Fated to the Alpha

16

Alice

My apology to my mother was swift and sincere. It turned out that being in a life-threatening situation did more than just clear up my feelings for Brandon. After Brandon dropped me home and left a trail of hickeys on my neck, I forced myself to empathize with my mom as I walked up the steps to my house.

The woman was right. She had been playing the role of both parents all this time. The fault was my own. I had lashed out at her. She had always been ever so patient with me, especially when my mind had gone to s**t back in Chicago.

When I entered the house, I headed straight to Mom’s bedroom, and before she had a chance to say anything, I just hugged her. In that hug, I poured everything that I had never said, everything that a good daughter was supposed to say. I hugged her tight and wept on her shoulder, apologizing profusely for what I had said, for how I had behaved.

“What’s gotten into you?” Mom asked when she finally broke herself free from my embrace.

“Well, it took a long walk for me to realize what a b***h I was being,” I said. “Sorry I drank with my friends. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“I just don’t ever want you to think that I’m not enough for you. I am here, aren’t I? I stayed. I put up with everything. I raised you, loved you… I will always love you. So … yeah, I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s okay. Forgiven and forgotten,” she said. Then, chuckling, “And let’s just get one thing straight, I’m not a wolf. I’m a homo sapien. Human being. Kingdom Animalia. Class Mammalia. Order Primate. Did I get that right? Why’d you ever think that I was some sort of … wolf?”

I laughed with her. She really had no idea.

“Where did you run off to?” she asked as I lay down on her bed and rested my body.

“Well, I raced off into the woods and that’s all I will say on that matter,” I said.

“Fair enough. Next time you do go out there, take the hunting rifle with you. The sheriff warned me there are actual wolves there. Maybe that’s where you got the idea,” she said.

“A hunting rifle?”

“Yes. I bought a Winchester. It’s in the cabinet by the door. You know, where we keep the shoes.”

“Does Elma know?”

“Elma is not old enough to know. Elma will know when Elma can get a license. Speaking of that, you’re going to get a license for a hunting rifle before I let you use that,” she said.

“I’m sorry I caused a scene at dinner. I’ll heat up some leftovers and eat them in my room like a raccoon,” I said, kissing my mother on her forehead as I left. “And … we’re cool?”

“We’re cool,” she said, smiling at me wearily. “A mother always forgives.”

“Mom,” I said, standing in the doorway. “There’s someone I would like you to formally meet.”

“Is that gentleman perhaps the perpetrator of those godawful hickeys on your neck?” she snickered.

“MOM!” I groaned as I raced out of her room, embarrassed.

Having finally given in to my true feelings and having accepted Brandon meant that I was taking a huge risk at his expense. Our being together could potentially mean that he could die. Could was the key word here. However, when I was with him, I didn’t think of that. Actually, when I was with Brandon, I never thought of anything other than his presence around me.

Cheryl, Lacy, and Bethanie were all dropped jaws and bewildered eyeballs when they saw me and Brandon walk in through the school doors, holding hands. Things got so intense on the first day of school that they even did a whole section on me and Brandon dating in the school newspaper.

The coach from the football team called us both inseparable, gravely informing us that being in a relationship should in no way impact Brandon’s regional match performance. It took an hour of convincing for the coach to give us his blessing.

That wasn’t the only blessing we wanted. Right after the first day of school, Brandon took me to the reservation.

“I want you to meet them properly this time around,” he said.

“You mean properly as in after we’ve become official?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s what I mean, duh,” he said as we drove up to the reservation.

When Brandon was around me, I felt protected. Even when he wasn’t, such as when I was at home in bed late at night, I could feel that he was looking over me. When I confided that to him, he said, “Well, it’s because of the bond we share. If you believe that sort of thing. From now on, you’re going to feel closer to me. The same goes for me. We’re linked, soul sister.”

“Eww, that sounds so incestuous,” I laughed as we headed into the reservation.

“We were wondering when you’d show up,” Father Thomas said. He was at the gates, tending to the herbs that grew in the mini-garden by the entrance. “I take it this time around you’re not going to begrudge us a little hospitality?”

“I’m so sorry for last time,” I said, blushing red. “It was all a bit too much for me. I was scared.”

“You don’t have to say a thing. I understand more than most people how overwhelming it can get,” Father Thomas said. Then he patted my head affectionately. “For all intents and purposes from here on out, you are one of us.”

I walked along the reservation with Brandon, his giant arm hung over my shoulders, greeting everyone who came forward to meet us. I met with the rest of the elders, let them pat me on my head, welcome me with their words, and feeling a little bit better each time I exchanged words with them.

“Are you ready?” Brandon asked.

“To meet your parents?” I asked.

“Yes,” Brandon said as we headed up to his quaint little house. The house sat at the edge of a calm and green lake. The water was so clear that I could see through to the bottom of the lake. From the garage, I heard grunting sounds coming from behind a truck.

I headed inside after Brandon. Brandon knocked on the truck’s door and said, “Dad! Alice’s here.”

Brandon’s dad was a handsome man, rugged and muscular. He rolled out from under the truck, face covered in dirt, hands all greasy from working on the truck’s motor.

“In this family, we don’t shake hands,” Mr. Caleb Caufield said, and then embraced me tightly. “We hug.”

“Oh,” I said, surprised, then hugged him back.

“Dad, you’re gonna kill her,” Brandon said, awkwardly scratching his head.

“Nonsense! Ain’t a girl who’s fallen for a Caufield who can’t take a little bit of a tight hug and lived to tell the tale,” Caleb said and thumped me on the back. “And you, you shouldn’t worry at all. You’re one of us. A fierce wolf if there ever was one.”

“You told them?” I said, blushing red again.

“By now, it’s common news,” Caleb laughed. “We heard all about how you can see into the future. Hey, next time, maybe you can look into the future and tell me when the IRS drops by instead of, well, you know, seeing Brandon die by gunshots.”

“DAD!” Brandon said, slapping his dad on the shoulder. “You’re gonna make her die of cringe.”

At that moment, Mrs. Caufield, Jenny, a woman of striking beauty, came into the garage, her hands covered by oven mitts, saving us all from the embarrassing conversation.

“My, my, is this pretty young thing Alice?” she beamed at me. “Now, I know my husband’s told you we don’t shake hands in this family. Come here!”

The next thing I knew, I was being cinched into the tightest hug I’d ever experienced. That woman was even fiercer than her son and her husband combined. I could barely breathe.

“Pleased to meet you!” I gasped once she let go of me.

“Then you’ll be really pleased when you taste my pies,” she said, smiling at me benevolently. She gave me a chin-punch with her oven mitt, then guided me inside the house.

The interior of the house was an ode to Midwestern Americana. From the wooden walls to the massive stone fireplace, everything in it was intense and came off as extremely homely and cozy. I could just fall onto that giant rug in the middle of the living room and let it swallow me whole. The window in the living room gave a view of the pristine lake and the trees that sloped uphill.

I could be in heaven.