My Egyptian Alpha

Chapter 3: Celebrating

The mother started to look for some clothes in the closet while Rami looked at me like he would eat me right there. I tried to cover myself while I looked for my own clothes.

Unfortunately, they laid torn on the floor and was just useless pieces of fabric. The mother handed me some clothes. “Here you go, dear. These belong to Warda, but I think they will suite you well enough. She won’t mind.” I took them and turned my naked back to the people I had just met a few hours ago. Not my most gracious moment. Not at all.

I got dressed quickly and turned back. Rami was still staring at me. His mom was folding some laundry for his sister while waiting for me. “Now look at you dear. It fits you perfectly! Your hair is amazing. I really wanted to pet your wolf. Do you mind my touching your hair?” I felt weird about it, but I let her touch it. It was soft, careful strokes.

“Wow. This is so soft! I love your color. And the fact that your wolf has the same color as well” she said. My wolf felt pride from this compliment. “Why don’t you stay for dinner? Do you like stuffed grape leaves?” she continued. I nodded and a sudden hunger hit me. My stomach growled. Rami’s mother nodded in understanding and left the room.

“My mom is a bit much.” Rami excused. “How does her English sound so good? And why does she speak English to you?” I asked. ”She is just showing off that she was educated in an international school and that we are of the Elite here in Egypt. I don’t like it. It attracts too much unwanted attention to our family. But she enjoys it and is over the moon that my mate is English” he sighed.

He took my arm and put me on the bed and placed himself beside me. “We are mates, you say. Yet I don’t know anything about you. I don’t know who you are” I said. Despite this, I didn’t want to leave his side ever.

He chuckled “Well. I am Rami Badr. The Alpha of the Nile pack. Big brother of four younger siblings. My family is huge, and I am related to every werewolf in this country somehow. As you know, my family own the tourist industry in order to control the connection between humans and the supernatural world. Our enemy is not hunters or vampires like in other countries. Our enemies are mummies and other curses left from the past. It’s pretty nasty, actually. Oh, and I am 19 years old” he smiled.

I stared at him. He was only 19. He was still a child. How was he an Alpha? And how was he my mate? I am 22. It doesn't matter. Just look at him. He looks so mature and handsome, my wolf said. I agreed. “Well, that’s interesting. How are you only 19 and look like this?” I gestured towards him. He smiled. “We look a bit more mature than Europeans, I think. That’s what I have observed after being in the tourism industry all of my life. How about you?”

“I am 22. I feel like a granny in comparison!” I complained. He took my hand unexpectedly. It felt like electricity. “I like it. It doesn't really matter how old you are. You are my Mate and we’ll be that for the rest of our lives” he said as he leaned his head on my shoulder.

A young girl slammed the door open and said something in Arabic. She looked at me and froze. I smiled at her. She said some words to Rami again. “This is my youngest sister, Hala. She didn’t know you were here. She also says that you have beautiful hair” Rami said with a smile. The girl ran out.

“Let’s go. The dinner is ready.” He grabbed my hand and led me out of the room and down the hall. We were walking down the stairs leading us into a dining room. I gasped. At the table I found six people waiting for us. I recognized the mother and the two sisters, but there was also a man I assumed was his father and two teenage boys who were probably his brothers.

Back home in London it had always been only the three of us; My dad, my mom and me. My wolf growled as I remembered my father. I tried to calm her down as this was not the time to show off anger issues! “Welcome to our home. I am Rami’s father, Badr. And you have already met my wife, Mona” the father greeted me over the table. “Please sit down”. His accent was a bit off, but it was still easy to understand him.

Rami pushed out an empty chair for me and signaled me to sit down. His sisters giggled. The food was very delicious. It was traditional Egyptian food. They kept putting food on my plate and I felt it never emptied. At the end I could almost not breathe. “Thank you so much, this is the best meal I have ever had” I told the mother. “This is nothing, dear. I am glad you like it.”

The door of the dining hall slammed open. I started to wonder if the doors here ever opened normally. “Sir. we have a problem” a man said trying to catch his breath. Both Badr and Rami urgently stood up from their chairs so fast that they fell down and made a loud noise. The family started to mumble between themselves in Arabic. I started to feel uneasy. “Rose, come with me” Warda said and took my arm gently, but firm, and brought me back to her room.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Hopefully nothing big. But sometimes mummies get through our security and enter the city. Some of them are harmless, but some can cause a really bad ruckus by going on a killing spree or throwing around curses” she explained. Mummies. Perfect, I thought to myself. I wasn't exactly fan of mummies and zombies. Brainless beings scared me.

Why did she bring me to the room? My wolf wanted an answer. Does she think I am weak or something? Isn't defeating mummies the purpose of werewolves here in Egypt? I didn’t know anything about being a werewolf, I reminded her.

Even if we had a natural instinct, I wasn't confident enough to jump directly into a fight. Especially not if it was of a murderous kind. We sat and talked for a while and she even brought a table game which we casually played through while waiting.

The door slammed open and the oldest boy I had seen around the table ran in while jumping out of joy talking fast. “He is happy because he killed his first mummies. It was one of the harmless kind. Thank goodness.” The boy looked at me and presented himself as Bilal before he ran back out without closing the door.

Rami came in. “Are you OK?” I jumped up asking him before I could even think. He smiled at me and nodded. I sighed in relief. “Please come down, mother prepared dessert as well” he said, like nothing had happened. We went down and everyone was apparently celebrating Bilal. “He also had his first day as a wolf today at the ripe age of 17. It’s a big thing, really. We should celebrate you too!” Badr explained while putting a party hat on my head.

They served Egyptian sweets like Qatayef, Kahk, Kunafeh and goulash.

Again, my plate seemed never to empty, as there was always someone filling it up. More people came through the open door. Rami told me they were all a part of the pack. I even spotted my tour guide from earlier that morning. Though it did feel like years ago. So much had happened in one day.

I felt exhausted when people started to leave. “I will need to go back to the flat I am renting” I said. Rami had a flash of pain in his expression but recovered so quickly that I was the only one who saw it. “I will take you there. It’s unsafe for a woman to walk alone at this hour. Even werewolf women who happens to be my mate” he winked. I said goodbye to all the family members. Even to the last who presented himself as Hilal and was Hala’s twin. «Hope to see you again soon, dear.» the mother said.

Of course you will see me soon. I'm not intending to stay away from my mate when I first have found him, my wolf said to me inside my head. Rami took me out to a fancy BMW and told me to get in. Why had he brought me here in a taxi if he had such a car in his garage.

“It’s father’s car, but he let me borrow it from time to time” he said as if he read my thoughts. I nodded to him, impressed. We drove back to my rented flat in silence. He only started to talk as we entered the street. “Listen. The mate bond is really strong, and I don’t know if I can keep my paws off you for a long time. I respect you as a woman, but my werewolf instincts really drag me and tell me to mark and mate you.”

My cheeks flushed red. He was very straight forward. Wait. What did mark mean? He will bite your neck to mark that we belong to him. I'll gladly give him your neck right now, honestly, my wolf explained and begged me. I felt a tingling sensation in my body. “I don’t know what to say. I am initially here because I escaped from an arranged marriage. Wouldn't engaging in a serious relationship right now defeat the purpose?”

I could hear him sigh in disbelief. “Rose, we are destined to be. There’s a difference. I just want it to be done properly. I really appreciate and respect my culture and don’t want to do improper things before we are wedded.” I chocked on my saliva and started to cough violently. He looked at me in horror “Are you OK? I didn’t mean to scare you or anything. I am sorry.” He seemed lost.

My heart ached a bit from his helpless posture. I nodded. We had stopped in front of my flat. I opened the car door, but he stopped me. “I can't follow you in, but can I at least have a kiss?” my wolf couldn't resist. I couldn't resist. So, we kissed. It felt like I was flying in the sky. Never had a kiss been so good. A fire lit within me.

I felt a little disappointed that it ended, and he retreated. I needed this man. «Hurry up inside before anyone sees us. We don’t want you to have a bad reputation. Even you just staying here for a short while is not good. I will come and get you tomorrow and we can discuss further what we will do and how.» He shooed me to go. An empty feeling filled me up as he got out of my sight when entering the flat. As I closed the door, I heard his car leave silently. A traitorous tear ran down my cheek. I could never leave him.