The Alpha is Mine

Episode 5

Emilia waited with bated breath as the black gate creaked open. The driver slowly moved the car into the grounds as she tried to calm her raging heart. Now that they were finally here, she wasn't sure she was mentally ready to meet him. It had been six years and a lot of water under the bridge already. Would it be like old times, or would there be a rift between them that no amount of time together would heal?

Her heart shriveled as she remembered that he had been mated to another woman six years ago. Wasn't that the reason she had decided to leave the pack all those years ago? How would his mate feel about her coming back into their lives with three kids?

She knew that it wouldn't sit well with whoever it was. Everything about this screamed wrong. She knew she shouldn't be here after all these years, and yet she couldn't stop herself. He hadn't given her much of a choice anyway.

The chauffeur kept looking at her through the rearview mirror as though he was expecting her to say something. But there was nothing she wanted to say. Infact, she wasn't sure if she opened her mouth, something coherent would come out.

"You used to play on these grounds a lot with the alpha when the both of you were little." He prompted her. "Do you remember?"

She didn't answer him for a few seconds while she tried to find her voice back. Then she cleared her throat and said: "I want to forget, so bad. But I can't." She turned back to the window and looked out as the car drove in. The dirt road on which they drove was lined on both sides by tall sycamore trees. She looked up at their branches, already losing leaves as autumn approached.

She sighed with nostalgia, remembering how Raymond used to climb those branches. Her earliest memories had been filled with them playing together on these grounds. The memories sent goosebumps racing along her arms. She rubbed them warily, then looked at her children. They seemed to have been silenced by the view. The three of them were staring out of the window in awe.

The road they were on turned a corner and Emilia had her first view of the house in six years. It still maintained its beauty: she hadn't forgotten how splendid she once thought the house was. She'd begged her parents to let her live in it once, but now the house did was fill her with trepidation.

The chauffeur parked the car and stepped out. Then he opened her door with a smile and a curt bow. She stepped out of the car and helped her children down, then looked up at the pack house.

Security lights illuminated the front view of the house. Emilia could see the wide pillars in the front of the doors, the doors that almost invited her to step in, each and every window that peeked almost eerily at her. She could see the pearly white steps that led up to those doors.

She could still remember as clear as day how she had run down those stairs, on the morning after Raymond had imprinted on someone else. She had morphed into her wolf self halfway across the grounds and had ran, tears flying from her face. Only when she had fled outside the gates of the pack house did she notice that she was being followed by Raymond himself.

She had stopped, and through Mindspeak, told him to go back. She'd told him it was clear that he didn't need her anymore. She had hurled every hateful word she could think at him.

Raymond had waited for her to finish speaking, and then he had told her that his imprinting wasn't planned. No one could plan such: it was all orchestrated by the Goddess. Then she'd yelled at him to go back and reject his new mate. A small seed of hope had been in her heart as she said those words.

But the look in his eyes had killed every hope. It had been clear that he didn't have any intention to reject his new mate. Perhaps they had even been a thing before then.

And she'd run away from him. From this house and her past. It wasn't her fault. She had been a scared, heartbroken 19-year old girl.

Emilia drew her children to herself, then walked towards the front doors. It was no use sulking over easily forgotten memories. Time to get this over with, she thought to herself.

She climbed the staircase and pressed the doorbell. She waited for a few seconds before the door opened and a middle-aged woman–the housekeeper–looked out.

Her face lit up when she saw Emilia. "Welcome, Ms Emilia. We have been expecting you." The woman said, blue eyes twinkling behind the glasses perched on her nose. She looked down at the three children beside Emilia.

"Oh, goodness! Are these your kids?" She exclaimed.

"Yes, they are." Emilia replied, plastering a fake smile on her face.

"They look so much like the alpha." The woman murmured, then she chuckled. "Oh, where are my manners? Do come in, Ms Emilia. And bring the little ones with you."

Emilia smiled again and walked into the house, pulling her kids along. She looked around at the interior of the house. Nothing much had changed over six years. The same rows of shelves full of porcelain sculptures of wolves, the same plush white chairs and chandeliers. The portraits of previous alphas still lined the entirety of one wall, the way she had remembered it. But this time a new portrait had been added: that of Alpha Lucas, Raymond's father.

"I'll fetch the alpha." The housekeeper said and moved towards the staircase. Before she could go up, they heard footsteps coming from the top of the stairs.

"That's him." The elderly woman said and stepped back.

Emilia turned to the staircase and waited. Her heart was beating a tattoo in her chest as she looked up. Then someone appeared at top, a very familiar looking someone.

She felt as though her heart would force its way out of her ribcage. He slowly came down the stairs and his eyes met hers across the room. He was taller than she remembered, and his eyes, those green eyes like clear-cut glass that she'd fallen in love with, were weary and dull.

"Miley." He murmured. "Welcome home."