: Latch- Disclosure feat. Sam Smith

Alex-

I sucked in a breath as I gazed at the man standing twenty feet from me. I hadn't seen him since we were both captured by the hunters. He and I had argued and then I had been dragged away and beaten with no reassurance that I would ever see him again and it crushed me. Small warm tears pooled in my eyes as I examined my mate. He looked powerful as he stood there. He wore a baggy black t-shirt and loose jeans all topped off with his nicely styled dark hair. He smelled of vanilla and pine, making my wolf melt inside me. We stood, surrounded by his pack somewhere inside the borders of his huge territory. Tyler and I stood silent for a few minutes as we just stared at each other in awe, almost as if we didn't believe our eyes. My locked gaze with Tyler was broken when I felt a hand gently brush my elbow and I turned my eyes to meet Liam.

"This is where we part ways." Liam announces in a quiet voice that only I can hear. His eyes look saddened but his expression soon goes blank as he puts up a wall.

"Liam." I hear Tyler grunted lowly, causing all heads to turn towards him. Tyler probably has a strong hate for Liam because he doesn't know anything about him but that he took Addison.

"Give me a minute, almighty alpha, then I will leave your pack." Liam assured in an annoyed tone. Liam then lead me a few more paces away from the crowd of curious werewolves. He then turned to me again and our eyes met. I grew worried from this gesture. Was he leaving for good? "I suppose this is goodbye." Liam rang blankly, he was trying not to show any emotion. Why must guys do this?

"You're leaving?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly.

"Oh don't worry, Little Wolf. I will come steal you back away from the alpha king once again." He said as he spared me a wink. Relief washed over me knowing that I would see him again. But why? He was the enemy. He was a vampire. I should be thrilled that I am back with my mate. "In the meantime, behave." He commanded sternly. "I don't want you getting yourself killed just because I'm not here to rescue you every time you feel like drowning in a freezing lake." He concluded. I wanted to roll my eyes at his reference but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I wasn't ready for him to leave me.

"Okay." was all that I could choke out. So many thoughts were burning through my skull and I was feeling two different emotions. Part of me was being strongly pulled to run to Tyler and finally jump into his embrace. But the other part, a small part, was wishing me to beg that Liam not leave.

"I will be back, Love. I'm only leaving my hybrid here because I know you will be safe while I deal with Kai." Liam confirmed. He then gave my hand a small squeeze and then he walked back to his car. He closed the shiny door and started the rumbling engine. Next, he drive off down the snowy road leaving me behind. A small part of me cracked in his absence. He was here and gone in a small second. Right before my sad hazel eyes. Maybe it was the fact that I felt like he didn't really care as much as I thought. I stood there for a few moments, watching the now empty road that Liam had just driven down. Fresh snow began to slowly descend from the sky, floating down gracefully to the ground, joining the rest of the flakes.

"Al?" I heard Tyler from behind me. Tears returned to my eyes from the familiar voice and I whipped around and launched myself into his strong arms. He hugged me tightly as a small tear escaped my eye. "I thought you were dead." I heard him croak. He was obviously just as happy to see me. "I felt you almost die, Al. You were so cold and then I felt your heart stop beating." He explained as we stayed in a tight, loving embrace. Tears freely fell from my eyes as I realized how worried he had been. He knew I was drowning and he felt me almost die. I pulled away, keeping Tyler still touching me, I looked into his eyes.

"I'm alive." I said shyly with a weak smile. He smiled at me before leading me towards the pack house, my hand in his.

.

.

I had been inside the pack house before, but somehow I had forgotten just how huge the magnificent building was. Many pack members filled the house with laughter and it was like a big family. It kind of reminded me of my old pack. We would always hold events to celebrate holidays, birthdays, or even just to have dinner together. Tyler led me through the long decorated hallways to his bedroom where we could talk in private.

He opened the door for me and my eyes were greeted with familiar furniture I remembered from last time. The fireplace was lit giving illuminating warmth to the room and making you feel peaceful listening to the soft crackling of the wood burning. I could stare at a fire all day and never get bored of watching the blazing flames dance to their own secret song.

"How did you escape the hunters?" I finally broke the silence by asking the question that was burning in my mind hotter than the fire in front of me. I turned away from the colorful flames to meet eyes with him. I stared into his brown orbs as he recalled the memory. I went and sat on the bed as I began to hear his story.

"Whenever you were being hurt, I- I could feel it. And then your heart stopped and I just-I had so much motivation suddenly. I knew I had to escape so that I could find you." He began, "But whenever I broke out of the cage, I felt nothing from you but coldness... I was able to escape but all my search attempts for you were dead ends." He explained with a heavy heart. He paced in a small line, back and forth. Back and forth. "What did they do to you?" He blurted, concern and curiosity bleeding through his soul.

I swallowed a lump in my throat as I imagined life in Tyler's point of view. He must've been so angry and upset for so long.

"I was taken from the cage, after we had argued." I began, my bottom lip quivering at the harsh memory. "Kaden beat me for answers. He wanted to know where the other wolves were- if there were other wolves." I continued as Tyler listened actively. He stopped pacing and came to sit next to me, his chocolate eyes following my every move. "He finally got tired of beating me so he decided that he wanted to try something new." My voice cracked. Thoughts of that night flooded back and tears welled in my eyes. "He dragged me out through the forest. He yelled and then he gave me one last chance." Tears fought their way free from my eyes and few dragged down my cheek. "I didn't tell him what he wanted to hear and then he. He-He-He threw me into the freezing lake." I croaked out, my cheeks now puffy pink and soaking wet from traumatic tears. "I drowned in that lake." My voice barely came out in a ghostly whisper.

Tyler moved to me and pulled me into a tender hug. "I'm so sorry Alex." He breathed out. He seemed torn at the thought of what happened. "I'm so so sorry." He repeated as his grip tightened on me. Tears flooded my cheeks like overflowing rivers and I began to sob. I was truly crying now as I hiccuped for air. Tyler's sweet cooing and hushes were heard softly over my sobbing. He told me it was going to be okay. I felt safe in his embrace and I knew I was going to be okay. I eventually calmed down and we both hugged quietly. We sat there for what seemed like hours, just laying together in each other's presence. At some point I fell into a deep sleep. It was a good sleep, I finally was able to dream of something peaceful.

In this dream, I was running through the snowy forest. The cold winds graced through my white fur but didn't make me cold. I ran through the quiet snow happily until I realized I was not alone. Someone else roamed these frosty woods with me. I glanced around for any other wolves with me but saw nobody. I kept running. Running was the only true freedom I ever felt. When I run, I have time to think about everything and truly let my emotions out.

I dart through trees, jumping over frozen logs and speeding through the cold, wet snow. I am suddenly flying through the air for a moment until I land on the fluffy ground. I look up confuse and realize I have been tackled. I look up and see a massive jet black wolf towering over me, beautiful brown eyes locking with mine lustfully. The wolf gave me a sort of challenging smirk. I inwardly smiled back as I kicked him off of me with one move and decided to keep running. Why not give him something to chase, huh?

I push off the ground, bolting through the trees at top speed. My wolf's size is significantly smaller than Tyler's alpha size so I know he could easily catch up to me if I were a regular werewolf. I use my little vampire speed to boost my running so I am able to race faster through the never ending forest of white. I heard him growl behind me not in anger, but in lust as he raced for his target.

Me.

I pant hard as I keep running, making sharp turns as an attempt to confuse the poor alpha. I listen behind me for footsteps from my mate but hear none. This isn't good. I stop in my tracks, listening for the softest move. He must be trying to sneak up on me. I cautiously turn around and stare into the large forest behind me. Bare trees stand for miles, all covered in sharp icicles and unique snowflakes. My ears remain alert as I listen to the silence. I hear a small crunch near me and I whip around towards the direction just in time to be tackled by the swift black wolf. We go rolling down a hill together, both shifting back to our human forms as we roll and stopping at the bottom with him landing on top of me.

He stares at me happily as he has caught his trophy. We both burst out into laughter from the fun we've just had.

I wake up on top of Tyler's bed with a small smile on my face. The dream is fresh on my mind. He is nowhere to be seen and I am slightly disappointed that he didn't stay and sleep with me. I sit up in the large squishy mattress and take a deep breath of fresh air. I slip out of the bed and walk to the massive bathroom he has connected to his room. I look at my reflection in the mirror and cringe. My cheeks are puffy and still red from crying and then sleeping. My hair is a train wreck that crashed and then exploded only to crash again and then get smashed by a meteor. Okay it's a little of an exaggeration but I have random strands of hair sticking up and others knotted from sleeping. All of my curls are saggy and flat. Finally I examine the large bags under my eyes.

Ew.

"These bags are designer." I stupidly joke to myself as I turn on the warm water. I splash my face a few times and then attempt to brush my hair only for it to turn into an Afro. I groan in frustration and then finally pull it into a messy bun. It'll have to stay like that until I properly shower.

I finally leave the bathroom feeling unaccomplished about my 'rough' appearance and decide to go find Tyler. I open his bedroom door and walk down the hallway to where I remember his office to be. Since he's the alpha he gets many rooms just to himself. I give one gentle knock on the door politely before just walking in because I don't really care. If he were in some important meeting he should've put up a sign. I open one of the doors to the large wooden office feeling like a savage and immediately my eyes meet with his alerted ones as he looks up from a small pile of papers. He is sitting at his desk ruffling his perfect hair as he writes on white printed papers. He is wearing a pair of reading glasses that make him look incredibly sexy in this work environment.

"You're awake." He greets warmly as he sets a pen down and removes the glasses from is face, setting them down neatly on the desktop.

"Yeah. What time is it? How long did I sleep?" I ask with a small stretch. He chuckles lightly.

"About two hours. It's almost evening now." He informs.

"That explains why I'm hungry?" I state casually as I sit on the leather chair across from his desk.

"Perfect." He gives me a warm smile.

"Perfect?" I blurt confused. "How's it perfect that I'm starving?"

"Well," He begins nervously. "I was thinking...Would you like to go on a date with me this evening?" He proposes formally, straitening up in his chair and running a hand through his dark hair.

I blink, surprised at his question. A smile spread across my face. It was so cute how this made him so nervous. "I don't know." I joked as I pretended to examine my nails, "I have a very busy schedule and I will have to see if I can squeeze you in." His nervousness drops and he lights up with a shiny smile.

"Great! So I will come get you at 6:00?" He proclaimed.

"See you then." I smiled and gave him a wink before exiting his office confidently. As soon as I entered the hallway and closed the door. I squealed in joy and jumped a few times. I had a date tonight!

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