Chapter Five

MAX’S POV

I woke up with my mind heavy. This has become quite the usual for me every since that strange night with the strange lady. I can’t stop thinking about her. Coupled with this great puzzle was the fishy amnesia I had about the events of the night. Who would dare to use Midnight Loom on me? Then there was May. May was beautiful, smart, averagely intelligent but frankly speaking boring. It took me a while to even touch her and even then, it was uninteresting and uneventful. I felt sympathy towards her and I really wanted to let her go but she was my Chosen Mate and my pack wouldn’t let me off the hook again this time without being with someone. 

I sat up from my bed and buried my head in my hands. My mind wandered to that strange event over a month ago as I tried to piece together my memories. I remember clearly going to the venue of the party, meeting up with Luke and then drinking from the glass Penelope handed to me and then waking up naked in my hotel room. Then my room had smelt of honeysuckle; a woman’s cologne and then I had brief flashes of a red hair and a pink lips and that’s all. I had to find this woman. 

My phone beeped and it was a text from Luke. 

Hey Max, apologies about last night. We good?

Irritation rose within me at him. Luke had risen my hopes up with the thought that my mystery red-headed woman was Eve’s colleague and Eve was going to show up with her the night before. Yet, Eve didn’t show up with her colleague and I had to watch Luke ravish the blonde up like an excited child eats ice-cream. Nonethless, I couldn’t fault Luke for his desires. He had feelings and I guess he was allowed to let them out. Sure, I’d lived a few decades before him to know that sometimes, meddling with human females was a headache. I have told him that but Luke was in the phase where he was truly enjoying his escapades with these women. Still he was a solid friend, he was my brother from another mother. 

I responded to his text. 

We’re good. Watch your back with that blondie brother.

As I pressed the send button, my phone rang and it was a call from Penelope, my secretary. 

“Hello Mr Moon, I’m guessing you’re awake. You have a meeting with John Rhodes by 12noon today. You’re free this morning until then. You asked to cancel out everything for today and leave just the meeting with Mr Rhodes.”

I smiled. Penelope could be a scaredy cat sometimes but I had to give her due credit, damn, she was efficient. 

“Thank you Pen.” I chose to refer to her by this nickname sometimes. 

“Mr Moon, the meeting is at John’s house. And you should take a gift along, you’d be meeting his family. He has a daughter aged 6 and a wife who likes flowers. That should give you a clue as to what to get.”

“Sweet. Thank you Penelope. Any idea on what exactly to get the little girl?”

I could hear Penelope shuffle a few papers on her desk. She was probably pulling out the research files she’d made on the Rhodes family. I hadn’t asked her to exactly but she had and those were the little things that made her the most efficient secretary I’d ever had. 

“Little Jaime likes stuffed animals apparently. You could get something along those lines.”

“Super! Thanks P.”

“Enjoy your day, Mr Moon.”

The phone went dead in my ear as Penelope hung up. Once again, I thanked the moon goddess for the gift of Penelope. She was incredible really. Even if she lacked spirit sometimes but hey, who was I to judge. I had my plate full of worries of my own. 

I walked into my bathroom for a cold shower. As the water hit my head, I saw her face again; my mysterious red head. As always, I couldn’t her face was blurry and all I could pinpoint was her pink lips which looked soft and then her blazing red hair. Trying to dig deeper into this memory hurt my head. I backed off. 

I got dressed, taking my time to appear family friendly. No sexy, billionaire today. If the meeting was in John’s house, which meant it was a relaxed meeting. So I wore my black jeans, a grey sweater and a black sneakers; the classic casual. 

If John was letting me into his house, that meant he was trusting me and my desire was becoming a possibility. Of all the other Alphas on the West Coast asides Luke, I trusted only John Rhodes. I had no particular reason too. I’d only met the guy a few years ago when I became Alpha and started attending the Alpha’s conventions. However, John’s consistency with his work and discipline attracted me to him. He was always with a kind word and a kind look to his eyes. 

Other Alphas might not exactly like him but we all knew John was exceedingly intelligent and hardworking. So, we couldn’t dismiss him even if people felt his kindness made him, ‘weak’. I don’t think that. As ruthless as I was rumored to be, I knew that ruthlessness was nothing really. I’d give it up in a moment just to be as kind as John was. 

I think this is what made me eventually begin to speak to him and he in turn showed me great kindness too. I felt safe with John. You could trust John with your deepest secrets. He wasn’t power hungry like the other Alphas. He genuinely wanted the goodwill of everyone around him. I found that interesting and captivating. 

I brushed out my dark hair and ditched my fancy hair gels to allow the hair fall around my face. The hair reached my chin. I’d grown it out. May might not like that. She preferred my hair short. She belonged to the school of thought of the others who thought the shorter hair made me look powerful. I’d give up looking powerful to be truly powerful anytime anyday. But then again, I’m Alpha. I have to suck up some of my preferences for others. 

On last minute thoughts, I put my hair in a little ponytail. This was something, I’d never do if I wasn’t meeting John Rhodes. The ponytail made my features appear less scary and more humane. Just what I was going for. 

I checked my wristwatch. It was only 9:30am. I still had a couple of hours to go to meet John. I decided to go on a drive instead and then visit my favorite part of this city, the woods. For all it’s worth, the city had such thick woods rich with wildlife. I felt at home there. It reminded me of my true home. I missed home but I had business to conduct here. 

I got out of my house and went to my sleek back convertible. It’d have to do for today. 

At 11:55am, I pulled up at John Rhodes’ driveaway. For all his wealth, John’s home was a simple bungalow with an amazing flower work for his frontyard. It had to be his wife’s handiwork. 

There was no extraordinary security detail; just one gate and a very happy looking gateman with huge smiles who waved me into the house. 

The flowers were in different colours and sizes. It was all coordinated however, reds one side, yellows another, purple, blues and whites. They were well trimmed and bathed the atmosphere in a fragrant smell. It reminded me of the woods which I loved so much. I saw some butterflies flickering in between the flowers. I got out of my car and walked to the front of the house. I stood for a moment and took in the view. The house was truly stunning; it took my breath away and reminded me of home. 

Just then, I smelt a particular delicious scent. My wolf instinct picked it up and analyzed it. There was something peculiar about it. I tried to figure out what the smell told me. One thing about my wolf smell instinct was that everything, plant, animals, humans had a distinct smell. No two human ever smelt entirely the same, there was always a difference even among relatives. For those who were related by blood, their scent was similar and one could almost assume their scent was the same. However, over time and due to my heightened senses as Alpha, I have learnt to differentiate the scents of even those who were blood related. 

I heard her laughter before I saw her. Her laugh was like tinkling little bells and then I saw her. She was a small thing with shocking red ginger coloured hair. She chased a butterfly and the particular scent was emitting from her. It was her scent. It was both peculiar and familiar. I felt like I’d smelt it before. 

I smelt another scent which must be her mother. A woman with black waisength hair walked out of the house and yelled, “Jaime! Jaime! It’s almost time for lunch. Get in here!”