"Alexandra?" There was a knock at the door and a butler cautiously opened it. "May I?
"There's no Alexandra here, wrong number." I groaned while stretching. It's been a week since Christmas; I agreed to share half of the bed with Luke as long as we put pillows in between, but everyday I would wake up to find him on the floor. While stretching, my arms brushed against something warm and fleshy. What the hell?
"Move your arm or you're going to regret it." A husky voice next to me warned.
"What the hell?!" By then I was wide awake, sitting up so fast I got dizzy. "What are you doing?! Oh geez don't tell me I touched-"
"My face? Not the first time it's happened, get over it." Luke chuckled and turned his back to me, trying to get comfortable.
"What are you doing in my bed?!"
"Our bed." He corrected.
"You were sleeping on the floor though!"
"Got tired of it."
"And our pillow agreement?" Our fluffy wall was nowhere to be found.
"They're all on the floor on your side, nothing I could do about it." He replied without a hint of concern. The butler standing in the doorway cleared his throat to get our attention again.
"Do you mind?!" I glared until he backed outside and closed the door again. "What time is it even?" I couldn't see the digital clock by the bed cause Sleeping Beauty's head was in the way.
"3 am." The princess mumbled out. I gradually noticed the loss of warmth after he rolled away and I bit my lip. I refused to admit that I had enjoyed his presence near me. I knew deep down that we were bound together by an invisible red string, but something about being destined bothered me. It disturbed the idea of warming up to him like how everyone describes mates should be. Not having a choice is what's unsettling about this.
"Alexandra?" The butler knocked again, adding a tad bit more urgency to his tone.
"That's not my name!" I snapped, feeling a vicious fire burn in my stomach.
"You should probably go." Luke murmured, not moving an inch.
"And why's that? It's 3 o'clock! I should be asleep! Not meeting with an old grouch for who know's what reason!" I clenched the sheets.
"Then go find out the reason so I can go back to sleep." The pillow I slept on turned into a weapon the moment I held it down on Sleeping Beauty's head.
"You miserable jerkwad!" He shouted various curses which were muffled by the pillow and fought to breathe. In a flash, his hand squeezed my side and I jumped off, squeaking like a mouse. "That's cheating!" I hissed from the other side of the bed.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Alexandra?!" I had already flipped a chair in the past 30 minutes. There had been 3 more deaths in the past week that no one had told me about til now. All just to taunt and tease me, to drive me insane. Which frankly, they're doing a terrific job!
"That is your birth name, your proper name. And once you become Lord, that is the name you will be addressed by." Victor stated with a strained voice; in the past half hour I had taken shots of my own and his feathers were ruffled indeed.
"My birth name is Fay, the name my mother gave me at birth. My proper name is Fay, the only name I've been called my whole life. Just because my deadbeat dad suddenly pops into my life doesn't change ANYTHING. Now, aren't there more important things to discuss? Like what the hell your pack is doing to track down these bastards?!"
"Everything they can, but you must understand, these aren't just your typical assailants. They're all different species working together. Not even your hunters have managed to get any leads. We are doing all we can, but this matter isn't a concern of yours anymore-"
"Like hell it's not!"
"Sedona." I blinked and my mind went blank until the Alpha raised an envelope.
"When did you get that? And what the hell are you doing reading my letters?!"
"I didn't open it, Daniel found the location with some help. Your father was working with a bit of magic." He gave me the letter, "This came just before 3 o'clock."
"And you didn't see who delivered it?!"
"Also magic."
"I'm getting real tired of all this hocus pocus shit." I tored open the letter, the paper was a bit different. It was also written in someone else's handwriting dated 13 years ago:
Dear Alex,
He's got quite the fight in him, that can't be denied. I can only imagine the spirit that lives in you. He's told me not to send these to you until the time is right, like I know when that'll be. I guess I'd be that one who waits until the world goes to hell and the sky's ablaze. Anyways, he wants her to know he thinks about her every day. If there was a way, he'd never have left her side. For all the time and the struggles he will miss out on, he asks for your forgiveness. The day will come when she must pass down his spirit to you, and when that day comes, wield it proudly and purely. Power has a way of intoxicating the mind.
Wolves being pack animals, most look down upon rogues and outcasts. Some deserve it, others simply prefer their independence and there is nothing wrong with that. From what he's seen, many times they can be of use, they live a bit more freely than those tied to one pack. But be cautious, very cautious! In the place of red rocks, if you are lucky, they still might be there. They chase the stars and vanish just as quickly when dawn comes to find them.
Always in heart and mind,
A.A.
P.S. Should you get here in time, I look forward to meeting you. -L
"Why can't he just give me solid facts on where to go instead of giving me the run around sprinkled with BS." I sighed letting the letter flutter down onto the desk.
"There's the ignorance." Victor smiled, "I suppose your father was immobile by this time, his new ally must have written this for him. It's clear there's a pack in Sedona that he had met, but obviously he doesn't trust them completely."
"This was 13 years ago though, they don't have any ties or obligations to remember a wolf they helped once. Who knows if they're still there?"
"Your father isn't just any wolf, he's the Lord. It's clear you still don't understand the gravity of the title. There may be many wolves, a number of Alphas, but there is only one Lord. There's only one way to find out if the pack is still there, the training you've had so far this week should be sufficient to keep you alive."
"So we leave tomorrow?"
"I'll have a small group escort you on your journey."
"I don't need to be babysat."
"Daniel, Roman, and Shawn will go with you."
"Screw that! Roman wants me dead and the feeling's mutual. Daniel is your beta though, you can't send him away."
"I'm still here and am perfectly capable of managing my pack." Victor commented sternly, obviously I had wounded his pride with my remark.
"Right, but Roman's not coming with."
"He's one of our best and I must ensure that our Heiress is safe."
"I won't be safe if he's around."
"I'll go!" Eliza burst through the doors without a trace of shame that she had been eavesdropping. Victor's whole demeanor turned from Alpha to father, a very irritated father. "I'm just as good a fighter as Roman and you know it! I'm even better at tracking and when it comes to-"
"Go back to your room. This does not concern you." Victor didn't even blink in consideration for her idea.
"It has everything to do with me! This is our Heiress that we're talking about and as the future pack leader I must do my part!"
"No." Victor grew more red by the second, watching their interaction I could see the love and fear in the Alpha. She was his daughter, his most precious commodity, and to put her in harm's way was just unthinkable. Out there, if anything went wrong, there was nothing he could do about it. If it weren't for my mother, I would be totally lost to the unspoken conversation. But seeing it come from a man was different, it was a bit strange. Somewhere, buried deep in my memories, I felt as though Manuel and I shared a moment or two like this...
"We leave tomorrow, get us the cheapest plane tickets you can manage." I interrupted their silent bout and received a light chuckle.
"Like I would really send you in such a low class flight." Victor clicked his tongue, "We're going to have another party tonight, you can head out the day after tomorrow, you'll need plenty of rest."
"Fine, but Roman's not coming, and that's final." I picked up the letter and made my way back to my room, not getting halfway before I was yanked into the library. "Hey!"
"You still haven't told me." Eliza crossed her arms and blocked the door.
"About..?"
"Your mate. What are you doing fooling around with that human? How can you stand it? Why isn't he here instead?"
"It's a bit more complicated than that..."
"Oh don't give me that."
"I've got a question for you actually..." I could feel myself dying from embarrassment all the while my cheeks reddened, but the room was dark and it went undetected. "There was a time when I really wanted to bite someone after...getting really close to them. I wasn't hungry, but the sensation was just too hard to fight. I didn't feel like myself. Does that happen to everyone?" The Alpha's daughter laughed quietly at my ignorance.
"Yes, eventually. Though I've never experienced it yet, that feeling you're describing is wanting to mark your mate. That's one of the steps to solidifying the bond between you two."
"One of the steps? What else happens?"
"Usually during or after you mark one another, you end up sleeping with your mate and-"
"Whoa whoa whoa! I get the picture!" Eliza snickered and I covered my ears.
"Who is he though?" I bit my lip; could I really tell her? I couldn't necessarily tell if her issue was just that he was human or that she thought I was fooling around while knowing my mate is somewhere else. "Fay?"
"Don't you dare breathe a word to anyone about this!" I warned in the most threatening voice I could manage with her, "It's Luke."
"What?!" Eliza began shrieking but I tackled her and covered her mouth with my hand.
"Shut up! No one can know!"
"Everyone will know eventually, it's only a matter of time." She stated clearly amused with my reaction. "Once you mark him and you're officially a mated couple, your scents change."
"I don't think that'll happen anytime soon.." I still felt uncomfortable with the whole idea.
"You won't be able to resist for long. The more you fight it, the more you'll drive yourself crazy. It's like trying to swim upstream instead of following the natural flow."
"Salmon can do it." I argued, but I did notice my behavior lately. Always checking to see if he was paying attention to me. Wanting to always be in his sight. I even craved his touch.
"You're a wolf Fay, not a fish. I'd say just get it over with, one less thing you have to trouble yourself with while we're out there. Plus, you'll be more complete."
"You're saying it like it's no big deal.." I felt a smidge better about almost biting Luke, but after finding out the reason behind it, I was still uneasy.
"I'll let you get back to sleep; my father doesn't remember what being a young adult is like. We need our sleep!"Eliza yawned and left the library without another word. Seriously, the only thing consistent with this girl is how inconsistent her mood is. By the time I returned to my room, my thoughts were in a swirling frenzy. A bite from me would seal the deal. But how hard would it be to resist? I mean, it's not even normal to bite another human being! Well other than like love bites, but not with fangs! And I'm not exactly human. As I looked at his sleeping figure, with his arms curled around his pillow, my heart sank.
"Would it be such a bad thing though..? To be by your si-" My breath hitched as my phone vibrated, snapping me out of this trance I had fallen into that had brought me to sit by him, toying with his hair. "Shit!" I sped around the bed to my side and grabbed my phone.
"Fay! Answer the phone dammit!"
"Shhhh!!" I hissed to the caller, I waited in silence listening for movement from Sleeping Beauty. "Sam? What's going on?"
"You tell me! It's been over a week and you don't bother to call or even send a message to let me know that you're still alive!"
"Sorry! I've been meaning to but...things have been kind of coming one thing after the other. But I'm fine! You don't need to worry so much."
"Apparently I do! You're alone with that psychotic moron! He better not of touched a hair on your head or I swear-" There's really no way I can run from this is there?
"He's my mate, Sam!" I snapped, the words sounded strange even after they left my lips. There was a soft rustling sound and my phone was snatched from my grasp.
"What we do is none of your business, now leave her alone." Luke all but growled before hanging up. He carelessly tossed it onto the small bedside table, not looking at me once. Was he awake this whole time? My heart pounded while we sat there in the dark, unsure of what to do next. "You going to sit there all night or are you going to go back to sleep?" He plopped back down in the middle of the bed, stretching and trying to get comfortable, but not leaving me much room. I laid down near the edge with my back towards him, praying that I wouldn't roll off in my sleep.
"Ummmm..goodnight..?" I offered awkwardly, my reward was a light chuckle and two arms curling around me, pulling me closer to him. "L-Luke!" My senses were drowned by the faint scent allspice in the air.
"Goodnight." He replied, his warm breath on my neck sent goosebumps throughout my entire body. Friggin' shitake mushrooms!