The next two weeks flew by quickly and Emerald was a completely different girl then when I had first met her. Sorta, she no longer wore my baggy clothes, but she would still sleep in my shirt at night. She wasn't timid around the pack members anymore and she played with all the kids any chance she got.
She was like their little leader and they all fought for her attention. She was the fastest out of them all, even the ones who were a good bit older. The kids loved it when she shifted and would all chase the small puppy and bicker over who got to pet her.
It wasn't just the kids either even the adults would give her special attention. It was funny how she had this ability to pull people towards her. She was happy as far as I could tell and so was I.
Some things did stay the same though, she was constantly causing trouble at the Kyser farm and she would still eat live kill on our runs in the morning. She wasn't much of a talker and most of the time she just listened to everyone else around her. If it was ever just me and her she would ask me questions like why we slept in houses or what the point was in brushing her hair, which she despised.
One day she finally asked me about being Alpha and I can still remember the conversation clearly.
"Why do you have two names?" her small raspy voice asked.
"What do you mean two names?" I asked back with an eyebrow raised.
"Sometimes the people call you Alpha August and sometimes they just say Alpha. Why?".
I chuckled when understanding and quickly explained.
"August is my name, but Alpha is who I am to the pack. I make sure everyone is safe and happy by making sure nothing bad happens. Even though everyone might stay in their own house, we are all one big family and everyone has a responsibility to help make the pack stronger."
She nodded to me satisfied with my explanation, but was quick to ask another question.
"What's a responsibility?"
I let out a breath with a small chuckle and ran my hand through my hair to try and think of a way to explain it to her better.
"It's sorta like a job. It's a duty you have to do or a decision you have to make. Everyone has to do their part in order to better the pack. I have to make sure that everyone is doing their job and if they don't then I have to deal with it."
She furrowed her brows and the wrinkles on her forehead were showing. She didn't say anything for a minute, but looked down at her bare feet.
"Do I have a responsibility?"
I smiled down at her frizzy head and put my hand on her shoulder so she would look at me.
"Yes, your job is to be happy and to never be afraid to ask for help. We are a family and the best way to be a strong pack is to work together and protect and take care of one another."
She stared at me with her wild eyes and I watched a small smile sneak across her pink lips.
"And to learn how to control those flames." I said changing my face to a serious look.
She looked away from me and back at her feet. It wasn't often, but there had been a couple of incidents of her catching things on fire and some of the parents were worried she might accidentally hurt someone.
I never brought up Scout again to her.
Of course I still wanted to find him, but I didn't want to put anymore stress on her. I figured one day she might come to me and tell me about what happened, but if I was being completely honest? I didn't want to know. It made me nauseous to even think about.
I planned on still looking for him and decided I wasn't going to involve her anymore then she already was. I was secretly glad that she had wondered onto the Kyser farm and killed those cows. Our bond was something special to me and even Zeb had grown protective over her. I looked forward to watching her grow up and knew that she would probably always be a little wild.
We had just came back from our morning run and Emerald zoomed into the field to meet her friends. I shifted back and slipped some shorts back on before going into the field and was surprised to see Johnson watching the kids. He nodded his head to me and I went to go meet him.
"Good morning Johnson." I said with a grin on my face.
He kept a blank expression on, but muttered a good morning to me. I could feel that something was bothering him and we started to walk away from the playing children, so they couldn't hear us talk.
"What is it?" I asked when we were far enough away.
He let out a breath and looked away from me and back to the kids that were chasing each other.
"You need to decide what your going to do with the girl."
I furrowed my brows and stepped in front of his view so he'd look at me.
"What do you mean?"
He gave me a serious look and crossed his arms over his chest.
"August I think it's great what you've done for her, but she isn't a pet. She's a little girl that needs to go to school, have her own space, and someone to help raise her."
"I know she's not a pet, what do you think I've been doing ? I'm trying my best here and I'll get a separate house and she can have her own room. She can start going to school with her friends even."
Johnson shook his head at me.
"No August, you can't just keep her. You're not her father and trust me you are not ready to be a full time parent. You've been ignoring your Alpha duty and you favor her too much over the others. Fin has been training on his own and there are plenty of young wolves that would love your attention and guidance."
I scoffed and turned away from him to watch the kids. Emerald had learned that she was faster then her friends, so she would purposely slow down so someone could tag her. She was a clever little thing.
"I don't favor her, she's just different and needs the extra attention. You act like I'm going to screw her up or something."
Johnson stepped in front of me this time to block my view.
"August, she's not going to be a little girl for very long. Do you really want to be the one that explains what her period is? Are you going to tell her about puberty and why her body is changing? Or how about the first time she goes into heat? Are you prepared to deal with that too?"
I scrunched my face up in disgust.
"Stop it, there are plenty of woman here that she can go to about that stuff."
Johnson let out an annoyed breath and motioned for me to follow him. We started walking a little further away before he spoke again.
"Look I've been talking to your Aunt Helen and she agrees that the girl needs a mother figure in her life. She's offered to take her back home with her to raise after the blue moon."
I stopped walking and Johnson looked back at me still having on his serious look.
"I can't just send her away Johnson. We are her pack and she belongs here."
He softened his eyes for a minute, but then went back to being serious.
"August, you're still young. I know you've gotten attached to her, but you deserve to live your life and to find your mate. That's what you should be concerned about. If you really care about her you'll let her go because it's what's best for the both of you."
I wanted to continue arguing. I wanted to scream that he was wrong and that I was more then capable of taking care of her, but my own mother's face flashed in my mind a minute.
Who was I to deny her a mother ? It would be selfish if I kept her here and I knew Johnson was only trying to do his job by keeping me in check. Zeb started pacing and I could tell this conversation was starting to bother him.
'She stays with us!' he said to me in an aggressive tone.
I didn't know what to do or what the right decision was. I felt helpless because I wanted her to stay more then anything, but I couldn't ignore the fact that Johnson was right. What was worse is that the blue moon was coming tonight, which meant she would leave first thing in the morning with my Aunt Helen.
"So you just waited till now to spring this on me?" I asked.
Johnson sighed and shook his head to look away from me.
"Yes, because I knew you would be upset. Scout is still out there somewhere and this is the second time one of his rogues have wondered into our territory. Do you really want the third time to happen with her here? He could be looking for her for all we know."
I let out a powerful growl and made Johnson jump slightly. I was furious. Furious to think about the possibility of him ever getting to her and furious at the fact that Johnson was using him as an excuse to force my hand. I stormed past him without another word and thankfully he didn't follow.
Bringing him up had unwillingly made my brain think of all the horrible scenarios that could happen if Scout sent another rogue after Emerald. I couldn't bare to think about her small body laying in the hospital bed again. I had to do everything in my power to protect her and make sure she was always safe.
Even if that meant sending her away.
The only way she would ever truly be safe is if Scout was dead. Johnson was right. I had bigger things that I had to focus on and having her around was distracting me. I just needed to think about how I was going to tell her.