Heart of the Unknown Alpha (8 page)

              Two hours later Aryana’s SUV was full to overflowing with everything she needed as she pulled into her driveway. She was unloading everything when she remembered that she had an appointment the next day with Stephen to deliver his project. Crap! She hadn’t even started on it yet.  Dumping all her supplies in the kitchen she ran down the hall and booted up her computer. She pulled up the first image that required her services and got to work.

              Four hour later Aryana was putting the finishing touches on the last photo. Stephen really was a gifted photographer. He was able to capture light and shadow in a way that was difficult for the best photographers.  How he had managed to get some of the shots she could only guess at but they were shots that nobody else would ever be able to get. How could anyone get that close to a wolf and not get eaten?  And how was he able to get some of those shots of canyons that clearly were taken from a VERY high point? Eh, he had his tricks she supposed. All photographers did. 

              Saving the last of her edits and then loading the entire project back onto the zip drive she stretched. She was turning around getting ready to leave when she noticed the boxes behind her. Looking from the boxes to the wall she suddenly got a brilliant idea. Pulling out the frames she carefully extracted the photo and stared at it. It was a close up of her and Scott holding his new baby niece. It had been taken almost three and a half years ago. How precious little Emily had been! Lord how she missed that little girl. She stayed away from her now that she and Scott had split. Oh Sara, Scotts sister, called her occasionally to talk and check up on her, but it wasn’t the same. It never would be.

              She pulled anther frame out and repeated the procedure. This time it was their engagement photo. Tony hadn’t been good enough for their picture according to Scott.  Tony had already gained national attention at that point but still he hadn’t been good enough. Scott had flown them both out to New York and had arranged a professional makeup artist, hairstylist, clothing stylist for her. He had hired the best and most expensive photographer.  That night they had argued over the wedding.  She had wanted something simple, small, intimate and beautiful with the reception to follow being outside under the trees and night sky with the stars and moon shining down on them. He wanted, no he DEMANDED, a large affair in the largest, most elaborate church available with a reception in the most extravagant hall with the most expensive food served. In the end they had both settled on a medium sized church with a reception held half inside and half outside on a terrace with a covered patio below.

              She continued in this same path, going down memory lane as she pulled each picture from its frame one by one until they were all empty. Staring at the discarded frames scattered around her and the large pile of photos in front of her she felt no pain. No numbness. It was almost as if she was detached from it.  There were memories of good times and bad with Scott but in the end that’s all they were, memories. Carefully packing up the frames neatly into the boxes she set the pile of photos on the corner of her desk. She had plans for them later, for now she had to sleep as it had gotten late. Climbing the stairs to her bed she was again annoyed by the layer of dust that was starting to gather on everything. Tomorrow was a new day and it was a day of major change for her.

              After setting her alarm and climbing into bed under a comforter that Scott had chosen she stopped. Looking at her bedroom she saw the changes Scott had made here too without asking her first. Her large carved wooden dressers and bed had been relegated to the upstairs guest room that used to be her office making the space unusable. He had moved in more modern furniture. All black and chrome and cold. The comforter had even been a gray color with black stripes. He had stripped the walls and ceiling of their warmth too. Painting over her soft lavender and pale blue with white and another dark charcoal gray color. Tomorrow after her meeting with Stephen she would make another trip to the hardware store and then to the Bed and bath store in the mall.  How had she ever allowed that to happen? Well she didn’t have to worry about it now, now it was her way all the way.

Chapter 9
Father Son Bonding

              Darian stared at the man in front of him. A pair of eyes that matched his stared back.  His hands were clenched in fists at his side. If the man hadn’t been his father and the Beta to the Supreme Alpha Darian would have been swinging a fist right now.  As it stood he had to hold himself in check to get the answers he was seeking, or at least the answers his father was willing to give him.

              “Darian, you cannot order me to meet with you and just expect it. You are not yet Supreme Alpha. Hell you have not even ACCEPTED that you WILL be Supreme Alpha one day.” His father, dressed in dark slacks, a forest green shirt and dark jacket growled at him. “Do not forget that I am Beta to the Supreme Alpha AND your father as such you do not have the authority to order me about EVER!”

              Darian narrowed his eyes at the older wolf. “I had you come here
because
of pack business and the fact that YOU won’t allow me to return to the Alpha House to speak with you.”

              His father sniffed dismissively. “What do you know of pack business? Besides you could return to Alpha House anytime you wish, you just have to accept becoming heir to the Supreme Alpha is all. And what is that smell?”

              Darian stiffened. His father must have meant Aryana’s scent. They had been plastered all over each other not that long ago and he hadn’t stopped to change before the meeting. “None of your concern what the smell is. What you should be worried about is the fact that there is a problem with the pack where you banished me to. Namely with the son of the packs alpha.”

              His father’s eyes narrowed on him “It’s that little human whore isn’t it? You came straight here with the stench of a human whore all over you? What kind of wolf are you? I told you to get rid of the little bitch. She will do you no good as the Supreme Alpha! YOU MUST MARRY PACK! YOU MUST REPRODUCE WITH PACK NOT A WHORE OF A HUMAN!!! YOU CANNOT RISK A HALF BREED MONGREL TO LEAD OUR PEOPLE!”

              Before his father could finish his tirade, Darian had him by the throat  cutting off his air supply and slamming him  onto the hood of his father SUV one handed. Darian’s wolf was raging in ways Darian had never thought possible inside of him ready to tear into the man, the wolf had gone almost primal. His eyes had changed from bright green to a brilliant glowing golden yellow. He felt his teeth start to extend from his gums. His fingers extended, the nails becoming sharp claws ropes of muscle morphing them into a cross between human and wolf. With a voice he didn’t recognize came the most terrorizing growl anyone had ever heard him utter.

              His father’s eyes first widened in shock then fear. Darian watched as the older and supposedly stronger wolf grasped and clawed at his hands trying to free himself from the crushing blow on his throat. Holding onto his humanity and human form by a slim silken thread Darian put his face close to his fathers and in a voice deeper and colder than his father would ever guess his son possessed growled “Don’t you ever speak about her like that again or I will kill you. Do you understand? EVER!”

              He watched and waited never moving as the older man tried to speak he understood. Finally, running out of breathe he managed a feeble nod and Darian released him. Watching his father slump to the ground Darian felt his wolf calm down, his hands and teeth return to normal.  When his eyes turned back to their green color but an eerie glow still remained, letting his father know not to cross the line again or it would be the last time.

              Darian stared down at his father slumped on the ground feeling no remorse. “Thought you should know I was attacked by the son of the pack alpha, if it hadn’t been for the woman you seem to hate so much but know nothing about, he would have killed me. There is something going on with that guy and I fully expect him to try again.  Since it could effect a lot of your plans for the future I figured you should know.”

              The older man, now recovered, stayed seated on the ground leaning back against the tire. He looked up at his son, his eyes sharp “Why would he attack you? It makes no sense. Nobody not even the pack alpha knows who you are. What did you do to piss him off?”

              Darian reached down and helped his father to his feet. “I don’t know. There seem to be a lot of things going on I can’t explain at the moment. All I know is Stephen tried to kill me during the last full moon and I am not putting it past him to try during the next one.  I barely speak to the man yet he hates me for some reason. I have to get it figured out and it MAY cause a problem with his pack and his father. If it does I am gonna need some back up.”

              “I am sorry son. I can’t help you. There are…. things happening at the Alpha House I cannot get into but they have the Supreme Alpha on edge.  He is not able to be bothered with this and it is my job to help him. Pack comes first, you know this. I am afraid you are on your own.”

              Pack comes first in all things. Darian had heard this his entire life but he didn’t believe it. His thoughts drifted back to Aryana. She wasn’t pack but holding her today, kissing her had felt perfect. Like it was right. He couldn’t toss that aside. So he was on his own while Mr. Poomba Alpha and his father handled something stupid, wasn’t like he hadnt had to go it alone before. He would figure this all out, Aryana, Stephen, Llunas involvement and this Scott character if it killed him. Just as he was climbing into his SUV he heard his father call his name. he watched silently as the older man approached him.

              “I heard what happened at the restaurant. Is this the same girl that you have been talking about?  You got lucky son.  Be careful next time you may not have anyone around to stop you. You are going to be Supreme Alpha someday. You can’t go around losing your temper on humans just because the human female is talked about.  Stay out of the humans’ world son. You will be better off for it.” Darian watched as his father climbed into his vehicle and pulled away. He should have known better then to expect answers or help from his father. The man had ALWAYS put the pack and being Beta to the Supreme Alpha ahead of everything else, including his own child.

              Darian climbed into his SUV and drove away his mind on how he could figure out what Stephen was up to and how to put a stop to it before Stephen went too far.

Chapter 10 New Look new girl.

              The next day Aryana woke up before the sun had risen. She felt full of energy and determination. Springing from her bed she pulled on a pair of grey leggings and a large blue flannel shirt. She dashed down to the kitchen and grabbed the box of trash bags  and a screw driver from under the kitchen sink. First things first.

              Jogging back into her bedroom she ripped the comforter off the bed along with the top sheet and stuffed them into one bag. Next came the fitted shit and pillow cases into another bag. Turning around she grabbed the grey curtains at her window and yanked. The entire bar came crashing down. Not even bother to take them off the rod she opened the window and hurled the entire thing onto her front lawn.  Next came the brackets, they went into the bag with the fitted sheet and pillow cases.

              Turning an eye to the furniture she started yanking open dresser drawers and dumping their contents. The drawers went out the window too. Next she flipped off the mattress and box spring and got to work taking apart the bed. Within half an hour the frame was apart and its piecing had joined the growing pile on her front lawn. Next came the headboard off the wall. It stuck a bit as she hadn’t removed one screw all the way but one good tug solved that problem.

              Since she was basically done there, she took the two bags and tossed them down her stairs, then ran back into the room and grabbed the headboard and hefted it up and took it down too. Funny she would have thought it would have been heavier. She bounced back up the stairs and started with the dresser, it was lighter then she had expected too. Once it was downstairs, she shoved it towards the front door. Throwing open the door she got back behind the dresser and kept shoving till it was out the door and onto her porch. Then she hefted it up and onto the ever growing pile. Next went the headboard and the bags.

              Closing the door sharply behind her she started toward the kitchen till she suddenly remembered something. Doing a sharp turn around she crossed to the mantle grabbed onto the ugliest looking statue she had ever seen. Soon  it to was out on the front lawn. Hurrying back to the kitchen she stopped short when she saw the time. She ran back upstairs and dug a pair of socks out of the pile and slide her feet into a pair of sneakers and took off. She was almost in her SUV when she remembered her purse and keys.. CRAP! Where had she put them? Looking in the car windows she saw her purse lying on the passenger seat, good now she just had to find her keys. Suddenly feeling weight in her shirt pocket she dipped her hand inside and pulled out her keys. Strange, she hadn’t remembered touching them that morning. Brushing it off she dove into the vehicle and took off. As she drove she called the local charity shop to come pick up the pile on her lawn while she was away.

              Aryana arrived at the café with a few minutes to spare. Digging through her purse she couldn’t find the thumb drive with the project on it. Dang it where was it? Coming up for air from the depths of her purse she spied the little device laying on the seat next to her bag. She stared at it for a minute puzzled but then shrugged it off and dashed inside to get her coffee and get settled before Stephen showed up.

              She was just ordering her usual caramel mocha and was reaching in her bag for her money when a voice behind her spoke up “Make that two and it’s my treat for the lady.”

              Startled Aryana looked up and found Stephen right behind her. She gave him a friendly yet cautious smile. He looked good today in royal blue shirt and jeans.

              He pulled a bill out of his wallet and paid for their coffees all while having a warm open and friendly smile on his face. He seemed totally relaxed and not at all nervous about her work on his pictures as he grabbed the two steaming mugs and guided her to a small table in the corner. It wasn’t until he pulled out a laptop that she noticed the bag hanging from his shoulder.

              “So Miss Aryana, how have you been?” He started as he booted up the laptop.

              “Good and yourself?” She asked as she handed over the thumb drive. There honestly wasn’t anything wrong with Steve. He was a handsome guy and he was very talented apparently. She sipped her coffee as she watched him go through the project assessing her work.

              “These are really good. You did an amazing job.” He looked away from the screen and smiled at her before turning his eyes back. “I hope you don’t mind but I have more work for you. If you can fit it in that is.” He looked a little bashful as he pulled out another thumb drive and laid it on the table. “It’s, well, its larger than the last one and if you don’t have time I can wait till your work calendar is a bit more free.”

              Aryana smiled, pleased that he liked her work. She always got a glow of satisfaction every time she made her clients happy.  She spent another 45 minutes in Stephens company just chatting. Aryana was hoping that she could wrap it up soon she was anxious to get back to her project that day.

              “So Aryana, do you think I could take you to dinner sometime? I really do enjoy your company and talking to you. I would like it to continue.” Stephen asked somewhat hesitantly

              “Stephen, your very sweet but I am just not looking for that right now. I am sorry.” She tried to let him down gently. While she liked him her interest was somewhere else. No matter what she couldn’t shake the image of Darian’s face from the back of her mind.

              “Well what about as friends? We could be friends right?” He pressed.

              Aryana paused a moment. Stephen was a nice guy and judging by his work he was extremely talented. She could do friends and lord knew she needed more of them. “Sure we could get together for coffee or lunch as friends. I can always use a new friend.”

              They parted amicably and she jumped into her SUV and dashed off to the DIY store then made a pit stop at the housewares store. She found a beautiful soft dusty blue spread with matching pillow cases for her bed and some of the softest butter yellow sheets to go with it.  She was about to head to the check out when she spotted some soft cream and sage green throw pillows. Hurrying past the candle section she scooped up a couple of candles and dumped them into the cart with everything else. Hurrying through checkout she loaded up her SUV for the second time in as many days and sped back to her house.

              She barely noted the pile in front of the house was gone as she carried two arms full of bags into the house. It took her three trips to get everything inside. Dumping everything in the living room she rummaged through the bags until she came to the one she was looking for. Carrying it, a pole and two cans of paint up the stairs she headed towards her room. Plunking down the cans with a loud thud she dug out a the paint tray, roller and brush. Popping  off the lid on one of the cans of paint she eyed the dark wall in front of her. It was going to be her first victim. Screwing the roller onto the pole she dug in with great enthusiasm and determination.

              Several hours later Aryana closed the door to the bedroom and carried the empty cans and dirty rollers, tray and brush into the kitchen. Dumping the rollers and tray into the sink she opened her back door and placed the cans outside. Returning inside she rummaged through her bags till she found the can she was looking for.  She dug some more till she found the screwdriver and door knobs along with some scratch pads. Turning and facing her kitchen she attacked the doors of her cabinets with the screw driver. Within an hour they were laying on tarps across her kitchen floor and she was applying stripper. Once they were covered she started on the cupboards themselves.

              Hours later Aryana had revealed the wood she loved so much and all traces of paint were gone. Pulling out a can of sealer and stain in one she got to work restoring their once beautiful finish. It was nearly 2 am when she applied the last coat of clear sealer to the doors and cabinets. She tossed all the trash into several of the plastic shopping bags and they joined the empty paint cans by the back door.

              Rummaging through the sacks on the living room floor she grabbed up a bunch of them and the bag with her new comforter and headed upstairs. She opened her bedroom door and looked around at the empty room. Smiling in satisfaction she dropped the bags in the corner and went into the currently unusable second bedroom. Pulling back the sheets she ran her hands lovingly over the carved wood furniture. It had been her grandmothers. Given to her by her husband , Aryana’s grandfather, on their wedding day.  She had been gifted with the furniture when she had bought the house. He knew the furniture had always brought painful memories for her Gran but Aryana had always loved the pieces. She started pulling and tugging and shifting the furniture out the door and down the hall. It took her an hour before she had the dresser, chest of drawer and vanity desk all moved back into the room. Returning to the second bedroom she yanked the cover off the headboard and lovingly traced her fingers over the intricate carvings. A couple danced beneath the moon in a forest clearing, to either side was a wolf’s head and surrounding it amongst the twisted branches and leaves that framed the image were small carvings that looked like writing but none that made any sense. Hefting up the headboard she carried it into the room and then returned with the foot board, side rails and the supports. It was funny but she could have sworn that it was a lot heavier piece when she had moved into her house then it had seemed moving it now. Grabbing the box spring she hefted and maneuvered it onto the supports and followed it with the mattress. She eagerly put her new bed linens onto it and then the comforter. Brand new fluffy pillows went into her new pillowcases and shams and then the throw pillows joined them on the mattress. As she stood back to survey her handiwork for the day bone deep exhaustion started to set in.

              A hot shower helped to ease some of the deep tiredness she felt as she walked to her bedroom. She opened the door and was assaulted be the over powering smell of fresh paint. Opening up several of the windows she noted she had forgotten to put up curtains. Oh well she would just do it when she woke up. She climbed into her bed and slid beneath the covers feeling a deep contentment she hadn’t felt in a long time. The clock beside her read 5:30 am.

              When Aryana woke up the sun was shining brightly thorough the un-curtained windows and a soft breeze was blowing through the open window. Rolling over she looked at the bedside clock and saw it was just past 9am. Jumping from the bed she dug through the pile of clothing she had yet to put away and pulled on another pair of leggings and another flannel shirt. Skipping downstairs she stopped in living room as the odor from the sealer she had used hit her. Covering her nose and mouth she rushed to the front door and threw it open then she started opening windows.

              Once all the windows were open and the breeze was clearing out the odor she returned to the kitchen. Grabbing up the screwdriver from where she had discarded it the night before she started putting the doors back on the cupboards. Once that was accomplished she popped the tops on even more paint cans and attacked the walls.

              Within a few hours she was moving her table and chairs back in and shoving the refrigerator and stove back into place. The once grey walls were a lovely warm sunny yellow and made the place feel a lot more warm and homey. Afterwards she set to work filling a bucket with cleaning solution and got to scrubbing and polishing the rest of the house. It was 6pm by the time she was done. Her hair was falling out of its ponytail, her stomach grumbled, and she was sweaty and dirty but her home was hers again. It was all worth it.

              Forty five minutes later she had showered, changed and was in her back yard with a pizza, bottle of wine and a large pile of pictures. A fire was just starting in the small pit and a half empty wine glass sat beside her chair.