Trans-formation Ch. 02

Note to readers:

I changed Cline's name to Ian. Figured I might as well make any edits early on. Thanks for reading commenting, and voting!

*****

As he stared down at her unconscious body, Ian couldn't help but admire her beauty. Even though she was covered in blood, there was something different about her that just him made lose focus. Something that filled him with desire. During the fight, her ponytail had come undone and strands of curly brown hair hung in front of her face. Looking around, he quickly gathered what he needed to make a splint for her leg. Putting it all together, he frowned.

"I need something to tie this with", he said to himself. Seeing no other choice, he took off his brown leather jacket and removed the t-shirt underneath, revealing his toned chest. Removing the shirt and tearing it effortlessly, he made four large strands long enough to tie the sticks he found together, and tightened them around her leg. "Good enough", he said, "at least until I get back to Cold Hearth with her". He picked her up in his arms and started walking back to his home.

She wasn't that heavy, maybe 200 pounds, which was next to nothing for him. Feeling her warm shallow breath on his neck, he breathed deeply. "God, this woman's scent is driving me insane. Are humans even supposed to smell this good to us"? Holding her tighter, he walked as fast as he could. Even so, Cold Hearth was at least an hour away, and it was getting dark fast. During winters in Alaska, you really only had a few hours of daylight, if that.

About halfway there, he heard some movement in the brush off to his left. "Who's there" he asked. After a few moments, a woman stepped out. Roughly 5'10" and petite, with Auburn hair. "Oh, it's just you" he said, staring at his younger sister.

"Whoa, who the hell is that?!" she yelled, obviously alarmed by the fact that whoever the stranger in her brother's arms was, they were covered head to toe in blood, out cold, with a splint on their leg.

"She's the new forest ranger that Alpha sent me to check out before tomorrow night. She got hurt bad when a pack of wolves ambushed her" he said, continuing his stride.

"WAIT WHAT?!" she yelled, shocked on all counts. "You're not taking her back to the village are you?! To Cold Hearth?"

"Where else would I take her Michelle? You see how badly hurt she is, she can't survive out here on her own like this. She'll stay at Cold Hearth until she's better."

"That's not your decision Ian" she called out after him. "If she's going back to the village, then Alpha has to decide what's going to happen to her, and you know how he feels about outsiders, let alone HUMANS. You may as well just leave her out here."

Stopping in his tracks, he turned towards her and said "That's not going to happen."

"Look", he continued. "The last one went missing in the woods not even a month ago. The government's already wary about us, If this one turns up maimed, or even worse DEAD, what do you think would happen Michelle?"

"I don't know..." she said, looking down at the ground. She missed the last forest ranger, he was a nice older gentleman. When he went missing everyone stepped up to help find him, but they never did. It was like he just vanished into thin air one night and never came back.

"You can imagine though, two FEDERAL officers gone in less than a month. Especially if they were to hear that wolves were involved, their first reaction would be to blame us" Ian said. Seeing his sister was still unconvinced he said "look, this woman's going to tell them one of two things. Either 'those people did this to me' or 'those people saved my life', and considering our already strained relationship with the government I think we need all the friends we can get right now."

"Yeah... You're right. But where would she even stay? Tomorrow's the full moon, she won't be safe at cold hearth" she replied.

"She'll stay in my room, she'll be safe enough at the pack house." he said, marching past the bewildered look on his sister's face.

He couldn't consciously tell, but her scent was starting to really affect him. His heart was beating faster than it should've, his eyes were dilating, and anyone close enough would be able to smell the pheromones he was sending out that seemed to scream "MINE". Snapping back to reality, he thought for a second.

Tomorrow his entire pack would be shifting into their wolves for the full moon. Oh yeah, in case you haven't put it together, they were werewolves. As in, they were people that turned into 8 foot tall killing machines once a month, with a less than ideal view of most humans.

"Michelle had a point" Ian thought. "Very few people can control their wolves on a full moon, and if she were caught out in the open tomorrow night... Still it's a risk I have to take."

"Why though? What the hell's so special about her?" He found himself caring for this human much more than he should have, and he had no idea why. "Whatever, I'll figure everything out when I get home."

It was almost dark by the time he got back. He headed straight for the pack house, drawing quite a few concerned looks from the townfolk. Mind linking his father he said "We have a situation dad. Meet me in my room with doc. Kurt in five."

"What's wrong? Are you okay?!" replied a worried voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just get the doc, I'll explain everything when I'm there." he replied.

Entering the house, he headed up to the third floor and entered his room, laying the still unconscious Bella down on his bead. Moments later, 4 men entered the room. One of them immediately peeled off towards the bed, giving Bella a once over before kneeling down and unpacking a medical kit. As he started to undo her splint to get a better look at her injury, Bella emitted an audible whimper of pain. It was like every hair on Ian's body instantly stood erect.

The tallest of the 4 turned towards him and said "Ian, let's let Doctor Kurt do his job, come with me to my study and tell me what's going on."

Not eager to leave her presence, he lingered for a moment, giving her one last look before following his father.

***

A few hours later, Bella woke. The last thing she remembered was that giant wolf bearing down on her, and that guy saving her life. She stopped for a moment to examine her surroundings. She was alone, in a rather large room with wood paneling, laying on a four post king sized bed. That's when it hit her, an overpowering scent of pine and ash. She closed her eyes and moaned, it was the best thing she ever smelled, and it was everywhere! In the sheets of the bed, in the pillow, in the air all around her.

The door to the room suddenly opened. The man from before stepped in, the man who saved her life. As he approached she started to say "Who are you" but stopped mid-sentence as their eyes connected. Time froze for both of them, the only thing they could hear was the thunderous noise of their hearts beating, the only thing they could smell was each other. Her perfume having worn off by then, her true, unadulterated scent hit Ian. It was intoxicating for both of them.

"Hi.." he said, stepping closer. "My name's Ian. You're lucky I found you when I did." he said, sitting down on the bed next to her, his intense gaze landing on her eyes.

Unable to keep up with his heavy stare, she adverted her eyes and said weakly "Yeah, I am... Thank you... Ian... My name is Bella."

Taking a moment to catch her breath, she looked around and noticed she was now in a nightgown asked "Where did you bring me, and what happened to my clothes?"

"I brought you back to my place." he replied. "To Cold Hearth. The doctor needed more room to work on your leg, so I had my little sis come in and change you into that while we get your uniform cleaned up. As a worried look started to come to her face he said "Don't worry, it was a clean break, so the doctor was able to fix it pretty quick, you'll have to deal with that cast for a month or so though."

"Wait, CAST?!" she thought to herself, lifting up the blanket to see a large cast covering her left leg. "Well, that's great. Wait, where did they put my gun?" she continued in her head, looking around.

"Oh, it's in the night stand over there, with your badge. They're still working on your vest, it had more blood on it than anything else haha." Ian said.

"Wait." Bella said, "did I say that out loud?" A shocked look came over Ian's face as he realized that no, she hadn't said that out loud. "Did she just mind link me?!" he thought. She let out an audible sigh and laid back on the bed, looking at Ian again, her mouth slightly open and breathing.

His face back to normal, he looked at her and said "Get some sleep ranger." with a smirk. "I'll catch you in the morning okay?"

"Okay." she said smiling at him. After he got up and left, she sighed again. "That guy... What was all that, I just met him, but it feels like... I don't even know what this feels like..." she said to herself, twirling her hair in her finger.

Outside the room in the hallway, Ian was holding the wall for support, breathing heavily. Michelle, who was waiting outside for him to finish said "What's wrong?" Getting no response, she touched his shoulder and repeated her question. "Ian, what is it?"

"My mate!" he said between breaths. "She's my mate!"