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***
"Here you go, spray some of this on your arms and legs," Allen said, handing me a spray bottle from the glove compartment. I read the label. 2-in-1 mosquito repellent and sunscreen.
I gestured with the bottle in my hand. "Why?"
He chuckled. "Because we're going for a walk in a forest, the sun is shining, and there are mosquitos in forests, Love- and you're allergic,"
I narrowed my eyes. "How did you know that?"
He cleared his throat. "Well, you spent quite a bit of time in the hospital when we just met, and I went to get most of your food, so I just asked the doctor if there were any allergies mentioned in your chart, so I wouldn't end up sending you into anaphylactic shock, and he said, and I quote; 'she's only allergic to mosquito bites. I asked him what that would mean, as basically everyone is allergic to mosquitos, and he said, that when you get bitten, it doesn't just itch, but burn, and since I don't want that: Mosquito repellent,"
I crossed my arms, my eyes still narrow. "Alright, that is... an acceptable explanation. but you're on thin fucking ice," I warned him, spraying some of the repellent onto my legs and smearing it around
"So, where exactly are we going?" I asked, sitting up straight again.
He smiled, keeping his eyes on the road. "It's just a small walking trail, leads to a really nice little meadow-ish thing- an open space. There's a little water creek nearby as well,"
"How come you don't turn into a wolf... more often? I mean, your yard is... massive,"
He stopped at a red light. "Yeah, but... we... wolves. All of us like more natural nature, and a bigass lawn just won't do it, and also... I like... smelling things," his cheek turned reddish. He's hot, polite, adorable, and without a doubt great in bed- what'd I ever do to deserve him?
"Let me guess- you take a leak on the trees too?"
He shrugged. "Well, I definitely won't when you're there," he let out a dry laugh.
I scrunched my nose. Alright, maybe not that polite again.
He held his hands out, and with a smile, I laid mine in it, our fingers tangling. Deep breath. "I love you, Allen,"
He squeezed my hand, nuzzling me with his thumb. "I love you more,"
Warmth spread in my chest, the tingly soft feeling spreading throughout my entire body. My heart slowed down just a little, calmness enveloping me at the feeling of Allen's hand around mine. It felt so... familiar. Safe.
Never, in a thousand years when I first met Allen, could I have imagined feeling so safe and calm in his presence. Sleeping better when he was next to me than when he wasn't... holding his hands for the sheer comfort of it.
Character development, I guess.
We drove for another 15 minutes, the air only filled with the sound of the radio playing a song I knew the tune, but not the name of. We kept holding hands until we got there, and when we did, he parked in a small gravel lot, mostly surrounded by trees. He gestured for me to follow him out of the car.
I looked around the trees, the light shining through the leaves, and took a deep breath. Okay, this is nice.
"Ready to get walking?" Allen asked from behind me, taking my hand and kissing the knuckles. I nodded, kissing his cheek before he stood up straight. He sent me the widest smile, and then we headed off into the forest.
We walk silently for a while. "Alright, Love... what is your favorite band?"
I thought it over for a second. "Imagine Dragons. Bad Liar and Thunder are my favorites,"
Allen nodded. "I like Demons. Zero is also pretty good though. Now you ask me a question,"
I clicked my tongue. "If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would you go?"
He was silent for a moment. "Well, my winter estate is pretty great, but Berlin was pretty great- oh Rome too. Although the bone church was hella creepy,"
My cheeks became pink. "Right, I'd forgotten that you basically can go on vacation anywhere," I laughed. Allen squeezed my hand.
"It's fair that you forget, your... background considered. Is there anywhere you'd like to go? We could figure out something next year, or for your birthday,"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Allen, we are not going anywhere just because of my birthday. But... I'd love to go to Europe someday. Anywhere in Europe, really. Or maybe just Brazil, that would probably be great too," I shrugged.
"Okay... favorite holiday?"
Tilting my head from side to side, I thought it over. "Well, me and my family aren't religious. So it's mostly been Christmas. Although I don't mind Halloween- does your family do anything for Halloween, by the way? I mean, It's coming up and all?"
"When I was younger we'd go trick or treating. Austin and Emmely still do, but the rest of us just... buy our candy. We do dress up and have a little 'scary dinner'- you know, meatloaf shaped like a hand, pasta dyed red like intestines, eggs painted like eyeballs. Those kinds of stuff. We can carve pumpkins if you want to. That could be fun,"
I smiled. "Yeah, it could- but what's your favorite holiday?"
He grinned. "Christmas. Definitely Christmas. Getting together with my family, going up North, decorating the tree, watching The Grinch and Home Alone on repeat while my awful sisters scream along to All I want for Christmas. It's fantastic,"
I nodded. "It sounds great... well, I've already told you how me and my family used to celebrate, so..."
He bumped my hip with his. "Yeah. But it'll be different from now on. Our tree is 7 feet tall, and the two of us will be decorating it together,"
"What about your family?"
"We have two homes up there. As a general rule, once the younger Alpha has taken over, he goes to the other place with his mate- that's you- and then when our oldest is old enough, he'll get the other place and we'll be staying with the rest of our kids and my family. The current Alpha is basically in charge of Christmas, and that's how it goes and has been going for the past few hundred years,"
I stepped over a tree root. "Yeah, you had those pictures too, right? The really old ones of your family?"
He nodded. "Yup. And paintings from before that... I should really have someone restore the painting soon, too. We usually do that every twenty years or so. Keep the paint nice and vibrant,"
I breathed deeply. "Of course, because I know everything about restoring decades-old paintings,"
A chuckle left him. "Right... okay... weird thing you got a sudden interest for as a kid? I got really into astrology when I was 7, for some reason. I don't remember any of it now, though. Oh, and also knitting. but I can still knit,"
I pursed my lips. "Does serial killers count?"
"Nope. Come up with something new,"
Biting my lip, I stepped onto a fallen tree, balancing as I walked on the tree trunk. "Alright... mummies. Like the Egyptian ones. I loved to read about them for some reason,"
He nodded. "You and dead people,"
"My time to ask a question... if you weren't an alpha, like, if you had no obligations or anything you were supposed to be, what would you have wanted to work with? You already know mine,"
Walking silently, he thought it over. "Being honest, I haven't thought about it too much. I don't mind being Alpha, I like it, actually, setting aside the stress, and I always knew that was where I was going. But, I guess... I don't know, social worker maybe, or something with at-risk youth. Philanthropic stuff you know- helping out those who didn't get to be as fortunate as I did,"
I just looked at him, smiling. Pink tainted his cheeks. "What?"
I shrugged. "That's... a really great answer,"
His blush became darker. "Uh... thanks, Love," he rubbed his neck, a little nervous laugh leaving him. "Alrighty then... favorite type of clothes?"
And so we talked. Back and forth, asking questions about each other- the foods we hated the most, funniest jokes we knew, favorite historical interior design style, and most importantly, favorite book genre. I'd laughed my ass off when a very reluctant Allen had given a whispered admission that he had a soft spot for vampire romance novels, and apparently had a copy of all the Twilight books stuffed away, behind some other books in the bookcase of his office.
I am so going to use this as blackmail.
But soon enough, sooner than I'd liked, actually, Allen stopped in a little opening between the trees, the sun once again shining a greenish light through the leaves and onto my skin. I watched as the beads of light moved along my skin when I moved, and tilted my head back, looking through the tree crowns.
"This is beautiful," I muttered, more to myself than to him.
"I completely agree,"
The sound of his voice made me snap out of me, and I met his eyes. From the mere glance, I could tell that it wasn't the scenery he was so impressed about. My cheeks and the tips of my ears suddenly felt warm. I bit the inside of my cheek.
He threw out his arms to the open space. "So, are you ready?"
I looked around, quickly locating a tree stump for me to sit on. It was a little damp, but once I'd taken a seat, I nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be to see a wolf that's taller than me, I guess,"
He grinned, dimple showing, and reached for the hem of his t-shirt, beginning to pull it over his head. Once he had done that, he reached for his belt. I could almost feel the alarms going off inside my head, my hand coming up to cover my eyes instinctively.
"Allen, what are you doing?"
"Love, I only brought the set of clothes I'm wearing, so unless I take it off now I won't have any to walk back to the car, or drive home in, for that matter. Also... I mean, I saw everything last night, and I... enjoyed what I saw, a lot-"
My ears became red hot.
"-and I figured that I'd return the favor,"
I rolled my eyes, my hand still covering over them. "Allen, no offense, but I do not have the same immediate desire to see you without clothes on as you apparently do for me. So please, take the clothes off and get this over with,"
I heard him laugh. Jerk.
I listened as birds sung in the treetops, only interrupted by a ruffle of leaves.
Warm hair blew through my hair, and I looked up slowly, meeting a set of surprisingly familiar dark eyes. I leaned back a little, taking in the sight in front of me. He was sitting on his rear, but even still he was a bit taller than me. A nervous laugh left me. "Your hair and your... fur match,"
A deep breath left the animal in front of me, and ever so slowly, he moved down further, laying down, and resting his snout on my stomach. Alright Paige, just stay calm. It may seem like a... massive... monster, but it's just Allen. Just Allen. My sweet Allen.
I lifted up a shaking hand, running it through the fur on the top of his, a loud huff of approval leaving Allen. He stepped back, standing up straight. I couldn't help but laugh- his tongue was hanging out, a goofy dog grin on his face. Alright, he's cute as a human, semi-human, and a wolf. What the fuck is he even doing with me?
He closed his mouth, tilting his head a bit to the side, confusion on his face. I wrapped my arms around myself. "It's a little... weird, to see you so... not human. But I'm getting used to it. It's not as scary as I thought it'd be, to say the least,"
And so, the goofy dog grin was back, although it disappeared the next second when a rumbling came from my stomach. The tips of my ears reddened. "Sorry, guess I didn't eat enough breakfast," I shrugged.
Concern flashed over wolf Allen's face, and he began stepping back slowly, before looking up at me, running his paws over his eyes. "Oh," I said, closing my eyes and covering them with my hands. Another rustle of leaves sounded, and soon enough, I heard Allen's soft voice once again.
"Alright, let's get some food in you, since you can't figure out how to do it properly yourself," he chuckled.
I kept my eyes closed. "Are you dressed yet?"
He laughed again. "Yes, my Love. I'm dressed. You can open your eyes now,"
I followed orders, to be met with his as-usual dashing smile. He held his hand out for me to take, and so I did, as he helped me up from the tree stub. He didn't let go of my hand once I'd gotten onto my feet though.
"So, my love, what are you in the mood for? We could find a nice little restaurant to eat some lunch at?"
I bit my lip, considering for a bit. "I... am in the mood for somewhere with a salad bar. A salad bar with pasta,"
He nodded, "Okay, I think I know a place, but let's get back to the car first, yeah?"
I nodded, once again looking around myself, and up. "It's so lovely out here. The fresh air, the trees, the way the light filters through the branches. It's... beautiful."
He looked up along with me, his eyes following the same path as mine just had. "Yeah, you're right about that. Perhaps when I find a new place for us, we should look for an estate with a bit of forest on it,"
"A new place for us? Are we... moving?"
He shrugged. "Not now, or anytime soon necessarily. But I was thinking that maybe once you'd finished school... I don't know. It's just that my house... it's so mine. I want a place that's ours, where we both had a say in what we liked, what design we wanted in the house. And also maybe fewer floors. You know, marble stairs aren't exactly safe for children,"
"Or my clumsy ass, for that matter," I laughed dryly.
He nodded, holding back his laughter. "Right, that too... I don't know. Would you like something like that? I mean, we can essentially build it however we want. You could get a creepy little room with a projector and pictures of serial killers plastered on the walls like wallpaper, for you to watch your scary ass documentaries in,"
I couldn't help my smile. "That doesn't sound exactly bad. However, if we go through with this... can we still have a pool? I really love being able to go outside and swim whenever I want,"
"Anything for you my Love. You know that,"
I bit my lip, smiling. I always get what I waaaaant.
We walked back through the forest, mostly in silence this time. Every once in a while, Allen would ask me a seemingly random question or tell me an odd fact about some plant or tree we passed.
Soon enough, we were back at the gravel parking lot. We both got into our seats, fastening our seatbelts. I watched closely as he turned the car out of the parking lot. "I have a question," I said.
After he told me to go ahead, I stayed silent for a second. "Is it like... difficult to drive? I was thinking that maybe... I don't know," I shrugged.
He didn't look away from the road. "You're thinking of getting your license? That's a great idea?"
I couldn't help my surprise. "Really? I figured you'd freak out at the idea of me possibly getting into an accident without your superhero ass to save me, or you know... the thought of me being able to get in a car and just..." I sent my hand forward in a quick motion. "...drive off,"
He chuckled. "I do trust you enough to know that you wouldn't do that... and yes, it would make me... anxious to not be there to protect you, but that's life. I'm always anxious when I'm not with you. But you need to be able to get around on your own, since you hate drivers so much, and there will be Alpha stuff where I'll need to go out of town or... anything like that. It's a great idea," he smiled, stopping at a red light. I looked out through the windows. We were slowly getting back into the town.
We drove for another few minutes, the buildings getting taller as we did, and listening to the radio. Allen turned in on a little side street, and then turned left once more, placing the car in a parking booth. I looked at the building on my right. The weighed plate. I raised an eyebrow. "What's this place?"
"You said you wanted a salad bar, this place has them. You take a plate, there's a buffet. You put what you want on the plate, and then you pay by the weight. I know the owner, and the food is great. C'mon," he gestured with his head for me to follow. I opened the car door and followed him.
He held the door to the restaurant open for me, kissing my cheek as I passed. My cheeks turned pink as he followed me further into the room. We both sanitized our hands, grabbing the plates stacked at the beginning of the buffet.
We each loaded whatever we wanted onto our plates, slowly moving right along the entire buffet. Once our plates were satisfactorily full, we headed off to the register at the very end of the buffet, dinging the little bell.
And then, out from the kitchen, came the most massive man I had possibly ever seen. He had to be at least 6'6, if not more, his twists were wrapped in a hairnet, dark arms crossed when he came out the door. Although, as soon as he caught sight of us, a massive smile spread on his face. "Al? What the hell? I haven't seen you since we graduated- how you been?"
Allen smiled, wrapping his arm around me. "I've been fantastic, as you can see," he looked down at me, eyes soft and loving. "Jace, this is Paige, my mate. Paige, this is Jace- we dated in college," he smiled.
My mind refused to connect to my mouth, so I just awkwardly waved at him. He laughed loudly. "No worries, I ain't gonna try and steal him. My heart belongs to someone else. Anyway, y'all want your plates weighed or what?" he gestured to the weight in front of him.
We handed him our plates and paid, and then went to sit down. I stayed quiet throughout the entire process. Once we'd finally taken a seat, Allen looked at me with concern in his eyes. "Something in the matter, Love?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. I was just a little surprised to meet your... ex-boyfriend so suddenly,"
"I thought you were okay with that?"
"I am! I am okay with that, I mean, I don't care that you were with a guy, that's stupid. I just..." I bit my lip and looked down at my food. "It's just weird. Knowing you were... in love with someone else,"
He chuckled. "In love is a little much. We dated for three months, and for two of those we weren't exclusive. I was in college. It wasn't... much. It was three years ago. And he has a mate, in case you didn't notice the ring on his hand,"
A sort of weight was lifted off my shoulders at the thought of him being married. Okay, lighten the mood. "I was more busy taking in the fact that he was ten feet tall rather than the fact that he had a ring,"
Allen laughed. "Right. That was also the first thing I noticed,"
We focused on our food silence falling over the table. Under the table, I felt Allen move his legs against mine. I smiled.
***
Allen's wolf... several of you have requested it. I don't really get why, but there you have it.
Also in case you wondered... yes, Allen was the bottom when he was dating Jace.
Got my first shot of the Pfizer. My arm was a lil sore, but that's about it- and I didn't even need for any nurses to hold me down.
Anyways, the question for you... and this is a bit triggering, I realize that, and feel free to skip it if you wish, but: What is the creepiest murder/disappearance case from your country, or town, or state or whatever?
I have picked my 'top 3'. On third place, is the Kim Wall case. It's not really that odd in and of itself, but the fact that it was on a submarine? Wth? I am pretty sure a good deal of the world are like, aware of this, but if you're not (and if you feel comfy) try googling 'Denmark submarine murder case'
The second one would probably be Dagmar Overby. An oldie but a goodie- she is suspected of somewhere between 20-60 murders of infants and babies during the 1920s. Again, one nasty hag, but still not quite as scary as the number one.
The (IMHO) scariest case I've yet to hear of is probably the case of Roujan Ismaeel, from 1995. She is 7 years old. At 5.30 PM, a neighbor sees her on her tricycle, having the time of her life. At 7:20 PM, she is found r4ped and murdered by blunt force trauma to the head, probably from a hammer, and also stabbed in the back thrice, by an unidentified object, by a neighbor in a trash bag (as in, it was the neighbor that found her)... the case has never been solved. Seven years old. She wasn't even gone for two hours. That is absolutely horrifying.
Anyways, fact about me... as you may have figured out, I love true crime, and hearing about murders. There's actually this really great podcast with 100+ episodes on murders... I should really get to listening to that.
Fun fact: I can't really ride a bike. I mean, I can, I used to bike to school every day... until I fell, and ended up in the ER, unable to contact my mom or dad. And then, a year later, when I finally got the courage to try biking again, the handlebar on the new bike my parents had bought me was loose, so I fell straight away. I've biked like 2 or 3 times since then.
See ya in the next chapter, and remember to vote for the story- makes it reach out to more new readers. And also, please comment- I love reading the comments you guys leave <3