Alpha's Fate (Black Moon Saga Book 2)

Chapter 16: The Grandfather

It is not often that Hazel feels compelled to leave their room to join the pack for meals, but sometimes, when she has not been sleeping well and is feeling restless, she appreciates having somewhere to go. Since becoming the guests of Alpha Preston, she and David are no longer free to go walking in the woods whenever the urge strikes. This pent-up feeling only seems to make her insomnia worse.

Her inability to sleep is compounded by the fact that recently, she has been dreaming almost every night. Thus, even when she can sleep, she chooses not to. Her ability to stave off sleep only works for so long, though, before her body takes over and forces her eyes closed. This is why she takes David with her whenever she leaves the room, holding onto his arm as they walk and sticking close to him as they make their way through the cafeteria-style buffet.

When her eyes finally slam shut on their way to lunch, he is there to catch her and carry her back to their room to rest. And when she wakes, he is sitting at the end of the bed working on the protective charm he has been creating since they were still at her home.

So, this will be the way of it, then, she thinks to herself, reviewing the dream she just experienced. She knows that David’s charm is the key to one potential future and seeing him working on it now confirms that it is the future they are heading toward.

“Who are you making that for?” Hazel asks him after she sits up.

He turns to her, startled. “I … I don’t know. I’m only making it because you told me I should.”

“Who is it that comes to mind every time you pick it up? That’s who it’s for,” she explains.

“Oh, well then it’s for Kylie,” he answers, a wistful smile softening his features as he remembers his little girl. “Though, I don’t know what good it will do. It’s not like I can give it to her.”

“There’s a certain amount of protection just in the making,” she tells him, spinning her body around to dangle her feet over the side of the bed.

Now that she has her answer, she knows what she needs to do with it. She only hopes that David will forgive her, knowing that if he finds out he will likely not understand.

Sometimes, her visions teach her which signs to watch out for but are only meant to inform her of what is to come. Sometimes, they demand an action from her in order to set a certain future in motion or keep it coming. But in other rare instances, like with the vision she experienced before waking just now, it is both. She knows that to guide fate toward the future David desires, she must take the sign he has given her and complete her part in it now.

She stands and heads to their bathroom to put herself back together, then returns to their room.

“I need to go speak with the Alpha,” she informs him. “I’ll be back shortly.”

Once she makes her way to the door, she turns back around to add, “You should finish that, and keep it on you when you leave here. You will see her in time.”

She knows Alpha Preston is in the private section of the mansion, so she heads upstairs and makes her way to the guards at the door to his suite.

“I need to speak with Alpha Preston,” she informs them, knowing they are as likely to turn her away as not, and prepares herself to be as charming as she needs to be.

Fortunately, one of the guards is the same one who was sent to retrieve her from her home and remembers that she acts like this when she knows something. Being a bit superstitious himself, he opts not to question her, instead attempting to open a mind-link with the Alpha. Discovering that Alpha Preston has him blocked, he walks a few steps and opens a panel in the wall that contains a phone.

Punching in the code that will ring Alpha Preston directly, he holds the phone to his ear and waits.

Hazel hears him say, “The witch is out here demanding to see you,” followed by a pause and then, “I’ll tell her.”

He hangs up the phone and turns to her. “Alpha Preston has instructed me to escort you to his office. He’ll meet you there momentarily.”

She allows him to take her by the arm and is surprised at how gentle he is about it. They walk together back downstairs and to the Alpha’s office, then she waits as he takes out some keys to unlock the door. Inside, he flips a light switch and instructs her to sit in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Then he stands and waits, leaning against the doorjamb and keeping an eye on his charge.

Alpha Preston breezes into the room only a few moments later, not having bothered to touch up his appearance. It is pretty obvious what he was up to and why he had his link blocked off. His hair is a mess, and his white button-up shirt is slightly disheveled and untucked in one spot. He seems more curious than irritated, though, which Hazel takes to be a good sign.

After dismissing the guard, he sits in his chair behind the desk and regards the witch in front of him.

“I’m almost afraid to ask, considering that you felt you needed to tell me whatever it is right away, not even waiting for me to finish with my wife. What is it, Hazel?”

“You did instruct me to come to you at once whenever I saw anything useful,” she reminds him, “though, I cannot always be certain whether something I see is time-pressing. When I notice the signs that tell me which direction we’re headed, I tell you.”

“I’m not complaining,” he clarifies. “I’m simply pointing out that it is the urgency with which you come to me that concerns me. It must be important.”

“It is. I have come to inform you that you will soon be a grandfather.”

He looks taken aback for a moment, his skin paling and his eyes widening. When he recovers, he sheepishly admits, “I considered denying the possibility and arguing that I do not have any children, but then I remembered who I’m talking to. It was not confirmed for me until this moment, but I have suspected that I may have a daughter.”

“You do,” she confirms. “And I won’t tell you any more than that.”

“What should I do with the information about my grandchild?”

“I’ll tell you,” she says surreptitiously, leaning forward over the desk as if to whisper to him.

He can’t help his natural reflex to lean forward as well, eager to hear what she will say. She so rarely gives him useful hints about her visions that he is excited she seems to be willing to now.

“Nothing,” she says at last, giggling slightly at her own performance. “You should do nothing. You should do nothing,” she repeats for emphasis. “But you will do something. I’ve seen that too. It’s not for me to decide, however.”

He sighs, exasperated by her antics. “Then why do you tell me this now?”

“Because it is important, now that your daughter has returned to her mother’s home and her baby is coming.”

“Tall Pines? She’s at Tall Pines?” he asks demandingly, feeling an urge to lunge across the desk and shake the answers from the witch. But he has been at this with her for long enough to know that it would be a fruitless endeavor.

Hazel only shrugs in response.

He sighs again, feeling the tension build between his eyes and struggling to keep his cool. For some odd reason, he desperately wants to know about his daughter. It’s as though his wolf demands it.

“Well then, can you elaborate on what you mean by ‘soon’? How soon is the baby coming?”

“Now. You'll be a grandfather by the end of the day.”