Special thanks to my lovely aliana_roman for the fanart check it out! ^^^ 🖤🖤🖤 LOL laughed so hard that you literally tagged Samuel as reptile hahaha xD He is so fineeeee
[9] Alpha's Request
The first time Mia witnessed Sammie being used had been a few weeks after getting to know her. By now she was a frequent visitor to the packhouse, and Sammie had even taken up including her in her workouts so that they both could get fit. Not that the werewoman needed it. Seriously. If anything, Mia was the one severely lacking in terms of physical fitness, but Samantha promised that within two months she wouldn't be quite as weak. So thus the two teenagers prepared for a run.
Mia bent to retie her shoelaces. They were already properly tied, but the runs she went on with Sammie were never over flat surfaces like the school's track field. The grounds of the forest were not as forgiving, they were uneven, littered with branches and other inconveniences that left her laces half-off and her balance tittering on falling.
In the middle of tying a double-knot a shadow cast over her, shielding her from the sun. A werewoman. If Mia recalled correctly her name was Lisa, she was part of the exclusive group in her school. Although Mia grew closer to Sammie, she still hadn't formed much of a relationship with the other pack members.
"Are you ladies going for a run? I love to join!" Lisa enthused. Her eyes shined as bright as the sun with excitement.
Mia was taken aback. Sheesh. Could she lend her some of that running energy? She could most definitely make use of it. Beside her Samantha shrugged, as though she didn't care whether the girl joined them or not. She gave Mia her full attention. "Are you ready? The trail we took yesterday was pretty hard, so we'll use a lighter one today so you can recover."
Mia sighed in relief. "Thank God!" Her muscles were still sore from yesterday, a lighter trail shouldn't make this run unbearable. "I'm ready, let's go."
And so the trio jogged along the trail with the sound of leaves crunching in every step. Mia's heart accelerated, thrumming within her like a drum. Her breaths became deeper and quicker the longer they ran. They were just finished running two miles when the sound of others moving in sync could be heard approaching.
Daring to look back, Mia caught sight of six tall, tanned wolfmen 'jogging' in their direction. She used the term loosely, as their jog could easily be equated to Mia's sprint. Unlike her, the exercise they partook of did not seem to knock their air out quite the same way it did with her. As a matter of fact, their long-legged strides had them catching up with relative ease.
To her left Mia heard a high-pitched squeal that sounded suspiciously like a rat and it almost made her trip on a branch. Thankfully, a series of carefully placed steps got her back in balance.
It was Lisa, and she appeared positively excited. "Look, it's the weremen! We should join them!" She hyped, her arms twitching with anticipation.
The hair that had once been in a high ponytail was released from its hold, falling around her shoulders like glorious descending halo. She folded the shorts hanging on her waist one more time, making them rise up an extra inch. And the small tank top she wore was pulled down lower, exposing the tantalizing crevice of her breasts. The change was miniscule enough to not be obvious, but with wandering male eyes it would not be overlooked.
"We're not joining them. Mia wouldn't be able to keep up." Samantha answered. She kept her attention straight ahead, not bothering to check the identities of those behind her.
The tone she used was merely informative. She obviously didn't care to join and that made Mia happy because she was right—there was no way in hell she'd keep up with that pace.
She'd faint.
Or die.
Neither option sounded appetizing. Suddenly, the chorus of sneakers reached their area, and the weremen wrapped around them like a circle. Lisa, Mia, and Sammie a horizontal line in the middle with six handsome weremen all around. Mia noticed they purposely slowed down. She easily recognized Michael, the buff wereman with dirty blond hair. He jogged behind Sammie, and Mia even noticed how he was appraising her best-friend strangely. Was he...admiring her?
The dude rarely paid mind to Sammie but here he was watching her from behind. In front of her she recognized a familiar mop of curly hair that belonged to none other than John. She had a math class with him, but they sat in total opposite sides, so they never interacted. The other wolfmen she couldn't peg a name to.
Samuel ended up on Samantha's right side. He looked down at his sister. "Do you ladies want to join us."
Lisa yelled a "Yes!" at the same time Mia blurted a resounding "No!"
Mia whipped her head towards the wolfwoman. Did the chick not hear the previous consensus? They were not—and repeat, not joining these runners. Mia didn't have a death wish thank you very much.
Samantha clarified the clashing answers. "No thank you. I'm training with Mia and she wouldn't be able to keep up."
Samuel's dark eyes traveled over his sister to look at Mia. They were derogatory, making her almost feel bad for forcing her friend to slow down. Almost. This whole training thing was Sammie's idea, and she never seemed upset at having to slow down. If anything, Mia sensed she quite enjoyed being her mentor.
Screw you reptile. This is the meaning of true friendship.
"Shame. You're an ox holding on to a donkey."
Mia would have spat something insulting, except she was kind of getting out of breath. And her legs were hurting really bad. And not to mention there was a part of her hair that escaped from the ponytail and was annoyingly stuck to sweat over her cheek and covering her mouth.
Thankfully, her friend came to her defense and slapped his shoulder. "That's enough Saurus. You and your crew can go ahead. We're going at our own pace."
"I'll join you guys! I could use a more strenuous workout." Lisa said right after.
Mia rolled her eyes. That girl just wouldn't quit would she? By all means please take your running juices and go ahead. Then, Mia noticed how Lisa's gaze remained stuck on Samuel. Her mouth was parted as she admired him. Mia was concerned a fly might go in there and drop poop. Then it all came to one picture...
Ew.
Gross.
A reptile-lover.
No wonder she wanted to join the wolfmen so badly. She was enamored with that horrible specimen.
The wolfmen wordlessly headed out, coming out of their circle formation and resuming to their previous pace as a six-men team. Ever elated, Lisa went after them like a child running towards her favorite candy, placing herself right beside a particular wolfman with dark eyes and a blank expression.
Well, we all knew which flavor she liked.
Once she was off Samantha uttered a relieved. "Finally."
Mia raised a brow as she was still unable to speak much with her burning lungs.
"She sticks by me to guarantee seeing Saurus. Once he comes she leaves like a smitten kitten. Didn't you find it weird that she asked to join us, yet she happened to already be dressed for running? She had this planned all along."
"I can't believe this." Mia said, speaking in between breaths. Thankfully they were close to being done.
"This is mild. I can't tell you how many times she's abandoned me for a little conversation with him. I get that she likes him, but it would be nice if she actually sought me for me once in a while."
The sadness in her friend's tone could not be concealed. No wonder Sammie was so indifferent to Lisa's presence. She knew she was just using her all along, quite like a handful of other girls in the pack. It made sense why Sammie picked particular people to hang out with.
Quite frankly, Mia could care less if she went a day without seeing Samuel. It's unfortunate that her indifference to him made Sammie want to spend more time with her, and thus make her interactions with that teradaptos more frequent.
Oh, the irony. The one female who didn't want to spend time with Samuel happened to be the one who got to interact with him most. Fate was funny that way.
Present
"You mean to tell me this whole time you knew what was bothering reptile?" Mia deadpanned. Her eyes turned to slits as she regarded Samantha.
How dare her best-friend trick her this way! It was abysmally low. She essentially did all that work for no reason! Of course, Mia should have figured something was off the moment Samuel mentioned it had to do with herbs. While the alpha was in charge of its pricing and availability, Samantha was the one who handled its production. As co-owners of the business many times their roles blurried, but there was no way Sammie did not know this was what was bothering him.
"Well, I'm not a mind reader Mia. I suspected that might be what was bothering him. But, you know, I'm not one to assume." Samantha said cheekily, pulling on a pair of slacks.
Riiiight. And Mia was born yesterday.
"Don't give me that crap, you knew!"
Samantha groaned. "Oh fine, I did! What does it matter, he told you the answer anyway didn't he?" Her lips then formed a smile. "Besides, you two need to learn to start getting along. How will there be a good relationship if every time there's an issue I have to be the mediator? I'm sure finding the answer on your own helped the relationship."
Mia screwed her face into a grimace. Get along? A good relationship? With him? Oh gosh, her bestie must be coming in with some form of wereflu. "Sammie, why are you encouraging our friendship? And I'll have you know that if anything this separated us. Samuel says he doesn't want to talk to me or see me for a whole week. We will never get along. It won't work. That teradaptos hates me and I hate him too."
"You guys do not hate each other. This animosity is pure childishness. I'm waiting for you two to openly accept you care for each other." Samantha slide her arms through a blazer and turned to face Mia directly. "What do you think?"
Mia held back the negative response she was about to spew in exchange for a compliment. Her best-friend looked crisp and top-notch. "Perfect. You look a total businesswoman."
Samantha was heading to a meeting with a rental agent. Not many days ago she was contacted by the Dark Falls Mall with the request that she add an herb shop in their second floor. With the rise of holistic care customers were flocking to natural remedies, and thus they sought the ideal shop. None was as inclusive as Samantha's, so they personally contacted her to offer a deal. Today she was going over the details with a lawyer to see if the terms suited her.
"Thank you!" Sammie kissed her cheek, leaving a red imprint from her fresh lipstick. She started heading to the door, her heels clicking with each step. "I gave a call to my workers in agriculture. Tomorrow they'll be expecting you at noon."
At the information Mia's mood perked, enough that she cast aside her previous annoyance for excitement. "Okay! When you come back let me know how it goes!"
The next day Mia hopped off her car at the agricultural site of their pack. While wolfmen still shopped at regular stores, they enjoyed being self-sufficient, and as such they planted all sorts of crops. From fruits, to vegetables, to herbs. They even had a couple of farm animals to further complement their estate. The quantity of crop they made were over what was needed for their members, so often times the local supermarket bought the surplus and sold it in their stores.
As she closed her car door jitters of excitement traveled up her arms. Saurus did not think she could figure this out. She could see it in his posture, the way he easily allowed her to do as she pleased because deep down he felt it was a lost cause anyway. But similar to when she challenged him to accentuating their home with beautiful flowers (and proved him wrong by the sheer number of compliments received from the pack) she was determined to crack this mystery of the non-growing flower and leave him accepting defeat at her feet once again.
The grass crunched beneath her feet. It was a vibrant green, the blades longer than what was around their estate. Workers scattered all around; some pulling out weeds, others planting, another set harvesting. Growing crops was arduous work, yet these weremen managed to make it look effortless with their speed and strength.
She entered a large building and headed straight to where she knew she would find the twins, the ones Sammie appointed as managers over the crops. She saw Mandy and Lisa before they noticed her. They were near a white board talking to a small group of weremen. Mandy looked positively annoyed. Her hair, which this morning had been in a sleek bun, had strands skewed around her face. Her typically smiling lips were screwed into a scowl. On the other hand her sister was busy filling out some charts, very much distracted by the paper in front of her.
"I want to know who's idea it was to plant the tomatoes next to the bush beans. Now the beans are struggling because they aren't getting enough light. Common sense people! There's a reason we stick to the model I made!" She berated, slapping the board behind her in anger, where in black marker was a miniaturized version of their grounds depicting where things were to be grown.
The wereworkers looked down shamefully. No one raised their hand to accept their mistake. Mandy shook her head, clearly disappointed no one confessed. "This session is over! Jackie, you stay."
The others stiffly got up and rushed to the door. All except a werewoman with a short bob cut whom Mia assumed to be Jackie. She seemed nervous, but cleared her throat nonetheless. "Mandy, you know I didn't plant those tomatoes there—"
"It doesn't matter." She interrupted her coolly. "You're the overseer in section D. It's your job to make sure your crew is planting things according to the model. Please make sure something like this doesn't happen again. I already have another crew I have to berate for planting the broccoli inappropriately."
"Y-yes. I'll be making sure."
"Thank you. You may join the others."
The werewoman tucked her head and rushed out. Mandy sighed, placing a hand to her forehead before fixing Mia with a wary smile. Despite her stressed mood, Mia could see she was happy to see her. "I already know why you're here munchkin, take a seat."
Lisa, who had previously been distracted by filling paperwork looked up. She gave Mia a bigger smile than her twin had, but Mia knew it was tinged with sourness. This was because as much as Lisa tried, Samantha would never be buddy-buddy with her and it drove her insane that Mia got the privilege. Sammie pretty much dropped her the moment she grew closer to Mia, thereby putting Lisa at a deficit in terms of encountering her beloved wolfman--Saurus.
In early high school years Lisa could count on seeing Samuel daily and holding some form of conversation, once Mia came into the picture she was relegated to seeing him when they happened to bump into each other. It was a major loss to before, as Saurus was a busy wereman whom was not seeking a partner. These two factors made Lisa's opportunities few and far between. On the other hand Mia counted on seeing him everyday and spending several hours in his presence.
"Ah yes, Sammie and Saurus contacted us not too long along that you wanted to try to grow merridin." Lisa said. She put her clipboard away, giving Mia her full attention.
Mia had to stop herself from appearing surprised. She knew Sammie would contact them in regards to this, but Samuel? Why on earth would he pry his energy into this when he was not concerned?
Psh, so much for his 'I don't care what you do' spiel.
Mia made herself comfortable in one of the chairs. "I couldn't help but be curious to try. Reptile is losing sleep over it and I love a good challenge."
Mandy's eyes shined with laughter. She always found it funny when Samuel and her interchanged derogatory names. The packhouse sometimes murmured stipulations that perhaps Mia and him had a romantic relationship, but their animosity was too large to ignore. Thus, no one ever knew what to think.
Lisa stiffened. Most likely peeved Mia would ever disrespect her lovely and perfect alpha. Mia had overheard her one time complaining to a pack member that she felt the 'human took too many liberties' with their beloved alpha and needed to show more respect.
Mandy began to gather her things. "I'll leave you ladies to it then, keep me informed if there's any success." she said.
Mia tilt her head to the side. "You're not coming with us?"
Out of the two werewoman she would have preferred to collaborate with Mandy. Unlike her twin, she didn't have any hidden agenda when it came to spending time with her or her best friend. It appeared Mandy took note of her question, for afterwards she added. "Remember, I'm in charge of the food crops and Lisa oversees all the medicinal herbs. She'll be better equipped to inform you about merridin."
Great. There was officially no way to avoid spending time with that reptile-lover. Gathering her loses, Mia nodded with a smile to avoid offending Lisa. Despite her horrendous taste for weremen, at least she did her job right.
"See you around."
Lisa regarded her quietly for a few moments. Mia could feel her eyes nitpicking everything about her, from her hair (which she had yet to comb all day) to the mismatched socks she wore. "We'll stop by the greenhouse first. Let's go." she said, giving Mia another one of her fake smiles.
A yawn escaped Mia's lips as she followed her. She didn't know which scenario she would prefer: have Lisa continue being fake and friendly, or have her show her true dislike. It was probably best to let her be fake. At least then she wouldn't make things difficult.
The greenhouse they arrived to was beautiful. Thick windows were held together by strong metals that curved over the ground like a tunnel. Even from the outside she could see the large variety of plant life held in there. Stepping inside, Mia craned her neck to appreciate the high ceiling littered with multiple sprinklers. They were spread out strategically to hit every plant regardless of the angle. Without a doubt, no expense was held in the making of this. Samuel's pack has come a long way in the three years she's been away to college.
The greenhouse used to be a small shed composed of transparent plastic. Mia couldn't help but continuously whip her head from side to side as she appreciated this plant wonderland. She could definitely see herself spending time in here.
They stopped in front of a metal cabinet. Mia had never seen a cabinet quite this tall. It's height surpassed her 5'8 frame by at least two feet. Beside it stood a portable step to be used by shorter people. Each drawer was alphabetically labeled with letters all across it. Pulling out the drawer labeled as 'M', Lisa plucked out a tiny square package.
"Here." She said, shoving the packet into her hands. "Inside are ten seeds of the merridin plant. Good luck making them grow."
Mia balked. Ten seeds? TEN?! What type of cheap skate was this? She schooled her features into one of calmness. "Can I have more? You and I both know not all seeds germinate when planted."
Lisa shrugged and smiled slyly. This time, her smile was real. "Saurus said you can only get ten seeds. If you can't make do with that amount I guess you might as well quit this experiment."
Mia saw red. Of course. How could she think Samuel involved himself in this because he actually cared to oversee her work. The dude did not believe in her at all. Now he was purposely making things difficult so that her 'failure' could come sooner.
Mia gave Lisa her most pleasant expression. "Listen, I could really use more seeds to maximize the outcome of my experiment. At least give me ten more, I promise to not tell Samuel it."
She made sure to use his true name, lest this reptile-lover grow offended again. Instead of showing her favor, Lisa sharply closed the drawer, dashing Mia's hopes to the dirt.
"Sorry. Alpha's request. I do everything Saurus tells me."
Mia grind her teeth. "I'm sure a couple more seeds would be harmless."
Ugh! She knew working with this were-chick would bring unnecessary issues. If it had been Mandy she would have rationalized with Samuel how foolish he was being in only letting her have ten seeds. Lisa seemed more than happy her alpha made things difficult for Mia. No doubt it filled Lisa with pleasure to see Saurus at odds her, as Mia was the one unmated woman with access to him. It gave her a sense of security to see he wasn't fond of her.
Lisa placed her hands on her hips, looking down on her in a condescending manner. "You're lucky to even be getting any seeds. I was almost insulted you'd think you can actually grow a plant I've been working on for months. I've done everything. There's nothing you can figure out I haven't. The soil of our ground is the best, and on top of that we've always added fertilizer. The water we spray on these plants are purified. We plant no other herb next to it. Merridin has no competition. It has been given the highest level of treatment and it refuses to grow. If ten seeds aren't enough for you I'll be more than happy to take them back and inform Saurus of your withdrawal from this useless experiment."
Mia pocketed the seeds, feasting Lisa with a hard look. It seemed the werewoman was no longer displaying her fake kindness anymore. "Very well. I'll make do."
"Suit yourself. Now let's head to the growing grounds."
Sensing there was nothing else she could do, Mia trudged after her. With only ten measly seeds she'd have to be careful about the way she utilized each one of them. All because of an alpha's request. Stupid reptile. And stupid reptile-lover. She'd show them.
A/N: Haha what's a little mystery without some complication? If you enjoyed this chapter please hit the little star to vote. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on this chapter :)
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