Never in his life had his back ached like that. Kingston sat in his office chair trying to find some position that did not make him feel like needles stabbed him in his lower back. He wanted to be soaking in a jacuzzi, loosening his muscles and relaxing. Not sitting there looking at pack expenses and investments while feeling like an alien was about to burst through his spine and out his back.

He groaned and tried to concentrate.

"Are you alright, Alpha? Want me to get you some painkillers?" Matt asked with a worried frown looking up from his laptop.

Normally, he would not say anything when the Alpha was sighing or grumbling, but the sounds of pain were new, maybe he had been injured in one of the fights with the rogues.

"I could get you a cup of coffee and a heating pad or something?"
"Coffee would be excellent."

Kingston knew if he said coffee, Matt would bring him some kind of sweet snack too. At first, he had thought Matt only did it because then he could get a sweet himself, but some days he came back with an apple or nothing for himself. Matt simply did it because he was a thoughtful kid.

Or a smart one.

Kingston was always in a better mood after a little sweet something.

Matt skidded off leaving Kingston to get back to his work. Not that he really was in the mood. It had to be done, being Alpha was his job, a 24/7 one albeit, but his burden to bear.

It was not like he did not appreciate reaping the benefits of being Alpha. He could admit it, he was a control freak and a power junkie; he relished in the fear outside people had for his reputation of being ruthless. But what he valued most was the respect he gained from his pack members.

The coffee run had taken longer than usual, though when Matt returned with a tray with coffee and two plates of freshly baked pancakes it had been worth the wait. He had even brought a bottle of water and some painkillers.

Apparently the saying of 'you get back what you give' was true. Matt paid back Kingston in small details every day for having been put to use doing something he loved. The plan to change the whole structure of the pack Omegas and the way they worked had been put into motion after many long meetings with Paquin.

They had decided to begin with interviewing all Omegas to get a feel for who had which abilities that were not being put to good use and of course to know if they had any placement preferences. Those, of course, they could not promise to honor for all, they were however trying their best to match people with a job that would make them happy.

5 pancakes and some random chatter later Kingston and Matt were back at work when there was a knock on the door. Doctor Kendall came walking in holding a big folder asking for a short talk.

"What's up, Doc?" However childish, Kingston loved saying that.
"I have something to talk with you about pertaining the girl we had in the hospital."

Immediately Hero was perking up and began pacing. Any mention of Thea and he got jittery.

"Let me call Paquin, he needs to be a part of this I think?" Kingston raised an eyebrow at Kendall who nodded to confirm it would be nice with an extra set of eyes.

'Paq, my office, now, please,' he asked through their mind link.
'On my way, boss.'

"Matt, mind getting us all some coffee, please?"

Smiling slightly at Matt's eagerness, Kingston shook his head when Matt jumped from his chair and ran out of the office leaving the door open and everything.

"Nice kid," Kendall commented. "He seems to adjust well to working with you."
"I like him. Quiet, effective and he's got a brain. He keeps me on my toes at times and he's not afraid to call it like he sees it. He was the one who alerted me to Thea's predicament."
"I figured you had no idea. I've never known you to be abusive to pack members." Kendall cleared his throat when he saw how uncomfortable that statement had made his Alpha. "Don't take it too hard. I don't think anybody really knew."
"I don't think anybody wanted to know, if I'm honest. Things worked."
"It's never too late to right a wrong."
"Tell that to the girl who almost died."

They sat in silence until Paquin came striding in followed by Matt.

"I'm here, to what do I owe the honor?" Paquin flung himself in the other chair in front of Kingston's desk and swooped back his blonde hair with his hand. He had on a relaxed smile and got even more relaxed when Matt handed him a cup of coffee.

"Well, Doc here was about to show me something."

Kendall nodded.

"As I said it's about that girl we had in the hospital."
"What about her?"
"There's something I don't understand," Kendall said and opened the folder drawing out some x-rays to show them. "Those were taken before she got your blood to heal."
"What exactly am I looking at?"

It was commonly known Kingston did not consider himself stupid, and he most certainly was not, he knew his limitations and medicine was one of them. By the quizzical look on Paquin's face he fell victim to the same limitations.

Kendall pointed at different places on the x-rays for clarification while he spoke. "All of those are breaks. Bones which have been broken all in different stages of healing."
"So, either she's a clumsy girl or she's been abused?" Kingston concluded while Hero bared his teeth at the mention of abuse.

"That would be the logical conclusion, it's just the breaks are all new. Like they all happened the same day of her eh... Incident."

Though not happy to know how many broken bones the poor thing had endured, Kingston did not have a clue why it concerned the doctor. "Again, what am I looking at that makes healing bones important?"
"They should not have healed that fast. She had been in the dungeon a week, right?"

With a nod Kendall's question was confirmed.

"The healing of those bones is far ahead of 7 days. Some were almost completely healed. It shouldn't be possible." Kendall rubbed the bridge of his nose looking at the x-rays like he had done many times since they had first arrived on his desk. "She should have died from her injuries. The blood loss, the broken bones, malnourishment and dehydration. It should have killed her."

The mention of her dying sent Hero spiraling in Kingston's mind.

'Calm down, mutt. She's alive, why the fuck is she getting to you like that?'
'I don't know. It hurts to think about. Don't be an ass. You feel it too.'
'I do, I just don't understand why. I think you've gotten emotionally attached and you're projecting that onto me.'
'You just keep telling yourself that, big boy,' Hero scoffed and withdrew in his mind, though he hung around close enough to listen in on the conversation with Doctor Kendall.

"I'm trying really hard to follow your train of thought here, Kendall, but you're losing me." Kingston looked apologetic, he did not see the medical significance the same way Kendall did and needed for Kendall to draw him a few pictograms and explain things like he would a 5-year-old.

"Alpha, what I'm trying to say is, that it's not humanly possible to survive what she went through. And even if she by some miracle should have survived 7 days without food, water or care, then she should not have healed the way she did."
"Are you telling me she's not human?"
"That's just it. She's as human as they come. I've done every test known to medicine and a few off the books tests too. She's human, plain and simple. And she should have died."

For a brief moment both he and Hero had gotten their hopes up that she had been some sort of supernatural, any kind, even a cat. Kingston shuddered at the thought, he did not like those sneaky catshifters, though he had to admit the few he had seen from the Ancient Saber line had been magnificent beasts.

"When she got your blood, her healing went into overdrive as it rightfully should. Though as a human she should have rejected at least 50% of the effect because they're not compatible with shifters. She didn't. That's the only reason she's not still in the hospital."
"By Goddess, man, tell me what to think or do here," Kingston frustratedly yelled with such force Matt made a little jump.

Kingston sent him a quick apologetic smile and returned his attention to Kendall. The conversation was important, and he wanted the facts laid out to him in a way that would make him understand and know what actions to take.

"I need to send her blood to the witch council and have them analyze it. Maybe in her lineage there's a shifter of sorts but her blood has been diluted by generations. I think it's right to know, maybe we can reunite her with her kin."
"I sanction it. Do what you can and keep me posted."
"It might take some time, I'll get on it. But you, Alpha, need to keep her safe, if she's a shifter and her family is found, they could bring war to us if she's been harmed."
"Duly noted. I've already put that into motion. She should be safe now."

When Kendall had left, Paquin sat for a moment gathering his thoughts before he tried to open the conversation. "Do you think she could be a shifter, like her great, great, twice removed something or other?"
"Fuck if I know."

Paquin sat a bit fiddling with his shirt. "This may be out of line, but there's something about her, right? I mean, she gets to you in a way."
"Don't I know it." Kingston smiled at the memory of their first meeting. She had spunk, more than he was used to being subjected to by any female. It had ground his gears to the point where he had wanted to kill her, and it had impressed him, which had him scared even more.

"It's like she can get to your wolf. Zeus went crazy that day I brought her to the kitchen."
"Hero is the same," Kingston mumbled oddly annoyed that he was not special in that regard.
"That's true," Matt chirped in from his desk. "But it only seems to work on males. The females seem to be angered by her effect. At least the powerful ones. Most of the ordinary Omegas don't feel it. But I've noticed how she antagonizes the female leaders by her presence alone. She can be across the room not bothering anybody and suddenly they go berserk on her."

That was interesting.

Kingston stood up and sat on the edge of his desk facing Matt, like he always did when they talked.

"Do you think whatever it is can be the reason the guards who punished her didn't stop? I mean, like their wolves were affected and they kept going?"

Matt's question brought a new realization to the conversation. Kingston and Paquin exchanged looks and they had to agree that what Matt asked could be the reason. Kingston had never known his guards to not know boundaries. They could be brutal, but they knew right from wrong and where to draw the line. With her they apparently could not.

"It's plausible," Kingston finally admitted. The one thing that confused him was the fact that Hero went into protective mode over her, where the guards for some reason went polar opposite. It was something he needed tested and proven.

"Paq, what are your feelings when near her? How does Zeus react?"
"First he was agitated, and he made me slap her when she mouthed off, like with you, but then when we left her at the kitchen he was whining and feeling sorry for her." He shrugged. "I've kept clear of her since for the same reason."
"I think it's something like that with me too. Of course, I got normally annoyed with that mouth of hers, but it was like a force in me that made me slap her. Since, Hero has been on edge whenever she's mentioned. He needs to protect her."

It was confusing to say the least. How on earth had she made to 19 if she had that effect on people? If she could get seemingly normal men to go apeshit on her, she would have had incidents like that before?

"Matt, are you under any effect near her? As an Omega you might be immune."
"I don't feel anything but pity for her situation. My wolf is ok around her if that's what you're asking? Freak likes her."

Kingston fell into a fit of laughter making Matt uncomfortably shy.

"I'm sorry, Matt. I just find it hilarious that a sweet, caring kid like you have a wolf named Freak."
"You and me both," he scoffed. "Why I just tell people his name is Flynn."
"I think you should own it," Paquin smiled. "Maybe your wolf's name means you're meant for greatness."
"Or that I'm always going to be the odd one out."
"I choose to believe Paq's idea," Kingston smiled.

It was interesting to him how he had come to like the kid, there was something about him that made him agree with Paquin. Matt had more in him, and now that he had risen from the low ranks of the Omegas, he might hold more surprises.

"Matt, do you think you could look out for her? Since your wolf is not affected, it could help us. I'm not sure how any of us will react around her, so to keep her safe, I need eyes and ears on her. You're the safe bet for now."

For some reason Hero was grumbling loudly at that suggestion. Not that he felt a kid was a threat as such, he was too young for Thea, but his male pride was hurt that he could not be the one protecting her.

"Sure, I can try."
"You already did before when you called me... What was it? A sadistical pig?"

Blushing Matt nodded to the sound of Paquin almost choking from laughter.

"Just report anything to Paq or myself."
"I will, Alpha."

Hi y'all.

Thank you for reading.

They're beginning to sense something is up. Does Kingston do the right thing in getting Matt to try to look out for her or should he nut up and do it himself?

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Love Alix