The Alpha who was never mine

Elena Cruz

Elena was three days away from resuming her new college and moving into the dorm room she’d gotten, only to be dragged one morning at the dead of night by her father telling her to pack up he was taking her to Ravenhood.

The same place he’d been against her moving to all these while because he wasn’t happy about her living far away from them.

Now here she was, sitting in his truck at two in the morning with a duffel bag thrown together in ten minutes and no explanation except “we need to leave now.”

Her father hadn’t said a word since they hit the highway. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles had gone white, and every few minutes he’d check the rearview mirror like someone was following them.

“Dad, what’s going on?”

Nothing.

“Dad. You’re scaring me.”

“Good.” His voice came out rough. “You should be scared.”

Elena stared at him. “What does that even mean? Where are Mom and the kids? Why did you wake me up in the middle of the night and tell me to pack? What happened?”

“I’ll explain when we get there.”

“Get where? You won’t even tell me where we’re going!”

“Ravenhood. To a friend’s house.”

The word friend sounded wrong coming out of his mouth. Forced.

“What friend? I thought you didn’t want me going to Ravenhood. You literally spent months trying to talk me out of transferring there.”

“Things changed.”

“What things?”she pressured

He didn’t answer. Just kept driving, jaw tight, eyes flicking to the rearview mirror again.

Elena slumped back in her seat and stared out the window. Trees rushed past in the dark. No other cars on the road. Just them and whatever her father was running from that he wouldn’t name.

She pulled out her phone and tried calling her mom but it went straight to voicemail.Tried again. Same thing.

A third time, and her father’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

“Don’t.”

“I just want to know if they’re okay…”

“They’re fine. That’s all you need to know right now.”

“That’s not all I need to know! You dragged me out of bed, threw me in the truck, and won’t tell me what’s happening. I deserve an explanation.”

“What you deserve,” her father said quietly, “is to stay alive. And right now, that means shutting up and trusting me.”

The words hit like a slap. Elena pulled her hand back and shoved her phone in her pocket. She didn’t try calling again.

They drove for two more hours in silence. The sky started to lighten around the edges, turning the black into deep blue. Her father took an exit she didn’t recognize and drove through streets that got nicer the further they went. Bigger houses. Bigger yards. The kind of neighborhood where people had money and didn’t have to talk about it.

Finally, he pulled into a driveway that curved up a hill. At the top sat a house that looked like it belonged in a magazine. Glass and stone. Modern. Expensive as hell.

Her father killed the engine and sat there staring at it.

“Dad where’s this place?” She asked

“Listen to me.” He turned to face her and she saw something in his expression she’d never seen before. Fear. Real fear. “The man who lives here is Alexander Hale. He’s an old friend. You’re going to stay with him until I say it’s okay to move in to your own apartment or dorm anywhere you want”

“Stay with him? For how long?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? Dad, I start school in three days…”

“You’ll still go to school. You’ll still do everything you planned. You’re just going to live here instead of the dorms.”

“With some stranger?”

“He’s not a stranger. I’ve known him since we were kids. I trust him.” Her father’s hand found hers and squeezed. “I need you to trust him too.”

Elena waited for him to explain further but he didn’t. He just got out, grabbed her bag from the back, and walked toward the house.

She wanted to argue. Wanted to demand real answers. But the look on his face stopped her.

She’d never seen her father look breakable before.

“Okay,” she said quietly. “Okay.” Then got out of the truck. The front door of the house opened before they reached it.

A man stepped out onto the porch. Tall, probably late forties, dark hair, sharp jawline, and a well shaved beard. He wore shorts and a t-shirt like he’d just woken up, but he didn’t look tired. He looked alert.

“Miguel.”

Her father walked toward him and they gripped hands. Not a handshake. Something tighter. Her father said something too quiet for Elena to hear.The man’s eyes shifted past her father and landed on her and something happened.

Her stomach dropped as she set eyes on him, her breath hitched and she had to grab her waistline to stop whatever was happening because she felt something move inside her like lightning.

She wondered if her wolf had just stirred. She had a dormant wolf since childhood and never felt it move before, so she concluded it was a stomach ache or maybe she was just nervous and anxious.

The man’s jaw tightened. Like he felt it too. Like whatever just happened wasn’t supposed to happen.

Her father turned and waved her over. She climbed the porch steps on legs that didn’t feel steady.

“This is Elena,” her father said. “Elena, this is Dr. Alexander Hale.”

“Hi.” She greeted

Alexander’s eyes stayed on her for another second, then he looked away.Like he had to force himself to stop looking. He didn’t say anything back.

Her father handed her bag to Alexander. “I’ll call tomorrow.” Then he pulled Elena into a hug so tight she couldn’t breathe. When he let go, his eyes were wet.

He walked back to the truck without saying anything else.

“Dad, wait…”

But he was already in the driver’s seat. Already backing out of the driveway. She watched the taillights disappear down the hill. And he didn’t look back.

Elena stood there on the porch of a stranger’s house, her father gone, her family god knows where, and no idea what the hell was happening.

“Come on.”

She turned. Alexander was already walking into the house. She followed because what else was she supposed to do.

Inside, the house looked exactly how she expected clean and expensive. Not the kind of place where people actually lived, more like the kind of place that got photographed for design magazines.

Then a woman came out from the back older, kind face, apron tied around her waist.

“Mrs. Parker, the house manager “ Alexander said. “This is Elena. Can you show her the guest room?”

“Of course.”Mrs. Parker smiled at Elena. “You must be exhausted, dear. Let’s get you settled.”

Alexander set Elena’s bag down at the bottom of the stairs. He looked at her one more time, and that pull came back. Stronger. Like something inside her was reaching for him without her permission. His expression went flat seconds later. He took a step back, putting more distance between them.

“I have an early surgery,” he said. Not to her specifically. Just into the room. “Mrs. Parker will get you anything you need.”

Then he walked down the hall and disappeared into a room, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

Elena stood there staring at the closed door.

Mrs. Parker touched her shoulder gently. “Come on, sweetheart. You’ve had a long night.”

Elena let herself be led upstairs, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something had just happened downstairs. Something she didn’t understand.

Mrs. Parker opened a door at the end of the hall. “Here we are. Bathroom’s through there. I’ll bring you some breakfast in a few hours.”

The room was nice. Too nice. Like a hotel

room someone had tried to make feel personal but failed. Elena dropped her bag on the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. Her hands were shaking. She didn’t know if it was from exhaustion or fear or whatever the hell had happened downstairs when Alexander’s eyes met hers.

Something in her chest felt restless and awake. She’d never felt anything like it before. She thought of how she went to sleep last night thinking her biggest problem was packing for the dorms and watching her Parents sad faces for the next few days until she left for school not knowing she would end up in a stranger’s house in the middle of the night with even bigger problems.

But the problem was, she didn’t know the problem.