Unscentable

CH 3

Bradley POV

Bradley was sitting in his office, frowning deeply. He’d not liked hearing his Beta, Cooper, tell him that Piper Harper, the designer, had made Hadley cry. Had not liked hearing she’d torn up the picture of the gown that she wanted either, the girl had been dreaming of wearing that particular gown for years. Hadley was such a sweet-natured kid, never hurt anyone, she did not have a mean bone in her body.

Now some human designer had not just refused to make the dress she was dreaming of wearing. But she had torn up the picture Hadley had been hanging onto, and saved all these years. Waiting for the day she was old enough to get a gown of her own.

He’d always told her no; she was too young. But now she had turned 18, and at some point, she would find her Mate, and wanted that dress. She always had, never once in the past four years of seeing it had she changed her mind.

Her older sister Megan had worn a Piper labelled dress when she found her Mate, and apparently, they had once been sold here in one of the pack's stores. Before Piper Harper became famous, and went by just Piper. She only made wedding dresses now, it seemed.

Now this Piper Harper woman, was not only rude, but had not been the slightest bit intimidated by Cooper either. A human had simply stood her ground, raised an eyebrow at his aura, which he’d rolled right at her. Apparently, she didn’t even flinch when Steel, Cooper’s wolf, had risen, to try and startle or shock the woman into backing down, and going along with giving Hadley the dress she wanted.

“It’s odd, Brad. I couldn’t smell anything about her, not even a human scent. I don’t think she is human; most would have pissed themselves with Steel staring them down, not this woman.” Cooper had told him.

“What’d you make of her exactly?”

“Nothing, for all intensive purposes, looks human.” Cooper replied.

“But she’s not?” Brad's frown deepened.

“I doubt it, but whatever she is. Her scent is fully masked, I’d say.”

“Stay there, I’ll come out and deal with the woman myself. If Hadley wants that dress, then she’ll have it. Has been dreaming of that dress for bloody years.”

“Brad, Eddie picked up something weird off of her too.” he heard his Beta sigh.

“That would be?” Trust his Gamma to try and feel the woman out.

“Anger, when she stepped out of the store, we were still across the street, she actually looked at each of us in turn, rolled her eyes and then stalked off down the street. I was hard-pressed not to go and put fear into the woman.”

“Eddie, stopped you in other words!” Bradley shook his head; it was likely the only thing that would stop him. A concern from the Gamma “Looked at each of you?”

“Yes, right at each of us.”

“Do you think, she knows what you are?”

“Likely. Took an instant dislike to Hadley and myself for that matter.”

“I guess we’ll find out when I pay that woman a visit, I might just make her cry, the way she made Hadley.” he muttered.

He sat tapping his pen on his desk. Cooper was likely right in the 'not human' assumption. He was rarely wrong in his hunches, and the fact that his wolf had not bothered the woman at all, spoke volumes about her not being human.

Brad got up from his desk and made his way to Renee’s boutique, and pushed into the store, and Renee smiled up at him “Alpha, what can I help you with?” she asked right away.

“Hadley is having trouble getting the dress she wants,” he told her.

“Ah yes,” Renee nodded “The Piper Harper gown! Hadley came in here and asked if I could get it ordered for her. No such luck, Alpha. It’s not made anymore, I’m afraid.”

“Not made anymore?” he asked out of curiosity.

“Mm, the lady I spoke with, stated it's well out of season, and only one was ever made, a display gown only, no orders were taken, and it was removed from the catalogue.”

That didn’t sound right to him. “Did you ever meet this Piper Harper person, before she was well known?” he wanted to know the background of the woman.

Renee raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes.” she nodded with a frown of her own now, shook her head as well, and seemed a bit confused by his question “I stocked her dresses for about three and a half years, here in the store, then nothing, just gone, no more.”

“What was the woman like?” he asked outright. “I have to go and deal with her myself.”

“Quiet.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes, that’s it.” Renee nodded “Never really said much to me.”

Bradley left just as frustrated as he’d gone into the store, headed back to his office and googled the woman. Her company came up; Piper Harper Designs, and a photo of a bunch of women outside the front of a store. He had no idea which one she was, though from what he could find out. She did a fair bit of travelling and bridal fashion shows, she had three stores, and there on her company page was a plan for her first international store, to open soon.

She had good reviews from wealthy clients, mostly humans. Though he did note some of the names were old or ancient sounding, that made him think some were not human at all. Perhaps this woman simply knew about other worldly creatures, and therefore, was not so easily scared or frightened by them.

He scrolled through the information trying to find out anything about the woman herself. Nothing much. She just appeared about six years ago and was a hit, already had her first store out in Portland for a year and a half before making it big. Which is where he knew Hadley and his unit were.

Likely, if this woman was used to dealing with wolves, vampires and other creatures, her scent was masked to stop them from tracking her back to her place of residence; a safety feature, so to speak.

He sighed and booked himself on a flight with Wolf Airlines, signed all the necessary paperwork, to promise not to start a midair fight if he came across a rival pack, under the rules of the Wolfen Council, then packed his suitcase.

He didn’t like leaving his pack unattended. It wasn’t as large as some others, only 800 wolves. He pulled his younger brother Hendrix to his position, to protect the pack while he was gone. The man was a good, strong wolf, though at 24, he was still young. Could be a bit lax in his duties, but Bradley knew if there was an attack, Hendrix would do anything to protect the pack and his Mate for that matter.

Hendrix was also unhappy about Hadley crying, it seemed. She was their younger sister, a surprise pup, his father and his second chance Mate, both had children of their own and were not planning on anymore. But there was Hadley a year after they had found each other, soft and sweet-natured like his stepmother was. He’d been 18 when Hadley was born. He was currently twice her age.

Bradley arrived to find Hadley holed up in her room, in the hotel suite, sitting staring out the window. She’d looked up at him, and he’d sighed and walked over to her, hugged his little sister “Come on, it’s not that bad.”

“She was so mean. How can anyone who makes such pretty things be so mean?” she asked him.

Bradley shook his head, “I don’t know, but we’ll spend the day shopping tomorrow, and if you can’t find anything you like elsewhere, I’ll go and deal with the woman myself.”

“I don’t want another dress.” she’d pouted right up at him.

“You might not have a choice, Hadley. I spoke with Renee; she said the dress is seasons old, and they don’t make it anymore.” he told her gently, not wanting to upset her further.

“But Piper Harper could. It’s why I wanted to come right here to the store, to where she works. To ask her in person.” she was looking up at him, with those big blue eyes of hers, pleading with him. How anyone could not give her want she wanted, was beyond him. Pitied the poor wolf that would be her Mate, he was doomed already, those eyes so big and expressive, the man was never going to be able to say no to Hadley.

“Alright, but you’ll let me take you shopping tomorrow first. Try on other dresses, be open to it.” he told her firmly.

Hadley pouted up at him again, but then nodded and said, “Yes, Bradley.”

“Good girl, now let's go and eat. I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving, going to get fat, you are.” she teased him.

Bradley laughed “Unlikely, I work out a lot, and Benson is always ripping out of me to bolt off and hunt. Not an ounce of fat on me.” he poked her in the belly. “You’ll get fat one day.”

Finally, he saw her smile, “Yep, and it’ll be all pup.” he watched her, as she pushed her belly out, trying to make it look as though she was already pregnant.

“Enough of that, you're too young for that.” he told her and took her hand, leading her out of her room so they could all go and eat.

They spent the entire next day dragging Hadley from one bridal store to another, and though she tried on many dresses, and she looked beautiful in all of them, she never truly smiled, and Eddie just sighed after each dress, and shook his head.

“Brad, it’s not going to work. The girl was a ball of sparkly excitement going into Piper Harper’s Goddess Gowns store. I’m not even getting a flicker of any of that.”

Bradley knew he was going to have to go and confront the woman. He didn’t particularly want to, hated having to push his Alpha Aura over humans. He much preferred to use his charm and good looks, but this Piper Harper woman, from what he’d gleaned from Cooper, was not going to be a pushover.

If she wasn’t human, as Cooper suspected, then he didn’t even know what he was walking into tomorrow. Could bloody well be a witch for all he knew, and taking one of them on was a no-no, especially if she had sisters around or a coven. He didn’t want that coming back at him, but he could find nothing on her, neither could his unit, and they searched out everything. She just appeared and opened a store seven and a half years ago. Until then, she didn’t seem to exist at all.

Finally, he got a picture of her, a small woman, with light caramel-brown hair with some highlights, that fell down past her shoulders, honey-brown coloured eyes; quite pretty with that slight golden hue, and very fair skin, she likely didn't see the sun much. She looked young in the photo, she was wearing a white suit with a dark purple blouse, it was a picture of her on the cover of a magazine just a few months ago.

“That tiny woman, didn’t flinch at Steel at all?” he asked.

“Nope.” Cooper shook his head.

No human that tiny could hold up to Cooper and Steels' fierceness. He frowned, didn't like that they couldn’t find out where she had come from, or what her past was, what she was for that matter. Too much of nothing around her, it made him more than a little uncomfortable. Piper Harper was likely not her real name, likely she had left a past behind her, and become someone else when she moved out here. That was why there was nothing on her past.

Brad had called the store several times that morning, to request to speak to Piper Harper, and was informed she was not in the store, but working in her studio all day. Would not be taking appointments, so he sent his Delta and Gamma to watch the store at eleven. Only to find out the bloody woman was there, that her studio was a part of the store.

It infuriated him. Brad had grabbed Hadley, “Let’s go sort this out, you’ll have your Piper Harper dress, I guarantee it.” He’d called himself four times that morning, to speak with the woman. Instead of having to go down there and confront her, and her assistant, Izzy, had told him the same thing each time; that she was not there. Well, she bloody was there. Eddie and Harry had seen the woman herself cross the street, and get a round of coffees for herself and her employees. She had carried six cups back, in fact.

Izzy, her shop assistant, stood and stared at him. Her eyes had moved to Hadley a moment later, she’d frowned right at the girl in fact. Clearly recognised her from her previous visit to the store with Cooper.

He had snapped right at her, "Where is Piper Harper?” his irritation showing, it was unavoidable with the way he had been handled all day, not something he was used to at all. People did what they were told by him, not declined his requests, certainly didn’t go about avoiding him, or outright lying to him.

Izzy had snapped her mouth shut, but her eyes had belied her, flicked up to the loft area of the store fleetingly. He’d not missed it, and against her wishes, had marched himself up there and banged the door open to let himself in.

Saw this woman, Piper Harper, turn around from the dress she was working on and look right at him. Watched as her brown eyes had widened completely, as she stared at him. Then saw actual pain flare in those eyes, as his locked right on to hers. Her whole body reacted to his presence in the room. She was instantly rooted to the spot, her heart rate increased dramatically, and she suddenly stopped breathing; like she had just forgotten how to breathe, as she stood staring at him.

Her creamy coloured skin went pale, right before his very eyes, and then as Hadley stepped into the room next to him, she went completely ashen in colour. Her brown eyes dulled and lost their luster, that golden hue was gone and left her brown eyes bland, and her heartbeat was racing uncontrollably. He saw her break out into a sheen of sweat, and registered pain in her facial expression.

He couldn’t understand her reaction to him, but he smelled nothing in this room. His Beta was right, she did not smell like anything at all. Her reaction to him only infuriated him even more. Why on earth would this woman feel pain just from laying eyes on him? And that was what he was seeing.

The breath she finally managed to drag into her lungs, sounded like it took a lot of effort to actually draw. He watched as she took a step away from him, and shook her head slowly as if to say, ‘No you can’t be here.’ Why on earth would she have that kind of reaction to him?

He did not recall meeting her before. There was no reason for this kind of reaction towards him. Yes, he looked mad and irritated, but that should frighten her, not cause pain. “You will make Hadley the dress she wants,” he informed her, and he was not going to be taking no for an answer. He allowed his tone to speak for him, implying that she would be doing as she was told.

Saw the damned woman, shook her head again, defying him and his request. Glared right at her, no-one said no to him, and he was not about to let this woman start a trend. He took a full step towards her, he was not going to leave until Hadley got her dress.

Piper Harper took a full step back away from him, the moment he stepped forward, she did not want to be near him that much he got. Then her eyes changed to a brilliant white, they looked very much like wolfen eyes, but were white. It was odd and pretty at the same time. He looked right into them, only to have her beast snarl all low and menacingly at him.

It shocked him more than a little, as he realized this woman was a wolf. White wolfen eyes must be very rare. Hadley touched his arm, and he saw those eyes move right to the way Hadley was holding onto him. He heard Hadley say his name softly, and then the woman before him was just gone, at full wolfen speed. Vanished through an interconnecting door, which he was now staring at closed behind her, banged shut at that. His hearing picked up her fleeing from the building altogether, out another door and down a set of stairs, just to get away from him, it seemed.

His wolf Benson huffed inside his mind, confused by her reaction to them as well.

“Bradley, she was afraid of you.” Hadley sighed and shook her head.

“No, she wasn’t.” he answered her. Bradley didn’t believe that Piper Harper was afraid of him at all. He smelled no fear in this room, fear had a very distinctive scent, smelled like astringent weeds to him.

“But I could hear her heart racing and the way she ran away.”

“Not afraid, Hadley. It was pain. Looking at me caused her physical pain.” he’d seen it, and before she’d fled the room, the entire building for that matter, he had felt it coming off of her and her wolf, in waves. Bradley looked at where Hadley’s hand was on his arm. Piper and her wolf had looked right at that herself, more pain had rolled off of them, not just Piper but her wolf too. Something else was going on.

Bradley walked over and pushed through the door to the next room, an office. He pushed out to the balcony he could see, and saw the stairs that led down and away. He looked around that area, but couldn’t see her, she was gone, they were too fast. He frowned and turned to take Hadley back to the hotel.

He was uncertain as to what had just gone on here in this room, but something was ticking inside his brain, though those eyes, he was willing to bet not many wolves had white eyes like she did, something about them were ticking at him.

Bradley was going to have to come back on his own. Without Hadley, the girl at his side had increased the woman’s pain enormously. He walked past her assistant, who was staring at him, seemed worried, likely heard the boss flee. She hadn’t gone quietly. He moved his eyes from her and left the store, taking Hadley with him, put her in the waiting car a few car parks away and got in himself.

“Back to the hotel,” he told Cooper.

“What happened?” Cooper asked him.

“Nothing.” Bradley muttered “She is a wolf.”

“No.” he saw his Beta frown at him, disbelief on his face.

“She has very pretty white wolf eyes.” Hadley sighed “But she didn’t like Bradley at all.”

Bradley frowned at his sister's words.

“White wolf eyes.” he heard Cooper murmur.

“Yes, white with black around the edges. Rare I imagine.” Bradley answered, not that it was a question.

“What is it, Brad?”

“I don’t know, just twitching my brain is all.”

“I think she acted like she was your Mate.” Hadley suddenly piped up from the backseat.

He turned and looked at her, right at her, a deep frown on his face, no-one in the pack, not even his parents knew about that day, certainly not Hadley. Bradley could feel Cooper's eyes on him too now.

“Why do you say that?” he asked his little sister, he couldn’t understand her logic.

She shrugged. “Her whole body went crazy. I tried to tell you to calm down, was going to mind-link you what I thought but then when I touch you, she just ran away. It was weird, even I picked up on that, as did my wolf. “Could you smell her?”

“No.” he answered Hadley, and he couldn’t, wasn’t likely to with her scent masked all the time either. He turned back around in his seat. So much pain in the woman, he thought, and then even more when Hadley had touched him.

Her instant dislike of Cooper and Hadley the other day. She was also a wolf. He was frowning now, she knew who he was, that much Bradley was certain of. She had seen him before, had likely known who Cooper was when he had walked into the store.

“Bradley?” it was Cooper.

“Not now.” he snapped at his Beta; he knew what the man was thinking. Because now he was bloody well thinking it himself. The pain that had ripped through he and Benson eight years ago. Out of nowhere at all. He’d not understood it, and it had damned near killed him. That night... Bradley turned to look out the car window. He’d not smelled that girl either, the one in his bed, he had scented nothing that night.

Then a little later on top of that pain, he’d felt someone reject him as their Alpha and go rogue. That had ripped right through him, had intensified the pain he was already feeling, he had damned near clawed his own heart out trying to make it stop. So bloody bad he’d rather have been dead than feel that pain.

His pack doctor had sedated him because he and Benson had not been able to cope with it. But only a select few knew about that. His unit and his pack doctor, Samuel. That was it.