Chapter 3

Zelle’s POV

    Toni banged on the door again “Zelle, this is shit! Talk to me! What the fuck with all the weirdness!” 

   I ignore him. Tears stream down my cheeks. I had to close the notebook before I blurred the lines of poetry that my brother had written. I unfolded the letter written in the same elegant script that had been on the outside of the box and read it a third time

    “Dearest Azalea, I do not write to you on my own behalf although I would be lying if I were to say that I don’t desire you. It is on behalf of your brother that I write. You wanted my promise that your brothers are safe and happy and whilst they are safe and I do my best to provide a happy atmosphere they miss you. Zeke is especially forlorn at times and will spend much time in his bedroom writing poetry and listening to music. I am trying to do right by him but fuck if I know how to help the kid out. All I can think of is to let you know and hope you will come home for him. You do not need to stand by me, or even look at me if you don’t want to. I will stay out of your way as much as I can. Sincerely, Drake Alwood “The Hybrid Alpha”  P.S.-I’m sorry I tried to sound propper but I’m a fucking git sometimes.”

   How can he be so sweet yet so annoying at the same time? I can’t leave my brother, I don’t know how I ever thought I could or how I could stay away from him for so long. I don’t want to go back to the pack, but I also don’t want to spend another night here with Toni and his possessive macho bull shit, no wonder Caleb and Eddie are always out until late at night and sliding out of here early! I push the door open “Back off, Toni!” I shout grabbing my old pack and shoving a few items in it.

    “What the actual fuck, Zelle?” Toni yells, grabbing my wrist. I snarl and a growl passes through me.

    “Don’t even try it, Toni!” I growl.

Less than 2 minutes later I am across the hall knocking on Mr. Troy’s door. “Hi, can I crash here for the night? I hate to ask, but…”

    “No need to elaborate! I am glad you are leaving Toni,” he smiles. “I do not have a lot to offer. No food, but you may take my bed this evening. It would be my honor.” He show’s me to his bedroom a classically decorated and well appointed room in a dark color palette. I settle in and call Celeste on my burner phone.

    “Celeste, it’s me, Azalea!” I pause

“Zelle! How are you? It’s been almost a year since you called last. I was worried!” Celeste sniffles.

“Celeste, can you do me a favor and bring your phone to the packhouse? I need to talk to Drake.” I purposely use his first name and not title.

 “Um, sure…but…never mind. I’ll bring the phone to Alpha” she sounds hesitant and  takes a breath. “I’m just turning around, I only left your brother’s birthday party 20 minutes ago. He’s not a bad guy you know, other than being a cold hearted prick who keeps pushing away all the willing she-wolves. Tonight he smelled like he had been all over some she-wolf but know one knows who.” I roll my eyes at her jabbering but keep listening.”Ellie swears that she heard him mention a second chance mate over the phone, but no one knows anything for sure. His second in command, Thadeus is a great fuck, though. He and I have hooked up a few times over the last couple of months…” I let her ramble but stopped listening to the actual words until I hear her knocking on a door. “Um, he’s not in his room, hold on a minute!”  I hear nothing but her breathing for a moment. “He’ll be right here, apparently he and Zeke were having a bonding moment, over strawberries or something, Zeke sounded a little emotional over the mindlink.”

   “You needed me for something, it better be fucking good, the kid and I were having an important discussion” I hear him rasp. “A phone call, you disturbed me for a phone call?”

“This is one you might want to take, um…sir” Celeste seems a little shaken.

“Who the fuck calls for me at midnight and can’t even call my own…Fuck! Azalea? “ he sounds flustered as he realizes who it most likely is.

   “Hello, Drake!” I say confidently. “I got the package, You'll be happy to know that Darius kept it safe and is now safeguarding me until I can make other arrangements. I can not leave my brother and cannot keep hiding from him in the city, but I will not return to the pack if I lose my freedom,”

    “You will be free to come and go as you fucking see fit, you can have your old bedroom back, I never redecorated it, or you can have the Alpha Suite, it’s yours afterall. You can even have a car to go wherever you want, but your brother really needs you here” I hear him swallow hard as he rasps out that last bit. “I will warn you that if that fucker your father promissed you to sniffs around here again I may have to keep you with guard details day and night. He keeps threatening me to hand you over. He doesn’t know that I don’t have you and that if I did he still wouldn’t get within 20 feet of you before I’d kill him.” 

    “Okay, dramatic much? I mean I am thankful that you intend on keeping him away from me but that might be overkill” i roll my eyes.

    A knock sounds on the door and I answer it, covering the phone to muffle it, not that it really matters with wolf hearing. “I am going out hunting, if you would like I could stop by a convenience store and pick up some food or other provisions” Mr. Troy says.

    “Thank you, Darius! Just some bread and butter, milk and eggs and no…they won’t have hat so just what I said” I say gratefully. The vampire nods and smiles.

    “That is puzzling!” I hear Drake say as I put the phone back to my ear and ask him what is puzzling. “It’s just…well. You are surrounded by vampires who all want to protect you, your neighbor, even a couple on the corner of your street.You have to know that werewolves and vampires usually don’t get along, right?”

    “Yeah, I know that, but they never bother me, so I just never thought about it. Mr. Troy, I mean Darius is the only one I have ever spoken to, he’s a good friend, although he was acting strange before he gave me the package today. He said I smelled like danger and asked if I had met my mate today” I shake my head.

    “So, when are you coming the fuck home?” He sounds tense.

   “You know where the apartment is, I don’t have to be at the diner tomorrow and I don’t have a lot of personal belongings, would you like to send someone to help me?” I ask.

   “No, I’ll be there myself,in the daylight” his raspy voice comes quickly. 

***************

    It’s  9 a.m. and a shiny black SUV pulls up in front of my apartment building right as I am telling Toni where he can stick his opinions. “Fuck you, Toni! I told you I am not yours, I am my own person and I am taking my stuff and leaving!”

    “At least tell me where you are going? I want to visit, show you that I can be a good guy, I’ll be  the perfect boyfriend”Toni begs.

    “I am going home! To my brother and my friends, away from…” the growl from behind me cuts me off, and I feel a strong hand on my hip. I surprise myself by relaxing into it and feel myself pulled against a hard chest.

    “I know that I said that you don’t have to even look at me, but I don’t like what I’m hearing” his deep, raspy voice whispers in my ear.

    “I thought you said you were going home, He does not look like a brother. You are leaving me for a tattooed brick wall!”Toni spits at me. 

    “First of all, you assume too much. Drake is not my brother, but is also not…grrrr…I don’t need to explain this! Secondly, he is not a brick wall, my father was a brick wall, Drake is something entirely different” I manage awkwardly.

    I hear a deep genuine laugh from behind me. “I love how eloquently you said that, love. Fucking brilliant!” Drake is clearly amused by my stammering. “You must be Toni, I’m Drake Alwood! I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you but it fucking isn’t , the only pleasure I am getting is in watching Zelle fumble over her words before I bring her back to her waiting brother. Zelle, Zeke wanted to come when I told him what I was doing, but I left him in charge of making arrangements for your arrival, so expect an overwhelming welcome home.” Drake smiles broadly at me. He must know what that does to me , because he chuckles lightly before whispering in my ear “I smell the effect I have on you, princess”. His lips brush my jaw and I swear I feel an electric jolt.