On the Outskirts of Manhattan

Ava had never really had the time to process that her body had changed significantly. Being pregnant had taken a lot out of her: energy making food, finding a home, a job, and money while she took care of her son at such a young age. And then, when her body was still physically and emotionally stronger after the pregnancy, she chalked it up to hormones. She didn't really have the time to complain and cry and be emotional about the fact that the Council attacked her body without her permission to make her their secret weapon. She just didn't have the time.

The car ride was filled with amicable chatter from the couple. Dawson would suggest for her to use what he thought would be a new move for the young woman, but to Ava, it was an old move that Greyson had taught her. She'd tell him that she already knew it, he would nod and understand that Greyson had given her everything possible for her to survive. Even when he was gone, he had left a little piece of himself with the woman to help her go on with life.

“He took care of you...” Dawson noted when there had been several seconds of silence.

“What do you mean? Who?” Ava asked, turning from the window to smile at him. Even though Riley had launched a wolf attack on her, she was in a fairly happy mood. Her wolf was in the happy mood actually. Her wolf adored fighting of all kinds. Her wolf was dominant; she liked showing who was boss.

“Greyson,” he stated.

Ava's smile faltered. She suppressed thoughts of Greyson. All of them gave a horrible pain in her chest, even the ones she thought back on fondly, even the ones where she had taken revenge on his killer.

“He took care of you.”

“Well, I wouldn't go that far,” Ava commented. “I don't think any of my feminist attributes would let him take care of me. But he did teach me how to take care of myself in my new body. He knew that I didn't know how it worked completely, or how to use it. I'm in touch with my human side. Greyson,” her voice hitched at his name. “Grey taught me how to get in touch with my wolf side so she wouldn't try to take over.” Ava's wolf was a powerful one. She liked to be in charge, but with Greyson's guidance, Ava found that her human side, the side she wanted to be in charge, could be in charge. With a little help.

“He taught you important fighting skills that most women don't know,” Dawson told her. “Although, most women didn't have the power that you do. Most women wouldn't even think of having the abilities you do.”

“He taught me a lot of things,” Ava agreed, looking out the window again. “Does it get any easier?” she asked him, her voice sad, soft and noticeably trembling.

“Not really,” he replied. “I still miss Leigh every second of every day. But I've accepted that she's gone, that I won't be with her and I'm trying to move on with my life.” He turned to her then, gave her a soft smile, then reached out and grabbed her hand. “You'll get there too.”

She nodded, picked up his hand and clutched it to her chest with both hands. After several minutes of driving, she brought it up to her lips to kiss softly, then brought it back down to rest in her lap. Neither of them said a word, and they both remained silent once they pulled up to the Base.

“Mommy!” Nolan screamed, giddily running up to his mother once the car showed up in the paring lot. He had missed her. He didn't like her gone all day, in fact, he couldn't remember a time when she had been gone from him for more than a few hours. She was always there, safe, secure and his. Today he had been worried that she wouldn't be there to tuck him into bed at night and give him a good night kiss and tuck him in and read him a story and make sure he was safe. It was that nagging suspicion had been what caused him to be grumpy and upset all day. But she was there now. All his.

Once she got out of the horrendously large vehicle, Nolan launched his body into hers. She caught him easily, just like she always did. And she placed kisses all over his face. He giggled and accepted them, and she relished the moment. She knew she'd only have a few more years with him accepting the kisses. Soon he would grow up and insist that she not kiss him or hug him in front of his friends. Soon he would be too cool for his mom.

“I missed you!” Nolan exclaimed once his mother put him on the ground. He immediately grabbed her hand. He wanted constant contact with her, just to reassure him that she was right there. “I stayed with Alex all day. He made me grilled cheese for lunch! And we had ice cream after! And then we went on his four wheeler! It was fun. It was fast. I got to steer. I have my own helmet too! And he said he would make me anything I want for dinner. I said I wanted tofu, like you make at home? In the rice with soya sauce. But he said he didn't know how to make it. But I like tofu. Will you make it Mommy? Please? Hi Dawson!” When the grown man showed up at his side, Nolan immediately grabbed his hand with his free one; both adults stood at either side of the young bouy. He was protected in between two of the people he felt safest with simply by holding their hands.

“Yes. I can make tofu for you baby,” Ava rolled her eyes. “Where's Alexander?”

“Right here,” Alex stepped out of a shed to the side of the big hotel-like building. He held a pair of keys and a dark helmet in his hands. “You have a high energy little boy.”

Ava smiled softly. “Yeah. Let's get some food into him so that he can keep the energy.”

“Excellent. I can take over from here Dawson,” Alex noted.

“No! Can't he stay for dinner Mommy?” Nolan whined. He liked Dawson. He felt safe and secure when Dawson was around, much like the feeling he got with his mother.

“Actually, I've been ordered to stay with Ava,” Dawson stated. “So I'll be staying the night.”

Alex scowled as they walked into his home, but he didn't protest. He knew that “ordered” really meant that the Council told him, and Alex had no say in the matter. Much like he had no say in the fact that the beautiful woman who was currently invading his house with her son would be his partner in business—the other Alpha.

***

It appeared that all the information known about Ava Wilkinson was in a public file found in the Council's library system. Ryder knew that at least Riley had a more intense and top secret file on the woman. But for the time being, Ryder didn't mind simply knowing everything that everyone else could easily know about the woman.

Ryder was surprised to find that Ava was considered a famous figure within the werewolf community. Sure, he knew about her, but he was a fairly new werewolf, more new than the beautiful Alpha. He simply knew about her because of his personal connection to her and the way she had burst into the Council room when packs were being chosen. But, Ryder noted, Ava was infamous from the beginning. The mere idea of a powerful, dominant Alpha Female intrigued the species. No one knew why she was so powerful or dominant, no one knew how it could happen, no one knew how she could have lived on her own for several years after her change, and no one understood how she could live by herself several years after residing in a pack for almost a full year.

Ryder himself couldn't understand the twenty-four-year-old woman. The Council's official ruling was that she was a modern werewolf, someone who had grown up in a world where women were equal to men. In a world where women, in fact, worked almost as hard to be more than equal to men. Ryder figured that was part of the extreme difference between her and older female werewolves, but he also took into consideration the connection she had had to one of the most powerful werewolves in the world—Greyson Hunter. The rumour had started just after Greyson's death. First it was thought that Ava had killed Greyson based on what the rumour said. The rumour? Greyson had been the one to turn Ava into the wolf everyone knows and loves. But why would she kill him? Because everyone also knew that even though she was well known and loved by the werewolf community, she hated her werewolf body. She would do anything to get her human body back, to be human.

Reading through the file on Ava, Ryder found out her birthday, the day she had killed her parents—something he was surprised found its way into her public record—and the day Greyson died. Even though the couple had never become true mates, Ryder found that many of the people thought of them that way. Greyson was a man who had waited his whole life to find his true mate—the woman he was destined to be with. By the time Ava showed up and everyone knew the feelings that coursed through the man's very body, she was thought to be his mate—official or not.

Finally, after reading Ava's whole life story, he found something that he could use. He found out she had been pregnant with Greyson's son. Besides her pregnancy, it didn't say anything else. It didn't say if she went through with the pregnancy, or if she lost the child, or if she even kept the child. It just said pregnancy and that she left the werewolf community. The file hadn't bee updated lately. Although, Ryder was sure that Riley had a much more up to date file on the woman. Riley would have kept tabs on the woman. She was his prized possession. His secret weapon. His.

“MALCOLM!” Ryder called out. His blonde receptionist was working her other job—spying on the Council. He had to make due with the male version who, although less attractive and more burley, did do the job rather well.

Malcolm stepped into the office. “Contact our spy,” he stated. “Make her get the confidential file on Ava Wilkinson. Riley should have it. And I want it.”

“Yes sir.”

***

Ava tucked the small boy into the large bed they shared inside Alex's house. Alex had offered the family another bed once Nolan had blatantly refused to sleep in a separate room from his mother. But even Ava was surprised when the little boy had refused to have another bed put in the room for him. Although, Ava reasoned, the bed that was already in there would hold about six of her comfortably; there really was no reason for another bed.

Nolan's reasoning was simple: his mother would protect him. Being away from his own bed and his own home made him feel scared and vulnerable. And even though he trusted Alex, Jackson, Blake and the rest of them during the day, who he really needed to protect him when the night surrounded them with its terrors and horror stories, was his mother. The closer she was to him in this foreign place, the easier she could protect him. Nolan counted on his mother for five things: unconditional love, food, clothing, a roof over his head, and protection from anything and anyone.

Ava walked down the stairs slowly after her son had fallen asleep. He was so small, so fragile. She needed to protect him. He was a lot like his father though, stubborn and always, always wanting her close. And she loved him more than anyone else in the world.

Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked up to see both men sitting on the couch in the living room. They sat about as far apart as they could, not bothering to care that their behaviour looked hostile. In fact, they were only so far away from growling at each other.

Ava walked into the room, “Nolan's sleeping...” she took a deep breath and let her body fall to the couch, directly between the two men.

“Looks like you're not far behind,” Dawson pointed out. “Alexander, would you mind directing me to where I can pick up some blankets and maybe a pillow for my stay here?”

“Oh, I guess we could probably take that cot that you offered to Nolan. I'll go get it and put it in my room if you tell me where it is,” Ava stood up from her seat and turned to Alex expectantly.

“He's sleeping in your room?” Alex finally asked after several long seconds of silence.

“Umm,” Ava looked at Dawson for confirmation. “I figured I wasn't allowed out of his sight for too long. Riley has decided that I'm in danger at all times in the day?” She kept looking at Dawson for confirmation.

Alex sighed. “I'll get the cot and set it up in your room.” He seemed exhausted to Ava, almost like she felt.

“I can get it. You probably had a tough day. Nolan can be a handful,” Ava stated.

“Yeah...” Alex sighed. “He's got a lot of energy for such a small body.”

“Yeah, tomorrow you can give him to Blake or Jackson, or the daycare. He knows how to make friends. He'll be fine,” Ava grinned. “So, that bed?”

Alex chuckled. “It's in the closet beside your room.” He leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes.

“I'll help you.” Dawson stood, following Ava up the stairs. There was an obvious tension between the two strong, dominant males in the room. He didn't want to spend any time with the male Alpha unless he absolutely had to. Besides, Ava was his duty, not lounging around in the sitting room while she was in an entirely different part of the house.

Alex ignored the two as they walked up the stairs together, Dawson's hand placed gently on the small of the woman's back to help guide her up the stairs.

Ava smiled at Dawson once she got to the top of the stairs. He let his hand trail down and fall off her body as she moved over to the closet quietly. She seemed to know where all the squeaks in the wood floorboard were, while Dawson seemed to step on each of them. He watched as her slender form pulled the wheeled contraption out of the closet and lifted it off of the ground with ease. It was apparent that the metal frame should have been heavy, but she picked it up as if it were as light as a feather. Dawson had to continually remind himself that she was strong, she had been enhanced to be strong—stronger than him even.

“Could you grab some blankets from in there? Maybe a pillow?” she asked walking by him and carefully into the room.

He gathered a few blankets, a pillow and a towel, in case he wanted a shower in the morning. He wasn't sure if that would be okay with Riley, but Dawson had his own way of guarding someone. He wasn't going to be too dirty that the person he was guarding would want to stay away from him.

By the time he got to the door, the bed was already set, right beside the big one that Nolan was sleeping in. She sat down beside her son, smoothing his hair and gently leaning down to kiss his head. He cleared his throat and she quickly left the bed to gather the sheets from him.

“You better be the only one in there. I tend to step on all the wrong floorboards,” he pointed out.

She let a laugh escape her lips before making the bed. No wrinkles, smooth as silk. She added the pillow last and turned down the covers, ready for him to get inside when he was ready.

He watched her soft motions, noting how graceful and beautiful she was. She smiled at him as she moved to leave the room. When she softly shut the door behind her, he moved in front of her, placing his hands on the door on either side of her head. She blinked at him, heart beating fast; excited. She was just so beautiful to him. She had this way about her that made it clear that everyone else was put before her. She made it clear that no one got in the way of her son in her mind and everything she did, she did gracefully and perfectly. They had been flirting back and forth for the last few weeks. She gave just as much as she got and she had never rejected his small, almost insignificant advances yet. He knew he had to give it a try. Dawson couldn't hold onto his feelings anymore.

“I apologize in advance for this,” he whispered, leaning closer and closer to her. “But I'm going to kiss you now,” he managed before his lips tentatively touched hers.

It was soft at first as he waited for her reaction—either to hit him or pull away and scream at him. He expected that to happen. He had been without his mate for many more years than Ava had been away from Greyson for. What he didn't expect was when her lips responded to his light touch. And her arms came up to wrap around his neck. And the kiss deepened. And her soft sighs sounding like moans encouraged his body to lean more into hers until their bodies were flush against each other. And it was heated until she finally pulled back, letting out that soft sigh that sounded so much like a moan to him.

She blinked at him, unsure what to say; what to do.

He leaned in and pecked her lips once more.

“Well,” she finally spoke. “There was no need to apologize for that.”