The Alpha's a b***h

The Alpha's a b***h, Book One, Chapter 1

The Alpha's a b***h, Book One, Chapter 1

IT WAS A NICE LATE summer day, a Friday, just a few hours past lunch time. The kind of day where the sun was just hanging up there in the sky with all the fluffy clouds having a nice long conversation, but it was also super warm and really humid. In other words, a typical summer day in Georgia. But driving along around fifty or so here in the truck with the windows all rolled down, Stephanie didn't really mind it because the constant breeze blowing all around her felt really good.

Plus she was listening to one of her favorite radio stations - so she was happy - humming along to the music put her in a good mood. And, as it turns out, the two lane road she was traveling on now was lined with trees which not only gave her some additional shade but made the drive much more interesting to look at too.

Stephanie Bennett was a well known, and well loved, mobile veterinarian, practicing throughout rural Georgia and sometimes even in parts of east Alabama. For the most part she spent her days on the road, traveling from house to farm and from city to city. She had been doing this for the last ten years or so since she graduated and got her vet degree. She couldn’t see herself being anywhere else, nor would she want to be. Her love had always been in helping others - especially of the furry critter kind.

Often she couldn't help but feel a little lonely because in this world of sick and injured pets there was little to no time for anyone else - not even a pet of her own. But she had long ago accepted this as her own form of normal. Even when she was attending vet school she kept to herself, much to the harassment of her peers, and rarely ventured further than her classrooms for fear of being seen by people from her past who had bullied her so long ago.

But she was happy now – at least she thought she was happy. She had acquired the dream job she had always wanted as a traveling vet and she could surround herself with her passion. Unfortunately, she still felt lonely a lot of the time. But she quickly grew to love the traveling and being outdoors and doing something new everyday. After being on the road for so long she couldn't even envision herself being trapped inside one location all day. Just thinking about the possibility of it made her feel a little depressed and a lot claustrophobic.

Stephanie was so dedicated to her veterinary career in fact that she would devote every hour she could to her job. When she did have a day off, or even the odd weekend off, she often found herself just sitting at home alone wondering what to do with herself next. At least as long as she was at work, or she was on her way to a call, she was with people, or would be soon, and she had grown to love that.

Today, in another twenty minutes or so she would be at her next appointment – a couple of check ups and a few vaccinations for a Lab breeder about fifteen miles outside of Rome. She really liked visiting the area up there – the mountains were really nice to look at, it was a pretty drive and it wasn't nearly as busy or congested as some of the homes she went to over closer to Atlanta. She wished to herself that she could have calls up here more often.

So, for the time being anyway, she would simply enjoy the drive. She knew the next appointment, her last one scheduled for the day, would be easy and go pretty fast so she might even get done a little early for a change and get back to the office before everyone else had already left for the day. Now that would be unusual! And exactly as planned, 40 minutes later she was done for the day and on her way back to the office. If she took the back roads, she could be there in another 30 to 45 minutes. Nice!

It had truly been a great day – the nice weather was still holding despite the sky growing a bit darker. There were rain clouds forming way off to her right and the grumbles of thunder that she now heard far off in the distance threatened to douse her soon. She hoped she would get back to the office in time to see the techs today - and that she would miss the rain all together. She hadn't seen the techs in a few days. All of her co-workers, and especially her boss, admired her dedication and kindness and she loved working with them all.

Stephanie had won multiple awards for her duty out in the field which could be seen on display in various trophy cases located throughout the office. She was too embarrassed to take them home so she left each and every one here at work. Turns out, though, that this would be the day her boss finally decided Stephanie's dedication had gone just a little too far. As soon as Stephanie had entered the door and finished saying her hellos her boss waved her over to her office.

“Hey, good to see you. Come on in. Glad to you see you made it in before I left for the day. I needed to have a little talk with you before the weekend got here,” Steff's boss, Dr. Bryant, told her as they both sat down.

Her boss continued on after they were seated, “Gum?”

“No thanks,” Stephanie answered.

The boss lady smiled and laid the gum package back down on her desk. “No problem, that's fine. I don't need it either but it keeps me from smoking so I always have a pack close by.” Then she sat back in her chair as the other employees milled about outside the door and started leaving for the day, one or two at a time. The sounds of barking filled the air.

“By the way, I know we haven't talked about this in a while - but you need a vacation,” she announced matter of fact. “You have almost a month's worth of paid time off coming to you, and I want you to use some of it right now.”

“What? But I don't want to,” Stephanie protested, though her tone was still full of respect. “I'd rather work.”

“Sorry, lady... time for you to take advantage of some of that time off you've been hoarding. I want you to go home and take the next week off. The whole week off... okay? Now scoot – I don't want to see you anywhere near this office for a week!” Her boss did not give her any choice, and insisted that Stephanie take some time off. Then they both got up and started heading for the back door themselves.

“Okay, okay... you'd think I wasn't wanted here anymore,” Stephanie responded light heartedly as they left Dr. Bryant's office.

Stephanie's boss walked her to the door locking it all behind them both as soon as they got outside. The rest of the staff had already left the premises. “Steff, I want you to take some time off because I love you and I need you... and I want you rested... remember that... now scoot! Get out of here and start doing something fun before I give you two weeks off.”

Stephanie thought about her job and life as she drove home that day, making the 30 minute trip from the office to her house. She realized that she would feel very lonely until she was able to go back to work after her days off. So now what? She wondered what she would do with her forced time off.

She hadn't planned anything at all and was completely caught off guard with the instant vacation. But just then, while she was traveling down the road doing about 45 or so, her mind completely distracted by her forced vacation, something huge and definitely not human, jumped out into the road right in front of her truck.

She slammed on the brakes and veered off the road doing her best to avoid striking the creature and to stay on the road too. Thank goodness there was no one else on the road but her at the time. As soon as she came to a complete stop she put the truck into park and got out of the vehicle, wondering if she had hit the thing and just what it might have been.

When she reached the edge of the road and looked down into the ditch, she was surprised to find no big creature there – but instead a man lying in the dirt. A naked man... lying in the dirt. At first she was a bit shocked but then her veterinarian instincts took over and she crouched down beside the ditch to get a closer look at him. He was covered in scratches, gashes, bruises and blood.