Scorned Alpha - Burgov Series IV

10. Ellie

My eyes open at the first tune of It's time. I turned off the alarm and got out of bed, realizing I slept surprisingly well.

My eyes locked with Maddox's sleeping frame on the floor and I smirked. It would be so easy to kill him right now and if I were a little more like Orson I would.

But instead of committing a homicide for breakfast, I went to the walk-in closet and put on the outfit I had prepared a day before. Then I took my earphones and sleeping mask. I can't go out of shape even when I'm here. After all, it's a temporary bump in my road.

Yesterday was interesting. I scouted the borders waiting for them and it was strange there were no guards alarmed by a new wolf roaming around. And I don't care what Maddox says, because I know they couldn't expect me. Even if they were notified, they didn't know my scent, so at least one wolf should come and check, but there was no one. So they either don't patrol borders which could turn out to be a blessing in the future, or their routines don't go so far from the main village.

From what I saw, this pack should be close in size to Harvest Moon, so I won't have a problem scouting it today. Like my father had told me so many times, Gamma should always be aware of her surroundings.

But the most interesting discovery was made when his sister and mother came to see us. I know there is something I can't quite see yet, but I'm sure sooner or later I will discover their secrets. Especially after Lorraine's strange choice of words.

I tiptoed to the door and slipped out of the room, not waking Maddox. I'm not planning to see this pack with him hovering over me, I'm going to explore it on my own, so they wouldn't be able to hide things I shouldn't know.

But when I descended two flights of stairs and got close to the main entrance, the doors on the right opened and sleepy-looking Danny stopped in the doorway.

"Why are you up at five-thirty, woman?" - he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"To get my morning run, of course."

"So you aren't running away?" - he asked, watching me suspiciously.

"The only place I would run to is Harvest Moon. What's the point of running if you knew where to find me?" - I asked with a smirk.

"Fair point." - he nodded and then pointed to my head, where my sleeping mask was resting - "I think you forgot to take it off."

"No. I'm gonna need it." - I giggled. Danny seemed the most normal out of the three leaders of the Night Walkers Pack. Maddox was crossed out for obvious reasons, and his Beta was very formal and, if I'm not wrong, loyal to the core. And his loyalty definitely wasn't resting with me.

"Was he snoring again?" - Danny asked and I released a full belly laugh.

"No, but he was humming or rather buzzing. So annoying."

"Ah yes. You know I can show you to a spare bedroom if you want to catch a few more hours of sleep. I know it's against Ox's rules but we can't have you deprived of sleep because of him." - he offered, only confirming that he was a rebellious soul out of the three of them.

"Nah, but thanks. I really am going for a run. You can't have an ass like this without working for it."

He chuckled, shaking his head.

"So what's the mask for?" - Danny asked.

"Come with me and see." - I said, walking towards the door.

"Fine, fine, give me a minute to get my shoes on."

It wasn't exactly my plan, but Danny seemed like a decent source of information. And boy, did I have a few questions to ask. Among them, why the hell hadn't Madox reached out after the first time he felt betrayal pain, if that was even the truth. It made absolutely no sense to go through all this torture. And I know I wasn't answering his calls, but he could have texted, sent a messenger, anything, but for some reason he didn't. And being adamant about claiming me after that made even less sense.

His entire plan looked like something only a madman could come up with. Starting from publicly announcing our bond, all the way through making enemies out of each and every single member of my family, and ending with acting as if nothing ever happened, like he didn't force his mark on my neck, and I hadn't caused him pain.

I know I have thought about him through the years, but Maddox's actions made him look kind of insane.

Danny joined me and once again pointed to the mask.

"So will you tell me what it is for now?"

"You'll find out, just be patient, Gamma." - I smirked.

"How long do you plan to run?" - he asked in a whiny voice.

"Ninety minutes and then breakfast." - I said, jogging away. He groaned and followed, muttering, She will kill us all, under his nose.

We passed a few streets and I took everything in. The houses, the infrastructure, the expressions on people's faces, anything could lead me to something big that could free me from Maddox if my plan on finding all his documents fails. But so far this place looked like every other pack.

I glanced at Danny who was jogging casually, looking bored like he was still half-asleep. His lack of focus could work in my favor.

"So you're a Gamma, but not of Gamma blood, right?" - I asked.

"That's right." - he nodded - "Officially since a month ago."

"Why just a month?"

"That's when Ox took over with Banks and I by his side."

"Ah, so that's why he waited till now to seek me out." - I pointed out and I felt Danny's eyes on me.

"If it matters, I told him to do it differently. But he was so adamant that he needed to stake his claim publicly. He wouldn't allow even a single thought that you wouldn't come here with him."

That's interesting.

"Desperate much, I see." - I deadpanned with a small smirk under my nose, at which Danny boomed with laughter.

"You have no idea." - he agreed, but his face fell soon after - "But I'm glad he didn't have to wait longer. It wasn't good for his sanity."

I glanced at him, utterly intrigued.

"Why? Is he even a bigger wacko than he seems?"

But this time it was Danny who eyed me in shock.

"Wasn't the separation taking a toll on you too?" - he asked.

"Not that I noticed. To be totally honest, up until two days ago, I didn't know his mark worked at all. Yes, I sometimes thought about him, but there was no painful longing, no scribbling his name in my journal and no betrayal pain…"

"Because he wasn't with anyone else." - he cut me off and my eyes grew in shock. He didn't have even a single hookup? In three years?! That's… unexpected.

"Then why? I obviously hurt him, so why would he still want me? Why wait so long? Don't get me wrong, but it didn't look like he cared much whether I wanted him back or not. Not to mention the number of new enemies he made. My entire family hates him right now."

Danny signed and hung his head.

"I know. I told him. Banks told him. f**k, even Luna told him. But he was convinced that once he gets you here, he will win your heart and when you'll be swooning over him your family will have no option but to accept him." - he said honestly and I wasn't expecting that amount of information.

"But that still doesn't explain why he waited that long?"

"He wanted to be Alpha, so nothing and no one could mess up his plans. I probably shouldn't tell you this, so please don't repeat it to Ox."

"I'm not planning to talk with him whatsoever, so you're safe." - I assured him, making him laugh again. But the question of what could have messed with his plans wrote itself pretty highly on my agenda.

"I should probably say thank the Goddess, but that would make me a shitty friend." - we both started chuckling and it felt oddly nice. He was a really cool guy, the kind I could see getting along with my gang very well. - "I didn't think you would be like that."

"Like what?" - I asked, knitting my brows together.

"Nice, normal. I thought you would be angry at the entire world for at least a couple of weeks. I'm glad I was wrong."

"I am nice and normal, well, most of the time. And since I'm angry at just one person, I shouldn't have everyone else paying for his mistakes. And trust me, he will pay."

Danny laughed again, stopping our jog to catch his hurting belly.

"Promise me you will reveal all the tortures you have planned for him." - Danny asked between fits of laughter.

"Okay, but if I'm good at my job, you're gonna hear about them anyway."

He nodded with a s**t-eating grin and looked at my forehead where the night mask still rested.

"So are you gonna tell me what you brought that for?"

I glanced around, noticing we had almost left the village with just a few homes ahead of us.

"It's as good a place as any, I suppose." - I said, sliding it down on my eyes and allowing the black fabric to blind me completely.

"What the hell are you doing?" - he asked with confusion in his voice, but I just smiled and allowed my wolf to come up forth. I started sniffing the air, listening to the rustling of the trees, generally taking my surroundings in with every sense other than my sight.

It was a technique my father was working on for years, saying it helps to keep our senses sharp. And it does.

At first, Dad used it as punishment on me and my brothers, telling us to catch a squirrel without seeing it, which happened to be a nightmare even with our eyes still there.

But with time, it evolved into a great teaching technique. It helps me feel more, hear more and use my other senses to their limits. Just for fun, I started scouting places I went to like this, and it's absolutely overwhelming what you can smell or hear when your eyes aren't taking your attention away.

"You ready?" - I asked Danny, smiling.

"Um, are you gonna run like this?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"A couple, but the two most pressuring are that I obviously called you normally prematurely, and how the f**k do you expect me to explain it to Ox when you break your nose, or leg, or fell off the hill? We're in the middle of the forest, you know?!"

"Oh, don't be such a p***y, Danny. And maybe when I knock my front teeth out he wouldn't want me anymore." - I said, smiling and started jogging backwards away from him. - "Come on, you Grump!"

"Sure, run backwards without seeing your surroundings, that sounds like a great idea." - he muttered, but my ears picked up his steps, so I knew he had started following me.

I started my run, not losing my speed and after a few times Danny asked if I knew what I was doing, he finally let it go, and focused on keeping my pace.

My father's technique was at times tricky, especially when we left the village and my feet met the soft forest floor. I know Danny's concerns were justified. After all, I fall doing the same thing more times than I care to count. But the secret was in combining everything your feet can feel, your sense of smell and ears. That's why when we got to the especially woodsy area I whistled from time to time to check how the sound was spreading through the obstacles on my path, and I felt more than I would with my eyes uncovered.

People tend to rely on what they see too much. If I explored this place with my eyes only I wouldn't be aware that this is mostly a hemlock forest with a few white pines. I wouldn't have known that in the last six months there had been a fire in this forest, but since it wasn't in a large area, I would blame the thunder for being the cause of that. I also wouldn't notice the subtle scent of sulfur lingering in the morning air. I wouldn't know Night Walkers had a family of skunks on their land. And I most likely would have missed the faint scent of beavers and where there are beavers there most likely will be a dam that needs to be inspected. And last but not least, I wouldn't feel the faint, but characteristically coppery scent of fox-shifters. It wasn't fairly fresh, but I was sure that at least two had roamed around the borders in the last fortnight.

"How often do the foxes come near this pack?" - I asked.

"Almost never. Once a year we have a sighting, but that's it." - Danny answered.

"If the last one wasn't in two weeks' time, you would want to look into that."

"What? No, it wasn't. What are you talking about?"

"Come on, I'll show you." - I beckoned him with my hand, slightly changing my route. We jogged a few minutes before I was sure the scents of wolves and foxes mixed the strongest and I stopped. - "That's the spot." - I said, taking off my mask - "One was passing by no longer than ten days ago, and since I don't sense wolf's scent leaving the Pack's border I assume you haven't chased him away, so he came and left on its own, right?"

He looked at me as if I had grown two heads, then started sniffing the air on his own and frowned, walking two steps away and crouched to inspect the soil.

"How did you…" - he muttered, but stopped when his fingers picked up a patch of red fur and he turned towards me with his mouth hanging open.

I smirked, because that right here was the difference between a pure-blooded Gamma and any other wolf. There were things that you couldn't be taught. Sure, I wasn't as strong, but my other talents made up for that tenfold.

"Okay, I think I built up my appetite." - I said, looking around - "Ready to head back?" - He slowly nodded, still watching me as if I were a freak.

On the way back, the whole village started waking up to life and it seemed like everything was in order. I don't think I would be finding anything incriminating outside the Pack House after all.

Dan suddenly started chuckling and I turned towards him, noticing how his eyes had that unfocused look.

"Your guy is awake and he's looking for you. And may I add, he lost his s**t a bit." - Danny said, making me groan.

"He's not my guy." - I deadpanned sternly.

"Whatever you call him just raised an alarm, he thought you ran away. You might wanna leave a note next time."

"Where's the fun in that?" - I answered with a grin.

We almost made it back to the Pack House when Danny's scent slightly changed from the adrenaline rush and he muttered Oh boy under his nose. His reaction made me feel excited over the upcoming fun.

But I wasn't expecting a blonde, wearing way too heavy perfume, to start calling his name.

"Danny! Daniel, I need a word!" - she shrieked when he wouldn't stop and pretended not to see her.

Interesting. Was she an ex-lover? Or perhaps someone else?

He stopped glancing nervously my way and I could tell his mind was working in high gear as she was walking towards us.

"You're back." - she stated, without saying hello or any other greeting. - "Is Ox back too? I was told that my uncle and the Alpha would want to speak with him."

Ah, so she is an ex-lover, just not Danny's.

"Ex Alpha." - Danny corrected her.

"Unimportant." - she waved her perfectly manicured hand, as I watched her closer. She was tall, pretty enough, if you're into dolls, seemed very confident, but she didn't strike me as a threat. Actually, if she's interested in Maddox she could be my new best friend. - "I need to speak with him. Fast. So be a good boy and tell him I was looking for him."

Danny scowled, not even trying to hide his distaste for that chick, and I made a mistake, allowing a small chuckle to escape my throat. She zeroed her eyes, with surprisingly, at the early hour of the day, impeccable makeup, on me and frowned.

"Who the hell are you?" - she asked, sounding annoyed.

"Ellie."

"Ellie, who?" - she demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"Ellie is…" - Danny started hastily, but he couldn't come up with a good enough explanation in time.

"A visiting friend." - I finished for him. Technically, it's not a lie, because I am going to leave this place sooner or later.

"Is she staying in the Pack House?" - she asked Danny.

"Yup." - Danny nodded.

She grimaced and gave me a once over, clearly not liking what she saw. And given I was all sweaty and underdressed compared to her, the girl had big issues.

"Tell Ox I don't like it." - she said, spinning on her heel and sauntering away.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss…" - I shouted after her.

"Lana." - she said over her shoulder.

I smiled at myself for finally having something to grab onto, but Danny looked like he had stepped into especially deep and smelly s**t.

"It's not what you think." - he said immediately after seeing my expression.

"So she isn't Maddox's ex who wants to be Luna?" - I asked and his mouth opened and closed a few times, confirming my theory. - "That's great." - I added with a grin before turning around and walking up the few steps leading to the Pack House.

As soon as I stepped through the front door, I noticed Maddox coming my way.

"Where the hell were you? I was looking all over for you."

"On a run. I thought even the prisoners get to have at least an hour of fresh air in the morning." - I said, passing him by.

"Ellie, you're not a…"

"Oh, and your Luna was looking for you." - I said just in time Danny joined us in the hall, releasing an exasperated sigh at my words.

"You were?" - Maddox asked with a hopeful smile. Oh my Goddess, he's so easy to mess with.

"Not me, your girl Lana." - I said with a cheeky grin - "She's good looking and seems interested, maybe you should pursue her." - I said, turning around and walking up the stairs to take a shower, and all I could hear was a low What the f**k, man muttered to Danny. But to me it sounded like music.

Ellie 1: Maddox 0