How many of you have noticed that I made a change to the title? I will explain further at the end of the chapter!
C H A P T E R
T H R E E
A D E L A I D E
I hadn't shifted in probably over a month, and it was making me moody as hell as well as anxious. So I took a long hike until I could hardly smell any traces of human, stripped out of my clothes and started running.
My wolf body was stiff, and I had to relearn how to work with only one eye. It made no sense that in wolf form my bad eye was completely fuzzy, but when I was human it worked better. It should be the opposite, but when did things so far in my life ever work out as they should?
I slowed down as the trees thinned into a tiny open space, about fifteen feet in all directions. The wild grass was long and scratchy, in some places it had dried out to dirt and yellow bones of what was once healthy, vibrant strands of vegetation. I relaxed and shook out my tense bones, stretching out leisurely and groaning in pleasure. Just as a twig snapped behind me. My body leapt forward, and I stumbled into something on my left side - a tree.
A massive wolf stood there, head and tail held high - showing dominance with his ears towards me. He was a beautiful wolf - a gorgeous red-brown color with bright amber eyes. His coat was thick and appeared impenetrable, a feature keen to a royal, pure bloodline. This guy had muscle too and was almost double my size.
Don't ask me how I knew, but I just did. This was Brett's alpha. But what I didn't know was why he was here, on unclaimed land, after me. He growled deeply and I took a step back nervously, but wasn't about to submit so easily, even though my instincts told me that was the safe and smart thing to do.
Standing before him, I suddenly felt embarrassed by the shape of my wolf - the ugly discoloration in my gray fur, the thin spots of said fur - one eye green and the other a faded blue. Not to mention how tiny I was. But that didn't mean I was going to let a random yahoo overpower me when he isn't on his own land.
I growled right back, flinching when he barked viciously at me. A warning to back down.
How he found me was a good question though. I didn't tell Brett I was doing this, I didn't leave any tracks. I wasn't even close to their border - not close enough at least for anyone to catch my scent.
Submit, he commanded in my head.
I got into a pathetic attack stance, my front low to the ground as I snarled at him. This isn't your land.
It will be soon. Submit.
I moved to jump at him and attack, only to get crushed beneath his massive body. Crap. You'd think a wolf as big as him wouldn't be fast. But he was. Faster than the quickest wolf I had ever met, which was saying something. Definitely from a pure bloodline. I whined, clawing feebly at the ground to escape his weight.
I will let you up when you agree to dinner.
Are you kidding? That's what this was about? The stupid dinner. I growled again, and was finally able to break from beneath him. I bolted, my feet pounding across the forest floor. The alpha's powerful strides were loud, his breath huffing out with each movement of his long legs. He easily caught onto my blind side, sensing my weakness there, and plowed into me, the two of us rolling until his forelimbs pinned me down, snapping at my ears and biting my neck - hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to make me break skin.
I whimpered in defeat and annoyance, attempting to shake him off. This earned me a painful bite on the shoulder, making me yelp.
You will attend dinner with Brett and myself tomorrow night. And if you don't I will go to the Elders and have them assign you to my pack, he threatened. Or I'll ruin your other eye.
My whole body tensed. Both threats were equally terrifying. But without at least one good eye, I was as good as dead. I sighed deeply, shutting my eyes. Please stop biting me, was all I replied.
Do you agree to dinner?
Fine. But I can't pay-
You never were going to. I never let my date pay.
I knew he was teasing me, but this didn't stop me from bristling angrily. I am not your date, you disgusting pig!
This guy must have mood swings, because once again his jaws locked around my throat. Suddenly something dropped in front of my face, spraying dust on me. A pile of clothing. My clothing - the ones I had left hiding in a bush for when I finished my run. I glanced up to see a wolf similar to my size standing over me, mouth open with tongue hanging out lazily. Brett.
They had cornered me. I growled up at him. I'm going to tear your balls off, I promised him.
The Alpha stepped off of me, and I immediately jumped up to run, my tail getting caught in Brett's mouth. Wait, you didn't even introduce yourself! Brett objected.
I bounced to nip at his shoulder in retaliation to the tail biting, but the Alpha stepped protectively in front of his pack member, hissing at me. The Alpha shifted quickly, standing tall - and naked - and reaching out to touch me.
"I'm Alpha Leo. Nice to meet you, little one," he greeted.
And then I was running, leaving my clothes with the two strangers.
~ ~ ~
I glared as Brett happily strolled up to my apartment, my arms crossed over my chest. "I'm always so welcomed by your warm, gentle persona," he said to me. "You look nice."
I was in a pair of neat jeans and a long sleeved black blouse that reached below my bum, my sunglasses on and hair hanging into my face. Plus my gloves were on. He frowned when he saw them. "You don't need to wear those."
"Just take me to this stupid dinner and bring me back," I spat. "Don't tell me what I can and can't do."
He held his hands up defensively before motioning to the backseat of his car. "You and Alpha Leo were a crack up yesterday."
"How did you find me anyways?"
Brett grinned. "Easy. Your scent is strong. We just followed behind you by like fifteen minutes."
"That is not fair. You can't just do that to someone," I snapped. "You cornered me. And I'm still going to rip your balls off."
Brett shrugged carelessly, grinning when the door to his car opened by itself. A beautiful, tall girl got out and made an excited noise at the sight of me. "You must be Adelaide!" she gushed, running up and opening her arms for a hug.
Instinctively, I stepped back. "I'm not a hugger," I told her quickly, apologetically, as her face fell. "Yes, I'm Adelaide. You are?"
"This is Emerson, my mate," Brett claimed, gazing proudly at the woman beside him. "She's my date for dinner."
My eyes narrowed at that comment as I shook Emerson's soft, pale hand. She had long blonde hair that was softly curled. She had on black leggings with a black and white striped top with brown ankle boots. "Date? This is a date for you?"
"Leo told you that you were his date, remember?"
I bared my teeth angrily. "I am not his date. He's delirious if he thinks-"
"Can't you take a joke, Addie?" Brett claimed, opening the passenger door so his mate could get in as I got into the back. I didn't even have the capacity to tell him not to call me that, before he was talking again. "You will not enjoy your time in our pack if you-"
"I'm not joining your pack," I spat curtly, unmoving on the subject.
Brett and Emerson shared a long, knowing look. They know something I don't. And I am not excited to find out what that something is.
~ ~ ~
Alpha Leo was waiting outside the Italian restaurant when we got there, and he smirked when he saw me storming towards him. If I thought his wolf form was big, I felt like a complete runt now. He was heavily built, much like young alphas should. He was probably a few years older than me, maybe more. Light stubble graced his tan face, exaggerating his jawline. Most girls would swoon for a man like this. But I wasn't most girls, was I? "Hi, little one."
"Let's just get this over with."
His hand clasped around my upper arm, yanking me back to stand in front of him. "Listen, sweetheart, since you didn't learn or have forgotten from our little meeting yesterday... I don't appreciate disrespect." he hummed into my ear. "And I am not one to shy away from reminding you who is boss in public."
Unfortunately, I couldn't argue. On the drive over, my anxiety peaked when I realized we had crossed onto their land, where I lost all my power, and Alpha Leo gained all of it. The shift in roles was almost tangible as you moved across borders. I couldn't fight him here. I glared up at him, my fists clenched. But I didn't say anything.
"Good girl."
I wrenched my arm out of his hand. "Don't talk to me like that."
"C'mon, princess, you aren't going to act like this on our first date, are you?" he said playfully. "I hope you like Italian. This place is delicious."
Brett pulled his mate behind him, their hands interlocked tightly. "Hi, Emerson. You look lovely this evening," Leo greeted kindly before looking back at me. "You know, I was pondering what I would have to do with your good eye. I didn't think you'd show up. Though I am glad you did. Your wolf reflects your human form well."
I decided not to say anything, ignoring the painful jab in my stomach that came with that comment, just followed Brett and Emerson into the restaurant silently. Leo chuckled quietly, resting a hand on the small of my back to guide me. A waitress took us up towards the back - into a private party room, much to my dismay. We were sat around a circle booth - Brett sitting on the edge, followed by Emerson, then myself, and Leo again. I tried to sit on the edge, but Brett and Leo quickly shut me down, locking me in place, trapping me. They didn't want me to escape.
I lifted my hand to fix my glasses, only for Leo to rip them off of my face. I covered my bad eye with my hand, gawking up at him. "What the hell?" I snapped, my voice half angry, half embarrassed and frantic.
"Sunglasses are for outside in the sun, not indoors. I'll keep these until we leave," he explained, passing them to Brett, who tucked them away.
"I don't use them to block the sun, you idiot. Give them back, I'm not playing this game," I said.
Leo rolled his eyes at me. "Just get over it."
Emerson touched my arm. "I'm sure it isn't as bad as you think, honey," she told me quietly. "We won't judge. These two are some of the least judgemental people you'll ever meet."
My eyes darted to Brett, who was looking like he might just give them to me. "Please just give them back," I begged.
He looked to Leo questioningly. Leo gazed at me, leaning back. "My decision stands. While we're at it, take off your gloves too, Adelaide."
"Absolutely not."
"Alpha Leo, can't she just..." Emerson started, but shut up when she got a deadly look.
Leo turned to look at me seriously. "Give me your gloves. Now."
"You can't just order me-"
"I can, actually. You see. This is my land, you are at dinner with me, and you will soon be living on my land," he snarled. "Unless you want me to do something I really don't want to do to you, I'd do as I say."
"But-"
His chest rumbled deeply in anger and I slipped down in my seat further, covering my face with both hands. I let my hair fall into my face as I slowly and grudgingly pulled the gloves off, putting them in Leo's outstretched hand.
"Thank you."
The table fell into silence and I could feel them taking in the ugly skin on my face. Leo set his hand on my thigh, leaning forward to put his lips to my ear. "Sit up, princess. Stop hiding your face."
With a sigh, I sat up. Emerson suddenly jumped into a conversation, trying to get us moved onto something else. I opted out of talking, glaring down at the menu in front of me. I felt Leo watching me most of the time, but I refused to look at him. When the waitress came to get our food orders, I said that I wasn't hungry and would pass, but Leo was having none of that. He ordered for me - requesting stuffed rigatoni with a side salad. With every passing second I felt more and more trapped, more and more like I was suffocating.
Even back in that lonely room, I hadn't felt like this. At least then I was alone because of my own choices, every second I spent in there was my choice, not someone forcing me. That tiny room gave me my own space to control. Sure, it sucked, and I hated it there, but now I felt like my own life, choices, and actions were out of my hands.
Lips brushed against my ear, making me tense up. Leo. "What's wrong?" he whispered. "Poor Emerson is getting the wrong idea about you, thinks you dislike her."
I carefully pushed him away, just in time for the food to arrive. Leo chuckled softly, watching me while all of our food was laid out. I stared at mine in distaste until I heard Leo's voice in my head.
Eat up, little one. I know you're hungry.
I glanced nervously up at him, and he gave me a serious look. My eyes moved to Brett, who gave me a reassuring smile, and Emerson, who was happily eating her full salad. Of course she was a salad person. And then I slowly started to eat. It was delicious, the noodles were perfectly cooked. Leo let me eat for a few minutes before speaking up.
"Okay, Adelaide. I didn't just bring you on this date for the heck of it, even as cute as you are. We actually do need to talk," he claimed. "For some odd reason, you have a problem with me gaining ownership of the land around Big Sur."
"I do."
"And I have a problem with not buying it. I have already made my offer. But I'm not going to kick you out. I am fully able to offer you a place in my pack. My pack needs more space, as we are growing. There isn't much housing there, so you don't have to worry about a bunch of wolves stepping on your toes-"
I took a sip of water, shaking my head at him. "It has nothing to do with that."
He looked at Brett in exasperation, before turning back to me. "Well, what does it have to do with? Perhaps we could work something out."
"No, we won't," I grumbled. "Nice try though."
The whole table seemed to heave a sigh before going back to their meals. I picked at the salad lightly, not eating much of it. When I did go for a bite, I spit it back out because a heavy, warm hand curled around the inside of my upper thigh - way too close to my you-know-what. Leo snickered into my ear, making me look at him by pinching my jaw.
I was done. I used all of my strength to shove Leo out of the booth, quickly storming towards the door out of our private room. I threw the doors open just as two burly men blocked the exit from the other side, glaring down at me. I yelped and jumped back in surprise.
"Adelaide, please come back to your seat. They will not let you leave until I say so," Leo said strictly.
The door slammed back shut and I spun around to glare, my body shaking in pure rage. Emerson was frowning between Leo and myself. "Guys, maybe-"
"Don't get involved, sweetie," Brett murmured. "She's about to shift, and Leo needs to calm her down."
Leo stepped towards me. "Adelaide," he growled warningly. "Sit back down."
"What are you trying to do? This is more than just the talk I was promised," I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.
He put a hand on the small of my back, lowering his head to whisper to me. "Sit down now, or we're going straight to my home to lock you up," he threatened.
"You wouldn't," I squeaked, my anger fizzling into dread and fear.
He grinned softly at me, realizing quickly that he had my weaknesses wrapped around his fingers. "I would, actually. Have a seat."
| Hello! I am super excited to announce that this has now became a priority story on my list! That means that updates should be more frequent and you will be hearing more from Leo and Adelaide.
What do you think of Leo so far?
Adelaide?
How about Brett and Emerson?
I will see you guys sometime soon with a new update. I am so happy to finally be starting this story, as it is one I am very proud of. |