apart from bulkoso, of course), the three of them head back to the huge packhouse/castle, now wide awake and happy, Isabelle finally can appreciate the beauty of her new home. A cold shiver spreads across her body not only from the mud but also because of the thought that THIS was her new home. Alex pulls Isabelle closer to him to share his body heat, he was like a permanent hot water bottle. Isabelle and Alex take their shoes off at the door but it is almost futile as they still manage to leave a muddy trail in their wake. Isabelle glances over her shoulder and winces at the mud covering the floor. She starts to turn around to clean it up, but Alex grabs onto her hand and pulls her towards him gently.
"Someone will sort it" Alex shrugs, Isabelle feels uneasy and although she doesn't say anything it is written all over her face for Alex to see "Look Isabelle, I'm Alpha and you're their future Luna, we need to focus on cleaning ourselves not the floor, they will sort it"
Isabelle winces again. She wasn't sure she would ever get used to having so much freedom and control, but the one thing she knew for sure was that she would ensure that she or nobody around her ever treated someone the way she was for as long as she lived.
The happy mood didn't end. Isabelle barely registered that Alex had started to peel the now-drying muddy clothes off her body.
Alex had only pure intentions of getting Isabella clean, dry and warm; he could even tell that she was relaxed, which he knew was unusual, so he was enjoying the moment while it lasted.
Despite her relaxation, Alex ensured he told Isabelle every step of the way what he was going to do next, giving her time to protest or stop him. He also made sure that for every piece of clothing he took off her body, he did for himself to show they were on a level playing field.
Alex leads Isabelle into the shower and watches as the mud starts to slide away from her pale skin, as if realising what was going on, Isabelle wraps her arms around herself awkwardly, in silence, Alex reaches over and looking into Isabelle's eyes to watch for her reaction he gently takes her arms from around her body, to ensure she doesn't feel exposed, he pulls her against his chest, he runs his nose along the length of hers letting the water cascade over them both before he washes them both with soap.
"You move quickly", Isabelle whispers with a small smile on her face. Although this was moving quicker than she had ever expected, it didn't feel wrong or bad to her, and she welcomed it.
"Only as quick as you want, baby", Alex replies, planting a soft kiss on her lips, but pulls away to make sure he doesn't cross the line. It was hard to know where the line was with someone as secretive as Isabelle but Alex was dedicated to making sure she felt happy and safe.
Smile covers both Isabelle's and Alex's faces until Alex separates himself from Isabelle to reach over for the shampoo to clean her hair. He looks down, and his eyes linger on numerous scars, too many to count. Some scars had a faded, healed look while others looked as fresh as a week ago, despite werewolf healing; any injuries that caused scars took much longer to leave the body.
Alex feels a pain in his chest that he has never had before, almost as if a knife were plunging into it. He drops to his knees and wraps his arms around her waist. He didn't truly know what he was doing; he had never been faced with this before.
As if clicking back into reality from her happy place moments before, Isabelle rips herself out of his grasp and looks at him in horror, how was it possible to not even realise that he would see them, how could he have such an effect on her that she could barely think of anything other than him?
Isabelle quickly turns on her heel to escape the enclosed shower that suddenly seemed far too small making her panic. As she walks away, it gives Alex the chance to see the scratches and cuts on her back, which make him feel nauseous and furious at the thought of hurting someone so pure as Isabelle.
"Who did that to you?" she hears Alex yell over the roaring water above his head. Isabelle said nothing and did not turn around. If she had, she would've seen the pure red eyes on Alex as the anger was flooding his veins, making him shake.