The Alpha's Prey [Alpha-series (I)]

Chapter 13

I was so excited to start working with Neil that I woke up prior to the alarm Caleb set every morning. Most of the evening Neil and I had talked fashion because as he himself had noted, learning all about the supernatural would from now on be a part of my ambassador-training and therefore work-related. We would have more than enough time to talk about that in the days and weeks to follow, and I hadn’t argued. Still, I couldn’t deny I was curious as hell getting to know all the other supernatural species out there – I mean who wouldn’t be?

“As much as I would love to tell you all about our world myself, it would probably take forever. That’s why I thought it might be best to at first let you built a certain knowledge base on your own”, Neil explained while leading me up the stairs to the attic, which turned out to be a beautiful, cozily furnished library. “I know this might not be the most glamorous start into a new job, but it will get better, I promise.”

He flashed me an apologetic smile.

“The sections are organized after species; it shouldn’t be hard to orientate yourself around here. Some of the books are quite old, so handle them with care.”

I nodded. “Of course!”

“This section contains books concerning different species at once. I think it’s best if you start from there.”

He took an old looking, exceptionally big book out of the shelf called The book of life.

“It’s an old work, but still a classic to this day. The book basically covers all essentials one needs to know about supernatural beings.”

He handed me the heavy thing.

“If you need anything: I am in my bureau.”

Not being left with much of a choice, I took a seat in a comfortable looking dark red chair that stood beside one of the four windows that were embedded in the roof and started to read.

Being organized after how close the supernatural species are to humans, the book started out with vampires. It didn’t take long until I was completely hooked, but I also quickly realized to build that “knowledge base” Neil had talked about would take up much more time than I had imagined. Three hours into reading and I wasn’t even close to being finished learning how a vampire-coven was functioning. Like in a werewolf-pack, there were so many different aspects to consider: Who made the decisions? Who was supposed to do certain tasks within a coven? How was it decided if someone was to be made a vampire? It was fascinating. And I hadn’t even started digging into the history of this species yet, not to mention I had to learn about numerous other species as well. So even without Caleb’s constant worry for me, it would probably take a while until I would be ready to accompany Neil on one of his travels.

When it was time for lunch, Neil brought some sandwiches, but I was so immersed in my reading that I barely took notice of his presence. A curt “Thank you” was the only thing I managed to get out before returning to my studies.

Something warm touched my hand and startled me.

“Caleb?”

He knelt beside the chair. How the hell did he get there? I didn’t even hear him coming in …

“What time is it?”

“Almost seven.”

Without asking he took The book of life out of my hands and closed it.