The boy doesn't know what took over him the moment he heard the Alpha's voice calling his name.

All he felt at that moment was fear and the need to run, to escape. To avoid being punished. His mind fogged up and heart raced.

That's how Florian finds his small, light brown wolf in the middle of the forest, amidst nowhere.

It's becoming hard to breath and he doesn't know how long he's been running, or what time of the day is it.

But it's now dark outside and his legs are shaking terribly.

It's been several months since he's shifted. His wolf was too weak to shift or run before.

So, the shift took a toll on his smaller frame. His wolf used to only lay there, in the back of his mind.

And this shift, it hurt like hell.

Now, he's so drained and out of breath, and lost.

Florian stumbles across a tree trunk and collapses, his paws covered in mud and mouth open as he raggedly breathes.

After finally gaining his breath back, he looks around and feels his heart drop.

There's only trees around him, huge trees, covering up the sky except a few little stars peeking from behind the leaves.

Rustling sounds echoe, and chilly breeze passes around the Omega. He shivers, suddenly more scared than he was before.

Then realization dawns on him.

Why did I run? It was just Alpha Feather. Shit. She must be worried about me!

Along with the realization, guilt comes heavily down on him.

Feather has been nothing but lovely to him, and all he caused her is trouble and concern.

He gets back on his four paws, still exhausted from the shifting and running, and takes off back to where he came from.

His goal is to follow his own pawsteps and return to the pack house.

Hoping Feather would take him back and forgive him for his misbehavior.

Before the small boy could realize it, he's rounded the same spot four times, and his lungs are protesting against breathing.

Still bouncing with a tad bit hope, he gathers last ounce of strength and sprints off one more time.

Half an hour later, he finally starts recognizing the area, spots the familiar willow tree.

Relieved, and happy, he runs faster than his body allows him to.

Nearing the house, he could see the commotion, the chaos.

Everyone yelling and shouting, most members running off in wolf forms, the whole mansion lit up even at this late hour.

He frowns, hoping nothing bad has happened.

Tired paws halt on the backyard and he lets himself fall, slowly shifting back as his wolf couldn't take it anymore.

His naked body curls up in on himself from the cold as he prays in his mind for someone to take a notice of him.

Through his blurry vision, he spots someone finally spotting him and yelling.

"It's the Aleph! We found him!" They yell.

Florian swallows hard.

Were they looking for me?

__________

Feather recieves the news of Alpha Gabriel's presence and finishes off her last bit of paper work.

She wants to take a shower and meet her mate before greeting with the Alphas. She also hopes she'd be able to introduce Florian to everyone in one go tonight.

For the first time in a week, she has time to spend with her mate and she's so excited.

The Alpha has planned a small date for the two of them, away from the crowd and work.

But when she steps in the kitchen, and smells blood, her wolf growls out.

It's Florian's blood. She could sense it.

She hurries there but doesn't find him, which only angers her further.

"Kaya, was Florian here?"

Kaya hides the napkin, with Florian's blood on it, behind her.

"Yes, but I asked him to go rest as we have to prepare dinner for the Alphas."

Feather frowns, Kaya's nervousness lingering in the air. She lets go since she needs to find her mate first.

Feather stomps up the stairs and through the hallway, clenching and unclenching her fists.

Everyone passes her with a bow, afraid about not having an answer to her question.

Finally, she reaches their bedroom door and bursts it open only to find the bed empty and the window wide open.

Her blood runs cold and heart thuds wildly against her chest.

"Meeting room, now!"

In the span of a few seconds, all the warriors gather in the meeting room.

Feather at the end of the table, fuming but anxious for her mate.

"Start searching for Florian. I want him here within an hour. Go!"

Each of them shifts and sprints off, Feather herself shifts in her black wolf and takes off to find her mate.

Her heart aches at the thought of someone taking or hurting her mate.

Or worse, Florian running away from her.

She shakes away the negative thoughts and fastens her pace, aiming for the woods first.

Around 3-4 hours later, and no luck, Feather starts to feel fear slowly swallowing her heart whole.

She could smell him in the air, meaning he had been through these trails, but where is he now?

Everyone's now searching for him, the news about the Aleph being missing keeping everyone on edge.

Feather's eyes prick with tears but she refuses to let them win over her rage.

Just as she's about to re-round the woods, someone calls through the mind-link.

"Alpha! He's here!"

Without stopping, she turns on her paws and races back to the pack house.

She races up the stairs to their bedroom where a small crowd is gathering the Omega on the bed.

"H-how is he?" Feather asks the doctor in charge, eyes trained on the boy.

Nothing major seems to have changed on him except a few scratches here and there.

Solidifying Feather's suspicion that he did run away on his own.

It hurts. More than she'd like to admit.

What could she possibly have done to make him run away from her?

"He's fine. Just exhausted."

She nods.

"Let's give them space, guys." Sam ushers everyone out.

"He's fine." Juliene softly hugs her sister from behind, noting how tense the blonde looks. "Try to breathe more."

Feather doesn't respond and the other leaves, closing the door lightly.

Feather gets in the shower and washes up, rubbing away the mud and sweat then steps out.

Drying her hair and getting in night pajamas, she returns to their room to see Florian awake.

Shame and guilt shadowed over his face. He curls the blanket in his fists, looking up at the girl with expectance.

Feather swallows back her hurt, not feeling like talking to him but words lay on the tip of her tongue. She wants to ask if he's okay or not, but remains quiet.

She grabs her phone off the dresser and attempts to leave the room till a tiny voice interrupts her.

"A-alpha."

She pauses in her steps but doesn't look back, fist tightening around the small device.

"I-I didn't mean to run away."

There goes the last bit of her hope.

Her own mate ran away from her. Nothing could be more painful than this.

"It's okay." With that she scurries out of the room.

Florian feels a lump in his throat, his chest aching from the pain he caused his Alpha.

The disappointment, the hurt, the feeling of doing something wrong, it was very evident on her beautiful face.

How could I do this to her? My own mate. I made her feel like she chased me away.

His wolf whimpers.

He was supposed to surprise her with dinner, and now here he is, done making his Alpha angry at him.

But Florian makes up his mind, he is gonna make it up to her.

Win her back, earn her affection back.

__________

Vote & comment.