The Lone Alpha

Chapter Three. Mars.

Chapter Three. Mars.

Another day, and another group of visitors to the holiday site. I get two days off per week, Mondays and Fridays, which are the days the new guests arrive, and the old ones check out. I spent my Monday rest day, off-site, mainly to avoid Justin’s over-enthusiasm about the new guests, and his thoughts on the women who he wishes to befriend, or have in his bed. However, a playboy he may wish to be, but he rarely has any success, and in the five years I have known him, he has only managed to successfully romance a lady three times, in total.

They say God loves a trier, and well, at times my work colleague is very trying. Apparently, there is one woman that has caught his eye, a young single mother, with a little boy, who, he deems the sexiest woman he has ever seen and is on the north field of the site. Then again, he says that every week, so I pay it no heed. Not that I care, either way, a woman is the last thing I want. I may have run away from my mate, but I would never disrespect the bond in that way. Plus, I stand by my resolve that I cannot afford to love anyone, as love equals pain and I do not believe that I am able to protect anyone. My family and pack are a prime example.

I let Ares out most of the day yesterday, and he had a good run. It must have worked for him, because when we got back to the site, just before teatime, I felt a lot more peace than I normally feel and slept like a log for almost all night, only waking up a couple of times from my night tremors. However, whatever peace Ares felt last night has disappeared like a puff of smoke, because my wolf is restless. More than restless, he is pacing or spinning around constantly, and to be honest, it is getting on my last nerve.

“Will you stop pacing around, please!”

I have asked him to stop three times this morning, but my wolf seems to have ants in his pants. I have no clue what is up with him, but his restlessness is making me even grumpier than usual. To be sure, if he doesn’t stop soon, I am going to block him completely, something I rarely do, because he is all I have, and understands me totally and without prejudice. The only thing we have ever disagreed about was her.

Ares loves her with all his heart and begged me to find her. But I could not do it. I will not put her at risk, and I am proven to not be able to protect those I love.

Ares huffs in my head, as I cut into my Irish sausage, and dip it into my fried egg, before popping it into my mouth. I don’t care where in the world I reside, as long as I can get good-quality Irish sausages for my breakfast. The only other thing I miss from my home country is werewolf-proof Guinness. The rest can go to hell in a handbasket, after what happened to my family and Pack.

Thankfully, he has finally calmed himself down, which is good news, because I am heading out of the caravan to the Ranger Station, to prepare for the first lot of visitors who have booked in to learn about the different types of bugs they may find around the site on my Bug Watch tour.

I head off, walking down the path from the staff caravans located on the field adjacent to the North Field, which is the furthest area from the main entertainment zone. It is still only 6:30 in the morning, so almost all the campers are still fast asleep in their beds. Only the ones with very small children are out and about, around the many small play parks located at the bottom of each of the separate areas.

I waved at some of the visitors. After all, it is part of my job, to make their experience as great as it can be, but do not stop to speak. Yeah, that is not my thing either. I am an Irishman who has no use for idol chitchat. An oxymoron, I know, but that is my reality.

I arrive at the Ranger Station, and go water the seeds I planted yesterday, before chopping some wood, ready for the bonfire session later today. Finished with that work, I headed over to the reception, as the printout of guest names for my Bug Watch had not come through yet. They probably haven’t sent it, given yesterday would have been more than a little bit manic getting all the guests allocated and sorted out.

“Hey Mars, sorry, I am late with your lists for today,” Sonia states from behind the desk.

She is a nice girl, always going the extra mile to help people out when she can, which, if I am honest, is not the attitude of a lot of the staff, who are here on temporary contracts. But, like Justin and me, she has come back year after year.

“No problem,” I kind of grunt at her, because as nice as she is, she also loves to chat, and as I have already established, chitchat is no longer my thing.

“Here are your allocations for this morning. I promise I will get your afternoon and evening ones over to you before lunch,” she smiles, handing me the lists for the various activities Justin and I run.

At 9 am, the first six kids arrive excited about the Bug Hunt, their parents smiling happily. I guess the sun shining is a bonus. Normally, if it rains, which is a lot, the parents look like they are sick of their lives. Out of all the activities the site provides, we are probably the least popular with the guests, but have a steady turnaround, enough to cover our wages. I glance over to the birds of prey area, and already there is a queue a mile long for the first of their displays. I once went in to help them out, but the birds, recognising the threat of a werewolf, reacted badly to my presence. The girls who run it put it down to me being ‘nervous’ around the owls, hawks and eagles. I didn’t bother to correct them.

As I walk past the queue with my guests following behind, I get a whiff of something mouthwatering. Lavender and Coconut with a hint of caramel. Maybe my lavender plants are coming into bloom, but mixed with the coconut, it is making my mouth literally water. Memories of my mate instantly come to mind. Her mainly Lavender scent was what made the plant my favourite after I ran away from her. Maybe the Ice cream van has some new flavours. When those queues calm down, I think I will have to get one.

Ares perks up again, after his morning huff, from me telling him to calm down from his pacing.

“That smell, what is it?”

“Probably the Lavender plants and some new flavours at the Ice Cream van,” I inform him, as we finally reach the lakes and I find some butterflies on a buddleia plant planted beside the main lake, and point it out to the little kids, who all ‘ooh and ahh’ at the red admiral.

I cannot deny that the scent brings back memories of her, my mate. She smelt of lavender and coconut, but not mixed with caramel, so I knew there was no chance she is here, but still, that smell is sending both my senses and my wolf into overdrive.

Some of the reeds on the edge of the water have little nibbles on them, and I point out a small caterpillar I find on one of them. Forty-five minutes later after finding a lot of bugs and flies we are back at the Ranger station, and Justin is getting ready for his Poison Plant tour he is doing.

“Hey, I saw that girl again. She is in watching the Birds of Prey. In a pair of short denim dungaree’s one arm off the shoulder, and a white T-shirt that you can see the lace of her bra through. Seriously, she is sexy as hell, curves in all the right places. You should see the rack on her, and her arse. Seriously I could lose myself for days exploring that body. Plus, I am sure she smiled at me,” he enthuses to me.

I am not going to comment or respond, because if I give him an inch and indulge him with this conversation, I will not hear the end of it, until the woman goes home. The girl was probably just happy, but Justin is the eternal optimist when it comes to the fairer s*x.

I sit down on my log and decided to plant some more lavender, after being inspired by the smell this morning. It was gorgeous, I am not going to lie, add to that the mixture of coconut and caramel. It was still sending my senses crazy. As I am placing the seeds into the pots, I smell the lavender and coconut, along with a faint waft of Caramel hitting my nostrils again. Seriously, I have never had a scent make my mouth water like it. Well, I did once, but that was just lavender, with a hint of coconut not the addition of the caramel. What the hell is going on! I cannot have a second chance mate, because I never rejected her.

Ares instantly wakes up again, and begins his incessant pacing, wagging his tail frantically.

“Okay, we have no guests for my bonfire-building exercise for half an hour, we will go get an ice cream,”

I hope this will calm him down, because a day of him running around in my mind will not let me get any peace, and that is not going to work for me.

As I approach the Ice Cream van, the smell disappears, which is strange.

“Hey, do you have coconut-flavoured Ice Cream?” I ask.

The look I get from Brian the Ice Cream man makes me feel an inch tall, as he shakes his head at me, as if I have lost my last marble.

“No. We have Vanilla, Vanilla, or f*****g Vanilla, as usual!” he grumbles. Yeah, he is even grumpier than I am on a daily basis, he doesn’t even smile at the kids who basically pay his bills.

“Guess I will have Vanilla then,” I retort, not able to keep the disappointment from my voice, because I had been looking forward to coconut ice cream all day, since first smelling that scent mixed with the lavender and caramel this morning. Yeah, maybe I am just torturing myself, remembering a girl who I cannot have, who I ran away from, but honestly, I am no good for her and I cannot risk getting close to anybody, for fear they are ripped from me again.

I have to work hard not to let Ares growl at Brian, for his disrespect. I take the ice cream, and head back to work. But the thing is not hitting the spot, because it is not the same smell as whatever is making my mouth water, and Ares, is now in a huff, because he seems even more disappointed in the taste of the Ice Cream as I am.

What the hell is going on?