Finding Evelyn A Home

Chapter 19 Shopping with the Alpha

Chapter 19 Shopping with the Alpha
His eyes practically smoulders me with heat, and I melt in his arms which has become an impenetrable cage around me. I feel safe in his arms, and maybe it's because of this, or maybe because of the way his eyes have entranced me- so much so that I find myself agreeing.

'I promise.'

The drive to the pack house normally takes 15 minutes- as in the previous cases that I had been driven here, the wolves driving were reckless (including Colton) and they had taken the dangerous cuts through the forest. Unfortunately, Alpha Jackson is much different. After describing to me all of the errands he has to run around the pack grounds, he insists on doing all of them first before dropping me back to the pack house.

Our first stop is the local gardens which many green-thumbed pack members look after. As Alpha Jackson is explaining now, the gardens produce most of the vegetables and fruits that I cook on a regular basis. Not only that, but they are evenly shared with the rest of the pack whom are not living in the main house, with any left overs going straight to the town for the needy. Ignoring the blinding heat of the sun, we stumble through the chilli bell peppers, until eventually, the packaging centre is just a foot away. There are overgrown branches of trees on the sides of the hut and thick nestles of bushes bordering the front of the house, sending a beautiful floral fume into the air. The porch looks rickety and the wood worn and aged. I absolutely love it already.

We wait for a few moments until the expected someone bursts the door open. A voluptuous woman with a cheeky grin covers the threshold, her purple sarong blowing vividly in the warm summer breeze.
'Bonjour Alpha! Comment ça va? J'adore tes yeux aujourd'hui!' I stare unblinkingly at her, trying to decipher her foreign words.
'Oh la la, et toi, comment tu t'appelle?' I tug at the alpha's sleeve, confusion clouding my mind. Have we come to the wrong place?
'Camelle! Stop teasing the alpha!' A man limps out of nowhere, a crutch in his arm. He looks exhausted, and I'm sure that Camelle's antics have something to do with it. He pulls Camelle away from the doorway and welcomes us inside.
After exchanging nods and a handshake with the alpha, the man turns to me with a kind smile.
'How do you do?' I flush at being addressed, and especially with alpha Jackson being present too.
Past alphas have never allowed me to be approached, or even be present at their meetings. I look towards alpha Jackson, seeking permission to perhaps speak to the man in front of me, but he just grunts with annoyance and I look down at the wooden floors, noting that they need a bit of a scrub.
'I'll just wait outside' I mumble, passing Camelle and out into the garden once more.

I walk quickly past the gate surrounding the hut and back into the open field of crops. I feel ashamed, humiliated, and most of all, hurt. Resisting the urge to curl up into a ball and cry myself to sleep in the sunshine, I blink back the tears threatening to fall and force myself to keep going. I won't be here much longer anyway.

Choosing a sturdy tree, I climb up as far as I could go and settle myself in. Whereas others might find comfort in books, tea, movies, binge eating or getting drunk, I find comfort in sitting up high in a tree and staring into the distance.
Usually, seeing the world's beauty cheers me up, but this time, it just makes me feel a crushing sense of entrapment.
I want to travel the world. I want to marry a kind and loving man, have lots of children, and I want to be loved. I want to wake up each day feeling happy and be able to smile even in the hardest times.
My mind has never understood that I won't be able to have that in life- and I guess because it didn't want to believe in the inevitable.
Until now.

The car ride is silent as we both brood over our own thoughts, the silence deafening even to my own ears. My hands are in knots, and I am afraid to look him in the eye. Focusing instead on the bumpy road, I notice that the trees are getting thinner and there's more open grass with a few stray cows here and there. I think back to his plans earlier, and I was sure he only mentioned visiting the local garden, pack restaurant chains and the transport crew. Unless I am mistaken, this is the way to town as I had remembered Pete explaining.
Soon, houses flash by, painted in all shades of the spectrum, and as the drive continues, they become more crowded and packed.
Well out of pack territory, I can feel the mood shift in the car as alpha Jackson becomes shifty, gripping the steering wheels with such force that I am afraid for it's welfare. I peek at him discreetly, shifting my eyes to the right for as far as it would go without turning my head. Childish I know, but it's worth a try. Suddenly, he clears his throat and I look away quickly, afraid of being caught. He turns to look at me and grasps my trembling hand in his.

'I'm sorry.' He says sincerely.

'S'okay' I mumble, the shaking of my hands slowly ceasing.

The rough bumps in his hand soothes me, and I am well reminded of the roughness of my own hands after years of work. I feel comfort envelop me like a warm blanket and a spark of affection flood through like a tsunami.
He grips my hand tighter, his thumb rubbing circles atop mine until finally something blooms inside of me.
Something like hope.

Cutting the engine, the alpha extracts his hand from mine gently to rummage in his jean's pocket. He pulls out a brown leather wallet and takes out a card from it.
'I- what is it?' I ask him, taking the card from his out reached hand.
He looks dumbfounded at me for a second, until a flash of anger crosses his expression and he quickly explains to me how to use it and most importantly- what it's used for.

We walk through the shops together, the alpha often having to threaten and prise me away from store owners who were incredibly keen on promoting their products. I soon got the hang of shopping, and before you know it, alpha Jackson is carrying Cam's teddy bear, his new clothes, shoes, art things and kid's builders set. His disgruntled expression is one to keep forever. I skip to the next store, dragging the alpha away from an apparently very famous tools shop. After buying the children each something they would love, we settle on a bench facing the lucky fountain with a chocolate fudge ice cream, where alpha Jackson has become a source of amusement to the many passerby's. I guess they find a very large, masculine alpha male sitting next to an almost life-sized teddy bear rather funny. I would join in discreetly, trying to muffle my laughter as the alpha's cheeks blushes bright pink.
After another round of the shops, we finally call it quits and deposit the shopping into the boot. I have never had such a blast in all my life!