Raising the Alpha

Chapter Ten: A Picnic in the Park

Kohl

Brian just would not shut up. I was not going to reveal my plan to him any time soon. I told him that, yet he still proceeded to question everything.

"Stop asking questions or I will break your neck!" I growled as we walked through Aurora Park. "Now, the first thing we need to do- well, that you need to do- is prove that you're loyal." I knocked the cigarette from his hand. "That's a disgusting habit. You're ruining your body."

Brian glared at me. He bent down and picked the cigarette back up. I watched in disgust as he re-lit it and blew a stream of smoke in my face.

"Put it out," I demanded. Without hesitation, he dropped it and crushed in beneath his heel though he glared at me menacingly. "There you go." I smiled and continued walking. The sun was starting to set, perfect feeding time. "Now, your loyalty. You must prove to me that you are worthy of my trust. You must do whatever I ask, whenever I ask it."

"So what do I get out of all of this?" Brian asked.

I smirked at him. I stopped walking and turned towards him, "It means that I won't kill you first when I succeed with my plan." I kept walking. "Now let's find you something to eat."

Athena

Getting ready for a date was always so nerve racking. I tried on three different outfits before settling on a coral maxi dress and black wedges. My fingers were covered in rings and I put on a gold necklace with large black gems. I checked myself in my mirror. Yes. I was ready.

"Athena!" my mom called from the living room. "There's someone here for you!"

My breath came out nervously. I smiled to myself, thinking how crazy it was to be so nervous. I got downstairs and there was Erick, standing in my doorway. My mom moved aside and told us to be careful.

"Nervous?" Erick asked as he looked me over.

I smiled at him. "Psh, not at all." He raised his eyebrows at me and opened his car door for me. "Okay, maybe a little," I admitted and got in the car.

"Me too," he said with a reassuring smile and closed the door.

On the way to the park, we talked about music. He said he played guitar and I told him that I sang. He suggested that we "jam together sometime". I was down. The whole time I couldn't stop smiling. He was so genuine and original. It made me wonder what he had planned for the date. All I was told was that we were going to be at the park and not to eat dinner. We pulled up at Aurora Park. It looked like one of the more secluded areas.

He turned the car off and got out. I was about to open my door, but he beat me to it. God, I was nervous. My only consolation was the fact that he was, too. I could hear his heart beating raucously in his chest.  Erick led me from the car and up a path to where we were near the edge of a small lake. It was beautiful.

"Okay," he said. "I'll be right back."

I said okay and stood there, looking out at the lake. The sun was low and the sky was a mixture of orange and pink.

"Ta-da!" I turned around and saw Erick standing over a red and white checkered blanket. There was a picnic basket in the center. I looked up at him and he was smiling at me. "Come on, sit."

I was so happy and impressed and every other good feeling. It was amazing. This was absolutely perfect.

Erick

Athena seemed really impressed. I was proud of myself for pulling this together.

"Wow," she said, sitting down. "This is amazing, Erick." She looked at me, smiling and shaking her head. "This is really amazing."

"Thanks," I replied. "So, I hope you like sandwiches." I reached into the basket and pulled out two subs.

"Who doesn't like sandwiches?" Athena said, taking her sandwich that I handed to her. "What else do you got in there?"

"Well," I said, pulling out two bottles of tea, "this. And dessert."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Dessert?"

I nodded. The evening went by nice and slow. I enjoyed every moment. When it started to get dark, I realized I'd forgotten the candles. Athena took out her phone and turned on the flashlight and sat it between us. It was almost ten by the time we actually took the time into account.

"Wow, it's getting late," Athena said.

"Yeah, we should get going." I stood and started picking up the stuff while Athena folded the blanket.

We were walking back down the path and Athena started acting weird.

"Erick," she said. She stopped walking and grabbed my arm. She was staring to the right. I saw nothing but trees. "Stay here, okay?" Athena took off.

I didn't want anything to happen to her. So I followed her. When I caught up to her, she was behind a huge tree, watching something. A twig snapped beneath my feet and she turned quickly and grabbed me. She put a ringed finger up to her lips and turned back around. I peeked past her.

There was a guy, dressed in dark clothes. And he was moving up on a girl sitting on a bench. She had glow-in-the-dark pale skin and long, candy red hair.

"Athena," I whispered. "Athena, we've gotta do something."

"No," she whispered back. "We can't. He's not human."

Whatever that meant. I was going to help anyway. "I'm gonna do something." Before she could stop me, I was walking up to the guy, slowly. "Hey! Hey, you!"

He spun on his heels. With super-human speed, he was in my face in an instant. "I don't take orders from you." He grabbed me by my neck and lifted me off the ground.

And then I was laying on my back. I looked up and Athena was fighting him. It looked like she was going to win, but then he bent her leg awkwardly and snapped it. I sat up and tried to get to her. My back was hurting so badly, though, that it was impossible at the moment.

"If you'll excuse me, I have business to take care of." The guy sped off after the girl who was long gone. Something inside me told me that he would find her.

I managed to get up finally and ran over to Athena. "Hey, hey. Are you okay?!" I tried to help her sit up.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Don't freak out, okay?" She looked at me, holding eye contact.

"Why would I-" I stopped talking. Athena snapped her leg back into place and stood up perfectly. My eyes widened. "What the hell?!"

"I'll explain later. We should get going though."

We left the park after that, the ride home intense and awkwardly silent. I still had no idea what I'd witnessed. I dropped her off quickly, only muttering a good-bye.