One Night Stand With The Alpha

Monday 24th June 1991-Daniel

Moving away for the summer had been more liberating than I had imagined it could be, even before I met Marlene.

I hadn’t realized just how much was weighing on my mind, and how frustrated I was by the fact my future was about to be set in stone for the rest of my life.

The past week had passed me by in a heartbeat and I woke up every morning thankful for the fact I had Marlene in my life, and that she made me feel so alive.

I knew as soon as I woke up that I was not alone in the house, and I pulled on the sweatpants I had left on the back of my chair before I went downstairs.

I was really, really not in the mood for this particular visitor, and I hoped that Marlene wasn’t planning on surprising me this morning because it would not be safe for her to show up at my house now.

“Good morning.”

My younger brother, sat casually at my kitchen table with a cup of coffee in his hand and a smug smile on his face.

He had only said two f*****g words, and I already wanted to strangle him.

“You aren’t supposed to be here, Karl. That was something our father made very clear to you.”

He laughed, and I felt my blood boil.

He knew exactly what to do to make me want to fight him, and he always had.

He wanted everything I had, and sometimes I thought I was only refusing to give up my position in our pack to spite him.

It was tempting to think of reasons to banish him from the pack as soon as I was Alpha, but for now I had to settle for the fact I had an entire summer free from his s**t.

At least, that was the plan.

And yet here he was, sitting in my kitchen and making it clear he was not going to leave until he had ruined my day.

I made my own coffee, thinking about everything I was going to do when he had gone, which inevitably meant I was thinking about Marlene.

I wasn’t even sure she would be there if I showed up at her house, but even the thought of Biata sneering at me disapprovingly was more appealing than spending any more time in the company of my obnoxious younger brother.

He was droning on about everything that was going on with the pack, and all the things our father was planning.

I only paid attention when he mentioned a couple of names and I realized that our father was going to decide who I had to mate when I got back.

The thought made my stomach twist and my heart drop and I slammed my cup down on the table so forcefully that it shattered and I had to jump out of the way to avoid being scolded.

“Oh come on, Daniel. Are you seriously pissed off that you’re being handed a beautiful woman with absolutely no effort? You really are a spoiled brat sometimes.”

That was enough - I was not going to entertain my brother and his stupid attempts to antagonize me anymore.

He knew better than to push me into a physical fight - I was still bigger than him and more than capable of beating him if he tried, and he was not going to risk wounding his pride over this, either.

I picked up the shards of the shattered cup and tossed them carelessly into the garbage as I tried to forget about everything my brother had told me to wind me up.

The only thing I could think of when I was cleaning up that mess was the fact I had reacted that way at all, and the way it had felt when I heard him mention me taking a mate in just a few short weeks.

I didn’t want any of the women my father considered suitable; right now, the only person I wanted was Marlene, and she was all I was going to think about if I didn’t do something to clear my mind.

Something like the kind of meaningless but blissful encounter she had agreed to have with me while I was living here...

Not exactly a sensible way of getting her out of my head, but at least the time we spent together was enjoyable, and the thought of her breathlessly uttering my name was particularly enticing after such an infuriating encounter with Karl.

I tried to dress in a way that looked as if I had just been passing by and decided to drop in, but still tried to look irresistible to her because that was what I wanted to be.

Ripped jeans, high top sneakers, and a baggy t-shirt that had cost more than it had any right to.

Effortless, cool, and I thought I looked appealing enough to impress her.

I grabbed my keys and ran through all the things I wanted to say to her as I walked to her house.

The more I thought about it, I really didn’t want to say anything at all.

I wanted to drag her to her room and leave her in no doubt that agreeing to this arrangement was the best decision she had ever made.

I brushed off my shirt as I waited for someone to answer the door, and my heart raced when I smelled that it was her, particularly as I could tell Biata wasn’t there.

I was prepared to kiss her before she could say a word to me, but when she opened the door my breath caught in my throat and all thoughts of spending the day in bed with her were gone.

Her eyes widened when she saw that it was me - they were red, and she had clearly only managed to stop crying to open the door.

It hit me. Hard.

She was hurt, and she looked upset, and despite everything I had told myself about what she was to me, I actually cared about that.

I hated seeing her looking so distressed, and I wanted to comfort her.

“Do you want to talk about this?”

Fuck. I sounded so weird asking that. I hadn’t ever cared enough to ask something like that before, and it did not sound sincere.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and stepped aside so I could come into the house without accepting my offer.

I think she was afraid she would start sobbing again if she spoke, but she might just have wanted the company without saying anything and… my heart dropped again.

It had just crossed my mind that I might be the reason she was crying.

She had agreed to this stupid relationship and she might have seen that it was a bad idea.

I had come here to use her to distract myself, but instead she might be planning on telling me she could never speak to me again.

“I’m sorry…”

Her voice cracked, and she looked away from me so that I couldn’t see her crying.

I wanted to hug her, but she had her arms folded around herself and she looked like she wanted to melt into nothing.

I was worried that I might have made a mistake when I decided to comfort her, but she ushered me into the kitchen and started to make drinks without bothering to ask whether I wanted anything.

I didn’t ask her what was wrong, because I was waiting for her to tell me this was goodbye, but when she finally sat down at the table opposite me, she seemed less distressed and I relaxed a little.

“You don’t have to stay, Daniel. This is not what we agreed to - I think sitting with me while I am in this state is probably the complete opposite of a casual summer fling.”

She was right, but I didn’t want to leave her and I reached out across the table and rested my hand on hers.

She stared at my hand like it was a foreign object for a while, then looked up and swallowed a lump in her throat.

“I guess it’s stupid to ask if you are OK, but I feel like it’s the only thing I can ask right now.”

She nodded very slightly, and I was entirely unconvinced that she believed that she was OK.

“I’m fine… or, I will be. I just phoned my dad for the first time since I moved here this morning and he’s got a way of knowing exactly what will hurt the most. I should have expected this.”

I thought of Karl, and the fact he always knew what to say to bother me, but I didn’t think it would help to tell her that I had come here because my brother had pissed me off.

“I don’t know what he said, but whatever it was…”

Whatever it was, I had no idea what to say to make it better.

“It’s fine. I’m used to it. I just thought he would understand why I came here. This opportunity isn’t something I could pass up, and I wish he could just be proud of me for this rather than acting like I am an awful person for accepting this scholarship. I just want to make something of myself. I would have been miserable if I stayed there.”

I nodded.

I understood exactly how she felt.

“Marlene, you aren’t a bad person for moving away. I may not understand much about this stuff, but it’s obvious that you are a brilliant young woman and that you will achieve incredible things. Don’t let anybody tell you that you should have sacrificed this opportunity.”

I don’t think I had ever spoken from the heart like that before, but it was how I felt and I needed her to know that. She deserved to see how brilliant she was.

Her lips parted slightly and I couldn’t ignore the fact her breathing was heavier and faster because she had found my words more than comforting.

Her eyes glanced towards the stairs, and then back to me, and she leaned across the table to kiss me in a passionate and unintentionally adorable gesture that I would have reciprocated without hesitation if she hadn’t been sobbing when I showed up.

I kissed her back, but with none of the passion she was expecting and she broke away and looked mortified that she had just made a move like that.

“I’m so sorry.. I… I…”

I felt awful for the fact I had humiliated her with my response, but I cleared my throat and told her it wasn’t a problem.

“It’s not that I don’t want you, Marlene. It would just feel like I was taking advantage of you if we did anything like that right now. I know it goes against absolutely everything I said I wanted, but I kind of want to do something less exciting today; I think it would be nice to actually get to know you.”