Chapter 7:Meeting The Sigma
1591 Words
Royce tried so hard not to think about what she had just learned as she took her leave from the packhouse.
Seeing the cottage was the one thing that actually distracted her. After turning off her ignition Royce set her kickstand out and got off of her bike. Nostalgia took over.
It had been well over ten years since she had seen the nice cottage that she once inhabited with her parents. Roycecould hardly remember her mother as she died shortly after her birth. The Delta told her that her mother didn’t have long and knew this but she insisted on at the very least coming home with her. She didn’t want her last memory to be holding Royce in a hospital bed so Royce’s father brought her home and there, in their bed, she held on to her little girl until her last breath. Remembering that story brought a mist to her eyes as she continued to observe the cottage.
Her home wasn’t in disrepair but certain places on the exterior had been overgrown with vines of greenery. Royce remembered as a child it being that way; her father told her that her mother loved the scenic look of verdant plant life sprawling its way up the stone of the cottage.
Royce had decided then that she’d shape it up and remove it from the window but would not remove it completely.
The house itself may have not been in the worst of shape but the once lively garden was a different story entirely.
Where once there were various beautiful types of flowers, there was now overgrown shrubbery. The weeds had long ago choked out the beautiful Hydrangeas, lavender, Rhododendrons that were once planted there. Royce made a mental note that this would be the first thing she’d work on whenever the time was granted to do so. That was if the house wasn’t in as bad a shape as the yard.
Admittedly, Royce was, only in part, disappointed that the alpha did not keep up with it as he swore he would when he first had taken Royce into his care. Had she been younger and saw this, she would have been majorly disappointed. Currently, however, she was glad that he didn’t keep his promise. This would certainly keep her distracted from everything that was going on at the time being.
“Alright, let’s see how you look in the inside,” she murmured and headed up the weathered yet strong wooden steps leading to the front door. “I hope you kept your promise at least in part, dad,” she muttered as if the alpha could hear her.
Royce pushed up on her tippy toes and felt at the top of the sill for the key. It was the spare key. The other was on her adopted father’s person. He always made it a point to keep close to him at all times.
Unlocking the door, Royce pushed it open and immediately the smell of moth balls and peppermint filled her nostrils. Her father always told her that Royce’s mother seemed to like the smell of them together. She was also convinced that they kept the snakes and rodents away.
A small chuckle escaped Royce as she thought about how odd her mother must have been. “I think we’ll just plant some marigolds, allium, maybe some pink agapanthus, this time around, mom,” she smiled as her eyes began to survey the home in which she had spent a part of her childhood.
At least the interior was kept up. For the most part, at least. The furniture was covered in sheets that one could tell had been settled there for as long as Royce had been absent. The once white had regressed into a dingy yellow. The place hadn’t dusted for a while. Still, the overall aura of the house was the same; cozy, and beautiful.
Royce walked further into her old home. There was an oak beam nearest the entrance of the kitchen. Past that was another on the other side. Royce stood in the middle, looking at the fireplace. It was her favorite place in the house outside of her parents’ room; a place she seldom didn’t sleep when her father was alive.
She ran her hand across the smooth oak beam before heading forward. Bypassing the fireplace and into the hallway, there stood a closed door. Rosewood and smooth with a rosewood brown mortice door knob. It was big.
Royce smirked as she wrapped her hand around the knob of the door, thinking about a time where her small hand could hardly grip the doorknob. Her dad used to pick on her about it.
“I’ve grown up now, dad,” she smiled. Then she turned the knob and walked into the room. She smiled and turned the light on. It was dimly lit. The large sprucewood canopy that sat there in the large room was covered as well. Royce pulled the old sheet away and saw that the bed was still in good shape as well.
Everything was pristine it seemed.
“Thanks,” Royce said in a hushed voice. At least the alpha kept this space in its beautiful and livable position.
She didn’t realize that tears had been falling from her eyes until that moment. She wiped them away and leaned against the wall and memories of her and her father flooded her mind.
“Enough nostalgia, for now. Let’s get some rest.” Katya said in Royce’s mind.
“Yeah,” said Royce. “It’s been a long day.”
Today…why did it have to be today? Did this really have to happen today of all days?
The question plagued Royce’s mind as she stood under the hot and steaming stream of water.
“He is….Royce. There can be no doubt…”
“How can we be sure? It could be a mistake! Hasn’t there ever been a mistake-”
“No,” Katya countered. “There is never a mistake where this is concerned. Deep down, you know that.”
It wasn’t deep down at all. The truth was, Royce knew good and well that it wasn’t a mistake. “I know that Kat! I….” Royce sighed. “I know. It’s…it’s just…I cannot…believe that this is our luck.”
“Luck..” Katya chuckled. “When have we ever had that?”
The quick shower that Royce had intended to take, lasted for over half an hour. It was only after the water began to run cold that she finally decided to lather up with the old soap that had been there for no one knows how long, cleaned up and got out.
She wrapped the towel around her and went into the bedroom to change when she remembered that she had forgotten to bring her belongings in.
Royce rushed back into the living room to grab her bag when she immediately felt a presence from behind her. She picked her bag up as if she hadn’t realized that there was an intruder behind and as soon as she stood upright quickly lifted her arm to bow whomever it was that was behind her.
It was only when that scent hit her nostrils and her knees weakened at the nearness of his person that Royce realized who it was.
So shocked by this sudden visit, Royce couldn’t counteract in time to stop him catching her arm, wrapping his hand around her throat and pushing her into the wall nearest the door.
His stature was masculine; a jawline that while covered in a scruff of facial hair, was visibly strong and sharp like his cold stare. His muscles bristled from the dark blue long-sleeved shirt that he wore. He towered over her with a demeaning look in his eyes.
“This…can never happen.” That was the first thing that came out of his mouth. “Will never happen.”
Royce didn’t say anything. She had very little to say while Katya was howling in the back of her mind. The great wolf hadn’t even rejected them yet and still she was hurt.
“You…are not my mate.” He said this as he moved in closer to her, his eyes touching every visible part of her body. “You can’t be,” he said in a hushed voice.
Royce felt his grip loosen. She watched him for a moment as he stood there in a daze. She didn’t want to have this conversation right now. It was bad enough that this stranger had plagued her mind throughout her whole shower. She wasn’t looking to deal with this too.
“Are you done?” she said.
This seemed to catch the large man off guard. He watched her curiously. Then in a swift move, she pushed his hand away from her.
“If you’re not going to reject me tonight, I’d like to go to bed now.” Royce took her bag and walked away from him. “You saw yourself in…I trust you can see yourself out.”
He watched her walk away and with every step she took, he found himself more intrigued by her. Then she stopped at the door.
“You com back here….unannounced,” she said. “You won’t be walking out again.”
He was taken aback by her threat, and suddenly felt a need to assert himself. “Do you know who I am? Who you’re talking to?”
“Yes,” said Royce. “My soon-to-be ex mate.”
- Writer
