The Alpha

Chapter 3

     The staggering pain came and went through my dreamless night. I woke up groggily, a strangled gasp leaning my lips as my hands jetted to my throat where the remnants of someone's powerful grip remained. 'H-he was choking me. I couldn't breathe.' I squinted, eyes adjusting to the darkened room before I noticed small familiarity; my dresser, my bed, the cute little chair in the far corner. "What the-. How the hell did I get home?" My throat felt raw, and after swallowing a bit of saliva that was pooled on my tongue, I managed to sit up and rubbed my forehead. My confusion was evident as I scanned the room one more time to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. 'When did I get back home? Was it... Luca?'
     I frowned, setting my scowl on the door as I half expected him to barge in and angrily state something. Clearly something bad happened last night. I could scarcely recall the entire events, but I did know one thing. I was strangled. 'By his uncle. I thought he was sick. Too sick to get out of bed and hurt me.' I shivered, remembering the power behind the hands that were around my throat. 'I can't go back there. Can I? After last night.'
     A gentle knock on my door caught my attention. It was followed by my mom's soft voice as she called to me from the hallway. "Rae? Is everything alright? Can I come in?"
"Yeah, come in." I sighed softly, unsure as to if I was really in the mood to discuss anything right now, but it was my mother and the last thing I wanted to do was shoo her away. 'She's probably worried. Or she saw Luca bring me in here? Or something...'
     When my mother entered, I clenched my jaw as light from the hallway streamed into the room and I noticed just how much weight she'd lost. 'God, it scares me. I hope she's been eating.'
"Have you been eating?" Her face fell, and she smoothed her shirt down as she neared my bed. Her hair looked brittle in a bun, like there wasn't really enough hair to even make a bun, but still, the effort gave me some sense of hope. 'People who've given up don't try to look presentable.' She stopped at the edge of my bed, straightening my comforter quickly before clearing her throat. "So you decided to stay home after all?"
'Stay home? That doesn't make any sense.' I shook my head, dark locks flying about. "No, I left. Remember?" Her face scrunched questioningly, and she shrugged. "I thought you were, but when I checked on you an hour later, you were in bed."
"In bed? Really?"
'There's no way. No damn way. I went to Luca's. I was watching his uncle. I swear.'
     I tried to tap into last nights memories but they were so blurry I couldn't really focus on one thing. 'I did go. Right?' With a resigned sigh, I tossed my arms up in defeat before letting them slap back down onto my thighs. My mom sat at the end of the bed, the blankets and mattress shifting from what little weight she settled on them, before she squeezed my ankle reassuringly. "You didn't drink did you?"
"No! I didn't drink!"
"Okay, okay. Just wondering. You don't seem to remember last night."
'This is a nightmare.'
"I was probably tired. I didn't get sleep and I was up late. I don't know."
'I shouldn't worry her. She looks weak at it is.' Besides, I think it's healthy to keep a little mystery.
     My mother arched her brows and I could tell by her wrinkled forehead of concern and the way she firmed her lips that she didn't call my bluff. She was always a worrier but since we both moved, it has amplified. But with her increased worry had come even more health problems. She was getting weaker and weaker. She stood and swayed slightly. I jumped out of bed and moved to her. "Mom! Are you alright?!" She chuckled gently, waving a hand to dismiss my anxiety as I reached out for her. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."
I wrapped my arms around her, careful to hold her up as her legs wobbled. "What time is it anyways?" She yawned and patted my arm as we both bagel to walk towards the door and out into the hallway. "Early. 6 am." I nodded. "What time did you go to bed?" She shrugged. "I've been waking up on and off."
"Well, then you should get some sleep. Come on. Back to bed. I'll make you breakfast when you get some rest."
     Once I was in front of her door and she placed a quick kiss on my cheek, before disappearing in her room, I pressed my back against the door and sighed. 'Wait... didn't he put his number in my phone?' I shuffled back to my room, urgency in my steps as I searched my room for my phone. I finally stumbled upon it on the floor beside my window. I swiped it up and quickly went to the contacts before I scrolled through. 'Where the bell is it!? I swear to god I was there... last night.'
     I glared at the phone, angered by the fact I couldn't remember clearly what the hell happened, and how I was beginning to feel crazy; jumbled even. I huffed angrily, tossing the phone on my bed as I dragged shaking fingers through my frizzy locks. 'I'm not crazy, okay? I was there. I. Was. There. This is ridiculous... Maybe he's trying to mess with my head. Make a joke out of me.' I groaned and ran my hand over my face. 'He can't just do that. I want the damn truth.'
"If I don't do this now, then I won't be able to bring myself to do it."
     I quickly threw on some clothes and ran a brush through my hair in the hopes to look somewhat presentable, before I hurried through the hall and down the steps. I swiped the keys off the rack that was nailed to the wall where I put my mail and hung other items, before jogging out to the van. 'The sun is not even fully out yet. The sky is pink. And I'm going to confront someone... This town really is making me crazy.'
     When I arrived at the house, my eyes moved over to the driveway where I first spotted him. I took a deep breath and tried to muster up the confidence I had before I hopped in the car. Raindrops lightly fell down, a perfect representation of how shot my mood was. 'What if I'm wrong? Oh god. What the hell am I doing?' I nibbled nervously on my fingernails, before I have a sharp shake of my head and reached for the drivers side door and pushed it open. 'One step at a time. Just breathe.' I came here for a reason, and cowering now was pointless. I arrived and for some reason, the longer I sat out front of the house, the stronger my desire was. Almost like I felt his presence lingering around the property. I didn't even have to ask myself if he was home. I just knew he was. 'Here goes nothing.'
     When I sat my feet ground, my nerves shot through the roof and I found my steps faltering as I took deep breathed and headed towards the door. I tried and reminded myself why I was  there. 'Whatever happened last night... He has to know. How I got back in my bed. Because even my mother remembers me awake last night. There's no denying that.' I actually hesitated when I got at the door and lifted my arm to bang my fist in it. Last time, he ripped the door open as if he knew I had arrived but this time, I had to have fought him off guard because the door hadn't been yanked open yet and I wasn't meet with his brooding gaze. 'Watch him not answer... He's probably all about being upfront when it's convenient to him. Not when he's on trail...'
     I knocked on the door and crossed my arms as I began to tap my foot. I could only imagine what I must have looked like. A disheveled maniac who's hair despite being brushed, was still in disarray, and my clothes were wrinkled, my face pale from disrupted sleep. 'That shouldn't matter. I'm not trying to impress him.' I knew that was a like the minute I thought it. Because regardless as to whether I found him likable or not, I did care about how I presented myself to him. It came with that undeniable attraction I felt every time I was in the same room as him. 'He's not answering...'
     I pounded my fist against the door, almost convincing myself to just leave well enough alone and stomp back to my car, when I heard rustling inside. He ripped open the door and my eyes bulged when I noticed a bottle of something in his hand and the cork wedged between his teeth. "Uh..." But it wasn't the bottle that made my cheeks fluster. I couldn't help the way my gaze cut to the thick muscles along his naked torso, roaming and admiring how sculpted he was. I noticed sweat beading certain areas of his skin and wondered what he could have been doing that would make him sweat... My mind filled with naughty images that stained my cheeks and caused me to shift my stance by crossing my legs a little. 'Wow. I didn't expect him shirtless.'
His eyes moved to my crossed thighs, and I swear I heard the rumbling of a growl stirring within his chest, but it was gone before I could truly tell. "Hi.'
'That's not what I came here to say.' I swallowed, aware of how dry my tongue had become as words suddenly eluded me. Every time he was in front of me, it was like my tongue was dry. "Rae." My name was a melody on his tongue. A husky, possessive sounding melody. As if I was owned by him. It was stifling. "Yes. His I came to confront you."
'Wow, I'm off to an amazing start.' I swiped my hair out of my face and cleared my throat. "About last night."
     His emotions were hidden behind the stone mask he had on his face, his eyes were the only thing that revealed a smudge of his emotions. His gaze dominated me, and commanded me. I was breathless beneath its controlling energy. "I want to know what happened." He yanked the cork out with his teeth and spit it out towards me. I sidestepped out of the way and firmed my lips with distaste. "Have you asked yourself that question?"
"What? I was here." My brows furrowed as my confidence wavered under his eyes. "No you weren't. You never showed up."
'What the hell is he talking about?'
"No. That's not true. I did come. I was here last night. I was attacked."
"Are you sure about that?" He pressed the bottle to his lips and gulped. When he pulled his lips away I was blasted with the smell of alcohol. 'He's drinking? This early?'
"Yes, I was. Why are you acting confused?"
"It seems like you're the one confused. You never showed up here, Rae. Bad first impression."
'He's lying. He has to be.'
"I'm not lying."
     He sounded so sure of himself. I didn't know what to believe. I tilted my head as a look of confusion wrinkled my facial features and I found myself rolling through the events of last night, hoping to see things a little clearer. "I was here!"
"Who could've attacked you? My bedridden uncle? He's too weak to loss on his own, let alone get up and attack you."
"Maybe it was someone else who lives here."
"No one else lives here."
'This is fucking inane.'
"Sounds like deja vu to me."
'Deja fucking vu. Is he really implying I'm just losing my mind and it's just something from my past?'
"No. I don't know why you feel the need to lie to me. Tell me the truth!"
     He stepped into me swiftly, his dominating heat sluicing over my body, making my breath hitch in my throat. The moment I raised my hand, prepared to push him away, when my skin made contact with the stubble of his chest hair, electricity pulsed through me causing my heart to hammer wildly. 'Oh....' Images swarmed my head: me, wolves, the forest. A yearning that was so potent I found my eyes fluttering closed my knees getting weak. He wrapped an arm around my waist to steady me as I swayed and reached out to grab his shoulders, clutching him for dead life. "What's happening to me?" Those words were breathless.  Was sure he didn't even hear them, until he spoke. "Rae, vos anima mea." I gasped, reaching up to stroke his cheek as his dark eyes rendered me breathless. "That word..."
     Memories slipped through the darkness in my mind and hit me with suck force, pain lanced inside of my gut. 'He said that last night. I was here!' I blinked, the memories that had just came to me a vicious loop that made my fury build rapidly. "I was here! You lied! You fucking lied!"
     I wasn't sure what had gotten into me. I have never been one to scream and swear profusely while fighting with someone, but this town just brought the animal out of me. I shoved him away, stumbling backwards from him. "I was here!" I looked up at one of the second story windows. The curtains moved and I pointed accusingly. "You're protecting your uncle! He attacked me! And you tried to make me seem crazy!? I don't know how I forgot or why it's barely coming to me now, but it happened!" He moved forward, reaching out to me. I jumped backward and screamed. "Don't you touch me!"
"Rae-" I didn't need his warning tone as I cut him off. "No! Everything out of your mouth is a lie!"
     My angry rant was cut off by growling directly behind me. I whipped around so fast my head spun as I spotted the wolf in front of me, growling and ready to pounce. 'Shit!'
"Oh, no, no, no, no. Oh god." I stood still, carefully, thinking if I moved it would attack. 'Yeah, so much for they don't bother anyone unless they are bothered.'
"I'm going to die... I'm really going to die."
'Why did we move back? Why?' I shivered as the wolf's tongue licked his teeth. "Luca!"
     A surge of adrenaline had burst through my body and so whipped around, taking wide strides and throwing myself against his chest, yelling as a howl erupted from the wolf. 'We're gonna die!' I buried my face in his neck, aware of how the contact made my body feel on fire, but not in a painful way. I was keenly aware of him sh'ing me and stroking my back before he moved around me. "Stay right there." I watched, pure horror on my face as he moved towards the wolf, wordlessly. I watched their exchange while on edge. 'It's going to eat him! I just know it!'
     His silence completely freaked me out as he stared the wolf down and as seconds rolled by I cringed, wrapping my arms around myself as I waited for the inevitable attack. "Luca! Please! It's going to hurt you!"
"No. He will not!" With one last Felix of Luca's shoulders the wolf whimpered and ran off into the distance. 'What?' I didn't understand why the wolf didn't attack. It had every opportunity to. It made no sense. I opened my mouth to say something but I was at a loss for words. 'I need to get the hell out of here. I don't know how he got that thing to leave... intimidated it or whatever, but this whole thing had me completely freaked!'
"What the hell was that!? How? How did you do that!?"
     I moved towards him, determination lining my brows as I poked him in the chest with my finger, ignoring the overwhelming emotion I felt when I touched him. He scoffed and grabbed a hold of my wrist, yanking me into him. "No... You're not gonna distract me..." But it was too late. His proximity was already distracting. He held me into his body, my thighs pressed against his, unable to escape the thick erection in his jeans. 'Oh, wow. He's seriously turned on right now?'
"Yes." I frowned. 'It's like he can read my thoughts... not that my face conceals much..' he reached for my chin and lifted my gaze. I peered up at him beneath hooded lids and long lashes. "You will come to me tonight." I shook my head. "You will."
"Why should I?"
     Just as I suspected, he didn't answer me. I huffed frustratedly, and he pressed his thumb against my bottom lip and gently tsked his tongue. "Because, vos anima mea..."
"What does that mean?"
"Come tonight... and I just may answer some of those questions."
'Well, now I want to... but after today and last night, I'm not sure I should.'
He stepped back, releasing me before whipping around and stalking back to the house. 'He is so intense! It's infuriating and intriguing at the same time. So unfair because all it does is mess with my head and is clearly going to make me do something stupid.'
     I shook my head, trying to convince myself not to go as I got back in my car. My mind filled with the wild wolf and I clutched my steering wheel, my face contorting into one of animated disbelief. As I pulled away, I shuddered while looking at the house in the rear view mirror. 'I'd be insane to go back...' My denial ran wild for a minute until I was no longer able to lie to myself. 'I don't know if I can resist.'