The Master of Me

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

                The moment ‘his’ voice reached her ears, Alue shifted into her wolf form. Dropping the two mugs of hot chocolate from what were once her hands, she took the most direct out of the house. She barely braced for the impact of glass as she threw her body through the kitchen window. She landed on the grass, a few minor scratches here and there, but that didn’t stop her from running as fast as her feet carried her.

Even before the man at the door finished speaking, the unmistakable sound of glass shattering pierced the air. Sterling’s head whipped about toward the sound, his foot taking a step toward the kitchen. Then he stopped himself and turned once more to face the man that was certainly the one person Alue referred to on rare occasions as ‘him’. 

“I’m going to ask that you leave my property, Mister. I’m preoccupied at the moment.” Sterling said, his voice steel, barely suppressing the feeling of fury that filled his being.

The dark haired man smiled politely, “Please Mr. Winchester, My name is Vincent Gregory. I am not here to make trouble for you. On the contrary, I am here to reward you. I would have never found my pet without that breaking news report of her allegedly identifying the man behind the numerous break ins for this neighborhood.”

                ‘Oh shit.’ Was all Sterling could think to himself, feeling his stomach twist with guilt. If he hadn’t felt so honor bound to report the vice president, then Alue would have never been mentioned in something as wide spread as a news report.  Sterling shook his head, “Mr. Gregory please leave, before I call the authorities and have you arrested for trespassing.” and attempted to shut the door.

                Vincent’s smile dimmed as he placed an arm in the way of the door, “Mr. Winchester please be reasonable. I wish to retrieve what is mine. The news report led me to believe that my pet is residing here. I want her back.”

“You are mistaken in believing I have something that belongs to you, Mr. Gregory. My statement to the police revealed that the break in of my home occurred while I was away. The eye witness, being my house guest, bravely defended my home until the intruders left the premises. Guests are not permanent residents, Mr. Gregory. Leave my property and take your search elsewhere. Goodbye.” Sterling said, this time his eyes staring down the older gentlemen as his hand pulled out his phone from his pocket.

                Vincent snorted quietly, his beady eyes clearly displaying displeasure at the conversation he just had with Sterling. He removed his arm and retreated back toward his charcoal Bentley Continental GT and drove off slowly. Sterling waited a couple of minutes, to make sure Vincent was really gone before shutting the door.

Sterling headed into the kitchen and found some debris of the broken kitchen window in the sink and on the floor. Along with the shattered glass mugs and brown hot chocolate liquid splattered everywhere.  He exited out the back door and saw majority of the window glass had made indents in the snow where it landed, along with paw prints of a wolf at running pace. He fell to his knees and slammed his fists into the frozen, snow covered ground. All the while, yelling a few choice obscenities in anger and stupidity of his choices that led to two of his biggest fears coming to fruition. One, that Alue leaves one day without saying goodbye. Two, Alue returned to her despicable master.

                Alue followed the empty ravine, crossing the land where it would be near impossible to see her from all regular driving roads. She managed to run ten miles before the ravine narrowed into nothing except a recreational trail head. Empty fields of undisturbed snow covered land stretched before her and she wondered why it wasn’t inhabited with tall grass. The sudden noise of a private airplane flying close by made her flinch and sink low to the ground.  She watched in hesitation as the small private plane touched down in the middle of the fields on the designated landing strip.  She looked back toward the direction of Sterling’s house. She wanted to go back, but knew she couldn’t do so. Not when ‘he’ was so close. She refused to be caught and that drove her up on her feet once more to continue further away from Sterling’s home beyond the fields and into the mountains from which she had crossed over five months before.

                Days passed and Sterling grew more and more concerned about Alue. He did not hear or see her, nor did he hear from Vincent Gregory. On the third day he trekked out into the snow in hopes of finding her den site located in the ravine just off his property. He found it, but it held no Alue inside. Fresh fallen snow masked all possibility of tracking her beyond it. Not that he could have done so even if he tried. If she didn’t want to be found, she wouldn’t be. She was fast, clever, and tenacious. He knew it was foolish to think she would return after Vincent showed up at his doorstep. He knew it was selfish to want her to return to his home when the risk of her ‘old master’ being so close by.

At every sunrise and sunset, he sat on the porch swing and watched hoping against all hope that she would return. If he could just know for sure that she was safe, someplace that she could be happy and not in fear of Vincent Gregory ever again. Then he would be satisfied and his heart would stop aching for the companionship that had developed over the past five months with her. By the sixth day of her disappearance, his heart and mind couldn’t help but wonder if this outcome could have been different, if he had chosen to reveal his deepest feelings to her. I guess that is what happens when you let a marvelous woman into your life, before you know it your heart belongs to her. And you didn’t even realize it until she was gone.

Something awoke Sterling, Monday December 8th. It wasn’t the sound of the back door opening, or the creak in his bedroom door. It wasn’t the presence of another being carefully and quietly kneeling over him in his sleep. It was the feel of the eyes that bore down on him. His eyes fluttered open, taking a moment to adjust to the still dark room and the figure that hovered above him with garnet colored eyes, “Alue?! Alue, is it really you?”

Authors Note: Thanks everyone for your patience in awaiting this chapter to be posted. I do apologize that it took me longer then expected to get it written and published. I am so amazed this story is up to 223 reads! I do appreciate every single person reading and/or following along as I continue to write this story. Have a great day!