Sometimes he felt the amount of paperwork he had to do was overwhelming. When sitting there, his ass numb from the time spent in the chair, Kingston missed the carefree days before he had the Alpha title thrust upon him.

For fuck's sake, he had people to handle everything, so, why did the paperwork always end up on his desk?

Kingston sighed and rubbed his temples to relieve the headache threatening to take hold.

"I need coffee," he grumbled tiredly at Matthew who was sitting at a smaller desk at the other end of the office. "Mind go getting some?"
"Sure."

Matthew got up and walked to the door without even looking at Kingston. What the hell was up with that boy?

"If you want something just ask them to give it to you."

Again, Matthew did not look at him and just scoffed before leaving the office.

Something was up.

The month or so Matt had been working with him he had been a happy and easy kid to be around. His skills in math he had not exaggerated at all. They boy was a natural and helped a great deal.

To Kingston's astonishment he was a great conversationalist and they had had plenty of talks about nothing and everything when not concentrating on work. It had been a pleasure having him in the office and he was always helpful to stay late or run off on errands.

Lately he had been moody and bordering disrespectful. Not a change that was appreciated. Something had to be up and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

It could not be the working conditions; Matt had flexible hours, some days he stayed until 2 AM and then he got to sleep in and enjoy the following day with his friends. Other days he came in early and then got off early to spend time with his family.

It was a sweet arrangement for an Omega.

The month had made Kingston really look into the possibilities of utilizing the Omegas in roles that fit them better according to talents. Sure, some would still have to do laundry, repair stuff, cook and clean. But why not make the ones who had a passion for something do it?

He had casually mentioned the idea to Paquin, who had been surprised to say the least. He had said it was a good idea and one that had made The Mountain Keeper's Alpha very popular.

Maybe it was time to join the modern ages?

Kingston had wanted to involve Matt in the process, but not if he was going to be a snotty brat. Respect was imperative, though Matt had earned some privileges, he needed to show respect. Gratitude, ok, that was not a necessity, respect was.

A while later Matt came back with a mug of coffee and a cookie which he placed rather indelicately in front of Kingston and moved back towards his desk with a bottle of water in his hand.

"Are you ok?"

Matt huffed and got back to work.

"I asked you a question." Kingston got up. He felt Hero pace aggravatedly at the boy's obvious disrespectful behavior.
"I'm fine."
"You've been off lately, what's up."
"You don't want to know."

Not once had Matt bothered to look up from the spreadsheets he was looking at on the laptop on his desk. He sensed how the anger and power emitted in waves from the Alpha, he could not care less.

"I'm asking, so I want an answer."
Turning his head giving his Alpha a deadly glare, not something Omegas usually had the guts or the leeway to do, Matt hissed out, "You'll not like the answer."
"Let me be the judge of that." Kingston went around his desk and sat on the edge facing Matt waiting on some sort of explanation on why a kid as fortunate as him would jeopardize his new position by acting up.

"I think you're a sadistical pig and not fit to be a leader. And I hate you."

Whoa!

Dead Omega office decorations incoming.

Anger flowed through him. Nobody talked to him that way. He was ready to rip the boy to shreds when Hero stopped him.

'Don't you at least want to know why a boy who seemingly liked you and was grateful not long ago, suddenly had a change of heart?'
'Ok, you've got a point,' Kingston growled at Hero breathing hard to control his urge to kill.

"What did I do to deserve such a low opinion?"
Matt rolled his eyes thinking the Alpha was well aware of his mistake. "You hurt Dog."
"I don't even own a pet. I don't hurt animals unless hunting for food," Kingston defended himself.
"I'm talking about the girl from the kitchen," Matt deadpanned. "Though the way you treat her, she might as well be an animal."

Kingston was taken by surprise at Matt's statement. Not only because he had no idea what the hell he was talking about, he never went to the kitchen, also because the notion he would treat anybody like an animal as indicated.

"The fuck are you talking about?"

The aggressive tone was not lost on Matt. Suddenly, it became clear to him that his Alpha truly had no idea.

"You remember that day about a week ago when there was a rogue attack and we worked late? We had food delivered and you found hairs and dirt in your sandwich?"

The anger from that came flooding back. He had been furious. How the hell would anybody from the kitchen dare to make his food or any food in an unclean environment? He had called the Omega in charge and ordered that the person responsible had been reprimanded.

He remembered.

"I do. I sent you away and called for the Omega in charge to get an explanation and have the one who didn't prepare food with proper hygiene reprimanded and told to be more careful in the future."
"Reprimanded," Matt scoffed. "The poor girl was beaten almost to death and thrown in the dungeon."
"What?"

Hero began pacing in his head.

Kingston understood the worry Hero sent through him. He did not like the implication that it had gone around the pack that he had ordered an Omega hurt like that. Sure, some got punished from time to time, the area leaders usually handled missteps and that was the end of it as far as he knew. The reports never said anything about violence as such.

"I never ordered anybody hurt. I told the Omega to handle it and make sure the person was more careful in the future."

For the first time since their conversation had begun, Matt looked a little worried that he maybe had jumped to conclusions.

"So, you didn't order them to do it?"
"Hell no."
"Can you help Dog?"
"What dog? Can we keep to the subject, please?"
"The human girl, the kitchen leaders call her dog. Treat her like one too."

Human?

The mouthy one?

Lost in thought Kingston reasoned that a human might not have the same hygienic standards as they did. Maybe that was why... She had been filthy when they had first found her.

"I'll make sure it's corrected. Still, she should learn not to be unhygienic working in the kitchen. Handling food is a task for mindful people."
"It wasn't her, you know. Dog is not allowed to handle food at all. She does dishes and laundry. She never goes near the food. And I saw who made your food that day when I waited for it in the kitchen and it wasn't Dog."
"Can we just stop calling her Dog?" Kingston grumbled.

He might not like humans, and he was not the most pleasant of men or lenient when it came to trespassers while protecting his territory. Humans were trash. But he did not treat anybody like animals.

"Thea," Matt muttered. "She says her name is Thea."

Hero stirred again.

Something about her name made him on edge.

They spent the next hour talking. Matt telling him who had prepared the food and what had happened to the girl. Most of it was hear say since Matt had not been there, the Omegas however had been spreading it like wildfire, warning each other not to piss the Alpha off.

He had been getting updated on all the horrors that had happened under his nose in the kitchen. That was not anything he had heard before. Admittedly, he had not cared at all before, thinking things ran smoothly and the people in charge were worthy of the responsibility and trust.

It had been a shock to him being informed of the injustices.

No wonder the Omegas were so unhappy and underperforming.

Kingston had sent Matt away after their talk, it had been reassuring to see Matt's look of respect back in his eyes.

He had needed time to think. He needed to have everything confirmed and have Paquin help him come up with a plan to change things.

A pack was only as good as its leader.

If he wanted, he could blame the area leaders for their methods, he could not blame them for not realizing it was wrong, when he had done nothing to ensure rules and set standards for them. He had just taken over from his father and let things continue as they had been, not trying to fix something that was not broken.

Mulling over everything, Kingston walked to the dungeon. For once he did not smell the late fall in the air or feel the cold nip at his skin. As a werewolf he rarely got cold, still he usually liked the contrasting feelings the seasons gave him. On his trip to the dungeon, he noticed none of it.

The air was stale when he entered.

They rarely had reason to use the dungeon. Rogues were killed on sight, same with the human hunters. Other species never came near his territory unless invited. And they were not.

The Morgraine Alpha line had always been known as fierce and powerful leaders. His grandfather, his father, his brother and now him.

Feared, respected, hated.

It did not matter to him as long as his pack was safe. When they had lost his brother and he had been forced to take over, he had not been happy, he had fought it and loathed the responsibility. It had sent him spiraling and earned him a rather shady reputation as a ruthless killer.

It had been easier to hide the hurt behind the killer façade.

Maybe it had been wrong. It had been his only means of survival in a time where he had rather not survived.

Peering into the darkness of the cells in the dungeon he was unsure what he would find. She was curled up inside the second cell, he could hear her erratic breathing, feel her faint heartbeat.

Kingston just stood there looking at her.

With a growl Hero snapped him out of his guilty daze. He rushed to her and felt her pulse. It was there, faint as her heartbeat. Her skin was cold and clammy, and she was covered in bruises, dirt, dried up blood and something he could only assume was vomit.

Why was she always filthy when he saw her?

"Thea..." he whispered.

Carefully he picked her up, consciously she did not register him though she sunk into his warmth with a little sigh which sent shivers through him. Hero helped him raise his body temperature to warm her as he carried her with haste from the dungeon to the pack hospital.

"Doctor, now!" he barked with authority at the shocked nurse manning the counter at the nurse's station.
"Room 8, I'll send somebody immediately, Alpha."

She weighed nothing in his arms, her face was unrecognizable, still she rested peacefully against his chest her facial features relaxing where his tensed up. Hero kept mumbling and grumbling in his head. They were both unsure why she affected them like that.

"Alpha?" Doctor Kendall came rushing in followed by a team of nurses thinking the worst having heard their Alpha was in the hospital. He smoothed down his lab coat and sprung to action when he saw the battered female in their Alpha's arms. His dark eyes roamed her physical bruises as best he could. "You need to put her on the bed, Alpha."

Kingston had not realized he had held on to her refusing to let her go. Blushing slightly, he put her on the bed, stepping back letting the staff do their jobs. She looked so small being crowded by that many people, only good thing about that was they were professionals and she needed them.

"She's in bad shape. I need to get her x-rayed and cleaned up. I can feel broken bones and she's dehydrated and malnourished." Doctor Kendall looked pointedly at Kingston. "You need to realize, she might not make it."
"Give her my blood. My Alpha healing powers can help her."
"She's a human..."
"Now!" Kingston growled with a threatening roar at the nearest nurse and pulled up his sleeve for her to draw blood.

Hi y'all.

Thank you for reading.

So, the big grumpy might not be that bad at all? People don't change over night, they can however realize their mistakes. What do you think he'll do?

If you like it then pop a vote and maybe leave comments. I'd love to know what you think.

Give me a follow too for updates. I'd appreciate that.
Love Alix