The Alpha's Happiness

Chapter 5:

Dedicated to Reminiscing1331 who is seriously awesome and one of my lovely besties, so...

Hey guys, so I just updated two days ago, but I'm really excited about this story so I sat down this morning and started another chapter...enjoy!

Chapter 5:

 She stood outside of he passenger door, a pout adorning her delicate features. She didn't want to get back in the car. Her back still remembered the ache of all the countless hours on the way to Maggie's. She found it terrible to contemplate the thousands of miles ahead of them. The wind played with her hair, brushing it impatiently across her cheeks until she could no longer see. Blowing from the east, she could taste the salt upon the breeze, the ocean brushing across her taste spuds. 

She wished they had flown. Xander certainly had the money to. He was the alpha of the one of the largest pack's in the United States, second only to his brother's back home, and with his title came a majority of the pack funds. She took a deep breath of ocean, preparing herself to climb back inside of the small contraption.

A car backfired on the street. Lainey gasped and reflexively jumped, her feet perilously close to leaving the ground. Her conscious split into two parts. One side saw Xander standing by a car door, looking with concern at her. But half of her was back in the ally. A side of her was there once more as he held her down by the wrists, bruises forming. Imprisoned her upon the cracked concrete. Stole from her, though not a material possession that could be easily replaced. 

The halves merged together as she felt Xander shake her. Her captor's arms replaced by her mate's. She relaxed into him, a few of her many tears escaping. She felt a tug on the back of her shirt and turned to find a blurred version of Averyn. The girl held her arms open, waiting for Lainey to step inside of their protective, innocent circle. 

Lainey gathered the small girl close, and breathed in the scent of safety. Of childhood innocence and longed to be little again. Wished for the past years to be erased. To go back to the day of the funeral and never find her mate. Averyn gave her one last squeeze and released her, shimmying into the booster seat in the back of the car. 

"I'm ready daddy." She announced.

Xander let out a snort and rolled his eyes at her abrupt mood swings. He opened Lainey's door for her and ran a hand down her spine. Tingles shot down her back.

"Are you good?"

"Yeah," was her reply, so many emotions behind the four letters. She didn't remember the exact date of when she had quit talking. There were so many years of solitude behind her that she scarcely remembered what it felt like to be around children, to converse with adults, her mind forming thoughts pushed out of her mouth, words rolling off her tongue rather than remaining trapped within her mind. 

She was in the car, and Xander was in his seat after buckling Averyn. The pulled out of the parking lot and Lainey fingering the bruise that adorned her left wrist. Poked, prodded, even though every touch upon the delicate skin brought a tiny flare of pain, she reminded herself that she was strong. Told herself that she would move past this, just perhaps not right now. 

Her fingers moved themselves to worry at the hem of her shirt, truthfully one of Xander's smaller ones, and the ketchup stain that decorated the hem. She remembered back to the lunch during which the stain had originated, the one that had ended less than an hour ago. 

After she had returned from the bathroom with a slight blush on her face, she slid into the red and white plastic booth opposite Xander and his daughter, discovering that Xander, in the fashion of a true gentleman had ordered for her. She was relieved when they set a plain cheeseburger in front her, hoping she might be able to force something down this time. Breakfast had been a horrible reminder of the day before, the entire meal reappearing minutes after she ate. 

She had managed to eat a couple of bites without choking, the rest of the burger finding either the plate or her lap, ketchup and mustard dripping out of the bottom with no regard for the borrowed shirt. After that she had simply gazed around the restraunant as she waitng for Averyn and Xander to finish their food. A burger for him and chicken strips for her. 

 Her fingers continued to worry the hem, unti Xander finally took and hand from the wheel and placed it over hers. "Please stop that, it's distracting." She thought to be embarassed at his words, but he grabbed her hand and held it on the console, much like he had that morning, and any embarassment faded. She drifted to sleep, her hand still clasped in his, exhaustion taking over once more, knees tucked up to her chest.

She woke once more to a hand on her shoulder. She opened her sleep covered eyes and saw a blurry outline of Xander. “We’re here,” he said. Her vision clearing, she raised her eyes to see where “here” was. She had been warned in advance that it was a two day trip, yet a part of her was still shocked to see the hotel in front of her eyes. The suitcase made of click clack sound as she drug it over the sidewalk. Xander walked next to her, Averyn nestled in his arms.  

He checked them in while Lainey collapsed in one of the decorative and vaguely uncomfortable chairs in the lobby. The elevator ride, though only to the fifth floor seemed to take ages. The doors opened to a long hallway, door after identical stretched out in front of them.

Xander stopped before the door embossed with a fancy twenty three and slid the electronic key into the lock. The light flashed green and the three entered the room together, only one truly awake. Upon entering the room, Lainey froze, instantly awake. 

There was one king bed pushed up against a wall and a small bathroom. No other furniture adorned the room. “Sorry,” Xander said, his words and eyes apologizing to her, “I booked this when it was just her and me,” he explained with a head jerk towards the small girl he carried.

Lainey wanted to tell him that it was alright. That she wasn’t scared of him, didn’t distrust him, but the words wouldn’t come. Unbidden an image of Him came into her mind and an involuntary shudder ran through her. 

“Hey,” he said with a light touch on her arm, “it’s fine, I’ll take the floor, if you don’t mind sharing with her.” He motioned to Averyn who he had already placed on the bed. 

“That’s fine,” she said, climbing into the bed with the little girl. Her muscles relaxed, her eyes closed, though it was early morning before she fell into a deep slepp, her mind too awake and preoccupied with thoughts.

“Thank you,” she whispered to the man who had given up his bed for her, the man that had saved her. She never knew whether he heard her or not.

I don’t really like how this ends, but I wrote it in less than a day so…but hey, two updates in three days, that's fun. Honestly though, i just love this story right now I can't even force myself to write another chapter of my other one because this one is way more fun to write. Plus I decided this is going to be about the length of the chapters. If you read my other story you'll notice they're way shorter but for some reason this length works well with this story.