The Alpha's Prey [Alpha-series (I)]

Epilogue

A family of five, dressed in matching cheesy Christmas sweaters and gleeful smiles on their faces, gathered around a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, working their way through a mountain of prettily wrapped presents – what I saw in front of me was a Christmas card come to life. My hands glued to the window, I watched the scene unfold, unable to avert my gaze. I was so close to what to me seemed like the ultimate happiness, yet I knew I would never be a part of it, never wear such a carefree smile myself. Stuck in my prison of solitude with escape not being an option, all I could do was watch and envy them.
I had tried. God knows I had tried so fucking hard to make them except me, had obeyed their every word, showered them with praise – only to be pushed away time and time again. The only thing I had ever gotten in return had been humiliation and contempt. Angrily I wiped away the tears that had found their way to the surface. It was so unfair! My only sin was to be born to the wrong mother, and that was hardly my fault, was it?
Two weeks ago, Mom had overdosed again, just in time for Christmas. Lucky me. It was her fourth time in rehab. Now, I was back at my father’s house – or, to be more precise, at his pool house that was usually reserved for guests. After I had been dumped at my father’s doorstep for the second time, Angela had almost lost it and send me here.
"Don’t you dare take a single step back into my home, you filthy brat, do you hear me?", she had warned me back then. "Gosh, why couldn’t your mother do us all a favor and drink herself into oblivion when you were still in her womb? But no, she had to grace the world with a carbon copy of herself, that dirty bitch!"
Rather than being forced under the same roof with people who utterly despised my every breath, having a small house all to myself didn’t seem all too bad, and so I had gladly complied with my stepmother’s decree. But that didn’t mean I wished things were different – especially on Christmas morning. Not that last year had been any different. After pulling some strings, mom had been invited to the Christmas party of a famous production company.
"You don’t mind spending the evening alone, do you?"
I did, but when had speaking my mind ever changed anything?
"I mean, you are fourteen, it’s not like you are a child anymore, right? We’ll have a nice breakfast together tomorrow, I promise!"
Needless to say, said breakfast had never taken place. My mother made promises as lightly as she broke them, and she saw no shame in that. Instead of an apology, when she returned the following evening, she swooned over "this great guy" she met at the party and how they had spent "a magical night" together and she was sure he was "the one". Spoiler alert: three weeks later, my mother had found out while he was "the one" for her, she was just one of many for him. But her sorrow never lasted long. I knew all too soon she would find another "great guy". She always did.
On the other side of the pool, my youngest stepsister just finished unwrapping one of her presents which turned out to be a baby doll. Overjoyed she pressed the toy to her heart and ran up to our father who immediately bent down to her so she could press a kiss to his cheek. He laughed and scooped her up into his arms, his love for the little girl openly showing on his face. No one had ever looked at me like that, not even my mother, and I doubted anyone ever would. A sob escaped me and before I knew it, I found myself sitting on the cold floor, hugging my knees and crying my eyes out.
Suddenly, I felt a warm hand caressing my wet cheek. I looked up and found myself staring into familiar green.
"A bad dream?", Caleb softly asked.
Relief washed over me and I snuggled up to my mate’s muscular chest, needing to feel his warmth, to bathe myself in this wonderful manly scent of his and convince myself he was real.
"A bad memory", I mumbled, voice rough with emotion.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
I shook my head. There was no use in dwelling on some shitty childhood memories. The past was the past.
"Let’s just stay like this a little longer, can we?"
Caleb tightened his grip to pull me closer to him.
"I love you", he whispered into my ear.
Instead of an answer, I let out an unladylike snivel, followed by a new stream of tears. Through our mind link, I could feel the true depths of his feelings that words alone would never be able to fully convey. What had I done to deserve such a caring, smart, gorgeous man?
"Not exactly the reply I had hoped for", he chuckled.
My lips kicked up.
"Never heard the term tears of joy?", I teased, voice still shaky.
"I’d prefer a smile of joy, especially on the morning of Christmas”, he replied while brushing away my tears with his thumb. “I know how much you've been looking forward to this day.”
After a shopping trip to Amber Grove with Gaby, both of us had been bitten by the Christmas bug. It hadn’t even really struck me up until then that it was already this time of the year, which wasn’t surprising considering waiting for Christmas decorations to be set up at a werewolf’s house was bound to be in vain.
“I still can’t believe you guys never celebrated Christmas before!”
Since it was a Christian festival and the faith of the werewolves revolved entirely around the moon goddess, I probably should have guessed as much. But growing up in a society deeply molded by Christianity and an ad industry that had turned Christmas into the biggest family event of the year, it was hard to imagine a December without it, even if I didn’t consider myself a religious person. That’s why after our little trip to town, still drunken on Christmas so to speak, I had suggested on a whim that we should celebrate it this year and go human style for once. The last two months hadn’t exactly been an easy ride, so I had figured we could all use some gleeful distraction, something fun and special to look forward to. Gaby was immediately hooked on the idea, so the boys were basically presented with a fait accompli.
My mate raised an eyebrow.
“Have you ever celebrated Beltane?”
Beltane was the biggest festival in werewolf society besides the mating ceremony. It was celebrated in May to praise the goddess and pray for a rich harvest season and many pregnancies.
“Let’s just say we both still have a lot to learn about each other”, I offered.
A teasing bite into my lip was Caleb’s response.
“Good safe”, he rasped.
I smirked. He was in the mood to play, and so was I.
Our tongues had just started their lustful dance when Caleb suddenly stopped. A deep sigh escaped him, then he nodded towards the door.
“The kids are up”, he grimly announced.
With Lucy’s help, I switched on my superhuman senses so I could hear them, too. They were sitting in their beds, quietly chatting with each other. A couple of days ago, Gaby had found her voice again after almost two months of complete silence. To hear her shaky voice had greatly relieved all of us, but she still insisted on sharing a room with Yuri. We saw no reason to rush her, knew one day she would be ready to move into her own room. That Gaby had started to talk, even smile on occasion, showed she had started to heal, started to work her way through the trauma of her parent’s murder. It was a slow process, but the important thing was that she did move forward, one small step at a time.
I gave Caleb a quick kiss to ease his disappointment.
“This evening, I am all yours, I promise!”
He flashed me one of his dazzling half-smiles.
“I’ll hold you to that!”
We put on some decent clothes and while I headed to the room of the kids to wish them a good morning and call them downstairs, Caleb started to prepare breakfast. Twenty minutes later we had all claimed our chairs at the kitchen table and started to tear into Caleb’s delicious pancakes and bacon with scrambled eggs.
“So, what do you guys think?”, I asked after I had forced Caleb and Yuri to watch the trailers for “Scrooged” and “The Polar Express” on my cellphone. Yesterday, Gaby and I had spent almost an hour searching for a fitting Christmas movie to watch this evening. It wasn’t easy to find something that held the promise to entertain all four of us.
“That no matter what we are going to say, you are going to make us watch one of those two anyway”, was Yuri’s dry reply. He wasn’t one to be easily pleased or impressed, made you work for his cooperation. Good thing I wasn’t one to easily give up.
I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows.
“Do you want me to give you the Christmas spirit-talk a third time?”, I threatened, already used to his indifference and not in the least intimidated by it. The boy wasn’t being difficult on purpose. This thick wall of apathy that he had erected around himself was a defense mechanism, was the reason he had survived years and years of terrible abuse from his parents and later his adventurous escape from Russia to Canada. But underneath all that I-am-such-a-badass-act he hid a caring, good-natured soul.
Yuri threw me an annoyed glance before he gave in.
“The Polar Express sounds wonderful. I would love to watch it”, he said, his tone still dry as dirt despite the blooming words.
“See? Was that so hard?”
He let out a heavy sigh, shuffled another pancake onto his plate, and deliberately ignored my question.
“What do you think, Caleb?”, Gaby asked.
“Seems like a nice film. Let’s go for it.”
“The Polar Express it is, then!”, I cheerfully announced.
After breakfast, we gathered around the lavishly decorated Christmas tree we had set up in the living room.
“Alright, who wants to go first?”, I asked, excited to see how everyone would react to the presents I had prepared.
To my surprise, Gaby walked up to the tree and grabbed a small present wrapped in a cute reindeer wrapper that I hadn’t seen before.
“It’s not much, but Yuri and I wanted to get you guys something as well”, she shyly explained, handing the gift to us.
Moved and curious what the two of them might have gotten us, I opened the wrapper to uncover an empty photo frame.
Any idea what’s the meaning of this?
Unfortunately, my mate looked as clueless as me.
None.
“It’s for a family picture”, Gaby explained. “We are a family now, aren’t we? And …” She swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. “And every family needs at least one family picture in their house!”
Blinking back my tears, I pressed the frame close to my heart. Gosh, that girl was pure sugar!
“You are right, that’s definitely a must!”, I agreed. “Thank you! I … we”, I corrected after exchanging a glance with Caleb, “love it.”
Yuri cleared his throat. He didn’t like getting emotional.
“So, where is my present?”
Caleb tossed him the key to our garage which he just as easily caught.
“Both your presents were too big to fit under the tree, so we had to store them in the garage.”
Yesterday evening we had cleared the garage and put the two presents in the center, each covered with a bedsheet.
“The left one is yours.”
Yuri’s face when he revealed the shiny new piano that was hidden under the sheet was priceless. Without saying a word, he seated himself on the piano stool, his fingers reverently stroking the instrument as if he needed to convince himself it was real. We knew he had a piano at Lucas’ house, but both children were still too shaken about what had happened two months ago and not ready to go back just yet. The brutal death of their parents was still all too vivid in their memories, the wound their passing had caused still too fresh and painful. It also didn’t feel right to just take the piano out of the house and transport it here. When the time was right, we wanted the children to decide what they wanted to do with the house and everything in it.
“Go ahead, have a look at yours!”, I encouraged Gaby.
She did as I told, couldn’t make much of the shining red quad in front of her though. Just like their present this one probably needed a little explaining.
“We’ll build a street leading from our pack to yours”; Caleb jumped in. “With this, you’ll be able to visit whenever you want to.”
As the only person in our family who couldn’t shift into a wolf, we wanted to present her with an opportunity to somehow catch up with us in a way. We also hoped it would make it easier for her to settle in with us, knowing she could visit her uncles and her parents’ house without being dependent on us.
Gaby turned around, eyes wet and a shaky smile on her face. Thank you, she formed with her lips, unable to speak the words out loud.
Seems like our presents are a success and all the sleepless nights weren’t for nothing.
We’d wrecked our brains for days, trying to come up with something special, something we could be certain each of them would be able to treasure and enjoy.
I am still a little torn about the quad, I confessed.
Don’t worry, I’ll teach her how to drive properly before we let her loose on her own, Caleb promised.
After we helped Yuri to move the piano to the living room, he inaugurated it by playing several of his favorite pieces, sharing his stool with Gaby.
He is better than I expected.
That boy holds many surprises.
Caleb’s statement was half compliment, half warning.
As does every other teenager on this planet, I countered.
A deep chuckle.
I guess you are right.
He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and held a small jewelry box out to me.
By the way, I got you a little something as well.
Touched that he had thought of me, I accepted the tiny dark blue box and opened it. What was inside made me hold my breath in awe. It was a delicate silver band with a beautiful white diamond entwined in it.
Is that … a wedding ring?
I know our mating ceremony didn’t mean the same to you as it did to me, so I figured I better find something that does.
He took the ring out of the box and slipped it on my finger, his eyes shimmering with pride. It fit perfectly.
Now the humans, too, will know you are taken, he declared.
It’s beautiful, I love it!
I bit my lips, amused that our thoughts had wandered in the same direction.
I got you a little something, too.
I went to fetch the last gift stored under the Christmas tree, a small square box.
Open it.
One look inside, and his whole face light up like a candle, even though what was inside wasn’t nearly as glamorous as a diamond ring.
Gemma Underwood, he read the name that was now written on my brand-new ID card. You adopted my name.
I did.
His lips were on mine before I could blink.
“Hey, why are you covering my eyes!”, I heard Gaby complain.
“It’s for your best”, Yuri assured her. “Believe me."