by Scott, Rae
“I really should go. Its late” he murmured in her ear.
Aryana didn’t move. She didn’t want to. Being wrapped in his arms was so wonderful. It was safe and warm and perfect. She felt at peace, something she hadn’t felt for so long she didn’t want to let it go. So she just stood there wrapped up in Darian, his size easily dwarfing her.
Darian broke the hold but not entirely. He grasped her hand gently in his and led her through the house to the front door. Once he was on the other side of the open door he released her hand an cupped her cheek once more.
“I will be back tomorrow night. I want to take you out again. Only this time without the ex getting involved.” He looked deeply into her eyes with his soft gaze trying to memorize her features just like this, bathed in the moonlight, eyes dreamy, lips mist and swollen from his kisses.
Aryana gave a soft nod of consent. Somehow she knew Darian wouldn’t hurt her and he wouldn’t allow Scott to hurt her again either. For reasons she couldn’t explain she had complete trust in him. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Never had she felt so cherished as she did in that moment.
She stood in the doorway and watched as he climbed into his monster SUV and pulled away from the curb. She stood there watching till his taillights disappeared around a corner then she slowly closed the door and latched it behind her. She secured her back door and closed the open downstairs windows in a delightful fog of bliss. She practically floated up the stairs to her room to get ready for bed.
Opening the doors to her room the first thing she noticed was that the curtains had been hung. Strange she knew she hadn’t done it. Maybe Tony had snuck up there and done it at some point during the evening? She shrugged it off and got ready for bed. Climbing into the beautifully carved bed made by her grandfather and covered with her new linens she couldn’t help but look around her.
Everywhere she looked she saw herself; no more of Scotts influence was left. With soft sage walls and a blue sky sponge painted onto the ceiling and her grandmothers furniture in place it felt right. The room FELT like home. She couldn’t help but sigh in contentment as she snuggled under the covers and fell into a deep slumber. What she didnt see as she drifted off was the curtains sliding closed silently on their own.
Chapter 12 Another Wolf?
The next day Aryana was up with the sun and moving her equipment back to her upstairs office. Once it was done she grabbed a quick bite to eat then went to work on Stephens new project. It took her all of six hours to go through every photo and even a few short video clips and edit them. Some of the shots were a bit risqué but nothing unusual. Some were so close to wild animals she had no idea how he had managed it. Again his talent as a photographer screamed off the screen at her. The man certainly was good at what he did.
Next she spent a few hours working on what Tony had given her the night before. She couldn’t help but smile as she worked. Tony hadn’t always been such a hot shot photographer but he had always been her best friend. It wasn’t until Tony had met a national photographer while in New York that he had found any real success. She still remembered the day he had called her excited like a pop bottle rocket. The photographer Tony had been assistant for at the time had failed to show up for a shoot. The client freaked out and in desperation had ordered Tony to do the shoot. It had been his big break. Soon Tony was getting booked all over the world and had quickly become one of the top photographers in the world.
Aryana stretched and glanced out the window. She froze. Outside a large black SUV with tinted out windows was slowly driving by her house. She move to the side of one of the windows overlooking the front of the house and watched as it circled the block two more times always slowing down in front of her house. The hairs on the back of her arms and neck raised. This was a quiet neighborhood and that vehicle was out of place. She watched as it turned down the side street and made a mad dash to her purse. Digging out the slip of paper Darian had given her and her cell phone she raced back up stairs and positioned herself back near the window. She hurriedly dialed with shaking fingers.
The phone range twice before she got an answer
“Hello?” came Darian’s cognac voice pouring over the phone
“Darian?” She began her voice coming out a bit shaky.
“Aryana? What’s wrong sweetheart?” Darian was instantly on alert. Aryana did not sound ok.
“Darian, I am sorry to bother you but something strange is going on and I didn’t really know who else to call.”
“What is it? What’s going on?” He was already out the door headed for his SUV keys in hand.
“There is this large black SUV driving by my house. Its driven by three… make that four times now.” Aryana watched the SUV in question turn down her street again and make another slow pass by her home. Her eyes remained locked on it as it turned back down the side street and disappeared from view. “Darian, you’re not driving by my house are you?”
“No I’m not. Look I am coming over. I am not far away I will be there in a few minutes.”
Aryana heard the click of the line being disconnected and slunk back away from the window. Why would someone be driving by her home? She didn’t have any enemies that she knew of, well except Scott of course. It was just bizarre. Then again nothing in her life seemed normal lately. Dreams of that weird barista from the café, drowning, hitting the lowest point of her life, finding a naked man on the way home from swimming, yeah her life hadn’t gotten bizarre at all. Nope it was perfectly normal.
Soon she saw Darian pull up outside her house and get out. He walked slowly up the sidewalk to the porch. He kept passing back and forth as if he was looking for something.
Darian smelled it as soon as he got out of his SUV He followed it up to the front porch and kept walking back and forth trying to pick up who it was. The smell was familiar but there was something masking it as well. It made it almost impossible for him to even smell the other wolf. Whatever it was that had been used as a masking agent reeked. It was actually starting to give him a headache it was so rotten.
He turned quickly as Aryana came outside and watched as her eyes widened in horror and she quickly covered her nose and mouth.
“WHAT IS THAT??? IT REEKS!”
“I am not sure, but you can smell it?” He watched her closely as she was starting to turn shades. He was surprised she could even smell it. Maybe human sense of smell was better than they had been taught it to be.
“Skunks smell better! Of course I can smell it. Anyone could smell something that horrible!” Suddenly she froze, her eyes widened even more. She turned and made a mad dash back into the house towards the downstairs bathroom.
Darian followed behind shutting the front door as he went. He caught up to her just as she came out of the bathroom. He observed her now blood shot eyes and red face. “Feeling better?”
She went to nod only to turn another shade and make another made dash back into the bathroom. Darian stood outside listening to make sure he was there if she called him. It seemed like an eternity til she reappeared.
“You ok?”
She gave him a weak nod and collapsed on the sofa in her living room. She felt like someone had beaned her with a 2x4. She closed her eyes and rolled to her back trying to regain her equilibrium and quiet her stomach at the same time. After a few moment she heard Darian walking around the house checking things out. She would just let him and she would just lay there and rest. Whatever that smell had been it had really made her ill.
Darian searched the rest of the house. He noted that the odor of fresh paint still clung to the air faintly. It was stronger in the master bedroom but not overly so. Other than the odor of the paint and her curtains being only partially open, he found nothing out of place. Though he did notice that Aryana’ computers had been moved upstairs to a spare room and it appeared she had been doing some work when she had spied the strange vehicle.
Darian stopped and stared out the windows o
f Aryana’s office frowning. What the hell was going on? Aryana didn’t know any other werewolves that he knew of. She had no reason to be watched or targeted by anyone from the pack. As far as he knew they didn’t even know she existed as the majority of the pack never had anything to do with the human world unless it couldn’t be avoided.
His eyes narrowed as he saw a black SUV drive by her house. It turned away from her neighborhood at the end of the street. It bothered him on a primal level. Why would pack be watching her? By and large the Pack was a totally secluded world. Very rarely did anyone leave it to go into the human world and even then they often came back in a very short amount of time after finding out living a life of secrets wasn’t a life. Granted pack life could be a bit stifling with all its rules and laws. Though those were in place to keep them safe and to ensure the pack remained strong.
From what he knew about Aryana’s past it didn’t seem like she had any enemies to speak of so why the stealth vehicle? It just didn’t add up. He was pulled from his musing by the shrill ringing of his phone. Glancing at the screen he saw it was his father.
Swiping the screen he answered the call “What do you want?”
“Is that any way to great your father?” came the elder wolfs voice over the phone. ”You need to come to Alpha House. Immediately” His voice brooked no argument but Darian wasn’t going to buy into it.
“You banned me from Alpha House remember? I CANT go there so your summons is meaningless.” Darian narrowed his eyes. His father was up to something what he didn’t know.
“This is an exception. Get here. No excuses.”
Darian stared at the phone as the line went dead. He wanted to disobey but he couldn’t. If it came from his father then it just as well came from the Supreme Alpha and one did NOT disobey the Supreme Alpha under any conditions. Letting out a heavy sigh he pocketed the phone and started downstairs.
He hated to leave Aryana when she had just been given such a bad scare and was obviously ill but he wasn’t being given any choice. He stopped in front of the sofa and smiled gently. Aryana had fallen asleep while he had been searching the house.
She looked adorable curled up on her side sleeping soundly. He knelt down and gently shook her till she woke up a bit and gave him a sleepy look.
“hmm?” she asked settling back down and closing her eyes.
“Hey sleepy head, I have to go take care of something. I will be back later tonight for our date ok? Don’t worry I promise it won’t be anything like last time.” He smiled and she murmured in her sleep and promptly fell back into a deep slumber. He brushed her hair from her cheek and pressed a soft tender kiss to her forehead. She whimpered and curled into a tighter ball as he pulled away. Reaching behind her he pulled down the afghan and covered her with it before exiting the house.
He stopped just outside the door when he remembered he had forgotten to lock it. Turning back to open the door and flip the lock he was surprised to find it was already locked. That was odd. Maybe she had one of those self-locking kind of front doors or something. He had heard about them. He made a mental not to ask her about it later that night.
Chapter 13 The Prodigal Son Returns.
A couple hours later Darian pulled up in front of the Alpha House. It was an enormous structure. A towering four floors of ancient stone work with large heavy wooden doors it could have easily been called a castle. Inside the furniture was a mix of old and new with leather and carved wood being the mainstay. The whole place had been redone a few years ago and was state of the art in every way. The top floor was off limits to everyone but the Supreme Alpha and his family and his Beta.
The third level was home to the Beta and his family and where any visiting Pack Alphas stayed. It was where Darian had grown up and played as a child. He felt a twinge in his heart as he looked up at his old home. Yes he missed this place and its memories but the price of moving back was too great. It was a price he didn’t want to pay.
The second floor housed the Supreme Alpha and Beta offices. It also had more apartments for visiting Pack Alphas and their families. Though since this Supreme Alpha had no family the third floor had become all apartments for visiting Pack Alphas and the Beta and his family had moved to the top floor with the Supreme Alpha.
The main floor was the kitchen, library, and various other rooms for gathering in. Below the visible structure were three floors. The first one was a sort of hangout game room combo. Below it was an old cellar. It once was used to store food for the winter months and now was just storage for unused items and such of the Supreme Alphas family. Below that was the worst of the levels in the home.
The bottom of the home was a jail. More like a torture chamber really. Darian had only been down there a handful of times but it was a horrible place. The stone there was stained red in places, the bars and chains gave it an eerie feel. It was used to house those that committed the worst violations of pack law and also where executions took place. He would have loved to say it wasn’t used anymore but he knew better. There were untold number of times he had seen a young man or woman dragged down to the bottom floor. He knew it was starting to be used more frequently. It was one of the reasons he refused to become Supreme Alpha. It was the Supreme Alpha that performed the executions and he just didn’t have the stomach for it.
Letting out a deep breathe he eyed the large structure as he got out of the SUV. He knew this place like the back of his hand. Had played on the grounds as a pup and then ran them as a teen. He had lived here his entire life up until a few months ago. Coming back now as a visitor felt strange. He had never imagined living away from the Alpha House always figuring he would replace his father as Beta when his father passed on. It wasn’t until it had become clear that the Supreme Alpha would not take a mate and refused to produce an heir that it had been pushed that he become Supreme Alpha.
Darian bounded up the stairs and yanked on the thick rope that hung beside the heavy wooden door. He wasn’t surprised when his mother answered. “Hi mom. Dad sent for me.”
“I know. He told me. Upstairs in his office he is waiting.” She closed the door behind him and walked away. He was persona non grata here so while she was only doing what she had been told to do it still stung.
Looking around at the once familiar place he climbed the stairs. Finding his father’s office was easy for him. How often had he sat on the floor in there playing with his toys as his father did paperwork or took phone calls? All the memories of his childhood came flooding back and he was swamped with a sense of nostalgia for those simpler days. He stopped outside the carved door that held the insignia of the Supreme Beta and knocked before bothering to enter the room.
“Son. You should have been here an hour ago.” His father hadn’t even bothered to look up as he scrawled something on the papers on his desk.
“I wasn’t in town. Took me this long just to get here. So what’s going on that you had to summon me?” Darian lowered himself into one of the chairs in front of his father’s desk and fixed the older man with a matching green stare.
“The Supreme Alpha wishes to speak to you. He refuses to tell me why which is highly unusual.” His father sat back in his seat and watched Darian closely. “Do YOU have any idea why the Supreme Alpha wishes to see you?”
“Nope. Your guess is as good as mine.” Darian rose to head to the Supreme Alpha’s office. He stopped at the door when he heard his father call him.
“Are you still involved with that human female?”
He half turned to look at his father an eye brow raised. “Yes. You have a problem with that?”
His father shot him a serious and dark look. “You know the laws. You cannot take her as your mate. If you ever have any intention to do so you know what the penalty will be. The pack cannot afford it.”
Darian turned back to the door. He was half out it when he answered his father “Then find yourself another heir”
Darian walked down the hall the short distance to the Supreme Alpha’s office stoppi
ng to stare blankly at the door. His eyes fixed on the carving of a wolf’s head, above it was a full moon and surrounding both were vines and leaves. Words in elven were etched into the leaves, what it said no one knew. His brain minutely registered these details as his thought turned. Whatever the Supreme Alpha wanted had to be serious, he never called anyone in for just a chat. The fact that his father hadn’t been told what for is what had him puzzled.
Knocking on the door he held his breathe as he waited. Hearing him being bid to enter he opened the door and crossed into the Supreme Alphas office. It was a large space books and a built in bar lined one wall with large windows opposite. Just like the rest of the place leather and wood furniture filled the space.
“Darian. Please come, sit. I wish to speak with you.” The older wolf motioned for him to come farther into the room and sit on one of the sofas.
Closing the door with a gentle snick he turned and headed for the nearest couch. The Supreme Alpha rose from behind his desk and followed him. Darian waited till the Supreme Alpha had sat down before he himself sat as was the custom. “You sent for me sir?”
The Supreme Alpha sat back in the couch and watched Darian with bright piercing blue eyes for a moment. “Yes Darian I did.” I suppose you’re wondering why.”
It wasn’t so much a question but a statement and Darian nodded his head that yes he was indeed curious as to why he had been summoned.
“Well I do need to speak with you but it’s also as much too annoy your father as anything else. “The Supreme Alpha let out a chuckle at the thought of pulling one over on his old friend. Darian couldn’t help but join in. “You see Darian, I have heard some things that are disturbing to me. I want to make sure I have the facts straight.”