An Alpha's Instinct

Chapter 3: Storm Landscaping

The sun is just starting to set by the time Erin pulls into the driveway. The garage door is open, giving Erin a view of his mother, Natalie, painting wooden planks. Her long black hair is in a French braid down her back, the specks of hot pink paint matching her red bandana surprisingly well. She has her work clothes on, the Storm Landscaping emblem of the old long-sleeved painting clothes hidden behind the various paint stains. It makes her look like a mosaic sculpture come to life.

Erin hears her humming along to soft jazz music and smiles softly as he walks into the garage.

Natalie turns to Erin, the same soft smile gracing her lips. “How was shopping?"

Erin kisses her on the head in greeting, “Same as it's been the last three years."

Natalie chuckles, bumping Erin with her hip. “Well, lucky this was your last time then, huh kiddo."

“Mmhm, let's hope." Erin opens the door, placing his bag of school supplies on the laundry floor before turning around and sitting on the steps. The cool air from inside hits his back in a welcome greeting. “What're you workn' on anyways?"

Natalie glances at Erin before dipping the paintbrush into the bright pink paint. “Mailbox for Mrs. Jennings."

Erin places his right shoe next to the bottom step before moving on to the left. “Weren't you and Dad fixen' that next week?"

Natalie hums, paintbrush still dancing across the wood. “We were, but we got a really big project offer from a Mrs. Stella Lovelace and they want us to start on Monday."

“What? Monday? Who the heck is this lady?" Erin doesn't even try to hide the disgust on his face. He hates people who assume their schedule is more important than others.

Natalie rolls her eyes, not even bothering to look toward Erin before replying. “A rich widow from New York, and wipe that look from your face Mister before I paint it off myself."

Erin pouts. Stupid Mother's instinct. “What about all the other summer jobs? I was going to ask if I could help …"

Natalie slows her strokes. The last time Erin wanted to truly help with Storm Landscaping was when he was in middle school. “You can still help if you want. It's a two-month-long project on a ranch outta town, 'bout fifteen miles. Mrs. Lovelace is visiting from New York and needs the front and back yards inside their first fence completely cleaned and re-done for an extended family reunion. Certainly a great distraction from whatever it is you oh so desperately need distractin' from." Natalie balances the paintbrush across the top of the paint tin before finally turning toward Erin. She raises her eyebrows in a teasing fashion, arms crossing over her chest.

Erin looks down sheepishly. He should've known better than to pretend everything is all fine and dandy. She's always been able to tell when something is wrong.

Once again, stupid Mother's intuition.

“Yeah, yeah, I'll help." Erin stands up, wiping the back of his jeans as he does. “And I don't need a distraction, just a break before my final year. Don't wanna get too crazy, ya know."

Natalie huffs, her shoulders loosening as she picks up her paintbrush to continue working. She got her point across. There's no need for secrets in their family. “Your dad should be almost finished with dinner, so quickly wash up and help set the table, kay? I'll be in soon."

“Yeah." Erin closes the door behind him before turning on the light in the laundry. The door leading into the kitchen is closed too, but he can still pick up on the faint thumps of heavy rock music seeping underneath it. Shaking his head, he bends over to pick up his school supplies. John refuses to cook dinner without playing heavy rock music. He says the tastiest food is rocked to sleep at night.

Jazz humming to appease the flowers and Rock thumping to soothe the food.

For the millionth time, Erin wonders exactly how his parents got together.

John turns to look beside him as Erin comes inside, hands never stilling as they mash some potatoes. “Hey Goldy, have fun today with the rascals?"

“Hey Dad, not a bear, nor a trespassing little girl, and I don't know what would be fun about school supply shopping, but sure. We had fun." Erin smiles sarcastically as he makes his way to the dining room. “Mom said I could help with the Lovelace project, so imma go check out the old files to refresh my memory on the kind of designs the company does."

Erin doesn't wait for John's reply before making his way through the house and up the stairs toward his parents' office, dropping his bag off in his room on the way. He walks straight over to the filing cabinet in the corner after entering the office, flicking on the desk lamp beside it.

Erin opens some of the files, looking at the dates and corresponding projects. He picks up files at random, choosing a lot from within the past five years. With a project as big as the Lovelace ranch, Erin needs much more variety. He closes the top drawer, making his way down the filing cabinet. He pauses when he reaches the bottom drawer, the last file is dated back 23 years ago. The location – Bellmore, New York. Erin draws his eyebrows together in confusion. The last file should've been the first project his parents took on and he thought Storm Landscaping was created in Texas 25 years ago, two years before he was born.

Erin's heart swells with pride as he compares the before and after photos. The picture itself is a little grainy – a sign of the camera quality back then – but Erin can still make out its contents just fine. It looks like the job was to build a gazebo into an old, giant wisteria tree sitting in front of a massive Victorian mansion. In the after photo, the gazebo sits amongst the wisteria, vines wrapping around it like Mother Nature herself had built it.

Erin smiles, lining the photos up to pack away when something in the corner of the after photo catches his eye. Next to the mansion, along the edge of a forest is two women standing side by side. Their backs are to the camera, arms locked together like friends do as they gaze toward the mansion. He recognizes one of them as his mother – Natalie's signature braided hair and bandana more of a dead giveaway than the Storm Landscaping uniform – but the other woman in the green sundress he's never seen before.

Erin starts to feel his skin itch the longer he stares.

The other woman has long brown hair reaching the middle of her back, the arm not joined with Natalie's is raised above her head to keep a green sunhat from blowing away.

There's a feeling within him, like when a word sits on the tip of your tongue ready to charge at the wind, but your mind has forgotten how to open your mouth and speak it. The woman's head is turned slightly, making her profile slightly shown. She's smiling. Erin raises the photo closer to his eyes like that will somehow make her more visible.

“Erin! Dinner!" Erin jolts as John's voice cuts throughout the house.

“Coming!" Erin's voice cracks as he calls back. He hastily puts the photos back together, closing the file and drawer before making his way downstairs.

------------------

That night the clock dances again.

Erin's standing in front of the entrance of a Victorian mansion. There are storm clouds in the distance. He can smell the ozone of lightning strikes, ears twitching at soft thunderclaps.

Erin re-focuses on where he stands now. The sun is warming his skin, its rays gleaming down and illuminating the forest surrounding the mansion. He spies the white wolf still at the edge of the forest, its hazel eyes flashing with unshed tears.

Erin frowns, heart aching.

He follows the wolf's line of sight. There's a field littered with wolfsbane, instead of a lake of blood. Sitting amongst the wolfsbane, next to the wisteria gazebo is a grey wolf with steel-colored eyes and a brown wolf with eyes as blue as the ocean.

They smile at him.

Erin's nostrils swell with the scent of citrus and waves.

He takes a step, reaching out to them.

The clock stops dancing.

Erin jolts awake, tears streaming down his face. He feels any air left in his lungs leave as he falls off the bed. The moonlight enhances the shadows in his room instead of scaring them away.

Erin groans as the pain in his back starts to throb. He doesn't go back to sleep.