My Son Before the Alpha

     “Baby hurry up please!” I huffed as I continued to stuff clothes and toiletries into my large duffel bag. “We need to get out of here before he gets back, make sure to pack extra shoes!” I yell again in my nervousness.       “Mommy, do I need a swim suit?” Eli’s sweet voice asked. He wasn’t scared or nervous but instead he was excited. I told him that we were going away. Away from Illinois, away from this hell-hole and away from the bastard I call his father.       “Yes, go ahead and pack it just in case.” As I wiped off the tear that started to roll down my cheek but put on a smile to cover it up.       After I finished up packing my essentials I went and grabbed what money I had saved up and the 9mm that I bought awhile back just for this day. I’ve spent hours on preparation but no matter how much time and effort you prepare to get ready to run away from your life it never feels like it’s enough. Especially when you are taking your son for a better life. Tucking the gun into my back waist band and making sure that the cash is hidden in my purse I make my way back into Eli’s room to check on how he’s doing.       I can’t help but smile at my perfect little boy who seems to be trying to pack all of his books in his small back pack. I already packed him a larger bag of clothes but I made sure he packed whatever else he thought he might need.       “Eli?” I laugh at him with my hands on my hips. He turns around with a slight blush on his cheeks. “You know we can buy more books later baby? Just take a couple of your favorites.” Now leaning over his bag taking out books one by one.       “But they are all my favorite!” He giggled which always seems to calm me down.       “Let’s just stick with these and I promise I’ll get you new books when we get where we are going.” Zipping up his bag I hand it to him and kiss the top of his head before I go and grab the last of my stuff.       Standing in the living room thinking about anything we might need or could have forgotten but it seems like I made sure no necessities would be left behind. While I stood there thinking Eli finally came and joined me. His little backpack hung on his shoulders while he cuddled his plush wolf. It was old and raggedy but he has had it since he was a baby. He never went anywhere without it. Honestly it wasn’t really a special toy that i bought. It was just an impulse buy. An all dark grey wolf with bright blue eyes, the only other color was around its neck and belly which was white. When I saw it in the store I couldn’t bring myself to not get it. I was drawn to this little gray wolf and so was Eli. He loves that dang thing. Eventually when Eli started talking he finally named it gray which was pretty easy to remember.      I ruffled Eli’s thick dark brown hair with a determined smile on my face. “You ready baby?”      “Yes, mommy!” he screamed and busted out the front door towards my black equinox. He hoped in and buckled in without my help. Tossing the rest of our things in the trunk I made my way into the drivers seat and took one last look at the nightmare we called home. It didn’t look anything bad on the outside. Just a basic ranch house in a quiet neighbor hood but no one truly knew what happened behind those walls.      When my thoughts got all jumbled I heard my little mans sweet voice again pulling me from my memories, “Mommy…. he won’t hurt us anymore?” Eli whispered softly.      “No baby boy, no one will ever hurt us again.” I replied with such determination and strength that it didn’t even sound like it came from me. A single tear made its way down my face as I pulled out of the drive way and drove down the road to our new life.  ……      After driving for days on days we finally made it to Alabama. I wanted to go west but I knew Eli couldn’t make that journey so I picked something a little closer but far enough to not be found. Thankfully its warm, compared to the January weather in Illinois. I also managed to rent an apartment that was less than a mile from the beach. After settling into our new home and getting Eli enrolled in school again, I found a job at a close country club. I work as a bottle girl by the pool. Honestly it isn’t as bad as it sounds, I just deal with rich snobs all day while wearing a sexy black bikini with only a long sheer skirt over it.       The outfit is a little ridiculous but we really needed the money and the owner willingly pays me in cash plus whatever tips I make. I usually have pretty good turn outs at the end of the night due to my large breasts and bum which I worked to my advantage. God blessed me with a beautiful body but a terrible life. Well…other than Eli, he is my pride and joy. I would do anything for that little boy which even included getting him out of that toxic life.        It was my second week at the club and I just found out that I will be working extra hours tonight which meant I wasn’t going to get to see my baby boy tonight. Thankfully my land lord, Rose, is the sweetest old lady who is willing to watch him when Im working. She doesn’t know the whole story but she seems to understand my situation and helps me at every chance she gets. Quickly I take my fifteen minute break to go call her about being late tonight.      After a couple of rings her soft caring voice answers. “Emery sweetheart! How is work today?”       “Hi rose, its going pretty well except I might have some bad news…” I trailed off not really knowing how to ask this sweet lady for yet another favor.      “Honey, Let me guess…” she paused for a second with a hit of mischief in her voice. “You have to work over tonight and you need me to watch this angel until you get home?”      I lightly chuckle at her accuracy to figure out what Im going to say or do before it even happens. “Yes but only if you can.”       “Of course love, I would be happy to watch him. You raised a fine young man you know? And I see where he gets all of his love and determination from…” she hints.      “I owe you again rose, I don’t know what we would do without you.” I sigh with relief.       “You owe me nothing. Now get back to work sweetheart and I’ll see you tonight.”       “Thank you so much, tell Eli that I love him so much. Promise, no crosses count.”       She chuckled at our little routine “I sure will, bye honey!”      After saying bye I hung up. Still having ten minutes of my break I ran to the restroom to potty and clean myself up a bit before I go back and hitting the pool again.       Starring back in the mirror I barley recognize the women looking back at me. It was the same girl but there was something completely different. My long deep red hair fell past my shoulders in soft curl surrounding my face. Normally sickly pail I noticed that my skin had a soft sun kissed glow from working out in the sun. Freckles were scattered all over my cheeks, nose, and chest. My emerald green eyes shining brighter then Ive ever seen them. It was a miracle that I felt and looked the way I did. I swore the stress was going to get to me but somehow I managed everything with ease and grace.       The only thing that scared me was if I was doing the right thing for Eli. I wanted to give him a better life away from the monster at home. He even seemed to be doing better than before. He has always been such a happy, smart and strong boy but he’s been getting perfect marks in class and even made friends. Eli used to be so shy and quiet but he seemed to really break out of his shell.  I guess when you aren’t completely terrified or abused constantly everything became a little easier.       I reached down to my inner thigh where the deep black and purple used to be and barley even noticed a mark. My scar from my busted lip has completely disappear and the pain from my cracked ribs became more bearable. Taking in a deep breath I stopped the sob from escaping my mouth. ‘I can’t break down here’ I told myself over and over again. Sadly, I haven’t been able to break down anywhere. Even at home I had to share a single bedroom with Eli and I never wanted to wake him up. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold this anger and sadness inside of me but I had to stay strong, not just for myself but for Eli as well.      Cleaning up my black eyeliner and touching up my deep red lipstick to match my hair I finally huffed at myself in the mirror than began making my way back to work. When I got to the bar I was immediately handed a tray of shots, glasses and bottles of different kinds of bourbon. “Emery, I need you to take this to Cabana one with Allison. Please take good care that’s the owner and his friends.” Lucas told me. He was the manager at this location and tended to be very annoying and rude to the ladies but I always did my work and kept to myself so he didn’t have much to say about me.      “You good?” Allison asked me as we both made our way to Cabana one. She was a seasoned professional. She had been working here since she was twenty-one. She loved the work, her friends, and the customers so she just never left. Plus her fiancé didn’t mind her working there either.     “Yes ma’am, It’s your cabana so just tell me what you need and how I can help.”      “Well I know these guys and they tend to be a little rowdy. They love to drink a lot but they never get handsy or anything. If you could set up the shots and I’ll get the bottles organized on the bar top?”      I nodded my head in acknowledgement as we stepped into the very large cover area as the men fell silent. Which is weird because she said that they were the complete opposite. I looked at Allison but she continued to do as she said so I went to the center table where everyone was sitting in chairs and couches that made its way into a horseshoe. “Hi boys, I got whiskey shots?” I said in my sweetest voice trying to ignore the awkwardness.       No one replied so I finally raised my head to look at them but suddenly my eyes made contact with the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. His Dark grey hair fell to the middle of his neck as it met up with his sexy short beard. The deep black eyes looking back at me with a sexy smirk made my breath hitch while he looked at me with some type of emotion I can’t read. His chiseled jaw brought my attention to his uncovered chest. It was rock solid with a very nice six pack and large pecks. My eyes started to shift farther down until I heard someone clear their throat and I finally realized I was ogling at this total stranger.      “Um sorry gentleman, Your drinks are set up just how you requested. Is there anything else we can get for you?” Now Allison was speaking with her sexy customer service voice but I was still too distracted from trying to keep my attention off the sexy man in front of me.       “How about you two beautiful ladies keep us company?” Another man asked sweetly which made me blush softly.       “Sorry boys, but Emery and I need to get back to our other cabanas and tables but we will make sure to make our way back soon incase you need us.” She chuckled while gripping the bottom of my lower back turning me towards the exit. Once we were outside of the cabana I finally released the breath I didn’t even know I was holding, my heart was still racing and I couldn’t get those deep black eyes off of my mind. “What the hell was that?” Allison asked me.      “…I-I have no idea…” I replied as I nibbled on my bottom lip.       “Well go back to your tables and I’ll call for you if I need you again babe.” Shaking off this weird feeling I head back to the bar and serve out some more of the drinks that were requested still not being able to focus on anything other than those beautiful eyes.         I was making my way to the kitchen when a strong hand grabbed my upper arm which causes me to flitch and gasp. Glancing up I finally notice that it was just Lucas. I willed my body to try and stop shaking from fear. “Em, are you ok?” he asked me.      “Yeah Im fine, you just surprised me. Whats up?” I shake him off but he stares at me for another second not really believing that I was fine. He eventually gave up and went back to the matter at hand.       “Well Im giving all of your current tables to the other ladies, you and Allison were requested for Cabana One.” He started to usher me in that direction.      “Um sir, I rather not.” I mumble.      “Sorry Emery but like I said, that’s the owners VIP Cabana, so unless you want to get fired I would hurry your ass in there.” At this point I was angry and annoyed but I didn’t let it show. Instead I rushed to the Cabana so I wouldn’t get in anymore trouble than possible.       When I walked in the room went silent again which made it hard not to feel awkward or uncomfortable. I noticed Allison already sitting on one of the mens laps talking and flirting. For some reason I couldn’t bring myself to talk much or interact with any of the guests though. So i focused on the music that was playing through the speakers and made myself busy in the corner, where the bar top is, cleaning up some of the items and reorganizing them to look present able. As I thought about taking the dirty shot glasses to the kitchen to get cleaned I was surprised by a gentle hand placed on my lower back sending tingles up my spine. For some reason though I felt incredibly safe that I wasn’t scared. Usually any touch makes me cringe away.       My head snapped up to the man from before staring down at me with a cheeky smile on his perfect lips but something was different from before. His eyes were no longer completely black but a dark chocolate brown. They shined intoxicatedly and made me forget what I was doing all over again.      “Hi, Im Axel” He said sweetly. His deep masculine voice making me want to moan out loud at the sound of it.       “Emery.” I gulped not being able to even form a complete sentence.       “Wow…” he smiled as he pushed back his hair from his face. “What a beautiful name.” My blush seemed to spread from my cheeks, down to my chest, and throughout my body. “So Emery, would you like something to drink?”      “Ha… um isn’t that what I’m suppose to ask you?” I giggle with nervousness.      “Well I don’t care, a lady shouldn’t get her own drink. What would you like?”  Now I was nervous about drinking on the job.       I didn’t want to make a bad image for myself or my boss but before I could argue someone yelled from the couch, “I’m your bosses boss and I say you can drink!” he hollered above the noise making me laugh.        Finally giving in I looked over at what was available and noticed that they requested a couple of different bottles that looked to be for more girly drinks. I reached for the bottle of raspberry vodka before it was grabbed away from me which was Axels doing. Without a word he poured the liquid into a glass and topped it off with a cold can of sprite and ice, just how I liked it.       I brought the drink slowly to my lips before taking a big gulp to try and help calm my nerves. I moaned in appreciation because it has been a very long time sense I drank.  I never really gave myself the chance to let loose. Axels smile grew bigger at my actions as he watched me. Suddenly he got nervous and if I’m not mistaken I noticed a slight blush spread across his cheeks. He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around the room “Would you mind maybe keeping me company?” He finally asked after a minute or so.      “Of course sir.” I used my sexy smile. I guess if this was going to be my only cabana for the rest of the evening I better work my ass off to get a good tip but honestly that wasn’t the only reason I was flirting back.      “Please mi cielito, you can just call me axel.” (my little heaven)      Honestly I had no idea what mi cielito even meant, it could have meant something about a cockroach but whatever it was it made me feel all warm and tingly inside.      I followed axel to the large patio chair he was sitting in before. Thats when I realized he wanted me to sit on his lap. I have no idea what is even wrong with me right now because Ive never had issues with sitting on guys laps and entertaining them this way before but with axel I felt shy for some reason.      He sat down and tugged me gently onto his lap making me gasp with excitement. When I rested my hand on the back of his neck and sat in my most sexy position I felt axel lean in and breath deeply. It was so odd but it felt so right.       Not pulling out of the crook of my neck axel whispered into my ear, “So tell me more about yourself emery.”       “Not much to tell,” I shrugged trying to concentrate on my words instead of his warm breath fanning my neck. “I just recently moved here, I love the beach and I work here.” I giggle because I didn’t want to lead on to anymore personal information about my life. “What about you axel?”      “Well other than Im sitting with the most beautiful women in the world, nothing really.” He chuckled mischievously. Smooth line.      I smiled nervously and brought my drink to my lips again. Axels eyes burned into my face as I drank making me feel slightly uncomfortable but also admired. Once I gulped down some I turned back to him. “So are you from Alabama?”       “Born and raised, all of us here are. We are all buddies from the same pac-” he started to say but cut himself off. “We all from the same town. Went to high school together.”       Nodding my head, I couldn’t help but wonder what he was about to say. “So what do you do?”       “I own and operate multiple different companies including a couple of big name stores and tech companies.” He smiles at me. My jaw dropped to the floor realizing who I was actually talking to. ‘Why am I such an i***t and not even put two and two together!’ I mentally facepalm myself.       “S-so your Axel Grayson?” I gulped and axel just kept smiling as he nodded his head. “The owner of Gray Technology's?!?” My surprise was evident in my voice.      He just chuckled at me, “The one and only! I’m surprised you heard of me.” He shrugged.      “Oh. My. God. Of course I’ve heard of you! Youngest top selling tech president ever, hottest bachelor in America and currently trying to start a new Security business. How have I not heard of you?!” Honestly I was probably fan girl-ing but I couldn’t help it. I’ve always had a weird side for computers and softwares. It actually used to be an old job of mine.       “Wow, do you know my whole resumé?” He laughed but his smile showed more of pride and amazement.       This made me blush all over again and I realized I probably did go a little over board. “I’m sorry sir, that was extremely inappropriate.” I huff while trying to stand up but axels hand on my hip kept me from moving.       “No I’m sorry, I’m just very flattered that a beautiful women like yourself would even know about me.” Now it was his turn to blush which was extremely cute.       While I took another second to get lost in Axels eyes I realized that the room grew silent again and somehow axels eyes became very glossy. I was about to say something when he snapped out of it and broke away looking at one of the other guys. It honestly looked like they were having a silent conversations with just their eyes which was just plane weird.       “Emery…” Axel breathed out after he noticed me looking around trying to understand what was going on. “Something just came up, mi cielito.” suddenly I felt very nervous but I had no idea why. When I tried to stand up though axel held me tightly again. “I want to see you again…” he whispered softly in my ear. My heart was racing out of my chest.       I almost said yes before I finally realized what I was going to agree too. I have to think about Eli and staying hidden. No relationships, even if the guy is smoking hot and probably a millionaire. “Axel…” I started to say but I couldn’t get the next words out and he even seemed to notice my struggle.     “Here is my card, please call, text, email, I don’t care. Just contact me.” Luckily that gave me a chance to stand up off his lap while he reached into his wallet pulling out a sleek looking business card. I was distracted by the card that I almost jumped at the sudden contact on my cheek. He had leaned down and left a soft kiss. My gasp was loud due to the tingles that were left behind. Without hesitation he leaned towards my ear again. “I look forward to hearing from you Emery.” his voice low and sexy.      I didn’t move, I didn’t speak, I just stood there shocked and turned on. Somehow he has left me here as a giant puddle, something that my now ex has never been able to do, let alone any stranger.  …..