SAMMY
The encounter with the Alpha yesterday had me feeling a little uneasy.
When I left for the day, he barely acknowledged my existence. Which is fine. I'm here to work. But it kind of left a sour taste in my mouth that he still seemed so irritated with me.
When I got to the office, I called a meeting with Eric and Dylan.
Telling them how big the job was. "Guys, I'm going to need everyone on board for this job."
Eric leans back in his chair. "Ok. I'll call the girls up and see if they can make time."
I nod.
Dylans sitting on my desk, looking over the floor plan and the pictures I took. "Seriously, it must be sweet to be rolling in cash."
"Dylan." I say. Scowling at him.
Eric ticks his head. "Yep. It really takes a supreme narcissist to build a ballroom while your people suffer."
I shoot my glare to him. "Eric!"
"What? It's the truth, Sammy. He spends money like water, while people like yourself, help those less fortunate. It's almost sick. What Alpha doesn't care about his own pack?" He slams the legs of his chair down.
"I don't think this is a conversation we should be having about our client, Eric." I furrow my brow and flip through the plans.
Dylan stands. "Why? He's not here."
"It doesn't matter, Dylan. We can't blame him for the bad luck of others. I'm sure he does everything he can for the pack." I write some things down.
"Of course, he does." Eric scoffs. "Like build a multimillion-dollar ballroom. That really helps the pack."
I throw my pen down and sigh. "Look. He probably has good reason. It probably does help the pack in some way. I don't know. It's really none of our business."
Eric leans on his thighs. "It is our business, Sammy. The city's getting worse by the day. People can barely eat while he's living in his castle on the hill."
Frustrated with the conversation, I stand. "Listen. This guy is paying us good money to decorate that castle on the hill. I don't need to be hearing you both bash our client."
"Sammy. We're just talking." Dylan says.
"Well, I've heard enough." Irritated, I leave my office and head for my room.
When the world gets me down, this is where I end up. In the corner of my room in front of an easel.
Painting. I paint when I'm not decorating because it eases my mind. The boys bashing the Alpha had me feeling wound up for some reason.
Sure, he's abrasive, but I don't think he's that bad.
I look at the blank canvas before me. Paints at the ready. I look around my little corner at the beautiful landscapes, the portraits of random people. These pictures are the expressions of my heart. I find comfort in them.
My eyes scan the portraits one by one, trying to find inspiration, when my eye travels to a corner I rarely venture to look at.
I swallow. My eyes lock on the all-black painting. The only color is a pair of red glowing eyes. This. This image is of my nightmares. I was plagued for years with this image. I haven't thought of it in so long. A shiver shoots up my spine as I break my eye lock and return to my blank canvas.
****
I painted for a bit, but decided I needed to ground myself a bit more.
I head downtown to a little neighborhood I like to call Hallow Glen. I don't know why. I just like the way it sounds.
I park the truck on the neat, tiny street. The neighborhood itself is about four-square blocks. The people here have very little money, but they have pride. They take care of their own. My family used to live just outside of here, before my dad got a job with the Unit and we moved. He doesn't make much as a Gamma soldier, but it's more than these people get.
I walk down the street to a small mission. It helps with food and medical care to those who need it.
I've been volunteering here since I was 15.
I walk in and smile.
"Sammy!" A tall thin woman wearing an apron runs at me and gives me a hug.
I hug her back. "Hi, Eva." I push away. "How's things?"
She wipes her hands on her apron. "Oh, you know. We're still trying." She grins.
I look around the large open room with tables. "There's so many." I notice.
Eva nods. "They just keep coming. Soon people won't have homes. It's getting just too expensive to live."
I see a familiar face and walk over. "Hi, Pearl."
The old woman smiles. "Samantha. You get more beautiful every time I see you."
Pearl's strength is weakening. Her wolf is dying. She can't afford the proper food sustain her so it's crippling her.
"Pearl, I told you, call me Sammy." I sit beside her.
"I know." She chuckles. "I just don't like it."
"Have you seen the doctor today?" I ask her.
She shakes her head. "No. I don't need it."
I nod. "Pearl, you need to see the doctor." I caution.
She waves me off. "Nonsense. Now. What about you. How are you?"
"I'm good. I just got a great job up at the packhouse." I smile.
"The packhouse! How can you work for that asshole!" An older man came limping over. Graying hair, pasty white and miserable. Harold. He's been a regular here for years.
"Harold, don't start." I hang my head.
"No, you listen here." He wags a finger at me. "You can't work for that evil man. You're too nice a girl. He's pure evil, that Alpha. He sucks us dry while he sits on his hill eating buffet dinners." The old man yells. Some people turn their heads.
"Harold. Stop it. You shouldn't talk like that." I try to calm him down.
"That bastard doesn't care about us down here. He'd rather sit with all the rich folk while we suffer!!" He continues.
"Ok, Harold. Let's go." Eva came over and grabbed the old man. She led him off to sit in a quieter section of the mission.
"He's trying to kill us all!!" Harold yells as he's lead away.
I sigh. Shaking my head.
Pearl tapped my hand. "Don't listen to Harold. I'm sure the Alpha is very nice."
Pearl always tries to find the good in people.
I smile. "I'm sure he is too. Now, you get to the doctor, you hear me?"
She just smiles and turns away.
I get up and head for the kitchen.
I dished out dinner and went home. It makes me feel better when I get to help people. Even though the plight of our people hurts my heart, the fact that I can still help makes me feel like I'm making a bit of difference.
I'm sure the Alpha isn't as bad as he lets on. I assume he's under a lot of pressure being the leader of 4000 people. I think once we get into a working relationship, I'll see the better side of him.
I know there's something about him. When he was so close to me, he smelled like Spices and honey. I felt a weird heat between us. The air was thickening. As my eyes locked with his, it was like the room dissolved away. I don't understand what it means, but it's something I enjoyed feeling. Even if he was being rude to me. I kind of feel like it's just a front. He has some vulnerability, I'm sure of it.
****
Back at home, I tried to paint some more, but I was distracted by the Alphas presence. I just can't stop thinking about him.
I decide it's probably best I just go to bed because I do have to work in the morning.
I settle in and sleep finds me.
I don't normally dream. I haven't had a dream I remembered in years. But tonight. I had a doozy of a dream.
I'm in the ballroom and the Alpha is with me. His shirts open and he looks at me with these eyes full of want. He grabs my head and kisses me hard.
I'm completely falling into it. He starts to take off my clothes. It's getting very hot. I'm sweating.
"Rule you're kingdom, princess."
A voice cuts over my dream and the bodies of us start to dissolve.
"Find the prince."
I searched for the voice.
"RULE YOUR KINGDOM!!"
The scene turns black and two flaming red eyes coming out the dark. Growling fills my brain. I can barely hear.
I shoot up in bed. I'm dripping in sweat. I'm on fire. I can barely breathe. I look down and my arms is bleeding as I scratch at it over and over.
"Oh no." I'm gasping for air.
"MOM!!" I yell for my mother as I run for the bathroom.
I throw open the door and run to the shower. I turn it on to full blast cold. I run to the sink and look in the mirror. I'm really struggling to breathe now. My eyes are glowing. My arm is dripping in blood as I continue to gouge at it involuntarily.
"MOM!!" I cry as I climb into the ice-cold shower. Trembling, I sit in the bottom of the tub with my knees pulled up and my arms wrapped around them. I let the icy water pour over my steaming body.
My mother runs in. "Sam? Oh no. Ok....just relax." She gets a towel ready. "Let the water cool you down, ok. Don't let it out. Sammy, you have to fight. Don't let it out."
I cry in pain as my mother stops my clawed hand from gouging my arm.
"Fight it, Sammy! Don't let it out!" My mother yells over my screams.
I throw my head back and scream at the ceiling. The scream has a faint growl to it.
"Fight it, Sam!! Fight it!!" My mother holds me to try and stop me from thrashing.
The pain starts to fade. My skin stings from the cold water hitting it. I can feel it going back in. My mother has her arm around my front as I'm draped over it crying.
She's rubbing my back. "Ok. It's OK. It's going away." She says softly.
She shuts the water off when she's sure it's over.
I look at her shivering, soaking wet and crying. "Why?" I hitch.
She moves my hair. "I don't know sweetheart. I don't know. I'll call the doctor in the morning."
I nod. Breathing a sigh of relief as the pain fades to nothing.
She helps me out of the tub, wrapping the towel around me. I hold my bleeding arm out.
We exit the bathroom and my dad and Dylan are there.
My mother glanced at them. "She's fine. We stopped it. Um...Dylan, get the med kit."
Dylan swallows and runs downstairs.
My mother takes me to my room and gets some dry clothes. My lips are trembling and blue as I change. She grabs a blanket and wraps me up to increase my body temperature.
Tears fall as my mother cleans the deep gouges in my arms. "You won't need stitches this time. It was close." She says as she analyzes the wound. "But it'll take a few days to heal. Probably a week."
"Why now, mom?" I ask as she cleans and bandages my arm.
"Sweetheart. I can't tell you that. What happened before this?" She wrapped gauze around my forearm.
I didn't really want to tell my mother I was dreaming about having sex with our Alpha, but I had to tell her something.
I shake my head. "I don't know. I was dreaming about something. I don't really remember and that showed up." I motion to the dark paintings in the corner of my room.
My mother glanced at the paintings. "Maybe we should take those out of here. Just in case."
I nod, looking down at my mother finishing up her first aid.
"Ok. So, I'll take those and you climb into bed." She grabbed the paintings and put them in the hall closet.
I climbed into bed, still shaking. My forearm throbbing.
My mother sat next to me. Stroking my hair with her fingers.
"Mom. Why can't I just be normal?" I say hugging my pillow.
"Baby, you are special. Very special. I don't know what this means for you or where this will lead you, but I believe in my heart, you're meant for big things. Important things. Try and get some sleep, Ok?"
I sigh as she kisses my cheek.
She clicks off my light and shuts the door.
I sniff back tears as I close my eyes.
Thankfully the rest of my night was dreamless.
BASTIANI've been at work a total of 20 minutes and I already have a massive headache.I'm looking at the stiff seated across from me in front of my desk. Rambling on about his magic rehabilitation program that's going to miraculously cure the crazy Dragons in the prison.I'm leaning in my chair. My elbow on the arm with my fingertips on my temple.I'm totally not listening to his shit.He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Alpha, I can see in your face, that you don't take this seriously.""I do. I just don't give a shit, Doctor." I say with an uncaring look on my face.Rennet sits up. "Look. This is the best thing for these people. They don't deserve this. Torrent forced them to fight for him...."I lean on my desk. "Bullshit.""You don't believe that they could be forced to fight?" Rennet arches his brow."No. I don't." I sit back, folding my arms."Why's that, Alpha?" He sits back and crosses his leg.I get up and walk around my desk. "You don't brutally murder over 80
SAMMYI drag Lisa to my office.Lisa is my best friend. We do everything together and when we need help with a job, she's there.I yank her in and check for the guys. I shut the door.Lisa fixes her fire red, short hair. "What is it, Sammy?! You're acting crazy."I'm pacing my office floor, chewing on my finger nail.Lisa is parked on the edge of my desk. "Sammy!"I start to whine shaking my hands nervously. "Lisa. I don't know......"She stands and grabs my arms. "Ok. Breathe. Just tell me what happened.""He almost kissed me." I stared into her blue eyes."Who?" She searched my face.I swallow. "The Alpha." I squeak."Get out!" She pushes me. "Oh my God! Sammy, this is awesome!""No. Lisa, this is horrible. I mean if it wasn't for this woman coming into the room, stopping him, I could've really crossed that line. I can't let that happen." I was worried about what this attempt by The Alpha meant.I won't lie. I wanted it to. So bad. My lips practically ached for his. If that's even p
BASTIANIt's been a couple of weeks since I stepped foot in the ballroom.I've been getting reports from Nigel on the progress.Since my encounter with Sam, I've been trying to avoid her. I feel her just under the surface of my skin. She gets deeper with every encounter and she seems to push away even more. So, I think I need to stay away.Besides, right now I have bigger fish to fry.Like trying to reign in this fucking doctor.This morning I found out he went above my head and set up meetings with Karver and Brindle.This is why I'm storming his office right now.I throw open his door. "Who told you could see Karver?" I growl.He's sitting behind his desk all cool and collected. Which is irritating the fuck out of me."Fredericks gave me the permission. Honestly, Alpha. I don't know why you're so concerned." He fixed his suit.I lean on his desk. "Those two are the most dangerous son of bitches on the fucking planet. I don't want them even knowing what fucking day it is, let alone c
BASTIANI'm standing in the foyer, waiting. I'm wanting to go the ballroom, but I have a meeting. One I don't even want to be in.Nigel comes in and Luke Jackson walks in behind him."Alpha Jackson. Nice of you to come." I stride up to meet him.Luke's looking around. "I always knew you'd live in a castle, Bastian. It's about the only thing that would fit your head."He gives me that stupid smart-ass smirk."Well, I imagine it would be hard to keep a place this nice in Red Rock with all the criminals blowing things up." I arch my brow as Luke's ticks his jaw."You want to talk about the Enforcers or what?" He grits."My office is this way" I lead him through the halls of the offices.I open the door to my white marble stone office.Luke looks around. "Yeah. This is you." He snorts."Sit." I bark.He sits in the chair opposite me and I give him the rundown of what I expect from the Enforcers set up.We talk about numbers and how many separate units I would need for a pack this size.It
SAMMY"No. Come on." I thump my head on the steering wheel of my truck.I'm in the middle of the front driveway of the pack house and it just stalled out.I heave a heavy sigh and blow a lock of hair out of my face. I pull my hair up into a ponytail.I get out and open the hood. I get up and under it, trying to find the problem."Hey! What did I say about that thing?"I back out of the engine compartment and look toward an angry Bastian stomping toward me."I know. But it's not like I did it on purpose." I scowl in frustration."What happened?" He crosses his arms.I jump down off the front bumper. "I don't know. It just stalled out." I motion to the truck.I'm really not in any mood for this because I'm freaking exhausted. Since my lunch with Bastian, I haven't slept properly because now I dream about him constantly and it's starting to get irritating.Not only that, but he's at the front of my mind everyday too. I can barely get any work done.He rolls up his sleeves. "Move." He dem
BASTIANMy wolf was already crazy this week as I've been wrapped up with that damn doctor at the prison.His incessant reports just keep coming and I have Fredericks pushing me to accommodate the fucking guy.He still bugs me to no end. I don't know why, but I feel like he's hiding something. I did a background check and everything does checkout, but before he turned 18, it was like he never existed. I can't even find his damn birth certificate.He spends all his time in the prison. Having private conversations with the Dragons here. I wish I could hear those conversations, but the good Doctor keeps his interactions under wraps.I've been keeping an eye on him closely, but if he is hiding anything, he's good at it.After wracking my brain, I felt I needed to see Sammy. I don't know why, but my wolf really likes her.Seeing her in her white business skirt and pink blouse, had me stirring inside. The pressure in my pants increased when she had her back to me and I saw the faint outline
SAMMY"Mom. It'll be fine." I say as I pack a suit case."Samantha, you can't do this. What if you have an episode?" She's following me around my room in a panic."Mom's right, Sam" Dylan’s sitting on my bed."I know she's right. That's why you're moving in with me." I look at Dylan.He straightened up. "Me. At the pack house? Are you nuts?"I scoff. "Apparently."My mom stood in front of me. "They won't understand Sam. This is a bad idea.""Dylan can watch me Ok. He knows what to do. It's fine." I push past her."Mom. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. For me. For us." I motion to Dylan. "We can't turn this down."I look at Dylan. "Eric's already on board. I signed for it. We're moving. Get packing."I demand Dylan go pack while I take my bags to the truck."I hope you know what you're doing." My mom says as she hugs me. "You call me. For anything at any time.""I will." I smile and get in the truck. "Dylan let's go!" I yell.Dylan comes out and tosses his duffle back in the box o
BASTIANAlright. I may have crossed a line at the pool. I couldn't help it. When I saw Sam in that tiny black bikini, my wolf went insane. I wanted to rip the eyeballs out of every male there.I had to shut her down before I ended up doing something even more stupid than I already did.I mean, I had no business talking to her like that. She's not mine. Though it feels like my wolf really wants her to be.I just couldn't take the unmated males on my staff eyeing up her goods. It's also the reason I made sure she got the room with the private bathroom. I had to pay the head chef double the weeks' pay to get him to move out. He wasn't happy. I'm on the hook to have a bathroom installed in his room so he doesn't quit on me.Sammy is special. I don't know how, but I need to keep her close. I feel this need that she needs to kept safe. Needs to be protected for some reason. I feel some inner connection building. I just hope I haven't pissed her off too much.She's been avoiding me all week.