"Akela. Will you go tell Zion dinner is ready?" Allie asked.

The half Lycan had stayed in the valley for almost a week. Between Allie and Emily's busy scedules and Ezekiel's frequent night shifts, Zion had become the unofficial babysitter and after-school playmate for the three youngest. Gill and Kahn loved having him there and Blossom worshipped her cousin.

Akela slipped on a pair of shoes and hurried up the stairs to the flat on top of the garage. It had served as Sam and Saleha's home until Aimee arrived and they bought their own house in town. With Akela living in Grange's guest room, Zion occupied the garage flat.

She knocked carefully before entering.

"Zion!" she called out and rounded the corner where her jaw dropped.

Before her brain caught up, she felt her neck and face heat to boiling point.

There, with his back to her, was Zion, in nothing but a towel, loosely wrapped around his waist. His hips were jigging to the rhythm of the music from the radio while he was looking through a pile of clean clothes.

With a brain unable to form words, Akela heard a strangled noise before she realised she was making it.

Slowly Zion turned, looking momentarily surprised before his face split into his trademark doggie-smile.

"Akela!" he smiled.

Her brain felt frozen. There was nothing she could do to stop her eyes from roaming the landscape in front of her. The towel hung precariously loose, showing the dip of muscles by his hips and a slightly damp trail of hair narrowing up towards his bellybutton. Despite the, currently wet and wagging, tail, and his furry face the rest of his body was unmistakeably human.

Very human.

And sinfully perfect.

Akela had seen a fair few naked men in her life. The shifting of Lycans meant all shamefulness about seeing naked skin was impossible. Sha had seen Ameer wring his shirt off after exercising and Sam had a habit of casually sauntering across the lawn in all kinds of weather before shifting for patrols. Even young Hunter shifted before coming into the house after patrols, meaning she had seen him plenty of times on his way to get dressed.

She knew what a man looked like.

But as her eyes roamed Zion's body, she was painfully aware that none had ever made her skin feel tingly and her lungs feel unable to breathe.

Slowly her eyes moved up to his feace where the happy smile was still unchanged.

With a mamoth effort, Akela forced herself into functioning mode again.

Her hands flew up to cover her flaming cheeks.

"Dammit, Zion!" she muttered.

"What?" he asked, sounding a bit surprised at being scolded.

"Put some clothes on, will 'ya!" Akela sighed, clenching her eyes shut, trying to convince herself that it was just the surprise of seeing him near naked that made her blush.

"I was about to...?" he said, sounding unsure of her reaction.

A sound of clothes in motion, convinced Akela it was safe to look again. The towel was replaced by a pair of jeans and a t-shirt was in the process of covering up the rest of his skin.

A tinge of amusement coloured his eyes as he noticed the exasperation on her face.

"What? Not all of us like ice-baths. Some of us prefer a nice, hot shower ocasionally," he grinned, giving a part of Akela's brain an unbidden set of imagery to play with.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she carefully controlled her breathing.

Zion's breathy burst of laughter made her look up again before he came closer and sniffed the air around her.

She looked up at him again, trying to pretend a fresh blush was not spreading along her cheeks.

Zion's face cracked into a grin, which in any normal wolf form would have looked predatorial. On him though, it looked playful. And inticing.

"A... Allie said dinner is done," Akela burst out and turned to leave before her brin could shortcut entirely.

"I figured..." Zion chuckled and walked out with her after turning the radio off.

They descended the strairs in silence. Akela was trying to get her face back to normal colour, but the frequent bursts of energy form the man behind her made it very difficult.

"Akela?" he asked as they reached ground level. She turned and looked at him, her face in a forced neutral expression, whie he looked on the verge of a victorious celebration.

"If it's a comfort... " he said seriously, his happiness hidden under a thin layer of concern for her.

"I was just surprised," she muttered.

"Pleasantly surprised?" he asked, his voice a weird mix of insecure, teasing and hopeful.

Akela looked up at his attempt at a teasing smile, which made him look more like a scolded puppy. Her own face broke into a more relaxed smile back at him. Despite her unpredictable reaction to seeing him naked, he still made her feel at ease and happily comfortable.

"You're not that hot..." she smirked, knowing that he was fully aware of the lie.

"Sure... If you don't like the goods on offer..." he scoffed with a false frown.

They both burst out laughing.

"Dammit Zion!" Akela sighed again as his arms wrapped her into a spontaneous hug that had her head spinning again. It felt comfortable. Her still tingly skin, calmed the moment he touched her, making the unease turn into subtle ripples of happiness.

"So... Dinner?" Zion asked a moment later, while Akela still had her nose buried in the scent of him.

"Yeah. Let's go," she sighed and reluctantly led the way into the crowded pack kitchen.

The early spring sunshine lit the kitchen in a warm glow later that afternoon as the teenagers were gathered to do their homework. In the lounge, Blossom and Kahn were playing a boardgame while Zion sat on the floor, entertaining Gill with a puzzle.

"So... what happens if you put a lycan on the actual moon?" Finn asked, looking up from his book on astrophysics.

"I expect he will asphyxiate and die a painful, oxygen deprived death," Hunter replied dryly.

Finn glared at his brother.

"I didn't say to put him up there without a space suit you idiot!" Finn grumbled.

"Yes. Because that would be monstrous, wouldn't it..." Hunter chuckled and shook his head.

"But seriously!" Finn harped on.

Aimee looked at him, hiding her amusement.

"You take a bloodlusty lycan... say like.... " Finn started.

"Like Alpha Preston," Akela muttered.

Hunter and Aimee turned to look at her but Finn only nodded in enthusiasm.

"Yes. Someone who has tasted blood and is willing to kill again under the full moon!" Finn cheered.

"He'd turn in his suit, probably rip it and then asphyxiate," Zion said from the doorway with a sharp look at Akela. He had felt her spike of dread at the thought of her former tormetor.

"I wish we could though... send him up there," She sighed.

Zion took the seat next to her, resting his elbows on the table.

"He won't get away with it, okay... If it's the last thing I do I will make him pay!" Zion said with unusual venom. His fist were clenched.

Akela lifted her eyes to him with a small smile tugging at her lips.

"You struggle to kill spiders, Zi..." She smiled.

"Spiders are nice though. They do their thing and spin their net..." Zion smiled back doing little twirly motions with his fingers to imitate spinning.

"... they kill the flies..." Finn continued in the same sing song voice, copying Zion's finger-spinning motion.

Zion gave Finn a happy dog smirk before turning back to Akela.

"He won't hurt you again. Okay? Both Abel and I will make sure of that," he said carefully.

"Don't ruin your soul for me..." she asked.

Zion smiled wider.

"I won't damage what's yours," he whispered, but not quietly enough. 

Opposite him, Aimee stared at him in awe.

"That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard," Aimee breathed.

Hunter shot his cousin a look.

"Dude... don't raise the bar too high will ya? There are guys who still haven't met their mates here..." he chuckled, unaware of how Akela's heart was pounding. 

Zion carefully nuzzled his nose into Akela's neck, licking her jugular, feeling her heartbeat and smelling her hormonal surge.

To him there was no doubt, but he predicted her next statement even before she said it.

"You could be made for Kira," she said, pushing him off.

"I could..." Zion nodded, leaving no doubt that he didn't believe it.

Without thinking, Akela lifted her hand. She needed to touch him so much it hurt. Her skin was up in goosebumps as her hand reached for his ear, her fingers digging into the soft fur behind it.
Zion gave a soft smile and a barely audible rumble of pleasure at the back of his throat as her fingers scratched and tugged as if he was a regular dog.

Their eyes met and Akela removed her hand quickly, as if burned.

She couldn't allow herself to fall in love with Kira's mate.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be. I enjoyed that... " Zion smiled warmly.

Akela looked at him again. His head was on a slight tilt and he looked like the perfect playful puppy. The tip of his tongue hung out of the front of his mouth, poking out between his teeth.

Akela felt her own lips tingle at the sight of the bright pink tongue poking out of the playful dog face. His eyes were lit up in nothing but happiness. If he doubted their bond, he hid it well and all Akela wanted was the same sureness.
Someone so caring and happy had to be for Kira. And logically, the more serious and possessive Abel must be hers.
But she just couldn't find a certainty in either direction.

Giving a huff of breath Akela lifted her hand again, her index finger gently poking the tongue back into his mouth.

"Will you stop being so damned cute? I'm trying to understand this stuff," she said with a nod towards the book on the table.

Zion tilted his head even more, his ears up in happy points.

"Yeah. You're cute and you know it..." Akela huffed and forced herself to look away from the cute puppy to her book.

"Science? Need help?" He asked leaning towards the book.

Akela ignored him for a while. Trying to understand the idea of nature being built of small chemical reactions was a weird concept.

She gave up and slammed the book shut.

"Right. Intel time. You got a veterinary assistant degree. Gerry refers to you as nurse Beta..." she said.

"Yeah. First aid and canine anatomy. Wrote my Bachelor thesis on wolves," he nodded.
His ears were back up.
His eager face reminded Akela of Tramp from the old animation movie Allie loved to watch.

"So you provide health care on the mountain?" Akela asked again.

"Yep," he nodded.

"And Alpha Gervais has a degree in business administration?" She continued.

Zion nodded again.

"So what does Abel actually do?" She asked.

Behind her, a very amused Hunter snickered something about playing around.

"Abel provides shelter. He builds homes,"  Zion explained.

Akela frowned.

"Abel didn't want a higher education. He chose to get a diploma as a builder," Zion smiled, but Akela could sense his discomfort.

"Remember the little house you saw before coming down here?" He asked.

Akela nodded. Of course she remembered her dream home!

"Abel built that... " Zion said evenly.

"On his own?" Akela asked again.

Zion laughed.

"No. He's got a team of minor deltas," he chuckled.

"So... the question is really wether you want brains or muscles..." Finn chuckled from oposite the table.

Akela looked at the grinning teenager. His impulsive youth made the impish glee of his face stand out.

She grinned back before she flexed her own skinny arm.

"Well... Beta Ameer and Sam are teaching me to fight..." she giggled.

Another arm lay next to hers making it look like spaghetti. She looked up at the shoulder and onwards to the wolf face attached. His lip was curled up in amusement and laughter was just below the surface of his smile.

Akkela slapped his arm gently.

"Go chase a ball or something rather than showing off!" she grinned.

"Woof!" Zion replied and stood up.

A few moments later they heard him playing with the dogs in the garden.

"You know what..." Aimee said, her face in a mystified frown.

"What?" Akela asked.

"You are the only one who is allowed to tease him about his wolf face..." Aimee observed.

Hunter nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. If anybody else said that, he'd be really upset," Hunter smiled.

Finn threw a look out the window at the man and the dogs.

"It's because he loves her," the youngest lycan said quietly before turning back to Akela. 

"Mum calls Dad her favourite doggie," he shrugged when he noticed his elder brother's frown.

Akela looked between them, the colour draining from her face.

"I shouldn't have said that!" she whispered before she ran out of the room.

She went into the garden seeing Zion run around throwing snowballs at Kyran.

"Hey," he said seeing her stood there in a thin jumper.

"Hey... I didn't mean... I'm sorry Zi! You're not a dog!" she stammered.

Zion jogged over and lay a hand on each of her upper arms. The touch was warm and welcoming.

Akela carfully lifted her face to look at him.

"I wasn't offended..." he smiled.

Akela shook her head, looking for a way to explain.

"I didn't mean to say you were... less... than me," she whispered.

"I know that," Zion smiled again. The warm brown eyes looking into hers.

"You're... more. More than Lycan... More than human... and I shouldn't have called you a dog," Akela apologised.

Zion tilted his head.

"I am though... at least half of one," Zion smiled and curled his tail up into her line of vision.

Carefully he wrapped her into a hug.

"I don't mind being your dog..." he said quietly.

Akela let her nose drift into the crook of his neck to inhale that spicy, woodsy smell of him. 

"You're not my dog, Zion... You're..." Akela said back, but stopped herself before the words 'my mate' could slip through.

Zion laughed quietly. The emotional link between them had told him what she couldn't. He knew how much tenderness was in her heart. He felt how she wished to feel a stronger connection.

"You own my heart Akela. I'll be anything you need me to until you are ready to trust me with your heart," he said.

"And if you belong with Kira?" she asked, her voice thick.

"If I belong with Kira, I'll ask for my heart back and beg the Moon Goddess to be everything she needs..." Zion said seriously.

He pushed himself away from her to look at her.

"Until then, my priority is you," he said.

Akela scrunched her face tight, closing her eyes in frustration.

"Why do the two of you both have to be so perfect!" she muttered.