~Ayla~
Winter was almost at its peak, but even the nippy air couldn't perk me up the next morning. Fighting back a yawn and the urge to bury my red hands deep into my coat pockets, I stood on my porch waiting for the new warrior assignments to arrive. I'd updated Jorge, my beta, soon after the meeting ended the day before, so he'd dragged himself from his house to mine for this headache as well.
I'd be getting five new men. Five. This was in addition to the five I already had, which was three more than the typical pack allotment of two. I had conflicting feelings on the matter. On one hand, the more people that were on guard, the less likely I'd die. On the other hand, the more people I had from Cox's pack, the more likely I'd be frustrated all day, every day. While I understood I wasn't their alpha, they never gave a damn about my opinion on my own pack's protection. Over the past year, I'd spoken to enough of the other alphas under Cox's guard to learn that wasn't standard procedure. Alpha Cox was just a dick.
Finally, when I was almost ready to throw out decorum and head inside for some coffee, I heard the crunch of gravel as vehicles approached. Keeping my posture straight, I descended down the steps as a truck and a jeep pulled to a stop on my lawn. Quickly, a symphony of door slamming and heavy footsteps began. The man driving the jeep approached first. He had a build very typical of men from Cox's pack, large and bulky, like he could be a linebacker in a more human reality. A quick look behind him confirmed that the others looked similarly.
I plastered a smile onto my face as I reached out my right hand in greeting and half-expected it to get crushed in some machismo display.
"I'm Alpha Huxley," I stated.
"Nikolay," the man said simply, clasping my hand in a firm but surprisingly gentle shake.
Upon closer inspection, the man seemed friendly. I couldn't spot any malice in his light eyes, and the pair of bushy eyebrows he sported made his face seem less menacing than the rest of him.
I exchanged greetings with the other four men, which resulted in four handshakes that had my hand feel as if it had been permanently compressed.
"Well, if you'll follow me, I can show you guys where you'll be staying. There's an empty property close enough to the others from your pack that it shouldn't cause any issues." I began walking towards one of the trails.
"Alpha Huxley, apologies if this wasn't communicated properly, but we're to stay with you."
Instead of cursing Alpha Cox under my breath, I spun around with a smile plastered onto my face.
"No worries. Your alpha has a lot on his plate and understandably must have forgotten. You all can take any of the empty rooms on the second floor." Hiding my annoyance, I swung the house door open wide. "Come on in."
There was some chattering amongst them as they grabbed their bags until finally, I was able to close my front door and seal the frigid air out.
"You all got here just in time," I lied as I led them through the first floor. "A big storm is coming. It's going to take ages to clear the roads after."
"Do you have enough supplies? We can go and pick up anything you need." Nikolay asked.
"Thank you for the offer, but we're all stocked up" I responded, truly thankful this time. Nikolay didn't seem to be insinuating I was inept but instead trying to be helpful. "We have enough food to last us the whole winter if we need it."
"Aright, but Jesse should be able to make it through the snow if you need anything. Please don't hesitate to ask."
Confused, I stopped for a moment. I don't remember any of the men being named Jesse. "Jesse?"
Nikolay let out a warm chuckle. "The Jeep."
"Jesse the Jeep?"
Nikolay's smile was infectious. "Jesse the Jeep."
I found myself smiling back.
~~~
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