The Mark

The Dress

Kiara sat on the bench where her backpack was. Sun was shining from the clear, blue sky. She was all sweaty. It’s good she came by bike otherwise she would have to go almost 4 miles looking like that. She took another sip of water that she was holding in her hand, and got up, when she felt someone approaching her from behind.

“Hi pretty.” said Luna Celeste “How are you today?”

“Hi Luna.” Kie greeted her “I’m okay! Almost done. It’s so hot today, I needed to take a longer break, hope that’s okay.”

“Of course. Don’t worry about that, I don’t want you passing out here.” replied Luna to assure her employee and younger friend in one. “Dan wants to see you today, he wants to discuss something.”

“Am I in trouble?” asked Kie trying not to look nervous.

Celeste just laughed, and after making sure that young she wolf had fresh water, walked towards the back door of Alpha’s residence.

Kiara finished her job and went to the bathroom to freshen up herself before meeting Dan. He was friendly and probably didn’t care how she looked, but it was still her Alpha, so she wanted to do at least bare minimum. Walking out from the bathroom she heard voices. That was Celeste and Dan.

“I’m sure I saw it Dan” she said. It seems like she was distressed.

“I had my suspicions before, but how?” replied Alpha. He was calmer but there was a bit of nervousness in his voice.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure. It was only for a moment a couple of times. But I’m sure” she repeated.

Kiara felt guilty for eavesdropping so she cleared the throat for Alpha siblings to hear her coming. They changed the subject and then Celeste walked out of the room passing by Kie.

“See you next time, pretty!” said Luna. Anything that was stressing her out 5 minutes ago now didn’t seem to bother her. At least it looked like that.

“Bye Celeste.” Kiara mumbled because of the stress.

The doors to Alpha’s office were opened, but she knocked anyway. He was sitting behind a big wooden desk, going through some papers.

“Come in Kiara.” invited her with his eyes still on paperwork.

“Hi Alpha.” said Kiara hesitantly, and walked inside.

“Don’t be scared, I don’t bite.” he tried to encourage her and then laughed “Well, okay, sometimes I do bite. But you don’t have to worry.”

“Uff” Kiara jokingly sighed with relief “Can I leave the door open just in case?” she said it so fast, she didn’t know if that crossed the line.

Dan’s laugh became louder and that assured his young pack member that in fact it hasn’t crossed the line.

“I was wondering if you’d like to do some work for me. For additional pay of course.” said Dan after clearing his throat.

“What kind of work?” asked Kie.

“I’ve got some papers here. Those are invoices and receipts. You would get a laptop with a special program installed. It’s basically data entry with some easy math sometimes.” explained Alpha “How does that sound to you?”

“Yeah, sounds fine. And what about…” she tried to ask about the payment but Alpha stopped her and said:

“$350 for this pile. Is that okay?” asked Dan , and wanted an honest answer. He was able to pay more.

It was a lot of money, she was even a little surprised for a moment. But she had her expenses and she needed more.

“Um. Can we round it up to $400?” asked politely Kie.

“$400 it is.” he got up from the chair and stretched out his hand from behind the desk. Kie also got up and took his hand to shake.

“It’s a pleasure to do business with you” joked the young she wolf, although it was not completely a joke.

Alpha laughed again. He was in a good mood today, even after this strange conversation with Celeste that she heard by accident. Kiara took all the paperwork that was packed into a black file now, and started heading towards the door, when Alpha stopped her:

“One more thing” he was holding a big red box with both hands “I want you to have it. Consider this a bonus.”

“Alpha, what is that? I don’t think I should…” said Kie confused.

“But I think you should. Now go, it’s still a beautiful day, use it!”

“Alpha, I’m… thank you.”

They smiled at each other and she left.

She was almost next to the guest house, where she always leaves her bike. Bike! How is she going to go on a bike with all this stuff? It won’t fit in her backpack. It seemed like someone could hear her thoughts because there was one of the guards coming towards her smiling and waving car keys. It was Tim. He was 3 years older than her, she remembered him from school. He was young, but because of his physique and strength, he was already working for Alpha. Usually his skin and hair were almost the same light brown colour, but because of the sun, his body was darker, and his hair had a lot of dark blonde reflexes. His green eyes seemed even more green now. Kie always thought that he was really handsome and wondered how his wolf looked. There was even a time when she had a crush on him, but nothing has ever happened.

“I’m driving you home today missy” shouted Tim being about 10 yards away.

“Don’t call me missy!” laughed Kie.

“Oh yeah? Or what?” he teased.

“I’m going to turn, and kick your ass.” her wolf would actually appreciate some fun.

“I’m not so easy to beat missy.” laughed Tim.

“Try me then.” What was she doing? She was still in their Alpha’s garden, all sweaty and didn’t have any other clothes in case she tore those she was wearing right now.

“Gladly.” said Tim “But now I need to get you home, and then I still have some work to do.”

“Fine.” Kiara was embarrassed but didn’t want him to see that “If you’re scared, you could just say so.

“I’m going to beat you missy, just not now.” he said smiling.

Kie blushed so she turned away. Enough embarrassment for two days. She didn’t even know why she reacted like this, he knew him for so long, and yes, maybe she had a crush on him once upon a time, but that was like ancient history now. That must’ve been the sun, she just needed to rest.

They went to the guest house together so she could collect her bike. Tim took a file and big red box from her so she could unlock it. He was intrigued, they weren’t so close back in school, but they seemed comfortable with each other now. It was nice.

“Why do you even lock it, it’s private property, no one is going to steal it.” asked Tim.

“It’s just a habit. Let’s go.”

They went to the black pick up track in silence. He lifted the bike and put it in the back, and then he locked it so it wouldn't move.

“I could do that myself, you know.” said Kiara.

“I don’t doubt that. I just thought that you’re probably tired after all day in the garden. I saw you doing this thingy with roses. Quite impressive.” he replied.

“You were watching me?” Kiara pretended to be outraged “Perv.”

Now Tim blushed. They both got inside the car and drove off. Alpha’s residence was huge; they were driving for about 5 minutes before getting to the gate, where they met two more guards. They let them through. The rest of the ride was silent, but not in a bad way. Kiara in fact was really tired after all the work she’s done in the garden, and it was nice to rest. Tim noticed that and didn’t want to interrupt, but he also didn’t feel awkward at all.

When they arrived, took the bike out of the track and helped her get it to the shed next to her house, while she was holding the mysterious box and a file with paperwork.

“Thank you Tim.” she said. She was now so exhausted that she didn’t know what else to say.

“No worries missy.” he said and turned around to go to the car “And about that little battle of ours…” he turned around again and hesitantly added.

“I’m ready when you are” replied Kiara even before he could ask “Just not now, because I’m actually tired now.” she laughed.

“See you after you rest then.” he said and walked away smiling.

Kiara now felt like she’s being watched. She sniffed and now she knew why.

“Lisa?” she said to the air.

Lisa came out from behind the shed. She was wearing a sundress and had the same hairstyle as the day before.

“I didn’t know you’re friends with Tim.” How did she even know him? He wasn’t from her school.

“We’ve known each other for years. I think Alpha wanted him to drive me home, because I wouldn’t be able to cycle with all of this stuff.” she could sense that Lisa was jealous. And to be fair she couldn’t totally blame her. It’s not like she would cheat on her, but she did find him attractive and all this talk about their battle could sound suspicious to her girlfriend. She sighed with relief when she noticed that Lisa was now completely focused on things that Kiara was holding.

“What do you have there?” she asked enthusiastically.

“Some paperwork for Dan.” replied Kiara “And, I don’t know.” Added looking at the red box.

“So haven’t you bought it?” She was confused.

“Um, no. Alpha gave it to me.”

“WHAT?! Why?” Lisa was shocked now.

Kiara shrugged and said “I should consider it a bonus.”

“Let’s go to unpack it then.” she was now in a great mood. But Kie wasn’t. She was all sweaty, exhausted and she dreamed of a shower. They were supposed to meet tomorrow, and she did it again.

“To be honest Lisa, I’d like to take a shower first.” said Kiara “Alone” she added fast, after she saw her girlfriend’s eyes flared with excitement.

“Mhm. Okay then.” Lisa replied, her attitude changing again “Text me what’s inside.”

She just walked away, no hug, no kiss goodbye. Suddenly Kie remembered about the mind linking incident and got mad. She was in such a good mood before, and now she just wanted to take a shower and cry. She entered the house, Sofia was in the saloon, drinking coffee and talking on the phone with someone. She hung up as soon as she saw her daughter.

“Hi mom” said Kie.

“I didn’t know you’re such a good friend with Alpha’s now that they are giving you a ride home.” ignored her greetings.

“Nice to see you too.” sarcastically replied Kie and decided to go straight upstairs.

“I don’t want you going there anymore.” said Sofia.

“What’s your f*****g problem mom?” shouted Kiara and not waiting for any response, ran upstairs.

She was still embarrassed by the last evening, but she wished Miles was home anyway. She went to her bathroom, took off all her clothes and started showering. When she wet her hair, all her red waves straightened up. It was so good to freshen up eventually. She was hungry but didn’t want to risk meeting her mom again.

She was tired but also too angry, she couldn’t rest properly so she decided to unpack the gift from Alpha. She took off the lid and unfolded the paper inside.

“Oh my goodness.” said out loud.

It was a dress. She took it out of the box, pressed to her body and looked in the mirror that was in the corner of the room.

The dress was emerald green, maxi length with a high slit on the left side. Satin material was really soft. She wondered how it’d feel on the body. She took off the dress she was wearing now, and put on the one from Alpha. It was amazing. The size was perfect. The back was uncovered, there were just two silver chains crossed so the dress wouldn’t slip. She couldn’t stop looking in the mirror. She really liked what she saw. She rarely felt attractive although she was very beautiful. Kiara had high cheekbones and her lips weren’t too big so sometimes she could look strict, but her almond shaped, blue eyes and freckles were warming her face. Her wavy red hair was now waist long. The dress emphasised her beauty and Kiara felt really good. She decided to wear the dress to the birthday party on Saturday. She took it off carefully and hung it in the wardrobe. Why would Alpha do something like that? They were closer now as she worked there for a while, but was it that close? She noticed a small card on the bottom of the box. “Apparently everything is so expensive. Don’t ask why, I’m the Alpha, I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere. Enjoy the dress”. She couldn’t believe it. She closed the box, put it under the bed and lay down wondering what the hell was happening.