Fated to the Alpha

17

Alice

“Come here,” Jenny grabbed me by the arm and led me to the dining table. “Sit. You’re starved. Here.”

In front of me were a spread of baked pies, mugs of frothing hot chocolate, brownies, donuts, waffles, French fries, and club sandwiches.

“Are you guys expecting someone?” I asked, giggling nervously as the entire family sat around me at the dinner table.

“Nonsense!” Mr. Caufield said as he slapped the table good-naturedly. “We didn’t know what you were partial to, so we just went and baked half a dozen things.”

“I heard you gave Brandon a right chase for his money. I said to myself, Jenny, there’s a girl who knows her worth. He was a righteous sorry sight, weeping in his room, all morose and remorseful. He didn’t even go to school,” Jenny said as she clapped my hand.

“Oh, my Lord in heaven, I am going to die of embarrassment,” Brandon groaned.

“I love your son, Mrs. Caufield,” I said. “He’s got a passion that I’ve never seen in big city boys.”

“Are you saying I’m a hick?” Brandon laughed. His dad shot me a quizzical look.

“No. No. Not at all!” I raised my hands defensively. “It’s just … boys in Chicago, they’re all about their Snapchat followers, their i********: followers … their social media presence, you know? Then they have the most bizarre haircuts. Some have fades that go all the way to the top of their heads. Others just do away with all hair on the side, leaving a giant clump of curly hair in the middle. They’re comical. No self-respecting girl would ever, you know, think about settling down with someone so vain and superficial,” I said. I’d said a lot more than I had intended to on account of how nervous I was feeling.

“Sounds like you’ve come from another realm entirely. Are you sure we’re talking about Chicago?” Caleb asked.

“The very same. Brandon, by comparison, I mean, just look at him. He’s got that plaid look down. He might as well be Wolverine,” I said.

“I’m sorry, who?” Jenny asked.

“You know, Hugh Jackman. Wolverine. From X-men?”

“Oh. Yes. Yes. Hugh Jackman, the big muscular Aussie,” Caleb said.

And just like that, the conversation evolved from one topic to another. We talked so much amongst ourselves that we didn’t even notice that in all that time we had ravished the food on the table. By the end, I was on my third cup of hot chocolate. I wasn’t sure I would be able to move after stuffing myself that much.

Later, Brandon and I went for a nice swim in the lake. Brandon warned me there would be leeches in the water, but I wasn’t one to back away from a chance to have a nice, calming swim. It turned out he was trolling me. There weren’t any leeches. I really needed the long swim to digest the food that I’d just eaten.

“It feels so calm here,” I said, lying down on the other side of the lake, far from the houses on the reservation.

“Because no one else outside the reservation’s allowed in here. You can truly feel and hear nature if you close your eyes,” Brandon said.

The only thing that I wanted to feel was him. I scanned the horizon for any signs of people. When I was certain that that were no peeping toms nearby, I lay on top of Brandon and enveloped his lips in a passionate kiss.

Then I lowered myself to his neck, kissing away at all the taut muscles. I traced my fingers along his chest, reaching down to his shorts.

“Baby!” he gasped. “Not here. My house is right there. My parents might be watching,” he said.

I got off him and lay in the sand, laughing at his concern.

Changed, dry, and tired, we were headed to my house in Brandon’s truck.

“Eventful day,” he said.

“And now you’re going to return the favor. Come meet my mom,” I said.

“Are you sure we can’t do it any other day? I’m high-key nervous. Last time your mom and I met, she told me to stay away,” he said.

“Well, that was because of me. She doesn’t bear you any ill will. Come in and see,” I said, holding him by the hand and dragging him inside my house.

“Mom!” I called as I entered the house with Brandon.

Mom was in the kitchen, donning an apron, and cutting away vegetables at the chopping board.

“And who might this be?” Mom called from the kitchen.

“Hi, Mrs. Hawkins,” Brandon said nervously.

“Oh, hello there,” Mom said as she emerged from the kitchen. “I believe we’ve met.”

“Under different circumstances,” Brandon said nervously.

“Mom, meet my boyfriend, Brandon. Brandon, meet the woman who birthed me into this world,” I said.

“You sure are a charming young man,” my mom said as she planted a kiss on Brandon’s cheek and then gave him a quick hug. “And how is my Alice treating you?”

“She couldn’t be more perfect,” Brandon said.

“I like him. Don’t you let this one go,” she said as she winked at me. “You kids go freshen up while I finish this salad. Dinner’s in fifteen! Brandon, charmed to meet you. I can’t wait to get to know more about you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine, Mrs. Hawkins,” Brandon said, smiling at her.

“We’ll be here in fifteen,” I said as I grabbed Brandon by the forearm and took him upstairs to my room.

“Mmhmm,” my mom said as she headed into the kitchen, letting us know that she knew what we were going to do.

All was well. It really was. As I let Brandon into my bedroom, as I lay him down on my bed, and as I resumed our making-out session from the lakeside, I thanked whatever forces there were for making everything well. I hadn’t had a vision in a long while. For the first time, I was not scared or nervous about the future. I was just content, being here with Brandon.

Why had I even resisted in the first place? Just because of a stupid vision? Sometimes, Alice, you can be such an i***t.