“Yes! Everything’s fine.” I laughed and shrugged off my discomfort, turning to walk towards my car when Jackson’s hand reached out to stop me.
“Drink?”
“Erm. I do, yes. Thanks.” Confused by his question, I kept walking when I heard him laughing behind me. God, even that guys laugh can turn me in to a puddle of goo.
“No. I meant, do you want to go for a drink? There’s a restaurant with a bar just around the corner. You look like you could use someone to talk to.” Touched by his gesture, I was mortified to feel my eyes filled with unshed tears. This day could not get any more embarrassing.
“How much of that conversation did you hear?” I asked him.
“Do you want me to be honest, or to lie?”
Oh, great. “Honestly?”
“Honestly, I heard the whole thing. I know I can seem like a grumpy git sometimes, but I promise I’m a good listener, if you need it.”
My heart warmed as I realised I had probably judged him a bit too quickly, and I could feel myself liking him a lot more than was healthy. Pushing back the tears and holding my head high, I nodded and smiled at him. He held his arm out for me to take in an old fashioned gesture which took me pleasantly by surprise, and we walked together- our arms linked- towards the restaurant.
****
“So, I met another one of your brothers.”
“Ah, the elusive Blake. Yeah, he’s a character.”
I laughed and tucked in to my ceasar salad with a groan, as I realised how hungry I was. Jackson and I had walked to the restaurant in a comfortable silence, before deciding we could both do with some food, so our quick drink had turned in to a dinner date. Well, I say ‘date’, but in his eyes he probably just saw it as helping the new guy out. I felt like a school girl with her first crush as I even found Jackson tucking in to his ginormous burger, attractive. You know you fancy them when the sight of them scoffing meat turns you on rather than making you feel nauseous. So far we’d been having pleasant small talk, with Jackson telling me more about his family and how Annabelle’s intelligence was already causing trouble. I laughed as he told me tales of how good she was at hiding, and how the times was silent was when she’d normally be hatching her next plan. I failed to see this evil genius and mastermind when I looked at the cherubic face of the young girl.
A comfortable silence passed while we ate our food, when Jackson looked at me with a questioning look on his face.
“So, do you want to talk about it?”
I chewed a piece of chicken slowly to give me time to think about how I was going to answer the question. I didn’t particularly want to bare all with my humiliating tale of betrayal, but then again these would be my new neighbours. I may as well reveal how much of a mess my life is now, rather than having to spill it all later.
“Let’s just say I was stupid.”
“Being trusting of someone is not being stupid.”
I looked up to find him smiling at me, and I felt more confident with telling my story. I needed to remind myself that Craig was in the wrong; not me.
“Well, I trusted the wrong people. Kind of a theme at the moment.”
“Is that how you ended up here?”
“Yeah, I guess. I thought that packing a bag and running away would solve all of my problems, but there are some things you can’t hide from.”
“He was an idiot.” I looked at him in confusion, before remembering that he had heard my conversation with Craig on the phone.
“Or I was. I genuinely believed that my marriage was going to be for life. Turns out it didn’t even last a month.” I laughed without humour, and carried on picking at my food. A shiver jolted through my body when Jackson used his hand to pick my chin up, so I was looking at him instead of the table. I was drawn to his eyes and found I could not look away.
“He had no idea what he had until it was too late. He’s calling you because he’s realised now what he’s lost. Something that should be treasured.”
He leant toward me and I felt a thrill go through me at the thought of him kissing me, but then someone nearby dropped a glass, startling us out of our moment. For a second there I forgot where we were, and I was unnerved by the effect he seemed to have on me. My heart sank when he moved back, although his eyes never left me once.
“It wasn’t even Craig’s betrayal which hurt the most. It was my best friend’s. I’ve known Craig for a few years, but Natalie? I’ve known her my whole life. How could anyone do that to their friends?”
“I don’t know. What I do know, is that if you stay around here you’ll see what true friends really are. This community is like a family, whether related by blood or not. Who needs friends when you have family, right?”
I smiled at him, and felt a weight lift from my chest now I’d finally spoke about everything. There was no judgment in Jackson’s eyes, and all he’d done was make me feel better about the situation. Something that should be treasured. Man, I was so lost.
JACKSON
My head was muddled and I had no idea what to make of my feelings. I’d always been one of those guys who enjoyed the company of women, and certainly enjoyed spending my evenings with them, but I was never bothered about having anything permanent with one. My role in Wolves Creek meant that I barely had time to watch television, let alone have time to put the effort required to achieve a blossoming relationship. Laura seemed to be changing all that for me. The longer I spent with her, the more she filled my thoughts, and now even my dreams were filled with her. On the one hand, I wanted to leave her alone so that my feelings wouldn’t have a chance to develop, but on the other hand I was desperate to see exactly where these feelings could lead us. I’d meant what I had said to her, when I’d told her that she was something to be treasured. I always scoffed when Noah would say soppy shit like that to Jasmine, but it had felt like the right thing to say at the time.
It made me angry with how she had been treated by her ex-husband in the past, and I needed to try and make her feel better. I didn’t understand why I needed that so much, but I wasn’t going to argue with it. Laura had been looking at me, with a sadness her in eyes that didn’t belong there, and I had an urge I could not diminish, to eradicate it. I’m not ashamed to admit that I inwardly cheered when a smile had lit her eyes up, and I had found myself just enjoying her company, and the conversation. I had been so close to kissing her, I’d had to physically restrain myself, with a newfound strength despite the fact that she seemed to make me weak. I was suddenly pulled from my thoughts by the ringing of my phone, and answered it quickly, knowing it was bad news from how late the hour was. Three words were all it took for me to jump out of bed, and run out of the house like my life depended on it. Fire at Noah’s.
LAURA
I woke up in the middle of the night, confused and wondering what had woken me. I looked around me and rubbed my eyes to try and clear them, but everything remained foggy and I struggled to see anything. It was then that I started to cough, and realised the room was filled with smoke. I heard an alarm beeping somewhere in the distance and my heart dropped as I realised what was happening. Fire! Jumping from the bed, I stopped as another wave of coughs hit me, and I struggled to breathe through the thick smoke which seemed to be building in the room. Covering my nose and mouth with my arm, I rushed towards the door, only to be flung back by an unseen force as soon as I opened it. Realising my mistake, I tried not to panic as I saw flames through the doorway and they started to find their way in to the bedroom, just feet away from me. The heat was unbearable, but I knew that if I passed out now, I would die, so I called on a reserve of strength deep down, and kept low on the ground, crawling over to the window. The smoke had made me practically blind, so I crawled across the floor, praying the window was wide enough for me to fit through. I thought I heard someone calling my name in the distance, but I didn’t stop to think about it as the flames came close enough that I could feel their heat licking my feet. The smoke stung my eyes, causing tears to stream down my
face as I stood up and felt around for the opening of the window. I cried out in despair as the seconds went by and I could not open the window. Banging my fists against it, I decided to try and break it instead, not caring about being cut by the glass, because that was more preferable than being burned to death. I looked around for something to help me smash the window, when I saw a crowd of people forming in the garden outside, all looking at me and shouting things I could not understand. I cried out in relief as I saw Noah, Jasmine and Anabelle stood to the back of the group, covered in black from the smoke but alive, and I thanked God that they had managed to make it out okay.
I got back to frantically trying to smash the window, when I heard the most glorious sound ever from behind me. I spun around and shouted, at first in jubilation but then in fear as Jackson rushed in to the room, holding his face and coughing, but otherwise unscathed.
“Laura!”
“No! Jackson, you’ll get yourself killed!”
“Forget about me! Are you okay?” He dashed over to me, and frantically ran his hands up and down me, as if to check for any injuries.
“Yes, but I’d really like to get out of here!” He smiled, before telling me to look away and cover my face. I didn’t bother to question him as another coughing fit hit me, and I felt seconds away from passing out. I heard a smash and turned to see the window completely out, which caused the smoke to head in our direction more aggressively, and I had to close my eyes to try and stop the acidic stinging. Before I even had a chance to ask Jackson how he had smashed the window, he picked me up and jumped up on to the ledge. I tried to scream at him that it was way too high for him to jump to the ground, especially with me in his arms, but I didn’t get a chance as he leapt through the air, and I squeezed my eyes shut whilst screaming at the same time. I opened them just as we landed, and was in shock at how gracefully he had managed to land as we rolled a couple of times, with him covering my body and protecting me from the fall the whole time. As we rolled to a stop, I couldn’t stop the coughs from overtaking me, and as I struggled to breathe everything began to go dark, and the last thing I saw was Jackson’s panicked face hovering over me.
****
I groaned and held my head as the tiny hammers in it kept beating away. “I swear, I have never passed out in my life before coming here, and this is the second time now.”
“You were in a fire, I think it’s acceptable.”
I smiled and looked to my right at Logan who was sitting comfortably in a chair, with his feet up on the side of my bed. Turned out there really was no hospital in Wolves Creek, but there was a clinic which dealt with everything from giving you stitches, to performing brain surgery. The clinic was small, but the room was cosy and the amount of flowers dotting the room made me smile and my heart felt lighter. Jackson wasn’t lying when he had said that this was a community that looked after each other, and since the night before when I’d been bought here, I’d had too many visitors to keep track of and numerous bouquets of flowers and grapes delivered. One minute the people act like you have a contagious disease, and the next they are sending you fruit and flowers. I couldn’t keep up. Logan was the latest in a long line of people coming to visit me, and as I saw him as one of my best friends in this place, it made me very happy to see him. He had been sat with me for about half an hour, and given me the latest details of the fire and what was going on outside of these walls. Since being brought in, they’d removed the oxygen mask and were just doing routine checks on me periodically, hopeful I should be ready to leave in a few hours’ time. Jackson and his ‘enforcers’- or whatever he called them – had discovered that the fire was the result of an arson attack, and now the race was on to find out who would be malicious enough to set fire to a building with a family in it, including a small child. No-one had any clue who would want to hurt Noah and his family, or indeed myself, but the group were working around the clock to try and figure it out. As this was such a small community, with very few visitors, it was especially worrying. This was a community founded on trust and family, so knowing that the culprit was probably someone they all knew, made it that much harder to comprehend.
Noah and his family had lost their beautiful home and their business, but were apparently staying positive. Well, as positive as you can be in this situation. The family were currently living with Jackson, as he had a big enough place to pretty much house the entire town. He had come by earlier in the day and I was not ashamed to admit I cried, as I thanked him for saving my life. I knew I would have been dead right now if he hadn’t come and saved me. I’d asked him how he’d managed to jump from that height without breaking any bones, but he’d just shrugged as if it were nothing, and told me he would explain everything soon. To be honest, I’m getting a bit tired of how much cryptic shit goes on in this place.
“Why do people always give you fruit when you’re ill? Like, I already feel like shit, at least give me chocolate or something!” Logan said, and I laughed which turned in to another coughing fit, and Logan looked at me with concern.
“Fruit is good for you,” I gasp.
“Mental health is just as important as physical health, and I’ve gotta say I’m a lot happier when I’m eating chocolate than when I’m eating a bunch of grapes.”
I laughed again and felt lighter than I had done in a long time. I’d only been in town for a few weeks and I already felt like I belonged at Wolves Creek more than I ever did living with Craig. I had realised now that what I had with Craig wasn’t even a very healthy relationship. After spending time with these amazing people, I understood now that I had clung on to Craig purely to get some stability in my life. I was tired of having no-one, and wanted to be part of a family again. It turned out that even a good group of friends can be like a close family, and I felt more content than I had done in a long time. Logan was turning out to be the father figure I never had, offering me advice when I needed it, but also making sure I laughed every time we were together. I had been wondering about his story, and whether he had any family in town, but I felt it would be rude if I asked him, knowing that if he wanted me to know then he would tell me. Something still struck me as odd though. In this day and age it was hard to remember the last time you even spoke to your neighbours. Everyone was in a hurry, and I was ashamed to admit that I’d had no idea who was living down my road when I lived in the city. Being here was like being in some kind of parallel universe. Everyone knew everyone, and seemed to like each other too. It really was like one big family, and call me a cynic but to me it just didn’t make any sense. Either I had gone back in time to a generation who actually got on with each other, or there was something else going on.
“Any news yet on who could have done this?” I asked, dreading whatever news Logan would have.
“None. People around here often take a dislike to new people, but there’s no-one who would be extreme or sick enough to try and kill them.”
I swallowed loudly as dread filled my stomach thinking about who would be crazy enough to do something like that. I didn’t want to think it was me that had been targeted, but the town had been living in relative peace before I had arrived. Logan had even joked that it was a town where nothing exciting had every happened, and crime was pretty much non-existent. Noah and his family had done nothing to upset anyone, so it made sense that the perpetrators had been after me. The scary thing was being unaware of a motive, because without a motive it was even harder to figure out the culprit. Logan noticed the fear in my face, and grabbed hold of my hand, becoming my anchor in an unsettling situation. The heat coming from his hand still shocked me, and I focused hard to make sure I didn’t flinch away from the strange feeling.
“Jackson’s men are the best. They deal with shit like this all the time. I promise you they’ll find who did this.”
“Are they sure it was definitely arson?”
Logan looked uncomfortable, and my heart dropped. I felt sick as he proceeded to tell me exactly what had happened that night.
�
��It was definitely arson. They found petrol had been poured around the back door and the downstairs windows. An old house like that and it didn’t take long for the whole place to go up. Thank god Noah had been awake and smelt the smoke almost straight away. He managed to get Jasmine and Annabelle out pretty swiftly and was running back in to get you when Jackson and the guys turned up. Jackson ordered Noah to stay with his family, and ran in to save you.” I felt sick at the thought of someone maliciously trying to hurt me like that. I’d felt okay when I thought it had just been an electrical fault, or someone had lit a candle and forgotten to put it out or something. Now all I could feel was nausea knowing that someone had deliberately set the fire, and were still out there now, probably thinking I had died. Would they come back to finish what they had started? Was I now somebody’s unfinished business?
“I still can’t believe that the guys would just risk themselves like that to save me. I’m still relatively new here, I hate to think of the danger I put everyone in.”
“It wasn’t your fault. It was the bastard who set the fire’s fault. And this is what we do in this community. Everyone helps each other. Ain’t no-one in this town who would have let you die in that building. No-one.”
I was warmed by the conviction in his words, and he smiled at me before excusing himself to go to the bathroom. I was struggling to pull my thoughts together, unable to process anything other than that someone may have been trying to kill me, and had almost killed my new friends in the process. If anything had happened to Noah, Jasmine or little Annabelle, I’d have never been able to forgive myself. I couldn’t even understand the reason behind setting fire to a building with people inside it and hurting someone in such a violent way. The whole house was surrounded by trees, and had the fire not been noticed as soon as it had been, the ramifications could have been a lot worse. Had the forest caught fire, the devastation for the whole town could have been catastrophic. Surely that meant that it couldn’t have been someone from the community, because why would they risk their own homes like that? A wave of exhaustion swept over me and I tried to push the horrible questions from my mind and eventually settled down to a restless sleep.
Alpha (Wolves Creek Book 1) Page 6