Past Sins

Chapter 5: Valerie

“Who is this?” I asked. Curious as to who this is. They must be a pack member since only pack members can mindlink each other. I can't place this voice though- It sounds familiar but I can't put a face to the name. 

“You wound me, little wolf. You don’t recognize my voice.?” he teased.

“No or I wouldn’t have asked genius. Who are you?” I said sarcastically.

“You will know soon enough, little wolf. My what a beautiful young woman you’ve grown into. That dress looks stunning on you.”

My eyes opened wide and I began to look around. He can see me but I can’t see anything in this darkness. I really wish I had my wolf right about now. Even with my heightened hearing and vision I can’t see where he is or hear anyone in this area other than me. I’ll keep my guard up but I have to keep walking. Thanks to endless hours of advanced training  I could hold my own in a fight but since I have no idea who this person is, the best option is to keep moving. Dad insisted that Kol and I join David in his Alpha training. It was right after mom died and dad was acting more paranoid than usual. Marcos, our lead warrior, was helping dad train David so he mentioned at a session one day that it may be a good idea for Kol and I to train with them. He knew Dad keeping an eye on us himself would ease his worry AND we’d get beneficial training. There was more rustling coming from the brush behind me. I needed to get back to the safety of the pack house. I picked up the pace as a chill ran through my body. Wolves don’t easily get cold so it worried me that I felt this change in temperature so harshly. The chill was right behind me now as if reaching out to grab me. Only vampires emitted that kind of temperature drop and I definitely didn’t want to be out here wolfless with a vampire. I turned looking around frantically and jumped back into a tree when a twig snapped somewhere in the woods. It must have been a deer or some other animal but this whole situation had me on edge. 

“Don’t you worry. I won’t hurt you my love. I would never want to hurt you. When the time comes I will come for you and I give you my word that you’ll be safe and happy with me.”

“I don’t know who you are but you seem to know me. So you know that I come from a long line of powerful alphas, meaning that blood flows through my veins. If you come for me you’ll have a hell of a fight on your hands. On that I give you my word.” 

“I would expect nothing less from the daughter of Eva. Til we speak again my little wolf.” he stated. 

He knew my mother? Whoever he was, he gave me a feeling of unease. I don’t want to deal with the s**t storm that was coming from me sneaking away but I have to tell David and Dad about this. The fact that he knew my mother and spoke of her with a sort of fondness was unsettling. In our training Marcos explained to us the “Fight or Flight” scenario in which our body automatically responds in one way in an emergency like this. He would have us run drills that would enact our fight or flight response. David and Kol always fought sometimes when there didn’t seem to be a way for them to win. My fight kicked in but it always made me feel weak when my body's response was flight. I wanted to be strong like my brother, they didn’t seem to be afraid of anything.  A familiar scent hit me and I realized that I must have been gone longer than I thought. Enzo appeared from behind a tree. My hand flew to my chest, “Damnit Enzo! You scared the s**t out of me!” His arms crossed over his chest- looks like I’m in more trouble than I thought. “You know you’re a wolf right? Heightened hearing is one of those little perks of our existence. If you’d concentrate you’d have heard me coming from a mile away.” I opened my mouth to clap back at him but he didn’t give me a chance. “Not another word. David is looking for you. I gotta say, val, he’s pretty pissed off. We should head back.” He turned and started back the way he came, leaving me standing there looking after him. Mouth haning open at being quickly dismissed. Hell no! He was going to hear what I had to say. Who in the hell does he think he is dismissing me like that?! I jogged to catch up with him with full intention of saying what I was going to say before he cut me off. He was mindlinking someone, David no doubt, to tell him that we were on the way back. After the encounter I just had I don’t have the energy to deal with all of that.  

Like I thought, the second we walked into the pack house he headed in the direction away from the stairs. I stopped short, “Wrong direction Christopher Columbus. The guest rooms are upstairs.” All I could hear in my head was DANGER WILL ROBINSON as he slowly turned to face me. The hard stare on his face could make milk curdle. “Enzo?” I whispered, too scared to go even an octave higher than that.

“Your dad and brother want to see you in the conference room.” He said, his tone clipped and hard. He reached for my arm and started back down the hall. I don’t know what his problem is but, upset or not, he needed to calm the hell down. I ripped my arm free and with all my strength I pushed him- He didn’t even budge. I didn’t think he would, he’s 6 ft 4 in of pure muscle, he could get hit by a Buick and not budge. His shoulders rose and fell quickly and his breathing was coming out fast and hard. If Enzo was this mad I can only imagine how mad David and Dad are. I needed to give them time to calm down before trying to have a conversation about this. They needed to know what happened out there and I can’t tell them if they’re biting my head off for sneaking off in the first place. I held my hand out behind me and  backed away slowly to the staircase trying not to alert Enzo. My fingertips grazed wood and I knew I was at the steps. This was my chance to just walk away without giving him many options but to accept it. I went up the first step and then said, “Well you can let them know it’s been a long night and i’m going to bed.” I darted up the steps to my room leaving Enzo standing at the foot of the steps. He must have walked over once I got a bit of the way up. I got to my room showered and changed into pajamas when there was a knock at my door. Enzo must have told my dad and David what I said. I went to open the door and was shocked to see who was standing behind it. 

“Alpha Matteo? Can I help you with something?”

He looked me up and down before answering. “Yes… I mean no. I was just checking on you. Your brother and father seemed worried about you after your disappearing act tonight.”

“My father and brother take the family's security very seriously on and off pack lands. I had a rebellious moment and stepped out for a walk. Got lost along the way.” It wasn’t a complete lie but I still found myself wondering if he could see through it. If he couldn’t see through it I had a slight chance that maybe Dad and David wouldn’t either.

“I see! Well next time I’d hope you’d let me escort you around so that way you don’t get lost again.”

Why would he want to escort me around? I’m sure he has better things to do, though I couldn’t deny it wouldn’t be the worst thing being shown around Autumn Moon by him. I wonder how many she-wolfs throw themselves at him on a daily basis. He’s extremely handsome with his 6’8” chiseled body, his arctic blue eyes, and brown hair. Thinking this way made my heart ache for Blake. I wish I knew what’s been going on with him lately. He sat with me on the plane with his arm wrapped around me rubbing circles on my shoulder.  Then there is the almost kiss on the dance floor. It's safe to say I don’t know where we stand anymore. “Of course. I’d like that, as long as I won’t be pulling you away from anything too important.”

“Nothing would be more important to me.” he pulled my hand to his lips and gave it a kiss. “Well goodnight, Valerie” 

“Goodnight Alpha Matteo” I was about to shut the door when he put his hand out to stop it

“Also, you can call me Matteo or Teo. All my friends call me Teo.” 

“Alright, well in that case feel free to call me Val.” 

Smiling, he nodded his agreement and left, I shut the door and leaned against it. There was something about the way he smiled and looked at me that made my knees weak. I wanted to take him up on his offer to show me around sooner rather than later and decided that tomorrow after the Alpha meeting that I would do just that.