Heart of the Unknown Alpha (6 page)

              Darian slowly sat back down in his seat. There for a few seconds he had almost completely lost it and shifted there in the restaurant. His wolf was still howling and snarling, wanting to first chase the man down till he could run no more and then, only after he had suffered greatly rip his throat out. Taking deep breathes to calm himself he tried to clear his head. As it stood he would deal with the man later, a few calls and he wouldn’t be saying anything like that to anyone ever again, least of all his Aryana.
HIS ARYANA???? WTH? This was just a thank you dinner, granted one that went very horribly wrong but still…. SHIT Aryana!

              Looking at his dinner companion his heart sank. She sat there like a small child that had been beaten and was afraid to move because it would happen again.  This sweet strong woman looked so pale and fragile sitting there huddled into herself.  Clearly dinner was over, he needed to get her out of there. Signaling for the waiter’s attention he motioned  that they were leaving. The waiter nodded his understanding and disappeared in the back.

              Aryana felt rather then saw Darian come up behind her and gently guide her from her chair. She moved as if in a fog, guided by Darian’s hands through the restaurant. She was numb to everything around her as he lifted her into the passenger seat of the SUV and buckled her in without protest. She stared mute out the window as he drove back to her place.

              Darian kept glancing over at Aryana worriedly.  She looked so lost, almost broken. Nothing like the woman he had met the morning he had woken up in her spare bedroom.  Who the hell was that Scott guy? And What had he done to Aryana? This went way beyond just that one encounter and the insults the man had hurled at her. There were answers there but he just couldn’t figure them out. What was that guy to Aryana? The questions kept coming and his wolf kept passing in the back of his head. With Aryana in an odd mood it looked like he wasn’t going to be getting any answers. 

Pulling up to the curb he came around and opened her door. She looked a little better. She didn’t look like she was about to burst in tears at any moment but she still looked like one wrong word one wrong breathe and she would shatter. Darian wrapped his arm around her waist and walked her across the lawn to the front door.  She silently slipped her key into the lock and turned it. She started to push the door open and then stopped. She tilted her face up to Darian’s and just stood there her once sparkling bright blue eyes cloudy and dull with sadness and pain.

              Darian’s heart lurched in his chest, his poor sweet flower. He was once again seized with the urge to hunt down that man and do very violent things to him.  He cupped her soft cheek in one hand and just looked at her. She was so sweet, so soft. His heart squeezed. He leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss on the head and then tore himself away, hurrying back to the SUV before he did something truly stupid like haul her into his arms and kiss the memory of their disastrous dinner from her mind. His damn wolf howled the entire way home.

Aryana watched as Darian practically ran across the yard and threw himself into his vehicle and left. She felt held together by the weakest thread, ready to snap at any moment. She shut her front door behind her and was doing fine keeping it together until she sat on the sofa and looked up and there sat the pitcher stuffed full of flowers that Darian had brought her. After the scene at the restaurant and the things Scott had said there was no way Darian would ever want to even speak to her again, let alone see her. For some reason that thought was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The flood gates opened and she threw herself onto the sofa in a fit of tears.

Chapter 6 Death Rebirth and a Meddlesome Fae

              The silver haired fae turned from the window as the tall dark haired man with bright blue eyes entered the room. She smiled gently as he scowled at her.

“What are you doing here Fae? I didn’t send for you.” He asked as he crossed to the desk and sat down and started going over paperwork.

              “I am here because one of your blood is hurting greatly.” She watched as her words slowly registered with the great man. “Soon the end of their life as they know it will come to an end. As Supreme Alpha can you not feel their pain?”

The man’s eyes narrowed on the woman. She never visited without reason this reason was not something he had expected. “Who is this you speak of? One of the Pack Alphas? A member of the Council?  Tell me who is it?”

              “So you cannot feel their pain? A member of your own house?” She shook her head slowly and gently at him. Her silver eyes flashed with an all knowing look. “The future of the packs hang in the balance. Can not you, as Supreme Alpha, not feel when members of your own house, your own blood are suffering? Or have you become so lost in these years that you have dulled your senses… Remember I know how long it has been since you last shifted.”

              The man was starting to become impatient. He only shifted when he had to, which hadn’t been since he had returned to the pack  almost 70 years ago. He rose and stared into eyes every bit as silver as his were blue. “Listen to me Lluna, I am very busy and I do NOT have time for your cryptic comments and games. You may be pack guardian but I am Supreme Alpha and as such deserve SOME clearer answers from you.”

              “Then quiet your mind and open your heart. The future of your house lies with one who is in great pain.  Your heir is on the verge of death. I am here because of that.” Her silver eyes bore into his daring him to defy her.

              As with all Lycan he knew who the Fae was instinctively and as such was unable to deny her. Staring at nothing he searched inside of himself, inside his heart and mind, and there it was. He gasped his blue eyes widening his breathe coming in gasps at the knife edge that suddenly ripped through his body. Not often could the Supreme Alpha sense the emotions of others.  Only other Alphas or those of his blood line  could he sense and even then they had to be rather strong emotions , this, this was beyond anything he had ever felt. The pain was so intense, laced with desolation and despair, loneliness weaving its way through as a ribbon to tie it all together. So strong and overwhelming was the emotion he collapsed onto the ground, his vision blurred and he barely retained consciousness.. slowly it faded till it wasn’t even felt anymore.

              “What… What the hell was that? WHO was that???” He gasped clutching at his stomach as he fell back on the floor his back against the desk.

              Lluna knelt in front of him, watching him with soft eyes. “That is your heir. Their pain is so great. You have shut yourself off so much you could not even feel the pain that has grown over the last year. Now I fear it may be too late.”

              The man stared wide eyed at the woman who was older than time, more knowing than any other creature and the guardian of his people. “Too late? What do you mean too late?”

              Lluna stared out the window at the dark night sky.  She turned and smiled softly at him. “Tonight your heir will die.”

              The man still in shock over the emotions that had bombarded him flew to his feet and ran from the room yelling for his Beta in a panic. Behind him Lluna smiled and turned to the window. Walking towards it she turned into shimmering dust and vanished. She had two more people to attend to tonight before her work was done and she could rest.

              Aryana woke up feeling groggy but no less shattered. What must Darian think of her now? He couldn’t help but think the worst after Scotts insinuations. Just when she had thought she was starting to feel whole again he had blown it to smithereens. Feeling hollow she pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and curled up under it. She was shivering but she wasn’t cold. She lay there staring off into nothing.

              How long Aryana lay like that she didn’t know, but she felt it had to be very late when she finally roused herself. Her heart was heavier than ever and she felt so empty. Dragging herself up the stairs to her bedroom she changed into sweats and sat on her bed staring out the window at the moon.

              Slowly two thoughts became clear in her head. One was that the moon had always been her friend, her only true constant in her life. Two the lake in the woods had always brought her solace.

Spurred into action to try and find some peace, some feeling she shoved her feet into her sneakers and grabbed her keys. Numbly she drove on auto pilot to the woods and the lake.

              Pulling back into her favorite clearing she got out of the SUV and stripped. A chill wind blew through the glade but she didn’t feel it. Nor did she see the woman standing at the side of the clearing in shimmering silver dress with pure white sliver hair and eyes watching her.  Lifting her face to the moon she felt the tears slip down her temples and into her hair. “Please old friend.  I don’t know if I can do this anymore. Please help me. Please take me from this life that is nothing but pain any more. Please, if you can hear me help me, I am begging you. Help me.” She crumpled on the ground in a ball her body wracked with large sobs as she cried out her very soul.

After long minutes on the ground she stood blindly staring at the water.  As if in a trance she walked slowly to it and in until she could no longer stand then she began to swim. She kept swimming back and forth back and forth across the deepest parts of the lake as if she was possessed. She was unable to stop even when her arms started to burn and her legs started to cramp. She was in the middle of the lake when she felt like someone had grabbed onto both her legs  She had just enough time to register her surprise before she sunk under the surface. She tried to twist and kick her way free but it was no use, she just kept sinking.

              As the last few bubbles of air left her lungs she saw something shimmering in the water. Coming towards her in a glittering beam of moonlight was the waitress from the café smiling gently,
You called for me and I am here my child,
came her gently musical voice.  Aryana felt herself grow calm, almost serene. She felt like she was floating on air instead of drowning in the lake. The last thing she saw was bright white light cutting through the murk of the deep water like a beacon to a better place, she reached out and placed her hand in it just as the blackness of death claimed her.

Darian was jarred form his sleep by the loud shrill ringing of his phone. The small screen told him it was his father and it was after 2 am. The only reason his father ever called that late was when it was official business. After a very brief and rather odd phone call with his father he tried to lay back down. His mind wandered to his phone call with his dad. First thing he had asked him was how he was… which he NEVER asked him. His dad had kept asking him if anything had been bothering him lately. HA! Bothering him? Well unless you counted a beautiful little auburn haired bright blue eyed girl he couldn’t figure out or get out of his mind something bothering him.. he was just fine.

He was just on the verge of sleep when he heard it. A soft musical voice calling his name.

“Darian..Darian get up.”

He opened his eyes looking around the room. With only a shaft of moonlight lighting the room he looked into the darkness yet found no one.. “Who is there?”

The shaft of moonlight caught his eye as it shimmered

“Darian, you have to get up. Hurry Darian, Hurry before it’s to late.” The voice was now urgent and insistent.

He narrowed his eyes at the light, he had heard tales but they were children’s stories. Weren’t they? “Lluna?”

“Yes Darian. You must get up. Go to the lake before it’s to late. Go. Hurry!”

Darian swung his legs from the bed, trying to make sense of what was going on. “The lake? What lake? Lluna what is going on?”

“Darian you must hurry. She is in the lake now. Hurry! Before it is to late.” The disembodied voice was starting to get more desperate.

Darian’s heart began to pound, his wolf now wide awake was anxiously pacing. She? Who was she? Unless Lluna meant…  “Lluna?” His voice was now laced with worry. The lake was pretty far from his home, if Aryana was in trouble he wouldn’t make it in time. How to get there?

“Run Darian, Run like the wind.”

Darian watched as the shimmer disappeared. Aryana, something was wrong with Aryana. She was at the lake, he had to get to the lake. Running out his back door he started shifting before he had even gone 2 steps, by the time he had gone 5 he was in full shift and running as fast as his paws could take him towards the lake near where Aryana had found him.

His lungs burned as he ran, his heart pounded, blood rushing through his ears. He flew over branches and rocks, never breaking stride his paws barely touching the ground. One thought kept racing through his mind Aryana was in trouble, Aryana needed him. 

Finally he reached the clearing and Aryana’s SUV. Looking around the clearing he saw nothing amiss right away, but he didn’t see Aryana either. Sniffing around the SUV he rounded the back to find her clothing by the driver’s door, sniffing the ground around them trying to find a clue of where she had gone he caught a whiff of salt and that unique scent that was Aryana.  He followed her scent to the water.
What was it she had said about coming up here? Something about when she was upset?

Suddenly he saw it. There in the middle of the deepest part of the lake illuminated by a bright reflection of the moon a black solid mass beneath the water with something pale beneath.
SHIT SHIT SHIT!!!!!
Aryana was in the water!

Backing up a few steps he took a running leap changing back to human before he hit the water… He swam deep long strokes to get to her. She had already sunk beneath the waves by the time he had gotten to where he had seen her hair in the moonlight. 

              Taking a large breathe he dived. The water was dark and murky. He frantically searched trying to find her groping blindly in the darkness.
Lluna help me save her, she doesn’t deserve to die!
He pleaded.

              Miraculously the moonlight suddenly pierced the darkness. There, there she was! He quickly swam up to her, pressing his mouth to hers trying to force air from his mouth into hers. He got no response.
Surface! Gotta get her to dry land
. Wrapping his powerful arm around her waist he hauled them both up to the surface.

Breaking the water he glanced at her face, her lips were tinged blue and she wasn’t breathing.  How long had she been down there? He swam as fast as he could to the shore, pulling her along with him.  As soon as his feet touched bottom he lifted her in his arms and walked the rest of the way.

Laying her down in the soft grass he made a quick study of her features. Her hair was matted to her face, her skin was cold and pale, her eyes closed, lips blue. Feeling for a pulse in her wrist then her neck he found none, as a last resort he put his palm on her chest between her breasts.  His heart froze in his chest, he couldn’t feel a heartbeat. What if he was to late? “Aryana? Don’t you dare leave me. Do you hear me Aryana? Don’t you dare leave!”

He took a deep breath and fused his mouth to hers forcing oxygen into her lungs. With no response from the first attempt he tried three more time before she started choking and her mouth filled with water. Turning her on her side he held her as she coughed and sputtered and gasped for breathe as her body came back to life. Her eyes fluttered open briefly before she sank back into unconsciousness.

Darian sank to his butt on the now damp grass. She was alive. She was alive! How close he had come to losing her though.. Bracing his elbows on his bent knees he covered his face in his hands. It was only then he realized he had tears streaming down his face. The thought of Aryana never again existing in this world was just to much for him to think about. He had just found her and granted he didn’t really know her at all but he wanted to and for some reason he just couldn’t let her go, not yet. Just not yet.

Aryana woke to bright sunlight streaming across her face.  She was in a strange room and in a strange bed.  Where was she? Was she dead? Was this what came after life? She tried to sit up and everything rotated on its axis making her suddenly ill. Collapsing back against the pillows she let out a groan praying that it would stop soon.

Just as she was starting to feel better the door opened and an older woman with long brown hair walked in.  She smiled gently at Aryana. “Glad to see your awake. You gave my son quite a scare. I’m Juliana”

The woman’s steps faltered as she got close enough to make out Aryana’s eye color.  She recovered quickly though. And set down a small tray next to the bed. “Here let me help you sit up. Gently and slowly now.”

              With surprising strength and amazing gentleness the woman helped Aryana into a sitting position. “Now how are you feeling?”

              Trying to work her mouth to form words Aryana found her throat almost painfully dry and scratchy. The older woman picked up a coffee mug from the tray and sat on the bed beside her one arm around her back the other lifting the cups to Aryana’s lips helping her to drink the warm liquid. “There, that should do the trick. I am not surprised your throat doesn’t want to work after what you have been through.  As soon as your throat feels a bit better then try to talk but not before okay?”