by Mia Rose
Declan slowed the car and muttered to Noelle. “A few seconds and we’ll be there,” he said as she pulled her head back into the window and looked in the direction his finger pointed. Noelle sat up straight and rested her hands on the dashboard. She was excited to see where he'd brought her, and then she would know why he'd kept it so quiet.
Declan stopped the car as he rounded the final corner. They looked down into the clearing and to the old faded house that stood before them. “Whoa! That looks like a massive clown’s face from here?” Noelle yelped. Declan looked across at her as she leaned closer to the windscreen.
That’s exactly what I thought as a kid.
“This is where you grew up then?” Noelle asked. “This is the place the great Declan became an alpha?”
Noelle turned to Declan and urged him to drive on. She wanted to have a good look around the place, and she wanted to explore it more. Declan pulled the car to a halt on the red rock driveway. Noelle leaped from the vehicle and ran to the kitchen door.
“Don’t…” he started to yell as he heard the clatter of tin cans and pans deep inside the old kitchen.
Declan walked quickly up the old wooden steps. His boots made a deafening thud against the wood. If Noelle ran up the stairs, she’d have a shock. Dustin was probably aimed at the doorway as they made their way inside.
“This is so fucking cool. I can imagine you running around as a kid and driving your mom nuts,” Noelle said. “Did ya —did ya drive her nuts?” Noelle started to climb the wooden staircase. She paused and turned to face Declan. “I think you’d better go first, it looks a little freaky to me.”
Declan moved past Noelle as she stood with her foot on the bottom step and her back against the wall. Declan wasn’t sure if she'd pushed her breasts out on purpose, yet his arm brushed against them as he moved through the tight space. He felt his attraction grow, as it always did when they were in close vicinity.
“Dustin —Dustin; it’s me Declan. I’m coming up,” he yelled. He could see that the bedroom door on the left was still closed. He reached the top and put his hand flat on the door and pushed it ajar. “Dustin, are you awake?” he said again. He started to poke his head into the bedroom.
“Is he there?” Noelle asked.
Declan paused, his concentration slipped. He turned back to the bedroom and his head pushed past the edge of the open door. Declan heard the whoosh of the bolt as it grazed his cheek and embedded itself into the bedroom wall.
“He’s fucking shot you,” Noelle yelled as Declan pushed the door wide open and tugged the bolt out of the wood.
“I did tell Dustin to shoot anyone who showed their face; even me!” Declan walked to the far side of the old bed. Noelle walked over to the window and pulled open the curtains. She stood and looked at the view that laid before her. Her eyes fell across the tops of the trees as the valley stretched for miles.
“I’ll tell you something, apart from the condition of the house, this area knocks spots off Lucas’ land. Its way up, and you can see everything below you.” Noelle turned back to the bed and saw Declan checking on Dustin.
“How are you feeling?” Declan asked Dustin.
“I feel a lot better. I think calling on my inner wolf yesterday did something. I even changed and laid here for an hour. What a sight that would’ve been,” Dustin said with a giggle. “I think I’m good to walk, but I do feel breathless after a while.”
“That’s good, old man, because we’re taking you back to the apartments. Back to somewhere a little safer than here.” Declan pulled on Dustin’s arm and helped him to stand. “Can you grab all his stuff while I help him to the car, Noelle?”
She gave a warm smile. Noelle picked up the holdall and began to fill it with Dustin’s things. He didn’t have as much because he'd lost some items when the hunters had finished shooting, and when they’d torched the camp. All he had, now either laid in burnt embers, or had literally blown away in the wind and settled over the parts of the forest as ash.
Dustin slid onto the rear seat of the car. Noelle passed him his bag, and he used it as a pillow. “What’s happened overnight at the Towers, then?” Dustin asked.
Declan leaned on the rear of the seat. “Quite a bit. I’m back as Alpha, and I need to hold a pack meeting. There are a few things to iron out before we can get back to normal,” Declan explained. “The main concern is the hunters. I don’t want a confrontation at the Towers. I want it here, but we all have to become familiar with the land to do any good.”
Dustin lifted his head. “This place is better than most. We need a dry run once or twice, to get a formation and a plan in place,” he replied. “I always knew this place kept itself standing for a reason. It must be your destiny. The both of you.” Dustin rested his head back on his bag as Declan started the engine. Noelle slithered into her seat and looked up into Dustin’s eyes.
“It sounds as if you're trying to pair us off with each other,” she said. “Is that what you're doing Dustin, is it?”
“Jesus Christ, Declan, what do you see in her? I mean, she’s like a mouth on legs,” he replied with a laugh, which was quickly followed by a cough —or two.
Noelle gave him an assertive look, then grunted and spun back to face the front of the car. She laughed and felt herself letting go of her tenseness. “We can dump your ass back on the side of the road if you want?”
“Temper —temper!” Declan said as the car swung from the track to the main road. His eyes were fixed on the way back to the Towers as he listened to Noelle.
“I didn’t tell you. I was having some weird thoughts while I was snoozing,” she said. “It was about my mom and dad.”
Declan looked over at Noelle and could see she looked perplexed. “So, Noelle, what were you're thoughts?”
“I thought back, and Edmund told me he'd wiped any trace of me at home and with the rest of my family, too. I did see Megan in town, and she blanked me,” Noelle explained. “The thing is, I get a feeling that this isn’t all true. Well, Edmund might’ve wiped their memory of me. And I have no idea how strong his potion was. Edmund never mentioned wiping you from their memory, so maybe —just maybe, if they see you, it might make them remember me.”
“Noelle, you might be right. But if the worst comes to the worst. I can contact Judy, and maybe Marina (the witch) can do something.”
“That’s worst-case scenario though, right?” Noelle asked.
“Worst case, you got it!” Declan smiled to make her feel better.
Maria sat outside as she grabbed some fresh air. She felt pleased Dustin would arrive considering she thought he'd died at her side. It had been a wipeout in every sense of the word and Maria pictured what would be different when they faced the hunters again. They needed to be ready every moment of every night, and Maria knew from experience the hunters never attacked in the daytime. The thing that worried her more than anything, was the use of silver. No one would stand up to that. Even Declan would probably find he’d be overpowered by too many shots with silver bullets.
Edmund had gone, and so had his elixir. There had to be another way to combat the effects. Maria sat and racked her brain as she thought. “Hey, Miss, is there a Declan here?” Maria heard in front of her. She raised her head and could see a guy (about eighteen years) with a hood pulled tightly over his head. He had a backpack slung over one shoulder, and his hands were stuffed deep into his pockets.
“And who’s asking for Declan?” Maria asked.
“He told me that he’d help me. This is Clifton Towers, right?” he asked.
Maria lifted her arm, and without looking, she pointed at the sign that sat right on the wall behind the bench she sat at. “You still haven’t told me who you are?” She asked the words using a cautious tone.
“I met him at a gas station. My name’s Kelvin,” he said as he pulled his hoody from over his head.
“Declan isn’t here. He’s gone out on business,” Maria replied. “You're welcome to wait.” Maria moved over on t
he bench, and Kelvin sat at the side of her and dropped his bag onto the floor.
“Pretty cool place he has here. Does he own it?” Kelvin asked. He had a childish grin.
Maria shook her head. “You know Kelvin, I have no idea. I know that he and the guy who cared for it before were pretty tight with each other. So, I don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised, either way,” Maria explained. “How did you bump into Declan?”
Kelvin laughed and flashed his pure white teeth. “I was trying to get some food out of his car, he’d left his window open, and I could smell lunch,” he explained.
Maria stared at Kelvin. She could see what he was saying, yet, she didn’t want to assume. “Are you trying to tell me you're a wolf?” she asked. “That’s normally why Declan tells people to come here.”
“You got it in one. Declan saw it immediately. He told me he was the alpha here, but I could only smell human on him,” Kelvin said.
“He’s back now, so there’s no worry there,” Maria said as Declan's car pulled into the parking lot. “Talk of the devil, here he is!”
Declan and Noelle stepped out of the car. Declan glanced up the stairs as he flipped the front seat forward and helped Dustin from the vehicle. Declan slipped his arm around Dustin's waist as Dustin slipped his arm over Declan's shoulder. Kelvin ran down the stairs and steadied Dustin's other side.
“Hey kid, I thought you might turn up.” Declan placed his foot on the first step. Kelvin looked in front of Dustin. He grinned.
“If I had of known you had all these hot women here, I’d have turned up sooner.” Declan frowned as he looked in Noelle's direction. “I smell you have your inner wolf back?” Kelvin walked up the stairs, supporting Dustin.
“You can smell that on me?” Declan asked.
“Nah, I’m pulling your wire. The hottie on the bench told me you were back to your old self,” Kelvin said as they finally reached the top step.
Maria stood and cried as Dustin stood by himself. She locked her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the cheek. “I thought you were dead. All this time you’ve been alone,” she said. “We have a place for you.” Maria kissed Dustin again and stepped back so they could help him inside the building.
Kelvin turned to Declan. “You said you’d put me up. Where am I gonna crash?”
Declan smiled as he ruffled Kelvin's hair. “You can stay in the apartment with Dustin. You can take care of him.” Kelvin tutted and pulled Declan's hand from his head. He picked up his backpack and stepped into the lobby.
“I’m no nursemaid or anything like that,” he said. “I’ll keep an eye on him, but I’m not ass wiping or anything like that.” Kelvin had a serious look on his face.
“If you’re gonna stay for a while, you’ll have to contribute to the rent. We all pay our way,” Declan explained. “We take care of you here like we do everyone else.”
Maria turned to Declan. “I do need to speak to you about rental matters later,” she said. “I found out a few things.”
“What sort of things?” he asked, cringing a little.
“Well, there's a stack of unpaid bills, but I've got a solution for most of that. And there’s something else that I need to speak to you in private about,” Maria said. “Once we have Dustin settled, I'll see you in your office.”
“Sure, not a problem. But the first issue is, how do we get Dustin upstairs without half-killing us all,” Declan said. “Hang on, I've got a solution.”
Declan stood away from Dustin as Kelvin took on his full weight. Declan rolled his neck and called his inner wolf. It took a blink of an eye, and Kelvin almost dropped Dustin as he stood amazed.
“Holy fuck, it’s true. You're the alpha, the main one.”
“What do you mean the main one?” Declan asked.
“Nothing. I mean you said you were the alpha, and here you are, for real.”
Declan huffed and stood up on his hind legs. He scooped Dustin up as if he was as light as a rag doll and then he ran up the staircase. Noelle, Maria and Kelvin stood at the bottom of the stairs and stared upward with open mouths.
Declan changed back and looked over the banister from the fourth floor and yelled down at them. “Are you lot coming, or what?”
“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.”
Chapter 4
Meet You Halfway
“Create the highest vision possible as you become what you believe.”
“Noelle, can you wait in the apartment for me. I have to speak to Maria in private,” Declan said as Noelle skulked down the hallway to the apartment.
“I can’t reach the key,” she yelled in a sarcastic tone. Declan walked from the head of the stairs and reached for the key on top of the door frame. He shoved it in her hand and muttered. “Don’t make a scene about something so trivial, okay?” he asked, confused by her attitude.
Noelle scoffed. She said, “You better run. Maria WANTS you, she’s WAITING for you.” Declan's nostrils flared, his anger rose, yet he held it back for the sake of the relationship.
“Wait for me, okay. I won’t be long.” Declan made his way toward the staircase as he heard the door slam behind him. He shook his head and sighed.
“I guess that’s my fault more than anything,” Maria said.
“Nah! She’ll be fine, she’s a little hot-tempered, and she has been in the forest for months, so people piss her off, I guess,” Declan replied.
“Yeah, right. She was holed up with that Lucas for how long?” Maria reminded Declan.
Damn. How long was she with him? She said she'd broken her leg and that takes a while to heal. Maybe there is something she isn’t telling me.
Declan closed the door behind him and walked around the desk and sat in his favorite chair. “Damn, now I feel like I’m home,” he said, kicking off his boots. “What did you want to talk about?”
Maria pulled up a chair and spun it around, she rested her arms on the back and then rested her chin on her arms. “All the freezer room meat and Edmund’s body have been removed. Don’t ask where, it’s safer not to know,” she explained first. “Next, open the bottom drawer and look under the red folder.”
Declan pulled the red folder out of the way and dropped the bundle of bills onto his desk. He tugged at the rubber band, and the wad of cash sat there. “What’s this?” he asked.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I sorted all the mail and entered everything onto the computer. It was only when I opened the drawer that I noticed it,” she explained. “I counted it, and it covers nearly all of those bills, we are only a few thousand short and then we are clear.”
Declan looked around his office. All the work they'd done getting ready for the inspection had started to wear off. The place could do with a significant makeover. “There’s something else, I can sense it,” he said.
“Well, I went ‘round to all the apartments to check on their rental arrears. Gabriel stopped them all from working. Everyone’s three months behind, minimum.”
“What a dick. He must’ve known that it would create more problems than it would solve,” Declan said in anger. “We need a pack meeting, tonight.”
Maria smiled as she tried to cut through Declan's steely-gaze. “It’s already sorted. I told everyone to be downstairs at ten,” she explained. “There is one more, final thing. Well, it’s a combination of two, but it amounts to one.”
“Hmm, I don’t like the sound of this,” he said. “Let me have it.”
Maria sighed and lifted her head from her arms. “Well, there’s a few of the tenants who are concerned about you being the alpha while still being single,” Maria said. “And —there are some who are concerned about Noelle, and that she isn’t ‘one of us.’”
“What do you think about it?” Declan asked Maria. He wrapped the rubber band back around the large bundle of money.
“Me —you're asking me what I think of it? I don’t give a damn. I know Noelle will do the right thing, she saw the light when she found out she was a hybri
d,” Maria added. “As for you being Alpha and single, that doesn't make the slightest difference, and you do have Noelle, she just isn’t in an alpha-mate position.”
Declan dropped the bundle into the drawer and started to pull his boots back on. He looked up at Maria. “You know, I’m sure we can work it out. We should be more concerned with these hunters. It’s been a while, so they must be nearly ready to pay us a visit,” he said. “When it’s time, we are going to lead them to my old house, but we have to have some training sessions. Do you remember where it is?”
Maria nodded to signify a yes. “I know from inside the forest. From the road, I wouldn’t know. I can drive to ‘Vista View,’ and we can go through on foot. That way I can scope the approach points of the hunters.”
“That’s a good idea. I don’t presume they’ll come down the hill, they won’t know we are there, so it’ll all be uphill for them,” Declan said. “We can arrange for some to go tomorrow.”
“Not tomorrow, I wanna get those bills cleared. I’ll take the first lot up on Tuesday —once I know whose back working and who isn’t,” she said plainly.
“Fair enough. And take Kelvin with you every time. I sense he’s a pretty smart kid, he could bring a lot,” Declan said. “If there’s nothing else; meeting adjourned.” He walked from around his desk and walked in the direction of the office door. “I better get back to the little dragon, I don’t want her biting my head off for no reason.”
“Hey, Declan. There’s one other thing, but I might be way off the mark. I was thinking of these hunters using silver. We could be dead meat, and we don’t have a cure. I want to check before I commit, but I might have an idea that can help us,” Maria explained.
Declan’s fingers fumbled for the light switch. He pulled the door closed and locked it as they went into the hallway. “What’s the idea?”
“Don’t laugh, I might be barking up the wrong tree. I was thinking of heavy metal poisoning, it’s very similar, but silver is rapid and kills us almost immediately. But —and it’s a big but. If we all start taking antioxidants, you know, ones that are specific for heavy metals, it might make the effects of a silver bullet far less deadly.”