Taken by the Rogue Alpha

5 | Mysterious Ways

Kareena invites Zhang and I over to her house on Sunday for lunch—just us girls since her husband won't be home. Mom doesn't work so I invite her to come because Kareena said I could but she declines, saying she wants to spend the day with Carrot and read. A silly thought occurs to me: what if Carrot is a housecat by day and a human by night? What if he is a werecat? We'd both be ginger people. Would we look alike?

I head over, beating Zhang, and am immediately greeted by the smell of butter chicken—the sauce made from scratch. Kareena knows it's mine and Zhang's favorite so she makes it for us every time she invites us over for lunch on Sunday's. She has also made gulab jamun. Her house, with its perfumy fusion of curry and cardamon, smells heavenly. My mouth waters as I sit at her table. She gets herself a glass of red wine and a glass of white for me. My lips pucker at the first pungent sip but the next few go down smooth.

"So why did you lie to us when we came and saw you at your store?" she asks, not skipping a beat.

"What? I didn't—no I didn't—I," I sigh, knowing my stammering is an admittance of guilt in itself. "I'm embarrassed, Kareena."

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you as long as you don't tell your husband. I don't want any police involvement—not that I assume he will offer, but just I just want to keep this between us girls."

"Are we going to tell Zhang?"

"We can fill her in when she gets here."

Kareena tells me she'll be another thirty minutes and promises she won't tell her husband. I open the floodgates, telling her everything, and by the time I'm wrapping up I've downed my wine and she's getting me another glass. I can't tell if my cheeks are burning from the wine or the embarrassment. Probably both. Wine always hits me fast.

"Why are you embarrassed?" she asks. "It sounds like you're in trouble, Amelia. And it sounds like Jeremy should be worried. You have to tell him."

"I'm going to tell him when he gets back. I just want this all to go away. I feel like it's my fault. If we hadn't went out this would never have happened."

"Chances are if you didn't encounter him then you still would have encountered him at some point. My husband tells me they've been lurking around town a little more these days and I don't think that it's necessarily connected to you. You know how this cycle is," she takes my hand. I admire the dark, elaborate henna design against her terracotta-colored skin. "I understand why you don't want the police involved. They can't exactly do anything in this situation. I believe you, and I know my husband would believe you too, but you have been backed into a corner."

"I can't stop dreaming about him. I even know his name. It's Seth," she nods, saying she knows. "Every dream gets more and more...alarming. I used to have these dreams about Jeremy. I am already having doubts about our bond. It hasn't begun fading but I question its authenticity now...maybe it is fading."

I tell her about what Seth said about the bond—how it's not the kind of placebo we thought it was. How it actually secures the bond if it's who you are truly intended to be bonded with, which is why it has been deemed unnecessary among pack-wolves. An act of passion, not possession. I squeak out how Seth told me if he marked me I would all but forget Jeremy. I finish my second glass of wine and she pours me another, still not even halfway through her first. My emotions are amplified. I might be crying.

Kareena gets up again and grabs me a box of tissues. I am definitely crying.

"It could be a threat—it probably is. I've never heard that before," her ebony brows furrow. She holds the hand I'm not using to dab my eyes. "He's trying to scare you, Amelia, and I think it's working...I think you should be scared. I know you and Jeremy's parents don't necessarily get along but you should tell them about this."

"I can't," I shake my head. "I don't trust them, to be honest. They will only use it against me—they will think this hurdle is not worth overcoming and convince Jeremy to leave me. They will tell me it's my fault. They will tell me our relationship isn't worth the health of the town and they would be right. They might tell me I have to go."

I start crying harder at the thought of exile, trading the tissue for the wine glass. It will be my last one. I feel like a disgrace.

"If they tell you to go it will make Jeremy look like a joke—how will he make an effective leader if his girlfriend has to be offered as a sacrificial lamb to the rogues? It will make him, and his family, look weak. It wouldn't be a smart move on their part, Amelia, to do that to you."

"I still don't want to tell them. I will tell Jeremy when he gets back, and if he wants to tell his family then we can. But I'm not going to tell them alone. They will judge me and I'd feel better if they judged me in front of Jeremy so he can defend me. I just sit there dumb. He always has my back."

"Okay, that sounds fair," she gets up, stirring the food on the stove. Both are on simmer but she wants to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pots. "Your mom knows?"

"Mom knows."

I finish the third glass of wine and ask for a water. She sets a tall glass in front of me, placing my wine glass in the sink. My face is burning and my head pounds. The cold water feels nice on the throat.

"I feel like the equanimity of this town will not last much longer," I say. "Something is going to happen."

"I'm sure my husband could do something subtle...he could send someone to guard you? You'd never even know they were there."

"I think that would blow up in our faces. Seth would know."

Her lips press into a flat line.

"You're probably right..." she says quietly. "Rogues are wasps."

"And we're the bumblebees."

We cheers our glasses together. Kareena finishes her wine and I finish my water. She tops both of us up. I've stopped crying but can feel my makeup has smeared so I visit her bathroom. Confirmed: my lipstick has smudged and my lashes hang heavy. I shout to see if I can borrow a makeup wipe and she tells me to help myself. Clearing my face, I am able to see how red and aggravated it is. I feel awful—I feel like I have soured the ambience of the afternoon.

Splashing my face with cold water, I think guiltily of Jeremy and begin to understand just how tense things are going to get between us when he gets back and realizes what I have been keeping from him while he's been away.

I stumble out of the bathroom, balancing my hand against the wall as I make my way back into the kitchen. Zhang has just arrived and Kareena is screeching, hugging her, telling her that she's so excited for her. I smile and watch the scene, giving them their moment. Zhang looks at me when they separate and shares with me the good news.

"If you're wondering why I'm late," she grins. "It's because I have just found out that I am six weeks pregnant!"

"Zhang!" I shout. She opens her arms and I scurry over, hugging her tight, careful not to press myself too tightly against her stomach although I know it's probably unnecessary. "That is so exciting! Congratulations!"

"Oh, thank you," she says, hands on my shoulders as she holds me in front of her. Her eyebrows knit with concern. "What's wrong? You look like you've been crying."

I shoot a look at Kareena and there is an immediate understanding: say nothing. Do not take this moment from her.

"Oh, nothing, just too much wine too quickly," I laugh, taking her face in my hands. "Congratulations, my love."

"Didn't think I'd be pregnant when beginning my doctorate...the goddess works in mysterious ways," she gives Kareena and I a cheeky look. "Not that this was all her doing, of course."

She has adopted her boyfriend's (now fiancé's?) beliefs in the moon goddess—they resonated with her in a way the values instilled in her from childhood could not. She converted after she was marked and hasn't looked back since. It makes her happy and gives her purpose. She feels it gives her direction, pulling her as the moon pulls the tide each and every night.

"Well, let's grab some food to celebrate!" Kareena chimes.

We dish out, showering Zhang with our elation which enlivens her. Her parents have not been as enthusiastic but she insists it will grow on them, which we agree it will. Zhang's parents are amazing and have always wanted what was best for her. Sometimes the best things don't happen at the best times, however, but only Zhang can decide what the best time means for her. As long as it doesn't interfere with my doctorate, she says, it is not the wrong time. They will comprehend that soon.

"We are planning our wedding for around Christmas," she tells us as we sit at the table, steaming bowls of butter chicken in front of us. "I will be asking very important roles of you two."

"First, tell us your vision for your wedding," Kareena says.

So she does—the rest of lunch we are focused on Zhang and her thoughts on flowers, wedding and bridesmaid dresses, tablecloths, and venues. It is the way it should be. We are both overwhelmed with joy for her. What spectacular news this is! Our cheeks hurt from smiling and our throats hurt from screeching. Zhang, and her family, are growing.

Intrusive thought: will Jeremy and I ever get married like we had planned?



At this instant in time it feels unlikely.