Chapter 6

Tempest breathed in the clean air as they walked towards the Pack House when a pang of sadness, of loss engulfed her. Home! Here being at the Compound brought back memories of a home she'd likely never see again, the weight of that loss now lying heavily in her heart. Her hand inadvertently came to her chest, her palm rubbing gently over the area of her heart, trying to ease a pain that would always be with her.

Tempest lived in Sydney, but it wasn't her home, she honestly believed she'd never again have a true home. It was with this sense of sadness that she entered the Pack House, too tired to even take in her surroundings. The last thing she wanted was to deal with the Alpha, all she wanted was to go back to her apartment and crawl into bed.

Trae knocked on Wade's office door before opening it. He led Tempest into the room, but remained in the doorway. Wade looked up from his computer screen, "Come on in and take a seat."

"I won't be staying," she replied and remaining standing.

Wade sighed. Why the woman couldn't just do as she was asked he didn't know. "Fine," he got to his feet, moving around to the other side of his desk. "I wanted to thank you for what you did for Mitch and his mate."

"I did what was necessary to keep Miriam alive. That she's also Mitch's mate had no bearing on it."

Wade glanced at Trae then turned his gaze to Tempest once more. "You look tired Dr Kincaid. Why not utilise the suite you were allocated and stay for a few days to relax?"

"Thank you for the offer Mr Benning, but I need to get back to work. Your Pack healer will be able to help if Miriam has any questions about her transition. I'm actually surprised your healer wasn't brought in when we arrived here with Miriam?"

"You didn't ask for a healer?"

"No Mr Benning I didn't. I was somewhat busy tending to your new wolf, besides this is your Pack, it would be your decision to bring in a healer."

Wade scowled at her, "We no longer have a healer. She passed on six weeks ago."

"Surely she would have been training someone to..."

"For a human, you seem to know a great deal about Were's and Pack life. As you've already said this is my Pack, obtaining a healer is my responsibility. Stay a couple of days, enjoy the time out from work."

"As I already told you Mr Benning, that isn't necessary."

Wade took a step towards her, running a hand over his face in frustration. "That wasn't a request Dr Kincaid. It's not exactly safe in the city, I'd much prefer you remain her for the mean time."

"As I've stated Mr Benning, this is your Pack." Tempest took a breath doing her level best to remain calm. "What you've neglected to remember is that I'm not part of it. You have no right to order me to stay here."

Before he could reply she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room almost bowling Trae over on the way out. Unperturbed by the Alpha's words, Tempest went straight to her suite to gather her belongings mumbling along the way. "God damned stubborn, controlling, arrogant freaking Were's!"

In less than five minutes Tempest was packed and placing her things in the back seat of her car. As she sat in the driver's seat she held onto the steering wheel and took several long slow breaths. She would not let the man get under her skin, she would get herself back to the city and do what she did best. Work!"

As she turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking space Trae and Wade ran out of the house expressions of surprise or mayhap shock on their faces. Tempest ignored them and kept driving, she wanted to get away from Wade's Compound and back to the life she'd so carefully built for herself.

"Trae!" Yelled Wade as he ran to head her off. "Follow her and don't let her out of your sight!" Luckily Were's were fast, and as he came to a stop several metres away from the car, Tempest slammed on the brakes.

Tempest opened the window and all but screamed at the man. "What the hell are you doing? I could have hit you!"

Wade breathed a sigh of relief and moved quickly to open the passenger side door, growling at her as he got in and shut the door. "Did I not make myself clear when I told you to stay here for the time being?"

Tempest rolled her eyes, "I'm leaving Mr Benning. I need to be on hand in case 'your' Rogue attacks someone else!"

"You have to be the most stubborn woman I've ever met! Why can't you just once do what I want you to do?"

"Because, Mr Benning I can't do my job if I'm here. If 'your 'Rogue does attack again and I'm not there to do the autopsy, my supervisor will and I won't be there to influence what he believes he's seeing."

Wade knew she was right, but didn't want to give an inch, frustration came to the fore and he couldn't help what he tried to say next. "I swear to god if you were mine..."

"Thankfully that is not the case, now if you don't mind I'd like to leave."

Wade growled again getting another roll of her eyes, which just pissed him off even more. "Fine, you can leave, but Trae follows you and you don't go anywhere without notifying him. Is that clear enough for you?"

Wade looked at her, really looked. Without thinking he reached out a hand, touching his fingers across her cheek before tucking loose hair behind her ear. It calmed him in a way he hadn't felt since he was a young boy spending time at his mother's side. He breathed in slowly relaxing even more. "Go Tempest, but be careful. Make sure Trae or whoever else I assign to you knows where you are at all times."

Tempest tensed at Wade's touch. Never before had she allowed any man had touched her with such intimacy. As angry as she knew he was, his touch was gentle caring and somehow soothing. The knot that had been twisting in the pit of her gut since she first entered his office dissolve, replaced with a warmth that had her struggling not to lean in to him. The blast of a car horn brought her back to the here and now, turning she realised that Trae was waiting in the car behind her.

"I'll be careful." She all but whispered, the words difficult to get out. She turned, giving Trae a nod. "Trae will keep me safe." She waited for him to get out of the car before moving off again using all her willpower not to look back and see if he was still standing on the road watching her.

When she finally came to a stop at a red light Tempest's hands were shaking so badly she needed to grip the steering wheel to get some semblance of control. "Breathe girl, just keep breathing... in, out, in out." By the time she arrived at her apartment she was thankfully calm. Pushing aside all thoughts of an arrogant controlling Alpha helped immensely, though it was difficult not to let her mind stray his way.

Trae parked out front of the building as did Tempest. She usually parked in the underground parking area, but it was isolated. She'd be safer parking where Trae to see and get to her if there was a need. She gave him a wave and moved towards the front door, making her way to the elevator and her apartment.

It wasn't until she was locked behind her apartment door that she gave way to her emotions. Falling to her knees, Tempest wrapped her arms around herself, tears streamed down her face, this was her private space, no one could see her, no one would know she was an emotional wreck doing the best she could to come to terms with what she now knew. What she'd dreaded happening for as long as she could remember.

Wade had a presence about him, an aura that drew people, even with the great sense of power he held. Tempest was used to that kind of power, her own Alpha, Braedon, was even stronger than Wade. But this was more than Alpha strength, she'd sensed it the first day they met, made a point of not shaking his hand or having any kind of physical contact with him.

Tempest did not want a bond developing with Wade or any other man. That his touch had been so gentle, making her long for more, frightened her all the more. Avoidance seemed her best option, she'd stay as far away from the man as possible.

Tempest hoped Wade hadn't recognised what had passed between them. There was no way he could have picked up her scent, it was hidden by the solution she used to wash herself with each day. She felt the urge to run, to escape, preventing herself becoming entangled with a man that was not only dominant, but an Alpha. An Alpha that could easier suffocate her, preventing her being who she had fought so hard to become.

It took her several hours to calm herself enough so she could sleep. When she woke it was with the feeling she hadn't really slept at all. She showered, got ready for work and headed down to meet Trae.

"Good morning Doc." He smiled. "Mitch needs to spend some time with his mate, so Lukas will take over from me during the day. I'll be back before you finish work. I was thinking maybe we could go to The Den for dinner, I'm sure Stephan would be happy to see you again?"

"Let's see how the day goes." She responded.

They did have dinner at The Den that night and the next. Tempest enjoyed the food and she felt comfortable with Trae. She missed having Mitch around, but Lukas was starting to grow on her. The next few days passed without incident and although everyone was grateful that no one had been attacked, they were concerned about when the Rogue would surface and what the fallout would be.

Tempest had had little contact with Wade over the past few days, so was relaxed and somewhat complacent. Lukas was running late, so Trae drove her home setting up watch. Things had been quiet and neither were concerned about an attack. That should have been warning enough!

It was still early and feeling a little edgy, Tempest decided to do some cleaning. Keeping busy would help with the edginess and tire her out so she'd be able to sleep. Without thinking, she gathered the rubbish, tied it in a garbage bag and headed down to the garbage bay.

It was warm evening, a light breeze brushed across her face and she took a moment to take in the night before dumping her bag in the garbage receptacle. Once dumped she turned at the sound of footfall assuming it to be Trae or Lukas.

The breeze shifted and she was hit with the scent of the Rouge. She took a step back as a hand took hold of her arm pulling her towards him. "I've been waiting a long time for you. I'm going to enjoy showing you how to please me... how to pleasure me."

His grip tightened, "And I'm so going to enjoy teaching you your place."

Doing her best not to panic Tempest spoke, hoping to keep him occupied. "Why do you need to make a mate, are you afraid you won't find your true mate? You know what I am, you won't need to change me. Is that why you chose me?"

"A true mate is a myth, a story told to children to make them believe they'll have a happy ending."

"And what about Henry Jensen, why did you kill him?"

He grinned and it wasn't pretty, "The bastard tried to stop me making a mate. I stopped him first."

"You killed a man with drugs, what the hell kind of a Were does that?"

"I use what's at hand and the drug were at hand. The woman I wanted was a veterinarian."

"Only a coward would kill that way! Were you too afraid to fight him Were to Were, or..."

She didn't get to finish what she was going to say, his hand came down across her face all but putting her into a daze. Finding her voice Tempest screamed as loud as she could, claws emerging she slashed them across his face drawing blood, causing pain.

Tempest did her best to pull away from the Rogue. The sound of someone running towards them forced the Rogue to let her go. He slashed at her across the stomach before he left, "This isn't over, you're mine!" he fled just as Trae came into view.

Trae grabbed hold of Tempest, unsure whether to stay with her or go after the Rogue. "Go," cried Tempest, "I'm fine. He's getting away."

He looked out towards where the Rogue had run shaking his head. "My first responsibility is to you. Come. I need to get you inside so I can see how badly hurt you are." He pulled off her shirt and handed it to her to hold against her wound.

That was then the pain registered. A hand coming to her stomach, she looked up at Trae, "Okay."

Trae put an arm around her leading her back inside. The smell of blood in his nose telling me more about Tempest than he was certain she wanted him to know. He remained silent until they were in her bathroom.

"Strip." It wasn't a request.

Tempest looked at him, surprise on her face. Trae however leaned against the doorway, arms folded a pissed off expression on his face. "Stripe!" she repeated with more force.

"I don't think your Alpha would like finding your scent all over me."

He snorted, "What I think is, my Alpha wouldn't like finding your bleeding out even more. Now strip down so I can check your wound."

She knew when she was beaten. Giving a sigh of resignation she began to unbutton her shirt, pulling it off and dropping it in the bathtub. She noticed Trae looking around, "the first aid kit is in the kitchen in the cupboard over the stove."

By the time he got back Tempest had kicked off her shoes and slid her slacks off. Were's weren't shy, they stripped and shifted in front of each other all the time, Tempest however wasn't used to shifting in front of others. She hadn't done so for some time now. She stood with one hand over her wound, the other covering her breasts.

Trae saw her embarrassment and focused on her wound, a hard thing to do considering how good she looked. Tempest was a beautiful woman, one any man would be proud to have at his side. He turned the tap on in the vanity, waiting for it to warm before wetting a cloth to wipe the blood from her wound so he could see how bad it was. The Rogue hadn't clawed to deep, but he attached butterfly clips and applied antiseptic cream before covering it with gauze.

"The blood by the garbage's, we need to get rid of it before any of the residents see it." Tempest looked at him pleadingly. "There's bleach under the kitchen sink."

He sighed, had a feeling he going to regret it, gave her a nod then left her to go to the kitchen.

Tempest checked herself in the bathroom mirror to make sure there wasn't any blood left on her. That done she pulled a pink tracksuit out of a draw before gathering her clothes and Trae's shirt and putting them in the washing machine. She wanted to make sure there were no traces of her blood left in her apartment.

Trae found her in the kitchen making tea when he got back. "Go sit down, I'll fix the tea then you need to go to bed and rest." He sighed, "We'll be surrounded by Were's soon enough."

"Mr Benning?"

"He's on his way and believe me when I say he's not happy."

"Wonderful!" she moved towards the laundry off the kitchen, Trae side stepping her.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to check the washing, your shirt is..."

"I'll keep an eye on it, just go lay down."

Tempest took a seat on the couch, saw that Trae was more than likely going to tell her to go to bed and held out a hand to stop him. "You're all going to need to hear what I have to say and I'm not about to do it from my bed. Once I've said my piece, I'll shut myself in my room like a good little girl and all the men can take control."

She put a cushion under her head on one end of the couch and closed her eyes, breathing shallowly until she was comfortable enough to relax.

It didn't take long for her apartment to fill with Were's. It seemed all the Were's in the city had now congregated in her living room. Trae stayed close, not wanting anyone getting too close to Tempest while she was injured. He saw her come to a sitting position and moved quickly to her.

"You should be resting," he said trying to get her to lay back down.

"Your Alpha's here."

He snorted, "And how would you know that?"

"I bet you ten dollars he's here." She smiled softly.

"You're on!"

Two minutes later the door opened and Wade entered. Trae turned to Tempest who had her hand out waiting for her ten dollars. The confused expression on his face making her laugh. "Every single Were close to the door was coming to attention. It had to be your Alpha."

Trae laughed, pulled out his wallet and handed her ten dollars. He turned to Wade moving aside so he could see Tempest laid out on the couch. Trae nodded to the others and they made an effort to move further away giving them some privacy.

"What the hell happened?" he asked as he knelt down in front her.

"Good evening to you too Wade!" she said annoyed at his tone. "The Rogue surprised us. No one expected him to come after me," she sighed. "He's decided he wants me and he'll try again."

"Trae?" he turned to his head enforcer.

"Trae doesn't know anything. I took some rubbish downstairs to put in the garbage. The Rogue snuck up and grabbed me. I managed to scratch his face." Tempest pulled out a plastic zip bag from the pocket in her track pants and handed it to him. "I scraped what was under my nails into the bag. You should be able to get his scent from it."

Wade looked at the bag, "That must have been on hell of a scratch."

She shrugged, "I was scared. I was also pissed off at the time, so yeah I gauged his face."

Wade took the bag and handed it off to one of the Enforcers in the room before rubbing a hand over his face in frustration. "What else?"

"He admitted killing Henry Jensen. He was trying to turn a woman who was a veterinarian. That's where he got the drug from he used on Mr Jensen. He also said this isn't over. His focus is now on me, he won't stop until he has me."

"Not gonna happen! Trae, I want two people on her twenty-four-seven. Trae you team up with Lukas, Mitch's needs to be close to his mate for now. Have Adam, Sean, Matt and Bastion rotate shifts with you. I'll have Gabe and Zac moving around the city close by. There is no way that bastard is getting anywhere near Tempest!"

"I'm on it. I'll also make sure we've got other men on the outskirts of the city in case we need them."

Wade turned back to Tempest, "Anything else?"

"He said I'm his."

Wade growled, "If you're done talking, it's to bed for you and no arguing."

"I'm too tired to argue." Was her reply. She could feel her eyelids getting heavy as he carried her to the bedroom.

Once he had her under the covers he sat on the side of the bed, "Your injury. How bad is it?"

"It was just a scratch," she replied. "I should be fine in a day or so."

"You called me Wade," he smiled taking her hand in his. "What you said outside, what the Rogue told you." He brushed a loose curl behind her ear. "He's wrong. Your mine." He bent forward gave her a kiss on the forehead and got to his feet. "Rest now, and don't worry. There's no way he's ever going to get near you again.

Tempest was shocked by what Wade said, but was too tired to fight him on it. She closed her eyes and was asleep in moments.

The next few days proved uneventful. She had Adam and Sean with her during the day and Trae and Lukas at night. Matt and Bastion pulled a shift at the same time as Trae and Lukas, keeping at a distance in the shadows just in case they were needed.

The situation was frustrating, but Tempest didn't complain. She knew she was in danger, that the men shadowing her was all that was keeping her safe. In the end the lack of freedom was grating on her nerves. She needed to speak to Wade and she needed to do it as soon as possible or she was going to lose it.

They had taken to eating more and more at The Den, which suited Tempest. It was on one such evening that they were shepherded into a private room to eat. Wade was already there and smiled when Tempest entered the room. "Good evening Tempest. How was your day?"

"Good evening Mr..." he frowned and she sighed, "Good evening Wade, my day was fine. How was yours?"

He heard the sarcasm in her voice and wondered what was up. "It was busy," he replied giving Trae a look. He patted the seat to his left and she sat down. Trae sat beside her and Lukas across from her.

Stephan had organised a beef stew with crusty bread for dinner. Once they'd been served Wade decided to suss out what had brought on Tempest's bad mood. He poured her some water, "Okay what's up?" subtle he was not.

She gave him an irritated look and went back to her meal trying to find the right words to get him to call off at least some of his men.

"Tempest, I can't help if I don't know what's wrong." He waited patiently hoping she'd open up.

Putting down her spoon, she turned to him. "It's been several days since I was attacked. I appreciate you having me shadowed, but it's suffocating, I can't concentrate on my work and I'm at the point where I'm either going to scream, or lose it completely."

Wade was surprised at her rant, but not about to budge. He ran a hand over his face in frustration, a move she had soon realised was habit. She wasn't about to let it go, "You did ask."

"Yeah, I did. But there's not a whole lot we can do about it right now. The Rogue is still out there. The problem is every time we get close he disappears. I won't take away your shadows, so don't ask."

Trae spoke up then hoping she'd understand, "Doc, whenever we get close, the Rogue picks up on our scent and slips away. If there was a way to get close to him without him catching our scent we'd be able to stop him and you could go back to your normal life. Unfortunately that's not possible."

Tempest sat quietly for a few moments before speaking. "Actually it is." She pulled her bag off the back of the chair and dug around in it. Pulling a tube out she held it out to Lukas, "Would you mind going to the men's room and washing your hands and arms all the way up to your elbows, at least twice and make sure you lather yourself up well."

Lukas wasn't sure if he should do what she asked, but got to his feet and did so. They waited silently until he came back, all eyes going to Tempest. "Sniff his hands and his arms."

Surprise showed on everyone's faces as they did as she asked. "He has very little scent." Wade said raising a brow at her as if asking her to explain.

She sighed, knowing the jig was up. "Have you ever been able to scent me?"

They thought about it, Trae looking at her knowingly. It was then she realised he'd picked up on what she was when she'd been attacked. The open wound giving him what he needed to adequately scent her. Thankfully he didn't speak up about it.

It was Wade who answered her, "No and it's been confusing the hell out of most of us. Are you telling me the stuff in that tube hides your scent?"

"Yes. You can still catch a hint of Lukas's scent, because he's only just used it. I use it every day, have done so for years."

She looked around the room, saw that they were all trying to take in what she'd said. "If several of your men were to bath several times in this solution and also wash their clothes in it, I'd say they'd be able to hide their scent enough to get as close as they need to the Rogue."

Wade nodded in agreement, then turned angry eyes on her, "Why is it exactly that you need to hide your scent?"

"I grew up in a Were Compound Mr Benning. Being a female Were isn't easy. I had to fight for the right to obtain what I have. I've work damned hard to get where I am and I don't want to jeopardise that. I'm not human and the last thing I needed was a bunch of unmated Were's sniffing around believing they had the right to claim me as their mate." She turned away from Wade not wanting to see the expression she was certain he'd have on his face.

The room was silent for more than a few minutes, everyone stunned at discovering the Doc was a female Were. Not being able to stand the silence any longer Tempest spoke up. "You may not like what I've done Mr Benning, but this is my life and I'll live it how I please. I've earned that right.

"I've given you a means to do what needs to be done. I'd suggest you pull back one of my Shadows. Let me have Trae and Lukas, keep the others at a distance. I'm fairly certain once the Rogue realises you've pulled back on security he'll make his move."

"You want us to use you as bait? Not going to happen!" stated Wade.

Tempest glared at him, "Unfortunately Mr Benning you have no other choice. If you don't use me, he'll keep coming after me and there are likely to be other casualties along the way. Can you live with that possibility?"

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

"This isn't the time to discuss what I was or wasn't going to say. I have a life Mr Benning, as do you. I've given you the best way to end this situation."

"She's not wrong," said Lukas.

Trae reached out a hand to hers, "You'd deliberately put yourself in danger?"

"To stop him yes, but the decision is you're Alphas."

Wade growled, "I don't want you in danger." He ran a hand through his hair considering whether or not he should agree with her. "If we do this, we do it my way. You do exactly what you're told is that clear?"

"Of course." She smiled softly and continued on with her meal. After a couple of mouthfuls, she cleared her throat, "I have a box of the solution in the boot of my car if someone would like to collect it for your men to use."

Wade growled again, but didn't speak. When they'd finished eating he took her hand, "I think we should keep you as close to your normal schedule as possible. We'll start tomorrow with just one Shadow, but you'll be covered by more than just the person with you." He gave her hand a squeeze, "when this is all over, we'll talk."

As daunting as that sounded Tempest agreed, deciding not to worry about Wade or what their discussion would entail. At least not until after the Rogue was dealt with.