The Dark Alpha's Light

The Shopping Episode

Lenore

“I didn’t know that fun was allowed here,” I say to Mina. She frowns and looks at her mother.

“Come, dear, let's go talk,” Teresa grabs my arm and pulls me down the hallway.

I let her lead me down the hall to another room. We walk in, and I feel like I can breathe. The room is bright and full of color, unlike his majesty’s gloomy cave. There is a large sitting area with a big wrap-around white couch with a large TV and entertainment center. There are flowers and other decorations throughout the room, including family portraits. I catch myself looking at them, assuming that I am seeing my mate in a happier time with his family.

“Oh, so he can smile,” I say quietly.

“My son wasn’t always like how he is now,” Teresa appears at my side and picks up one of the pictures. She shows it to me. The family seems to be at a beach. “Torben’s father was tough on him as most Alpha males are on their sons. Lawson was a loving man. But unfortunately, he was also an alcoholic,” she explains with a frown. “Seven years ago, we suffered a bad attack from another pack, and we lost a lot of members despite ultimately winning,” Teresa closes her eyes and sets the picture frame back down. “Lawson took it hard and hit the bottle, which caused us to fight,” She indicates. "A very angry and drunk Lawson got into his Porsche and drove off.” She presses her lips together as Mina wraps her arms around her.

“You don’t have to talk about it, Mama,” Mina comforts her mother.

Teresa pushes Mina back, “No, sweetie, I can do it.” She takes a deep breath, “Lawson swerved off the road and hit a tree at a high rate of speed, the car exploded, killing him,” She nearly whispers the last part. “Torben was forced to become alpha at eighteen, and it changed him. My son shut down after that and-“ She trails off. “Anyways, we have you now. You are going to show Torben the light.”

It’s my turn to look away. I walk over to the couch and sit down. “I don’t know if I can, Teresa. I’m not used to being around someone like him,” I look at the ground.

Teresa sits beside me, “I know he is a difficult man to try and love, but you have to. The Goddess paired you with my son for a reason.”

“I must have pissed her off somehow,” I chuckle dryly. “I feel like I am being punished.”

“Oh dear,” Teresa breathes out. “Mates aren’t always easy. It’s only been two days.”

“And I already feel my spirit wilting,” I look at her through tears. “My best friend Judi met her mate, and she is so happy, and I feel so jealous of her. Like why couldn’t I be happy.”

“You will, Lenore. You will be happy here,” Teresa pats my arm.

I shake my head and stand up, “I don’t see it, Teresa. I don’t feel anything but dread when I am around him.”

“How does your wolf feel?” Teresa asks.

I take a deep breath, “She keeps telling me to stay strong and that his wolf wants me.”

“See? Our wolves may drive us nuts sometimes, but they won’t lead us down the wrong path,” Teresa smiles.

“I miss my family,” I mumble and look at my hands. “I had been serving as Luna since my mother died three years ago,” I explain. “Then I go to the conference to help my father, and I meet,” I pause, “Alpha Ambrose,” I say with too much bitterness. “I am forced to leave the next morning with just the things I brought for the conference, and since I arrived, I haven’t felt welcomed by him,” I sneer. “My supposed fated mate has made it abundantly clear that I am only here to birth an heir and nothing more.”

Teresa frowns, “I’m sorry, dear.”

“But honestly, I don’t’ see myself having children with him,” I say as Astrid whines in my head. “I can’t in good conscience bring an innocent child into a loveless environment.”

“I understand, dear,” Teresa sighs deeply. “We need you. Torben needs you,” She pleads with me. “He may not admit to it, but he knows you are more than someone to give him an heir. I don’t know why he feels the need to keep everyone around him at arm’s length. But it’s up to you to bring back the old Torben.”

“Why me?” I nearly shout and stand up. “Why am I the one meant to cure his grumpiness? I want to be happy, and I can’t do that here,” I tell Teresa. I take a deep breath, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout.”

Teresa stands up, “Why don’t we go do something?”

“Let’s go shopping, Mom,” Mina suggests and looks at me. “You said you don’t have any clothes?”

“I have some stuff,” I respond.

Mina pats her mother’s arm, “Come on, Mom. Let’s go get Lenore some new clothes,” Mina flashes her hazel eyes at me. “Shopping always makes me happy.”

I can’t help but laugh, “You remind me of Judi, my best friend. She loves to shop.”

“That sounds like a good idea, Mina. What say you, Lenore?” Teresa smiles.

“Sure,” I shrug.

Teresa whisks Mina and me out of the room, and we head toward the elevators. I feel a little relieved that at least my mate’s family is friendly enough. Mina keeps smiling at me, and Teresa is treating me well.

‘See, it’s not so bad here,’ Astrid adds.

I ignore my wolf and follow Teresa into the elevator. We ride down to the first floor in silence. When the door opens, I start toward the door.

“Where are you going, Lenore?” Mina asks.

“I thought we were going shopping,” I point

“Oh, we have to go ask my brother for a car,” Mina laughs.

I huff and roll my eyes, “Of course,” I grumble.

“Don’t you want to see your mate?” Mina asks with a hopeful smile.

“Oh sure,” I respond with entirely too much sarcasm.

Mina frowns as we follow Teresa down the hall towards his majesty’s office. Teresa lightly knocks and barges into the office. Torben looks up from his desk and narrows his eyes at Teresa.

“I am busy, Mother,” He hisses and looks at me. His expression lightens slightly while I muster a small smile.

“We are going shopping, Torben,” Teresa declares, “So we need a car.”

“Why do you need to go shopping?” My mate questions her.

Teresa points at me, “You forced this girl to come here with only a few things. She needs more clothes.”

“We’ll arrange for the rest of her belongings to be sent here,” Torben grumbles.

“And in the meantime, we are going to go buy her some things to hold her over,” Teresa steps toward the desk and stares him down.

“Fine,” He concedes and flicks his dark eyes on me. I look away to keep from letting his gaze affect me.

“Thank you,” Teresa says and brushes past Mina and me toward the door. “Come on, girls,” She beckons us.

I walk out of the office without looking back. Mina leans into me, “You know my brother never took his eyes off you.”

I say nothing as we head outside. The limo is sitting out front when we walk out. The driver opens the door, and we all slide in. I look out the window as the limo pulls away from the grand packhouse.

The limo stops in front of a store, and we slide out. “This is my favorite place to shop,” Mina grabs my arm. “It has everything,” She giggles and trots inside.

I follow her in, and a woman with curly brown hair approaches us.

“Luna Teresa, Miss Mina,” The woman greets them and eyes me, “And who is this?”

Teresa clasps my arm, “Cindy, this is Lenore, my son’s mate.”

Cindy smiles brightly and claps her hands, “Our future, Luna?” she clasps my hand, “Welcome to Hemlock Grove, Luna Lenore. I am so glad to meet you. My name is Cindy, and this is my shop. Anything you want is yours.”

“Thank you,” I respond and start looking around the store. Mina joins me after a few minutes. “Nice store,” I tell her.

“I love it here,” Mina squeals.

Mina helps me pick out new outfits. I try on a few dresses and some nice suits. I feel better having someone to talk to. After spending too much, we head back to the packhouse, where Teresa and Mina help me hang up and arrange my new clothes in the closet.

While standing in the middle of the room, I look around at the drab décor and sigh. Teresa grabs my arm, “You have to give it a woman’s touch, dear.”

“Will his majesty let me?” I ask.

“Just do it,” Teresa smirks. “Tell him that it was my idea.”

I can’t help but laugh, “So throw you under the bus?”

“Torben acts all tough, but he still minds his Mama,” Teresa winks. “Anyways, I have some work to go do. Tomorrow I will start teaching you how to be Luna, though, with your experience, it won’t take long.”

I frown at the mention of my pack but nod, “Sounds like a plan.”

“Mina, why don’t you introduce Lenore to your friends?” Teresa suggests.

“Okay,” Mina nods and looks at me. “We can hang out in the garden and play games.”

“That’s allowed?” I chuckle.

“Yes, silly,” Mina nudges me.

“Okay,” I laugh as we all walk out of the bedroom. We part ways with Teresa downstairs. Mina leads me outside, and we meet up with a young male I thought I saw at the conference.

“This is my best friend Todd Rogers, Beta Garth’s younger brother,” Mina introduces me to her friend.

“Hi,” I say as Todd eyes me.

“This is Torben’s mate, Lenore,” Mina says to Todd, whose eyes light up.

“Your Torben’s mate?” He claps. “Oh my, you are so pretty,” He giggles.

“Don’t mind, Todd,” Mina laughs.

Two girls walk up to us and smile at Mina while eyeing me. I just wave at them.

“This is Kirsten and Jolene, my other two best friends,” Mina tells me. She looks at her friends, “This is Lenore, Torben’s mate.”

“Really?” One of them asks and looks at me. “I’m Jolene.”

“Nice to meet you, Jolene,” I respond to her and look at the other one, “You must be Kirsten.”

The other female nods, “Yeah, I can’t believe Alpha Torben finally met his mate. We thought we would get stuck with Victoria Cullen as the next Luna,” she laughs.

“Victoria?” I ask.

“Oh, she is Torben’s old girlfriend,” Mina explains. “Don’t worry about her. She is all talk and nothing else. Torben broke up with her a year ago.”

“But she still thinks the Alpha belongs to her,” Kirsten giggles.

Mina rolls her eyes, “My brother doesn't want her, though.”

“I don’t think he wants anyone,” I say, and all eyes fall on me.

“No, he totally wants you, Lenore,” Mina touches my arm.

I snort, “I don’t think so, Mina. He only wants me to give him an heir.”

The others frown, and there is a moment of awkward silence. “Well, why don’t we go to the gazebo and hang out?” Todd suggests.

Everyone agrees, and we move toward the garden. We weave in and out of the seemingly endless maze before finding a gazebo in a field of brightly colored wildflowers. The scent is so lovely, and I can’t help but fall in love with the area. It reminds me of the garden at home that my mother had so lovingly tended.

“Do you like it?” Mina asks, and I nod.

“It reminds me of my mother’s garden,” I respond.

We all sit on benches under the white gazebo.

“Oh, your mother likes to garden?” Todd asks.

“Liked,” I correct him. “She died three years ago, and well, the garden sort of fell into disrepair,” I frown at the memory. “There were a couple of omegas that tried to keep it up, but my Dad made them focus on other things.”

“I’m sorry to hear that your Mom died,” Kirsten speaks up. “What did she die of?”

“Kirsten,” Jolene elbows her.

“It’s alright,” I say to Jolene. “She died of a rare cancer. It tore up my Dad.”

“Losing a mate is the hardest thing a werewolf can experience,” Mina adds. “My mom was catatonic for weeks after my Dad died. She is doing okay now, but sometimes, I hear her crying at night.”

“I stepped into the Luna position after my Mom died,” I continue. “To help out my Dad because he was having trouble focusing.”

“So, you should already know what you are doing,” Mina states.

“I suppose,” I shrug.

“So, what pack do you come from?” Todd asks me.

“I am from Moonglade Pack. My father is Alpha Wyatt Moonglade,” I say, and Todd nods.

“I have heard of your pack. I mean, I heard my Dad talking about it. He used to be the Beta, but now my brother Garth is,” Todd explained.

“Do you like it here?” Jolene asks.

It takes me a moment to form an answer, “It’s a beautiful territory, and you all seem nice, but I don’t know if I like it here yet.”

They all frown, “Why don’t you like it?” Mina asks.

“Your brother doesn’t exactly make me feel like he wants me here. He only brought me here out of obligation, not because he wants me,” I sneer.

“Torben wants you,” Mina argues. “I see how he looks at you.”

“With disdain?” I chuckle, and she narrows her eyes at me,

“Are you even trying with him?” Mina folds her arms.

“What does that mean, Mina? I was more or less forced to come here, so your brother didn’t start a war with my pack. And he told me that he only wants me to birth heirs. He will never love me,” I nearly shout at her. I look at the others, who are all looking around with uncomfortable expressions. “I am sorry,” I sigh. I look at Mina. “I am trying, Mina. But Alpha Ambrose isn’t making it easy.”

“Maybe start by calling him Torben,” Mina responds.

There is a moment of silence before Todd speaks up. “Let’s play a game or something.” He walks over to a low bench and opens it up. There are several board games inside. We end up spending a few hours playing Trivial Pursuit and Clue.

After Jolene and Kirsten left, I walked back into the packhouse with Mina and Todd. The smell of Scotch makes my heart thrum against my chest as Astrid whimpers. We come around the corner, and I see a tall and skinny female with bright red hair leaning against my mate with her lips too close to his.

The female looks right at me as she plants a kiss on my mate’s lips, and I feel pain in my chest as Torben wraps his arms around her.

“Torben,” Mina calls to him.

Torben pulls back and looks at his sister and then at me. “What?!” He growls and glares at me.

I feel tears in my eyes, and then I turn heel and run.

“Lenore!” Torben bellows, but I ignore him and keep running out of the packhouse and into the woods.