Defying the Alpha

Chapter Five: Something Strangely Enticing

Cecelia

A few minutes later, there was a timid knock on the door. I opened it to the omega boy struggling under the weight of my suitcases.

"Thanks so much for bringing them up," I said softly, helping him untangle himself from the straps of my backpack. He piled the other two cases at the end of the four-poster bed. “What's your name?"

For a moment he looked at me, as though surprised by my question, before his eyes slid back to the floor. "I am Freddy," he said so quietly I almost didn't hear him, "Frederick."

"It's nice to meet you, Freddy," I said, extending my hand. I don’t know why I was so determined to shake someone’s hand that day. He gaped at my offering to greet him that way as if he’d never done it before in his life. Teenagers.

"Uh. Uh..." he took my hand in a weak grasp and shook it gingerly, then dropped it quickly. "I should go,” he mumbled. Before I could try to make any kind of conversation, he darted out the door and down the stairs. I poked my head out into the hallway and watched him go. A pair of workers were wrestling a long rectangular box down the hallway at the far end. Otherwise, the floor was empty, with nothing but dark blue carpeting and closed doors. I shrugged and went back into my room.

I tried to make myself busy by putting my things away and arranging the room to my liking. I opened all the drawers and poked around like a kid in a hotel room for the first time. It had a nice-sized closet, and a decent bathroom, but otherwise, I found nothing interesting about the quarters.

On the right-facing wall, I eyed the door that connected my room to the alpha's bedroom on the other side. My fingers itched with curiosity. I knew that Ellis was downstairs, and I could sense the room was empty. I crept across the carpet as though I was being stealthy, and gripped the handle. I expected the door to be locked and gasped a little when it turned easily under my palm and swung open.

At first, I saw nothing but darkness. The curtains were pulled over the windows, blanketing the large room in gloom. As my eyes adjusted, I saw the big king-sized bed was empty and unmade. The remaining furniture was sparse and battered looking. Then it hit me. The scent of sandalwood with undertones of something else, something that was sweet and masculine at the same time, something that smelled familiar, but I couldn’t put a name to it. Something strangely enticing.

This wasn’t Ellis’s room.

The scent was so alluring it almost drew me in. I had an overwhelming urge to go to the unmade bed and bury my nose in those blankets. I took a step forward until suddenly I realized... This was the OLD alpha's room. Ellis's father still occupied the Alpha's room.

Why would Ellis put me next to his father? Unless he was deliberately trying to annoy the man? No wonder the beta and the elder had winced when Ellis had directed me to this suite. I quietly stepped back and shut the door that joined the rooms. For good measure, I turned the lock on my side.

This family was weirder than I thought.

“Okay,” I said out loud, sitting down on my bed. We were off to a rough start, but it couldn't stay like this forever. Sure, it was no match made in heaven. I couldn’t for the life of me, after the reception I had just received from him, imagine that Ellis and I would ever be friends. Whatever we felt about one another, we would have to create a working relationship for the good of this pack. We would, after all, be serving them side by side for the rest of our lives. My stomach twisted at the thought and I threw up a little in my mouth. Worse than that, eventually we would have to think about co-parenting and raising children together. I tried to stop the thought right there but the picture just went on playing in my head. The image of having s*x with that little Napolian sent me running for the bathroom to evacuate my lunch.

Sitting shakily on the tiled floor in front of the toilet, I felt my inner wolf shuddering as well, and I had the urge to find some grass to chew. Clearly, she was not satisfied with this arrangement either. She had been very clear about her feelings since the day my father made the announcement. She wanted no partner unless it was her fated mate. I had mostly given up on the fairytale happy ending, but she hadn't. There had always been that little tiny flicker of hope. Now that hope was about to be snuffed out. Ellis would mark me and that would be it.

Goodbye, love.

Too agitated to sit still, and already bored with my digs, I picked myself up off the floor, washed my mouth out, and headed for the door. I cared nothing about Ellis’s admonition to stay put. Heck, by saying so he might as well have invited me to go exploring. Following directions had never been my strong suit.

The second-story hallway was clear and didn’t look at all interesting. I tried a few doors as I moved toward the stairs and found unoccupied guest rooms, the furniture covered with white sheets to catch the dust. One closet near the stairs held housekeeping supplies, clean linens, and a vacuum cleaner. I shut the door quietly and moved to the railing, peeking over the landing down to the sitting area. Everything seemed quiet below, so I made my way down the stairs.

I had every right to move about freely, I wasn’t a criminal or a prisoner, but I still felt tense and on edge, like a vague threat hung in the air. Regardless, I didn’t feel ready to have to face anyone just yet.

I wandered around, learning the layout of the house. I found the kitchen, which was bustling with activity in preparations for the evening meal. Although I was curious, I didn’t enter. There were several young maids in the dining room setting up the tables. They glanced at me curiously but that did not leave their task to greet me.

I found an empty ballroom that was vaguely familiar to me from some earlier childhood visit. The air felt stale and heavy, as though the room had not been used for a long time. Chairs with velvet cushions were stacked together and pushed against one wall, and a push broom had been abandoned in the middle of the floor as the user had simply dropped the handle and walked away.

I turned down another wing and found the administrative offices. Behind massive double doors, I heard the muted murmurings of men’s voices. Pressing my ear against the paneling, I identified the sound of Ellis and others, but the room was soundproof enough that, even with my heightened wolf senses, I could not make out the conversation, nor did I care to. I wasn’t interested in eavesdropping on his business. I continued down the hall to the next open door.

The doorway opened into a modern conference room, with leather chairs pushed up against a rectangular table. A bank of windows opened up to the gardens, and I went over to admire the view. The gardens on this side of the house were different from the orderly beds out front. Here roses tangled around trellises, tiger lilies danced in the breeze, and pansies and petunias languished in the shade underneath. There was something charming and untamed about the garden, a wildness and spontaneity that appealed to me. I was about to turn away from the window when a movement caught my eye.

At first, it was a mere shifting shadow and a trick of the eye, but then the shadow moved again, stepping out from under an ornamental tree. A tall thin figure moved slowly down the path, as though every movement was painful. His shoulders stooped, and his hands trembled when he reached out to stroke a half-opened bud on one of the climbing roses. His clothes hung loosely from his body, and I wondered if he was some sort of vagabond, that is, until he turned and looked at the house, looking straight in my direction.

I barely recognized the haggard face of the former Alpha. I didn’t think he could see me through the glass, not with the afternoon sun reflecting off the surface, but still, he kept his eyes on the window.

I could not reconcile my memories of the once-great alpha with the ghost of a man before me. I remember him being handsome and charming. I remember looking at him with frank admiration, as one admires a fine painting that they know they can never afford to buy. I was a young woman then, and he already had his arm around his luna, so I had only appreciated his masculine beauty as a fleeting observation.

It was hard to believe that the same man was standing out in the garden now. His hand dropped away from the flower as though it was too heavy to keep suspended in the air. At last, he turned away from the window and started back down the path, away from me, away from the house. He moved like an arthritic old man, shuffling his feet and keeping his eyes on the ground.

I felt a stirring of compassion for the man. My hand moved over my chest, as I felt an unfamiliar, empty ache behind my ribs. More than that, I had a strange longing to go to him and comfort him.

Not that I had any idea how to console a grieving alpha.

Long after Alpha Aiden had disappeared I still stood there, just staring out into the gardens.

“There you are,” the sound of Ellis’s irritated voice grated against my nerves, making me jump out of my own quiet thoughts, “I thought I told you to stay upstairs?” He looked like he was going to say more but then stopped himself and, for a moment, I caught a wicked glint in his eye that suggested he had already thought of a way to punish my misdemeanor. “Never mind about that now, dinner is ready, and we need to put in an appearance.”

I took a deep and steadying breath and turned to him. “Yes of course,” I said dully, “Appearances are so important.” My stomach turned over with an unhappy lurch. The idea of facing so many people made me want to run back to the room and throw up all over again. However, I glanced out at the gardens one more time.

Would the former alpha be dining with us?

I chewed my lip thoughtfully and decided that dinner could be an interesting idea after all.