The Alpha's Lost Luna

Chapter 4 - Catching his scent

Lucy’s POV

Lucy finished brushing her hair and gave herself the once over in the small bathroom mirror before nodding to her appearance. She was dressed in a white blouse and skirt, determined to look professional for the careers event today. She collected her school bits off the bed and returned to the kitchen, checking the other kids had finished their breakfast.

"Everyone ready?" She asked, grabbing a slice of toast from the pile she had made earlier.

"Yes!" A chorus of 5 little voice shouted back, grinning to Lucy as they showed off their lunchboxes and school bags, full and ready to go. They all jumped up from the table, moving to crowd around Lucy, though none of them came higher than her chest.

"Brilliant, well-done guys. Now, who’s holding my hand today?". Lucy wiggled her left hand in front of her and Carly, the youngest of the bunch at 6 years old, eagerly jumped forward to snatch it.

Lucy bent down and whispered to her "I was hoping it’d be you!". Carly gave a small giggle in response and began pulling Lucy towards the door.

Everyone ready and out of the house by 8 o’clock was a perfect Monday morning in Lucy's book. It was going to be a good day, she could feel it in her bones. As the kids waited outside for her, whilst she collected her coat, a puff of smoke clouded around her, almost instantly sucking the happiness from the air. The old hag was up early for a weekday.

"Good morning, Ma’am, we are just heading out. Breakfast is in the kitchen if you would like it." Lucy smiled with gritted teeth. She had learnt many years ago to not expect anything from the woman, but also that staying in her good graces was in Lucy's best interests. P*****g her off is always a mistake. Fake pleasantries were all Lucy could muster after all these years and so long as she kept the kids out of the old hag's way, she was happy.

"Good.". Ma’am grunted back. Just as Lucy turned to leave, a grey, wrinkling hand clawed at her shoulder, "Make sure to not come home until after 5 today. I have guests.".

Without offering an explanation, not that Lucy expected one, the old hag turned into the kitchen to devour the leftovers of the warm breakfast Lucy had made without so much as a thank you. A deep sigh left Lucy as she locked up the front door and walked over to the kids. She was determined to not let the kids see any more negativity than the hag already subjects them to, and God knows that’s a lot, so quickly wipes a smile on to her face and begins the school walk.

5 drop offs and 3 separate schools later, Lucy finally arrives at her own school: Black Valley high school. Either named after their surroundings or the mildly famous Black family, that had successfully put this town on the map, it had been her escape for almost 7 years and was now her chance to get a scholarship to study at university. Affording to go was out for the questions for Lucy but she had decided many years ago that she would build a good career for herself and make sure she could support the other kids without needing the old hag. Unfortunately, the career path she had chosen, accounting, required a lot of qualifications but the payoff at the end should be worth it.

Today was a chance for Lucy to see into the world of accounting and hopefully make a good impression with some accountancy firms in their local area. She had been looking forward to the careers fair for weeks, excited to soak up any and all advise they could give her to get on the right track. Yes, today would be good.

"You’re pulling that face again.". A familiar voice droned in her ear just after she was tackled from the side by a hug. Her best friend Layla nearly took her off her feet, but she managed to prevent them both from face planting the pavement.

"What face?".

"The thinking about all my dreams coming true face". Layla cupped her jaws and stared off into space giving her eyelashes a flutter.

"That is not what I was doing,". Lucy snorted, falling into step with Layla as they walked toward the entrance. "I’m just looking forward to today, that’s all.".

"Me too. I’m hoping these big money companies bought better freebie than just pens this year! Layla needs a new notepad!".

Lucy snorted again, loving her goofy friend a little more each time she bought some joy into her life. Many times since they first met in primary school, Layla had kept Lucy sane. Letting her b***h about Ma'am, holding her when things felt too overwhelming, buying pizza for a girly evening for just the 2 of them and sharing all the boy gossip she heard, making Lucy feel a little more normal. Really, she was the best person Lucy had in her life and she wouldn't trade Layla for the world.

Lucy and Layla had homeroom together for their first stop of the day. Their teacher, Miss Evergreen, was young and always vied for male attention, making her known commonly to the students as Miss EverKeen. Her most recent victim had been the gym teacher, last week, in the boys changing rooms. The news had spread through the school like wildfire after Mark Johnson had walked in on them f*****g. Lucy had no idea how she hadn’t been fired yet but with the glances she got from the headteacher she doubted he would ever get rid of her.

The class had been sitting and chatting for 20 minutes past the bell when Miss Evergreen finally showed up. She whisked the door open, shouting a random name to take attendance and reminded them to be at the careers fair today. Just like that she was gone again.

"Looks like Miss EverKeen is on the prowl again. I wonder who her next unfortunate prey will be?". Layla whispered, laughing with Lucy as they discussed the likelihood of each faculty member’s chance. They finally settled on their headteacher being her next victim, otherwise he might just fire her. That lead to them both squealing with laughter, alongside a large chunk of the class who had listened into their conversation.

"Wow, what a good start to a Monday, its going to be an interesting week,". Layla huffed, finally getting the giggles out of her system. "Friday night at yours was great by the way, did Ma’am ever find out?".

Layla always said Ma’am with as much sarcasm as she could muster, showing her deep hatred for the woman. Sometimes Lucy wondered if Layla hated her more than she did.

Last week had been Lucy’s 18th birthday and after making Layla promise to not get her any presents, her friend had twisted her arm into a celebration instead; a secret sleepover. Of course, actual sleepovers weren’t allowed. Layla had fished out all her family’s old camping equipment and once Ma’am had gone to bed, Lucy joined her in the field behind her house for their secret sleepover. It had been freezing and they had both been bitten to death by mosquitoes, but Lucy had loved every second. They had stayed up talking for most of the night and once Layla had finally succumbed to sleep, Lucy stayed up to watch the bright moon hang in the sky. It wasn’t full yet, but she felt comforted by its glow. She even made a few birthday wishes to anyone listening above.

"No, she never found out. So long as the kids and I were out of the house by 10am on Saturday she wouldn’t have noticed.".

Layla mumbled something Lucy did quite catch under her breath just as the bell rang out for the end of home room. They both agreed to meet at the fair after their first lesson and went their separate ways.

The hall holding the career’s fair was huge and filled with stalls all around the edge and down the middle. Lucy was glad she had some idea of her career direction otherwise it would take all day to work her way through each stand. As she entered the room, Layla immediately spotted her and ran forward, already clutching a handful of freebies and smiling with glee.

"The construction companies pulled out all the stops for today, I already have 2 notebooks and a ruler!" She waggled it in Lucy’s face making her giggle.

"Oi, careful what you do with that thing.". Layla only wiggled her eyebrows in response but stopped when a nearby teacher glared at her. She rolled her eyes and they both began moving around the room, stopping at each stall for Layla to have a root for more goodies.

"So, I heard the guy taking the presentation this morning is from the company you keep talking about.".

"Yeah, I really want to go." Lucy was starting to feel impatient following her friend around as they had only moved a quarter of the way down the hall and only seen construction stands. Nothing here appealed to her, and she already knew where she wanted to go.

Layla eyed her, "Well I also heard he was drop dead gorgeous so I will come keep you company. How about you go check out his stall before the talk, then you can confirm the rumours before we both ogle him from the front row.".

Layla gave her a big cheesy grin. Lucy tried not to be so easy to read but Layla could always see through her forced smiles. She gave her a quick squeeze of thanks and wondered off in search of the Black Accounting Limited stand.

Lucy easily manoeuvred through the crowd of sixth formers who all seemed to be stuck like Layla at the stands offering the best freebies. Once free from the main clump of students, a lovely scent hit her nose. It smelled like a blend of rich tropical fruits and reminded her of her favourite smoothie which she treated herself to at work sometimes. She took a deep inhale and sighed, following the fragrance to what she hoped would be a free smoothie stand. Lucy knew it was unlikely for any of the companies to be that invested in the teenager’s career path but what else could explain the delicious smell?

As Lucy followed the smell to the last row of stands, she realised it was coming from the last stall in the row, neatly set up by the side doors of the hall. With a grin she realised it was the Black Accounting stand and immediately strode towards it. Lucy’s eyes landed on a large man representing the company. He was broad and muscly with sandy blonde hair loosely tousled around his face. Not the typical look for an accountant, but neither was she, Lucy supposed.

As she approached him, his eyes seem to lock on her. He looked at her in an odd way as if he was assessing her. Lucy was used to guys looking at her but this didn’t feel the same. His studying eyes didn’t drop from her face when she reached the stand, nor when she smiled. There was an awkward tension hanging between them as Lucy waited for him to introduce the firm, like the other company reps had done.

"Hello,". She gave him a wide smile, unable to stand the silence any longer.

"Hi.". That was his only response. Lucy’s eyes darted around the stall searching for the source of the tropical scent still lingering in the air. It seemed to be fading as she sniffed for it again. Maybe the rep had a smoothie here before the fair opened? Lucy sighed, slightly disappointed but when her attention refocused on the man before her, he spoke again. "Can I help you?".

"Yes, I have applied to university to do accounting and would love to hear more about your company and what you do. My teacher said you offer placement years?". Lucy was excited to hear as much as this man could tell her. Black Accounting would be a great firm to get experience from if they would have her. However, his face morphed into confusion at her questions, maybe she asked too many at once? Though Lucy was beginning to wonder if he was just standing in the wrong place.

"Are you here alone?". The question threw her a little, did she really seem that out of place at an accountancy stand that he would not even answer her questions?

"Erm... no. My friend isn’t all that interested in accounting though, so I left her at another stall.".

"No, I mean are you the only one in the school?".

Lucy couldn’t help but feel like he was asking her strange questions but tried to be as polite as possible. For all she knew, this could be the CEO giving the presentation today, she needed to make a good impression. She gave a laugh and tried to joke around to ease the tension she could feel rolling off the man. "Oh! I don’t know about the school, but I think I’m the only one who is looking into accounting in sixth form. Why, has your stall been quiet today? You should’ve brought some freebie pens or stationery like the other company reps. Secretly that’s the main attraction for most students here.".

The company rep maintained his stare, unfazed by her joking around and unwilling to join in her laughter. Suddenly, his eyes glazed over, and it looked like he zoned out. Lucy was about to awkwardly leave when he snapped back to life. Almost as if the stoic man before had been swapped entirely with someone new, he quickly gained a wide grin and relaxed his stance.

"Sorry darling, I like to vet the students that come to the stand. Don’t want to be handing out advise to people who only came for the sweets.". From behind the stand, he pulled out a box of chocolates and offered one to Lucy. She accepted one, grateful that the weird questions seemed to be over but still wary he could jump back to being a grumpy man any second. "I’m Kyle. I work as an assistant for our CEO. He should be here in a minute if you want to ask your questions to him directly.".

Lucy’s stomach did a mini somersault. It was an odd feeling of nerves and excitement which she put down to the thought of speaking to the one CEO in the room who could potentially secure her future. She did want a chance to speak to him but also couldn’t shake the feeling that the sudden change in demeanour of the guy in front of her was cause for alarm. Making up her mind for her, Lucy’s phone gave a small buzz in her hand, and she quickly glanced at the screen to see messages pouring in from Layla, no doubt bored and ready to meet up again.

"Thank you, Kyle. I’m Lucy. Actually my friend just texted to go find her, but I’ll be back after the talk if that’s ok?".

Lucy hadn’t expected an answer from Kyle but was eager to get away from the stall and find Layla. It was nearly time for the presentation from his CEO anyway so hopefully it didn’t look too much like she was escaping his weird presence. Lucy silent prayed that her interaction with the CEO would be less strange.