Alpha Black

Alice Forrest

I awoke to a cool breeze tracing across my skin, the sound of light curtains, fluttering and birds chirping. The sunlight soaked through a set of open doors that perfectly frames the most beautiful view I could have every laid my eyes on.

It was if I was still in a dream.

Throwing back the covers of the bed, my feet carried me across the smooth wooden floorboards and I battled with the flying curtains to gain a glimpse of the beautiful landscape beyond.

The mountains were like a roughly cut blade, they spanned further than I could see and seemed to encase the entire house and surrounding area, and as they faded into the horizon they appeared the most beautiful shades of blues and purples.

The slowly turned into rolling hills and flats, the closer they spanned, and from the balcony I could see tiny cottages and houses speckled throughout the pine forest. There was then a great wall, made of stone, towering half as tall as the pine trees. I could see men, walking it, like a path, the traced it like a well-worn road.

The house appeared to be perched atop a hill that sat above the city, looking directly down the hill, the was a swirling garden that look like it was torn from the pages of a fairy tale, with brightly coloured plants and flowers scattered evenly throughout. The garden seemed to connect the house to several large stone buildings, that matched the stone wall. While the rock and stone seemed old, their windows and rooves were new, and I could see people rushing between the buildings and in the windows.

This pack was nothing like the Seaport Pack, it was on a completely different level.

I was snapped from my walls of my mind as I hear footsteps, followed by the creaking of the bedroom door. I turned to see Nathaniel entering the room.

He was topless, and dripping wet. His black hair had been pushed back and he held a fluffy towel, if it wasn’t for the shorts that were also dripping wet, I would have thought he had just got out of the shower.

I couldn’t stop my gaze, fall and trace him. His tanned skin glistening over his well-toned physique, as I traced my eyes down his chest, stomach and legs, he was incredible. Suddenly realising I was drooling over him, I snapped my eyes back up to his face, where he donned a childish smirk and his green eyes twinkled in a way that made me blush.

I opened my mouth, but closed it again. He was too dam attractive.

“Good morning,” he said, still standing in the doorway, “do you like the view?” he asked.

I nodded, swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat. “Yes, it’s beautiful,” I said turning away to look out across the balcony to the view of the Moon Pack, “it’s breathtaking.”

I heard him walk closer to me, and I could feel his breath tingling against the back of my neck, “how was your sleep?” he asked.

“It was good,” I said, inhaling sharply has his hand touched my lower back, “but I don’t really remember last night…”

“We got home at about three in the morning,” he said, his hand tracing my lower back as he walked around me to lean on the railing, staring at my face. “You fell asleep on the plane and didn’t wake for the drive into the mountains either.”

“I’m a heavy sleeper,” I said, avoiding his gaze.

“Evidently,” he murmured. “The mark has healed nicely,” he said, pulling at the collar of the shirt I was wearing – the only thing I was wearing. His fingers lightly grazed the scar on my neck and it exploded with emotion and desire, smacking his hand away, I slapped the palm of my hand onto the mark covering it from his gaze and touch.

“Why are you wet?” I asked, changing the topic.

“What?”

“Why are you wet? You’re dripping water all over the floor.”

A large toothy grin spread across his face, “some of our training sessions are in the river.”

“What? Why? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“If we were human, sure.”

“What’s the benefit?”

“Well, there are a couple of reasons, but it’s a part of our pack tradition really. Savage River, runs through a majority of our pack, in some shape or form. It’s very dangerous and it’s important that pack members not only know how to cross it, but were to cross it.”

“So it’s just a survival course?” I asked trying to make sense of why you would go into a dangerous river.

“No,” he said, gathering his thoughts. “We train in it. We run, walk, battle and swim in it. It makes the warriors stronger because they’re fighting against the water, they do the same workouts, but the water pushes their bodies harder, to work, to grow, to survive.”

“So that’s the secret to the almighty Moon Warriors,” I said, fining my gaze meeting his eyes once again, “they splash around in the water?”

He scoffed, “something like that.”

The silence hung in the air, between the two of us. Before I knew it, I had fallen into his embrace. His arm snaked around my waist and his lips pressed against the mark he had left my neck a passionate fire filled my blood and I felt myself gasp for air and my arms snapping around him to hold myself up as my legs weakened at his touch.

His smell intoxicated me, and his lips planted kisses along my neck before pressing firmly against my own. I couldn’t contain the urge to kiss him back, letting his hands pull me closer as I did not care that the water that dropped from his skin soaked into the thin shirt that I wore.

The kiss stopped, “I’m sorry,” he said, dropping his gaze and resting his head on my own, “I’m sorry,” he repeated.

“It’s alright.”

“It’s not, I shouldn’t have kissed you without your consent. I just couldn’t control myself, seeing you here,” he paused, his gaze tracing the mark on my neck, “you are truly beautiful,” he whispered.

I turned my head and stepped out of his embrace, feeling that the situation could quickly get out of control and we would both end up in bed. “I might shower,” I said, stepping off the balcony, back into the bedroom.

“Use the ensuite,” he said, following me closely and gesturing to the door on the far left of the bed, “I put your belonging in your own walk in wardrobe, please let me know if there anything that you need or want and I shall be happy to oblige.”

“Thankyou.”

I stepped into the ensuite, which felt like it was almost the same size as the bedroom. It had it’s own balcony, which was sheltered from view due to the mountain of pot pants that filled it. A large bath sat in front of the French doors which would happily pass as a spa, while everything else in the bathroom sat in pairs, two sinks, two mirrors and two shower heads. It was most definitely a bathroom designed for one soul living in two bodies.

Despite the warmth of the water and scrubbing away at my skin, the touch of his lips still lingered on my own. His hands, lightly tracing the skin on my neck and the warmth that lingered on my waist.

I welcomed the warming touch of towels, drying and moisturising my body, I slipped into one of the silk robes that hung on the back of the door. I left the bathroom, finding the only sign of his presence in the room being his lingering scent and badly mopped up footsteps that lead from the door to the balcony.

My mouth fell open as I opened the wardrobe. The walls were lined with rows of dresses, coats and shirts, draws of clothes, shelves of shoes and a luxurious ottoman that I could have passed for a bed featured in the centre of the room under a skylight. My own suitcase looked small and tattered, out of place opened on the ottoman.

I felt like I had just walked into Angel’s wardrobe, but bigger.

I traced my fingers along the soft silks, felts, velvets, cottons and linen clothes, the leathers of beautiful shoes and the array of jeans and underwear that sat neatly folded in the draws.

Yet despite all the wonderful clothes, I felt out of place, like I was in a museum and with a sigh I settled for one of the changes of clothes I had packed. Simply a pair of jeans, a tank top and a loose knitted sweater.

I applauded Jamie’s packing skills once again, with my regular moisturisers, and favourite beauty products tucked away in my suitcase, I gave my face a good wash and care after an exhausting few days.

At the que of my stomach rumbling, I left the bedroom in hunt of food or coffee. I was met with a lengthy hallway and I followed the rich carpet towards the well illuminated and grand staircase.

This house was much like Angel’s, grander than needed and best when filled with laughter, light and love, the house felt eerily empty. Yet I was in awe, the timber was aged and loved, the staircase transcended from a glass window, into timber and finally into stone on the ground floor. You could see how and where each floor had been built, displaying the fashions of each era and generation. The house was apart of the Black legacy and history.

I followed my nose, in part, down the cascading staircase into the front entry and foyer, I followed another hallway that opened up into an extravagant living area, with glass walls looking into the backyard, which was somehow more beautiful than the front garden.

“In need of breakfast?” Nathaniel said. I had not even realised he was there and I felt the blush roll up my skin.

“Please,” I said.

“Would you like anything in particular?”

“No, I think I’ll just have some cereal, assuming you have some?”

“Of course,” he laughed, his laugh genuine and happy.

I rummaged through the cupboards and draws, settling for a bowl of cereal and drinking the remaining coffee that Nathaniel had made earlier in the morning. I hopped onto the kitchen bench and ate my cereal, desiring to keep some distance from Nathaniel for the sake of my sanity.

He let out a sigh, and stood up, his chair, approaching me and placing his hands on his hips like a sassy teenage girl, “you wouldn’t be avoiding me, would you?” he asked.

I blinked a couple of times, dam this stupid mate bond. “Why would you think that?” I asked.

“Because you’re sitting all the way over here.”

“What does the location I choose to inhabit while I consume food have to do with you?”

He smiled again.

“Nothing,” he conceded.

“What are your plans today?”

“Mostly work through the pile of paperwork that slowly accumulated while I was gone.”

I nodded, “okay.”

“Also show you around the house, maybe hold your hand, walk through the garden.”

He stopped and brushed my hair aside, his fingers barely touching my skin, “we can do anything and everything at your pace. You’re here and you’re safe, that’s what is important.”