Alpha Tiger

Chapter 1-3

She smiled at the sight of them and knew that she had truly missed them for quite some time. They were so fantastic and they were so wonderful that she couldn’t help but feel like they were perfect for each other.

Her mother was the definition of a classy, regal woman who had passed into her golden years and was bringing along all the beauty and wonder that she had held in her youth. She was gilding it into something respectable and fantastic in a new and shimmering way that Danni could only dream of having as her own.

She could only hope that one day she would be able to actually captivate someone with her gracefully aged beauty that her mother had so effortlessly imbued and delivered to the world. She was always stylish, always aware that she was aging and doing everything in her power to halt the process, but at the same time, she knew where to stop fighting and where to accept that she was aging and that she couldn’t change it. In those few and rare places, she adapted and she made sure that she carried the burden of age with opulence and stellar flare.

For her entire life, Danni had known that her mother had only been a model and would only ever work when she wanted to and never had the obligation to get out there and actually earn a paycheck.

No, she was free to be active in the community and she was. She was constantly volunteering whenever she had the opportunity and there wasn’t a person in the entire town who didn’t know her and who didn’t love her. She was a part of the community and she was a staple to the lives of so many.

It was one of the many reasons why her mother and father had never even showed the slightest interest in leaving the town of Pierce Harbor. They were here and they were proud to stay for the rest of their lives. There was something admirable and loving about that fact.

Now her father, he was a creature of an entirely different nature and he had been working since he was in high school and he hadn’t stopped working even now when Danni was certain that he had enough money in his retirement fund and in savings to live comfortably in the home that they had paid off decades ago. But, her father was a man who loved his job and he loved the people that he helped. Being a doctor had been good to her father, but over the years, it had pulled him in many different directions and she knew that there was a toll that came with that.

He had missed out on a lot of their school events and though she knew and understood why he wasn’t there, her father always carried a burden of not being there, but now that he was in a comfortable and stable job, he felt the desire to make up for lost time and constantly wanted to be in the lives of his children. If there was even the tiniest of excuses for him to run down to Boston to visit Danni, he was there with her mother, happily cheering her along or admiring what it was that she was a part of.

Unlike her mother, her father had accepted the inevitable wear of time like it was exactly what he had signed up for. In fact, Danni was fairly certain that he was anticipating the inevitable aging that was coming for him with a little bit of glee and eagerness. He had grown up admiring men like Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart, timeless men stuck in their late middle ages on the screen and who carried it with such power and gravity.

Her father had perfected the classy, older gentleman appearance and even his hobbies and habits were something that you would expect a stereotypical older doctor would be into. Her mother had made sure that his boating and golfing kept him busy and he had gladly transitioned into part time work and helped her with her volunteering whenever she would let him.

Her mother had taken care of Danni’s father with the kind of matronly love that was expected of her. If she hadn’t, everyone in their family knew that her father would be an out-of-shape mess. She made sure that he ate salads, was healthy, and that he took care of his body. In fact, from what Danni had heard recently, her father was becoming a bit of a gym rat now that he was finding that he was getting more and more time on his hands.

She liked the thought of that. Maybe she would go with him one of these days while she was here and have a look to see what he was capable of.

“Morning, sweetheart,” her father said with a grin, folding his newspaper and placing it to the side of his plate and inviting her to come on over and have a seat next to him. She would gladly take the seat and she knew that there was nothing safer in the world than being right there with her parents. They were going to tell her everything that she needed to hear and that they would be here to encourage her and assure her that she was going to be just fine.

Right now, that was what she wanted most. “How was your night? Enjoy the old stomping grounds?”

She smiled at that. Oh God, no. But, she wasn’t going to tell her parents that. She was going to tell them what they wanted to hear. “I slept like a baby,” she said with a smile, watching her mother make her way over to the table to sit down. There was a bowl of fruit, pancakes, and eggs waiting for her if she wanted some, but her mother stopped at the counter and grabbed the blender and poured Danni a smoothie before she sat down.

“What’s in it?” Danni asked her.

“Good stuff,” her mother said without much of an explanation. “I’ve finally found a smoothie that your father asks me to make for him and I don’t have to guilt him into drinking it.”

“You don’t have to guilt me to drink anything,” he said with his chest puffed out. “I’ve never complained once.”

“I can see it in your eyes,” her mother said to her father before she leaned in and kissed him on the lips, a soft, sweet peck that made Danni’s heart ache. Was she ever going to have that? Was she ever going to find a kind of love that made her happy like this she thought. She felt miserable and she was so depressed that she could cry. All she wanted to do was run away and she knew that her parents would never understand. She wanted to slip into a coma and let the world wash around her, leaving her to become part of the sediment of the past. Was that an option that she could elect right now?

“Are you going to be sticking around for the Fourth of July parade?” her father asked her and turned his attention back to his daughter, clearly willing to pretend like there was nothing strange or suspicious about this little arrival and go along with the façade for a little longer. She was grateful for his willingness and was more than eager to play along as well.

“Sure,” she said with a smile. “Boston’s pretty quiet right now. Without school, I’m mostly just working with gigs right now.”

“I could get you set up in no time here,” her mother assured her. “Ruth would love to have you and every coffee shop and bar in town would be more than happy to have a local girl step up to the mic and show them how to sing and play an instrument or two.”

Something told Danni that her mother had probably already spoken to several people about the fact that her daughter was in town and that she was going to need to have a job or two, even though that was the last thing that Danni really had to worry about. She was on her way to finding a manager who was more than willing to get her into a contract and start having her tour and play the local area around Boston. She had to start somewhere and she was more than willing to give it all a try. She wasn’t shy about anything.

“We’re having a barbeque tomorrow night,” her father said with a grin. “We’re going to have the whole street over. It’s going to be the event of the season.”

Her mother shook her head and stared lovingly at her husband, marveling at his antiquated ways. Danni smiled and watched as her father cleaned up and finished the last of his smoothie before rising. “I have to run into the office for a little while today and your mother has a few engagements that she can’t escape from, but I should be home around five and your mother will be back by six. Sorry we couldn’t get out of them so that we could spend the day with you.”

“No, not at all,” Danni said, tasting her mother’s smoothie and smiling at how great it tasted. “I’ll be fine alone.”

She watched as her father looked like he had barely heard a single word that she had said as he stared out the window at the neighbor across the street. Danni looked out the window to her right and glanced across the immaculate emerald lawn that her father cared for and observed the shady, beautiful home that the Jenkins’ used to live in when she was younger.

She saw that there was someone she didn’t recognize across the street walking into the house from the royal blue Stingray in the driveway in front of the garage. She watched him enter the house and thought that it was surreal to see someone other than the Jenkins family walking into that house.

“Who’s the new neighbor?” she asked nonchalantly, not really caring at all.

“An Indian gentleman,” her father answered quickly. “He’s a Shifter, or at least he was at some point, but he claims to have lost the ability to transform somewhere along the line. He attributes it to moving away from his family. His father is a staunch traditionalist and he’s trying his hardest to get away from that life. He’s a fascinating man. He’s some kind of online software engineer or something, but I’m not sure I understand what it is that he does. He’s been a little hesitant to get involved with the community, but I’m hoping that he’ll start to turn around soon and get involved with us. He’s a nice fellow and I hope that he’ll see that he’s safe here.”

By community, she knew that her father was addressing the fact that there was a large Shifter community in Pierce Harbor and that they had built a sort of haven here where they all watched out for one another and weeded out the bad seeds that showed up here. They all made certain that everyone was protected and kept hidden. If there was a need for an alibi or a helping hand, the community was there for them.

“What does he turn into?” Danni asked, taking another drink of her smoothie. Suddenly, she realized that she needed to correct herself. “I mean, what did he turn into?”

“A tiger,” her mother answered with a smile. “We got that much out of him when he arrived and moved in last year. He sticks to himself, mostly. He’s cute, you should get to know him.”

That was when Danni knew that her mother was fully aware of what the situation was in her life and that she was going to know everything in a matter of time. Her father turned around and placed his glass in the sink and headed for the door. “Goodbye all of you,” he called after them. Her mother jumped up from the chair and raced after him to give him a kiss before he vanished.

While they were gone, Danni looked across the street and stared at the house that had consumed the man. She tried to remember what he looked like. He had been strong, that much she had noticed and his black shirt had been stretched by his muscles that were defined under it. He’d been wearing jeans and flip-flops too, the attire of so many who lived in this area during the summer, enjoying the sunlight.