Wait! How Did The Stray Dog I Picked Up Turn Into A Man?!

"How could you sneak out on your own?!" Alyssa demanded, flailing her arms frantically in the air as she had been worried sick. "Do you know how worried I was when I didn’t feel your presence in the house or anywhere around? I thought I had lost you."

Michael stood in front of Alyssa, holding the janitor’s clothes in his hands, and looked at the tears in Alyssa’s eyes. Was she that worried?

She brushed away the tears with her index finger.

"Boss already sent me a message to let me know what’s going on but I got a scolding for being irresponsible with your management. It was horrible." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"I’m sorry." Michael said. "I just had to go."

"But it was dangerous."

"Still, I’m back in one piece, right?" He said, which made it hard to argue back.

If he keeps coming back safely after running off like this, there will come a time when he is not so lucky and will actually get hurt.

The previous day, he was lucky since Doctor Ro helped him, but he got hurt on his hand and had to take a tetanus shot so he wouldn’t get infected.

It was not a big deal but it still left a wound on his body.

And today again, he ran off. Though he came back with no scratch, there was this odd smell following him about, and the redness of his eyes that showed he had cried a lot.

He never came back in great shape after running off.

"Please, you can’t run off anymore. Things could her really bad for you." Alyssa pleaded with him with a desperate expression.

She wasn’t doing that just for her job but she was genuinely worried. Anything might happen at any time.

"It’s fine. I won’t run off a third time, I promise."

He already delivered the message and met Noah one more time so he had no reason to run off.

They were already leaving, and he had no more regrets.

He smiled at Alyssa and patted her head.

"I’ll stay home till we leave."

He walked past her and headed for his room.

"Have you had breakfast?" She asked and he nodded, smiling sadly at her.

Alyssa watched him as he continued heading for his room. Though he was in the wrong, could he not show that sad shoulder?

It made her feel sad.

"You’re the one who did the scolding so why are you the one looking sad?" Doctor Ro asked and Alyssa shot a glare at him.

"I also got scolded, you prick!" She yelled, which took him aback.

When did she learn to use such vulgar language? It was quite amusing.

How long would she last using such a crude tongue, this disciplined soldier?

"You wouldn’t have gotten a scolding if you had stopped him instead of sleeping like a log." He added, his eyes scrolling through the pages of his book.

"You..." She pointed at him. "Why didn’t you stop him then, since you’re so easy to wake?"

"I couldn’t be bothered."

"What?!"

Trustfully, he noticed Michael sneaking out but felt it would be fine if he was headed out to a place his mate was.

Besides, it was still early and cold outside. He didn’t want to be forced to go out so he kept quiet about it and pretended to sleep.

He knew if he said that to Alyssa now, she would give him an earful, and he wanted to read his book in peace, so he said nothing more and allowed her to rant till she got tired and headed to her side of the living room.

"You need to take this job seriously." She concluded, and Doctor Ro sighed, dropping the book on his body and staring at the ceiling.

"Gosh, she’s so noisy." He muttered and then closed his eyes.

He would just take a quick nap.

Michael sat on the bed and then rubbed his hands over it. This would be the last night he gets to reminisce on the past in that very bed where the memories were filled.

He wanted to savor it.

He wanted to live in the moment a little longer.

He curled his body on the bed, holding the janitor’s clothes tightly as they had the strongest scent of Noah in that room.

A little while later, he fell asleep. When he woke up, it was dark. He had slept for a rather long time and then got down from the bed, heading to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

He found Alyssa in the living room, watching TV and she asked,

"Are you hungry?"

He shook his head.

"No, just thirsty." He headed for the fridge but did not find Doctor Ro. "Where did Roland go?"

Doctor Ro’s name was actually Roland and he had cut it for his alias. He made this known to them so they could call him by his name since calling him ’Doctor Ro’ seemed too much for all occasions.

"He wanted to make stew but was missing a few things, so he decided to go get them," Alyssa explained, and Michael nodded, gulping down the water till he was satisfied.

"Haa," he wiped his lips and found Alyssa staring at him. "Do you need something?"

"No, I was just thinking." She said.

"About?"

He headed for the chairs in the living room and sat down.

"The thing called love." She said, causing Michael to pause.

He didn’t expect her to say that.

"It’s a strange concept to me, and I always found it funny, so I never gave it much thought. But seeing the things you do for love, the extents you reach and how hurt you are when you’re not next to the person you love..." She pursed her lips, looking a bit awkward. "... I think it’s rather scary than funny."

Michael heard this and then laughed.

"You must be among the bunch that never believed in love." He said, relaxing his back on the chair. "Sure, for those who have never experienced love, they will never understand the pain, the happiness, and the hurt love gives." He explained. "But just as love can cause you unimaginable heartache to the point you feel like ending it all through suicide, it can give you unimaginable happiness that changes your view of the world completely. And not just that, it also changes you. Love guides, love brings, love destroys, love hurts, love cares. There are so many definitions of love, so do not view it from one standpoint. Just because you watch me suffer because of how much I love Noah doesn’t mean that’s all there is to it, right? You’ve seen me happy with him, right?"

Alyssa pursed her lips. There was just so much pressure.

"Love contradicts. Love takes away but it also..." Michael slowly lowered his head, tapping the tips of his fingers together, and then interlocked his fingers. "Brings together." He raised his head and smiled at her.

"I don’t get it."

"Haha, neither do I." Michael said. "But I’m living in it and can testify to so many things, and one of those is that, with love, anything is possible."

He, who hates to be in pain the most, will give his all and live through the pain while waiting for the one he held dear, all in the name of love.

Love is such a mystery that even those in it do not quite grasp the entire context but they are a testimony of its mystery.

"Just know that once you’re in love, you could go to any lengths to get the happiness of the one you love, as well as risk changing your entire life just to be with that one person." He said and she understood that part.

It was because of him that Alpha Noah was taking such a step to change the pack, after all.

What they do for love.

It hurts them so much and yet they’re doing whatever they can for it.

"Love is still so scary." She said and he laughed.

Yeah, it wouldn’t be very easy for her to grasp the concept. He wished she would find that one person who would make her world turn upside down and give her the kind of warmth that would make her too scared to go near the cold.

And he would also wish that once she found that one person, nothing would stop them from getting their happily ever after.

"I know that love makes you do crazy and dangerous stuff, as well." She said, her eyes slanted as she looked at him and he scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Yeah," he rolled his eyes away.

She was probably referring to the stunt he pulled that morning.

"But love is still beautiful." He mentioned.

Then, someone knocked on the door.

"Hm? Did Ro forget to take his keys?" Michael asked, getting up to go open the door.

"I’ll get it." Alyssa said but Michael shook his head.

"No, it’s fine. I’m already standing so let me." He said and then went to open the door, but the person he found was not Doctor Ro but a rather scary and big-built man.

"Are ya the man they call Michael?" He asked and Michael’s eyes widened, recognizing that tone right away.

What... What was this rogue doing at his house?