Kai wrestled with the questions in his mind, knowing he had to tell her before someone else did. Her father was a hunter of his kind and wherever he went trouble, usually for his kind was not far behind.
" Tell me what's wrong, maybe I can help," she whispered with a sad smile that broke his heart.
" You can't know how much I want to tell you but how much it..."
She turned him to face her as he pulled off the road.
" There is nothing you could say that would make me feel any different about you."
Kai's eyes widened, his nostrils flared with desire as he eyed her earnest face.
" How do you feel about me?"
She sighed but didn't hesitate.
" I love you."
Kai crushed her to him devouring her soft lips ravenously.
" I love you too, baby, more than you could ever know."
" Oh Kai."
They stayed there just holding each other tight, their breaths mingling.
" Tell me.
It poured out of him, all about his and Keiko's ancestry, their Lycan ancestry. He told her about wolves mating for life and that part brought her up short.
" Are you saying you're gonna play with me until you find your soulmate!"
Kai chuckled heartily, " No dufus, I'm telling you that you're my mate."
A big goofy grin broke out on her face.
" Um Kai, next time lead off with that!"
He kissed her again, loving her with every fiber of his being as his wolf purred like a feline.
" It was you, last night, oh Kai your wolf is beautiful. "
He was wordless in disbelief.
" You aren't...afraid? disgusted?"
Alyssa chuckled before throwing her arms around his neck.
" How could my Alpha scare me? You are my mate."
Kai couldn't stop the grin that softened his features as he drove them to the movie theater. She loved him..them.
Mate.
He couldn't believe his luck but as suddenly as his happiness had come.. it went...
Danger, his wolf was howling in his head. He could smell it too, the distinctive smell of the chemicals the hunters used to subdue his kind.
" Babe we need to go, it's not safe here."
" Ok, let's go."
Alyssa turned her head just in time to see the idiot from school, one of the minions who always bugged her before Kai came along.
" Kai, look it's that weirdo from school, what are the odds he's with Frank."
Kai drove as fast as he could back to her house but they knew something was wrong the minute they got out of the car.
" Mom! Mom!"
They walked through the empty house in dismay, her mother wasn't there.
" Wait, the attic!"
Alyssa ran upstairs as fast as she could, sighing when the attic door refused to budge.
" Mom, it's me! Mom!"
Kai was about to break it when it cautiously, creaked open.
" Mom, I swear you gave me a heart attack!"
" Oh baby, I'm so sorry. Your father came back with some shifters so I had to hide somewhere their sense of smell wouldn't work."
" Oh Mom, well at least your smelly old books saved you," Alyssa teased.
" Mom we have to go stay with Kai...he's a...don't freak ok?"
" Shifter? Wolf, lion or bear?"
Alyssa's mouth dropped open in disbelief.
" I'm a geneticist honey, I know a thing or two about shifters."
She eyed Kai without judgment and Alyssa felt love and pride swell in her heart.
" Wolf, Mrs. Wilson."
She nodded as they descended from the attic, rushing to pack some things before Frank and his goons came back.
" Keiko, hunters. No we aren't running, we're securing our pack. En route with Lyss and her mom, tell Dad."
They were ready to leave in minutes and on the road soon after. Alyssa couldn't stop herself from checking if they were being followed.
" Kai, when you say Frank is a hunter, what does that mean exactly?"
" He hunts our kind using a witch to mask the scent of any shifter that works for him or so we've heard."
" Hunts them for what, sport?"
Kai's face hardened as he rubbed her palm soothingly.
" Sometimes, mostly it's in the name of science. Wolves heal quickly, Lions are tenacious killing machines, bears are aggressive, they harness the trait they want to exploit. "
Alyssa massaged the tension from his shoulders. Figured that her hateful father would be that guy, she thought in disgust.
They drove for what seemed like hours in silence and then they were pulling into the driveway of the Matsuda homestead.
The old colonial was beautifully rebuilt and expertly tended, the lawns lush and green.
Keiko was outside before the car, a super charged Chevy came to a stop.
" Everyone alright?"she asked talking to her twin.
" We're fine, Mrs Wilson will be staying with us."
Alyss and her mother exchanged a glance, noting that Keiko hadn't asked until when.
They went inside and Kai and Keiko bowed to their father before introducing Alyssa and her mother.
" Father, this is my mate, Alyssa and her mother Alicia Wilson."
He reminded Alyssa of a ninja, but a friendly one.
" Welcome to our home."
He bowed deeply, making Alyssa's mother blush.
" Thank you, Mr. Matsuda..."
" Kenji."