#alpha mini

Angel cringed, still trying to get enough air to make proper words.

“Okay. Just focus on breathing,” Asher said. It was strange to hear him sound serious. Did he even know who he was talking to or was he just soothing a possible stranger on the phone? “You’re okay.”

Angel leaned against the wall, thankful for the empty room they were in. They dragged a few more breaths before trying again. “I-I’m sorry.”

“Little boss?” Asher did not sound calm anymore. “Where are you? What happened?”

“I’m fine. I just need a ride. I-I lost my phone and my keys.” Fuck. Their keys. They wouldn’t have even been able to get into the house let alone their car. “You…have the spare to the house, right?”

They heard Asher moving around on the other end of the call and the jingle of keys. A door opened and closed. “I’m coming. Where are you?”

Angel sighed. “I’m at the hospital.”

It sounded like Asher was running down a stairwell. He was, they realized. Of course, they could only tell by the echo of his steps and the chime of his keys—his breathing never gave it away. Asher could run for days and somehow still make it look easy. Angel thought that was cool. “I’ll be there in ten minutes. What happened?” he asked, never losing a step.

Angel dragged another deep breath, closing their eyes. They were so tired. The last three hours felt like days. “I got mugged.”

 -

 Asher held his phone to his ear even when he got in his truck, starting the engine. Mugged? Little boss—alpha mini—David Shaw’s motherfuckin mate, got mugged? “But… the pepper spray?”

“It was in my bag! One guy grabbed my backpack before I even saw them!”

Asher was driving too fast, but it couldn’t be helped. No, no, that wasn’t true. He thought about how devastated David had been when they lost his dad and slowed down. Safe driving. But he also thought about how furious his alpha was going to be when— “Did you call David?”

“No…” their voice dropped low, quiet and nervous. “He’s not in town and it would freak him out, you know? He gets home tomorrow anyway…”

Oh, Asher was well aware that this was going to “freak out” David. He supposed Angel telling him how they lost their phone and shit to some assholes in person, when they could hug him and shit, would probably go over better than over the phone.

“You’re okay?” They could go over the whole story when he got them home and figure out when to call David. Most important was that they were okay.

“Yeah. I just need a ride. The cops took my statement and insisted on bringing me here. Didn’t offer to get me home…” they complained.

Asher briefly wondered if he’d even hear about this if Angel hadn’t needed a ride. They were one of the most open people he knew…unless they were the person in need.

“Where are you in the hospital. I’m only a handful of blocks from the emergency entrance,” he said.

“I can meet you outside.”

Asher agreed, pulling up in front of the emergency entrance and waiting. He didn’t have to wait long. His heart dropped low in his chest and he was out of the truck in a flash. “You said you were okay!” Asher practically shrieked. “What the holy hell…” He dragged a breath, taking in the sight of them.

Angel actually rolled their eyes. Which was impressive, since one of them was almost swollen shut. He came close, hands hovering over them. Half their face was covered in growing bruises and there was a cut on their forehead that had been taped. Their forearm was in a fucking cast and their shirt was ripped and bloody.

“I am fine,” Angel said.

Asher wanted to laugh but it wasn’t funny at all. It was just such a blatant lie! “No. No no no. This is not fine. What happened?”

Angel sighed, visibly exhausted. “I got mugged. Can you just take me home?”

Asher whined but walked them back to the truck, opening their door and helping them get up and in. They were moving so stiffly. If they hadn’t been to a hospital he would be driving them to one right now.

He ran around to the other side and jumped in.

Angel took a deep breath and sighed when they started driving. “My wallet was in my bag. Fuck. I’m gonna have to cancel all my shit but my phone was in there too…so I also have to change all my passwords…”

“I’ve got my phone. And we’ll get Babe to come over and help. They can bring their laptop.”

“Fuuuuuck, my laptop…”

“Forget the laptop for a minute. Tell me exactly what happened,” Asher pleaded, driving them toward the side of the city where they lived. David was absolutely going to lose it.

“I was walking back to the parking garage and this guy got in my way and was like, asking me stuff.”

Asher nodded, gripping the steering wheel hard. “What stuff?”

Angel blew out a breath and dropped their head back against the seat. “The usual douchebag creepy guy stuff. Does it matter?”

Oh. It definitely would matter to David…  Asher side glanced at them and decided to drop it for now. Angel was closing up on him. “So this guy is being a douchebag…”

“And his friend came out of nowhere! I didn’t even hear him! He was just fucking behind me, grabbing my backpack and lifting me by it. I kicked the guy in front of me but it all happened really fast.”

The words were also happening really fast. Luckily, Asher functioned on higher speed levels than most people and had no problem following. He knew Angel could spar. David had taught them to throw a punch and kick. “That’s okay, little boss. Shit happens and there’s no reason you should have expected that. It’s not your fault.”

Angel dragged a deep breath and let it out slow, nodding like they’d needed to hear that. “I punched one dude in the face. I think I broke his nose,” they said, lifting the hand in a cast. “Asshole got pissed and stomped on my arm.”

Asher squeezed the wheel, nodding. He was going to fucking listen and not get pissed. Not yet. Not in front of Angel when they were feeling like this might be on them. Which was insane.

Angel sighed and settled their arm back into their lap. “They kicked me a bunch and…”

Asher held his breath, heart clenching in his chest until his whole body hurt. “And?”

Angel shrugged. “Just take me home.”

Asher clenched his teeth so hard they hurt but he didn’t say anything. He just drove. Safely. All the way to the house.

He turned off the truck and got out, hurrying around to help them out but they were already hopping down, wincing at some pain in their side.

“You don’t have to stay. I just need you to unlock the door, Ash,” Angel said, sounding small again.

Asher stayed a step behind and to the side, watching their every move. They were definitely favoring one side. Asher pulled his keys back out and unlocked the door when they got to it. David’s key was on his keyring with his car and his apartment. He flicked on the lights and Angel walked into the house, going straight for their room. Asher got his phone out and texted Babe to pick up food and head over after work.

“Babe gets off work in about forty minutes.”

Angel left their bedroom door open and disappeared inside, the light flicking on. “Cool. You can go home, Ash, really. Thanks for coming to get me.” Their voice carried from inside. He could hear clothing rustling. He stood in the doorway but didn’t look, only because they had been to the hospital and someone had made sure they weren’t bleeding internally or anything.

“You know I’m not leaving. We’re obviously having a slumber party. Babe is bringing the food.” He texted Darlin fast. -I need you and Sam over at David’s.

And then he immediately added, -DON’T CALL DAVID

Angel sighed, coming back into view now wearing soft pants and a big sweater—David’s sweater. “I’m not going to be much fun. I’m probably just going to put an icepack on my face and fall asleep on the couch anyway.”

Asher blinked at them. “What? Oh, alpha mini… No.” He offered them his hand. “Come on.”

Angel took his hand and let him lead them to the couch, settling them in their favorite corner and putting the remote next to them. “I’m gonna raid your ice cream. Sam will get you fixed up when they get here and then we get to cut the cast off. So, you just have to hold out another hour or so until after sunset.” He ducked into the kitchen.

“You called Sam?” Angel asked.

Asher pulled some spoons out and found a half-eaten pint of strawberry cheesecake ice cream. When he came back to the living room, Angel was just sitting there, looking at their hands. Asher stopped and stared at them, remembering the ‘and…’ that ended their story. They had kicked them and… And… And.

“Little boss?” he asked softly.

Angel looked up, surprised and then forcing a smile.

He put the ice cream on the coffee table and gestured to the spot next to them. “Can I sit?”

Angel started to scrunch up their face in a “why are you being weird?” face but flinched halfway through the gesture, reminded of all the bruises on their face. “Yeah, of course,” they mumbled, hand hovering over that taped cut in their forehead, resisting the urge to touch despite the ache.

Asher sat down right next to them and pulled his phone out, holding it out. “Do you want to call David?”

Angel stared at the phone, tears misting their eyes again, but they shook their head. “He’ll drop everything and drive back.”

“Yes, he will.”

“He’s working.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Angel sighed, still looking at the phone in his hand. “He’ll drive too fast.”

Asher considered that. “I’ll tell him I’m here with you and you’re okay and we’ll both tell him not to rush.”

Angel shook their head, even though he knew that calling David was exactly what they wanted.

“What’s the plan then?”

Angel shrugged. “He gets home tomorrow night.” They lit up suddenly. “And if Sam really does heal it up, it’ll be like it never happened.”

Asher raised an eyebrow. They both knew that Angel didn’t keep secrets from David. They told him everything, just like Asher told Babe everything single thing he thought. They had all been family for years now. He knew his little boss almost as well as he knew his big boss.

Angel deflated as they realized it too, sinking back into the couch in a full sulk. “He’ll realize something’s wrong. I usually text him a lot…”

“He’ll be working for a few more hours. We have plenty of time to come up with a game plan.” He paused, looking at them. “You’re worried about him freaking out and speeding home, right? You know he’s not going to be mad or anything, right? No one is going to think any of this was your fault.”

Angel shrugged.

Asher leaned down into their line of sight. “You got mugged. It wasn’t your fault. No one is going to think it’s your fault.”

“I got my ass kicked! They stole my shit! That wouldn’t have happened to you. It wouldn’t have happened to any of you. And I’m his David’s mate and I can’t even walk to the parking garage on my own without… fuck.” They closed their eyes to keep from crying again.

Asher almost cried for them. He gently slid his hand under theirs and they squeezed. “You’re right, we’re not likely to get jumped by humans. But plenty of us have been attacked by other things. It’s scary and awful to feel like you didn’t have control and couldn’t make something stop. But none of us are going to think anything less of you for that. You didn’t do anything wrong. This happened to you, not because of you and no one expects you to have handled it any differently than you did.”

Angel stared at him for a long minute, hanging onto his hand, and trying to absorb his words. He knew they knew it was true. They would have been the first person saying it to someone else if the situation had been different. When they finally dragged a breath and relaxed, he relaxed a little too. Angel reached for the ice cream and he passed it over. “My face hurts,” they whined.

Asher smiled. “Yeah. You look awful.”

Angel swatted at him with their good hand.

A car pulled up on the driveway and almost as soon as the engine stopped someone was knocking at the front door and then opening it.

“In here,” Asher called around a mouthful of strawberry ice cream.

Sam and Darlin walked in. The sun wasn’t even down yet, but Asher realized it had been cloudy out.

“Oh shit,” Darlin said, looking at Angel. “Who fucked up your face, mini?”

Asher groaned at their incredible lack of tact but Angel was already past it and continued to eat their ice cream. “I got mugged! They took my shit and broke my hand!” They lifted the cast to show it off.

Darlin’s face scrunched up. “What dumb fuck would touch you?”

Angel shrugged.

“Unempowered humans,” Asher explained, hopping up from the couch. “I need you to go find them,” he told Darlin.

Darlin nodded. “Sure. How many?”

“Two.” Asher ducked back into Angel’s bedroom, grabbed the bloody t-shirt they’d left on the floor, and came back with it in hand.

Angel sat up on the couch, confused. “What are you doing? What do mean find them?”

Asher handed Darlin the shirt. “I mean, go hunt down those humans and drag their asses to the warehouse.” Asher looked to Darlin. “Most of the pack that I would send hunting are with David on this job. I can’t leave the little boss. Are you okay to go alone? I can see if Stealth—”

Darlin laughed. “Unempowered humans, Ash… Really? You could ask for a dozen and I’d still be done before sun-up.”

“I’ll go with you after I patch them up,” Sam said.

 -

 Angel’s head hurt. And their face hurt. And their side hurt. And their hand hurt. Whatever the doctors had given them was wearing off. They were so tired.

Sam came over and knelt in front of them while Darlin and Asher talked about hunting down humans, without upsetting the Department.

“So, mugged, huh?” Sam asked, his gaze flicking over them.

Angel put the ice cream down and tried to smile. “Yeah. Lame, right?”

Sam shook his head. “No. Lame is when that one tried to shift while walking down stairs and fell,” he said, thumbing back to point at Darlin. “Broke two fingers.” He reached toward the hand they had in a cast. “Can I touch?”

Angel blushed at the question despite all efforts not to. They held out the hand to him with a shrug. “But you don’t have to heal it. I mean, the doctors already it and put a cast on. I know it wears you out. It costs energy, right?”

“I’ve got plenty.” He touched their fingers with one hand while his other slid up the cast to touch their arm just below their elbow. His eyes narrowed like he was listening to something. What?

And then their whole arm tingled and their head felt light. He let go of their arm and they flexed their fingers, no pain. “Oh shit. That’s good. You’re amazing.”

Sam smiled like he might blush this time. “It’s not much.” His gaze ran over the side of their face, sympathy tugging his smile down. “Is it alright if I take care of this too?” His hand hovered, waiting for consent.

Angel nodded.

He touched their temple carefully. “I’m sorry this happened to you,” he said, a wave of magic rolling through their skin. It tingled and then it faded and took the pain with it, as well as the tightness around their swelling eye.

“Check out their ribs too,” Asher said.

Angel shot him a frown. “Don’t tell him what to do.” They were still worried about wearing him out.

Sam laughed a little but gestured toward their sweater. “May I?”

Angel sighed but relented, lifting their arms. The doctors had said they had a cracked rib and bruising. They knew it looked bad just from the glimpse they’d gotten in the mirror when they changed.

Sam lifted the sweater. Asher growled but Darlin whistled like they were impressed.

“Okay,” Sam said, so calm. “I’m gonna touch again, but I’ll be careful, okay?”

Angel nodded, looking away. It was uncomfortable to have this much attention, especially when they were hurt. They really preferred to get attention for doing something funny or stupid.

They glanced at Asher’s phone on the coffee table. They wanted to call David, but they also didn’t want to call him. What if they cried again like when they’d called Asher to come pick them up? Of course, they’d cried plenty of times in front of David, but this was different. They were fine. Especially now that they were getting healed up by Sam. They were just shaken up. If they could just get a few days they’d be fine, for real, they were sure of it.

“Little boss?” Asher’s voice drew them out of their thoughts and their gaze flicked to him. He wasn’t smiling and that alone was weird for Asher. He’d taken a step closer. “You okay?”

“Hm?” Angel looked down and found Sam staring back at them, patient as ever. He wasn’t touching their side anymore. Had he asked them something? Shit. “Yeah, sorry.” They twisted to look down at their side, surprised to see it cleared of all those deep dark bruises. They took a testing breath, deep, and nothing hurt. With a sigh and a tired smile they put their sweater back down. “Thanks.”

Sam nodded. “Any time.” He stood up and rejoined Darlin, both heading for the door.

“I’ll text you when I’ve got ‘em,” Darlin said casually, almost sounding pleased, and heading out.

Angel sighed and picked up the ice cream again. Sure, they were healed, but they still had every intention of sitting on the couch all night. “Why are you sending Darlin to look for them? I filed a police report,” they said, trying not to think about their bag and if those guys had tossed it or kept their things. Were they trying to get into their phone? Their computer? They had the keys to their car and their house. They wouldn’t actually show up though, right? Who would do that?

“Why?” Asher parroted and flopped down onto the couch next to them, shoulder leaning into theirs when he picked up the second spoon and started helping them with the ice cream right out of the carton. “Because when David gets back, I’m going to be able to tell him that the assholes who hurt his mate are either dealt with, or tied up in the warehouse.”

Angel looked at him, mouth full of ice cream, and couldn’t figure out if he was joking. Asher was one of the funniest, kindest people they knew. But he was also beta of the most powerful pack in Dahlia, fiercely loyal to David and absolutely ready to defend his pack.

“You’re really going to camp out here all night?” Angel asked, making it sound like a nuisance but now that they weren’t in pain and thinking a little clearer, they weren’t as resistant to the idea.

Asher took another big spoonful of ice cream. “Yep. Gonna ask Babe to get us more ice cream though. I’m thinking chocolate.”

Angel smirked. “Do you think I can use the ‘I was mugged’ card to get a cake?”

Asher lifted an eyebrow. “Like, a whole cake?”

Angel nodded. “One of those sheet cakes from the grocery store…”

“Fuck yes. Okay, okay, we’ll get Babe to get the cake and some more snacks from the grocery store and order the pizza delivered.”

Angel laughed, handing him the carton and picking up the remote. “You’re going to do that thing to the pizza delivery guy again, aren’t you?”

Asher sent off a quick text to Babe before putting the phone down again and finishing the ice cream. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mhmm…” Angel put on one of the Die Hard movies.

Asher’s phone on the coffee table rang. They both looked at it. It was David.

Angel sighed but nodded, muting the TV.

Asher picked up the phone and answered. “Hey buuuuddy,” he sang, smiling around the words. “Yeah. Yeah. No, they’re right here. Yeah, they’re phone is gone.”

Angel winced.

“Gone as in, gone, big guy. They’re okay, but they got mugged by some humans on their way to their car today.” Asher was still smiling but it was sharp now as he nodded along with whatever David was saying on the other end. “Yeah. They called me from the hospital and I picked them up. Yeah. Unempowered humans. I’m on it. We’re at the house now. Babe’s going to come over here tonight.” Asher looked at Angel. “Yeah, of course.” He held out the phone.

Angel took it and Asher cleaned up the coffee table and disappeared into the kitchen. Angel held the phone to their ear, hating the tears that came to their eyes. “Hey.”

David audibly sighed. “Angel. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Sam was here. It’s like nothing even happened,” they said and instantly regretting it because it sounded strained. “Don’t freak out,” they hated how small their voice had gotten. They weren’t a small voice person. They were loud.

“Okay,” David said, surprising them. “I’m going to head home—”

“Davey—”

“I’m going to head home. Milo and the others can handle the rest of things here. It’s still a long drive so I won’t be back until late, maybe morning.”

“I don’t want you to drive if you’re tired.”

“Angel, there’s no shot of me getting any sleep until I’m with you. I promise not to drive stupid.”

Angel sighed and nodded even though he couldn’t see.

“You were at the hospital?”

Angel frowned at the cast on their arm. It wasn’t broken anymore. They’d have to figure out how to get it off. “Yeah. These two guys jumped me outside the parking garage… They took my shit. I think I broke one guy’s nose but then he broke my arm and they kicked me a bunch and…” Angel’s heart constricted in their chest. They knew it wasn’t their fault, but it was hard to shake the insidious feeling that they’d fallen short of something. They were pack. They were David’s mate. “They spit on me.”

David was quiet.

Angel cringed, pulling their knees up to their chest and holding onto the phone so hard that their hand hurt. “I’m sorry—”

“What? Why would you be sorry?”

“You’re alpha. It can’t look good if your mate can’t even—"

“No,” David said fast, swallowing audibly. “No, Angel,” he said, keeping his voice low but they could hear the mix of feelings in it. “You don’t apologize for this. You didn’t do anything wrong. And it doesn’t reflect anything but how awful those people who attacked you are. You know this. You know who you are. And I know who you are. I love you.”

Angel dragged a breath and let it out slow, nodding. They knew all these things. But the fear and doubt had crept in when they were curled up on the ground being kicked and festered there in their heart. They took another breath and let it go. David was right. They were right. “I love you, Davey,” they said softly.

He sighed. “I’ll be home soon, okay? I’ll drive safely.”

“Okay.”

“Okay. Can you put Ash back on?”

Angel hummed a yes and held the phone out toward the kitchen. Asher was there in an instant, grabbing it and putting it to his ear. A few more ‘yeah’s and he was off the phone and back on the couch.

They were halfway through the movie before Babe got there. And not long after that the pizza arrive and Asher immediately jumped up and shifted into a wolf, bounding to the door to startle the poor guy. After eating, they started coming up with ideas for getting the cast off and Babe played the roll of judge to weed out the obviously bad ideas, including having Asher bite it off in wolf form, using the axe in the backyard, and trying to freeze it and crack it.

 -

 David tried really hard not to think about anything on that long drive home.

He did not speed.

The closer he got to home the more he let himself think about the facts and when he was near the city, he even let himself think about the sad doubt in Angel’s voice. He reminded himself again and again that they were okay. Healed and with Asher. They were okay.

When he pulled up the long driveway to the house, the sun was still an hour from rising.

The porch light turned on and the door opened before he was even out of the truck.

Asher crossed the yard to meet him. “They’re asleep on the couch with Babe,” he said. He knew what David’s first question would be. “Darlin and Sam—”

They both felt Darlin closing in before Asher could finish telling him they were on their way. The big wolf slipped from the trees and across the yard, switching to human form without losing a step on approach. They flashed a smile, blood on their cheek and a backpack in hand. They stopped, winded but unharmed, and held out the bag to David.

It was Angel’s. Darlin’s knuckles were bloody. “Scared the shit out of them and ran them out of town,” they said.

“Did they have any connections to anyone else?” David asked. Darlin would know what he meant. Had they or their home smelled like any other pack or vamp that could have a grudge against them.

Darlin shook their head. “No. Just assholes that thing the world owes them whatever they want.”

David took the bag. “Did you break covert?”

Darlin snorted. “Oh. Yeah, definitely. Those guys pissed themselves. If they told anyone that a wolf and a vamp attacked them though, no one would believe them. We dragged them out of town and told them not to come back. And said some shit about how I’d know if they hurt anyone else. Oh, and your mate broke this big guy’s nose. I broke his arm.” Darlin clearly had zero regrets.

David reached out and grabbed the back of their neck, giving it a squeeze. “Thank you.”

Darlin looked like they might blush, huffing a breath and looking away fast.

“Where’s Sam?” Asher asked.

“I sent him home. Didn’t want him to get stuck out here after the sun comes up.”

David nodded and let them go. “Go home. You did good.”

Darlin exhaled relief and took a step back. “Next time you want someone hunted down, keep me in mind,” they said with a smile before shifting and taking off.

David looked at Asher. Asher waited. David knew he was waiting to take the blame if that’s what was coming. He didn’t even look defensive or worried about it. He would just take it, if that’s what David needed to get out. Angel had called him. As much as he wished none of this had happened, he loved that his mate had known who to call and that he never doubted for a second that Asher would handle this for him—just like David would have done if things had been reversed. It wasn’t because they were alpha and beta. It was because they were best friends.

David took those steps to close the distance between them. Asher didn’t cringe or wince like most would have if someone like David advanced on them on a night like this. No, Asher just waited. David hugged him and Asher hugged him back, tight. “Thanks,” he said, barely more than a mumble.

Asher patted his back a few times before they unraveled from each other. “Any time.” They started for the house. “We can head home if you want.”

David shook his head. “Stay. You guys can use the guest room like usual.”

Asher smirked, holding the door for him. “You gonna make waffles in the morning?”