Returning to Love

Chapter 4: Amelia

"Alpha Jordan, Luna Leah!  It is good to see you both.  Welcome to our home," my mother greets.  She is ever the warm hostess.  "How was the drive?"

"It was a long car ride.  I am hoping to stretch my legs before settling in.  Leo, how about Amelia shows you where to drop off our bags while Alpha Derek and Luna Anna take your father and me on a walk?"

"Sure, mom."  And so the blind date begins.  There are plenty of pack guards who could have carried their bags for them.  My dad sends me a blinding smile, my mom gives me a look to be nice to Leo, and Jamie laughs from behind me.  "So, where can I bring our stuff?"

I am swept back into the conversation as Leo looks at me expectantly, a bag in each hand, and one by his feet.  He's not so bad looking: tall, blonde, bright eyes, muscular.  "You can follow me."

Our pack house is huge with six floors and a basement.  The main floor holds the kitchen, dining hall, offices, and conference room.  The basement holds a game room, gym, and a TV room.  The second through sixth floors all hold apartments for pack members and guests.  The apartments range from one to four-bedroom apartments, so families change apartments as they grow.  The Alpha and Beta families have apartments on the sixth floor.  Guest apartments are on the second floor.  

I bring Leo inside, straight to the elevator up to the second floor.  A pack member had prepared apartments earlier this morning for our guests with clean sheets and towels, as well as some kitchenette and bathroom necessities.  

The elevator door opens to the second floor.  We drag the bags off of the elevator and into the guest apartment.  We place the bags down next to the couch.  Leo looks around the room, studiously examining his living quarters as if he is planning on buying the place.  

Alright Amelia's brain: strategy time.  How can we get Leo to leave and never come back?  Option 1 - scream and cry in his face until he gets my message.  Option 2 -  fake a psychiatric condition that is so in your face that he can't help but get overwhelmed.  Option 3 -  reason with him why I wouldn't make a good wife.

1 ... 2 ... 3...

My screams and cries are so loud that wolves from other floors come to check to see if Leo hurt me.  Leo looks startled and confused.  I continue to scream and cry, not saying any actual words, until my parents arrive with Alpha Jordan and Luna Leah.  

Somehow my parents gather me up and bring me to our apartment upstairs.  My dad is pacing the bedroom, and my mom is running her fingernails through my hair in a comforting way.  

Eventually, my dad collapses on the floor in front of me, becoming eye-level with me sitting on the couch.   "Why?"

"He is too blonde."

"What?"  I think my dad's eyes are about to roll all the way back inside his head.

"Mom told me about your plan to set me up with Leo.  I'm not some spinster.  I'm only twenty years old.  I can manage just fine.  You shouldn't be setting me up with anyone."

"But your reasoning is that he is too blonde?"  My dad's tone shifts from furious to sympathetic, while still managing to get in a hint of mocking energy.  My parents share a look that implies a whole conversation is happening in the space of five seconds, and it looks like my mom is winning.  

"Alright, baby girl.  Your dad and I are going to go make nice with Alpha Jordan and Luna Leah.  You can come down whenever you're ready."  

I nod my head respectfully, then plop down onto the couch as soon as they disappear.  I don't know if I'll be making it down to dinner tonight.