The Thing About Fate

Chapter 2: Making Friends

Turning around, I meet eyes with a freshly shifted young alpha. He obviously isn’t my grandfather; he must be one of the alphas of the other two packs. His wolf is extremely attractive. He has dark maple fur with streaks of gold flowing through it. His eyes are a dark ocean blue, power pours from him in waves. He is actually quite intimidating. Our eyes lock immediately. I think I see something flash through his. Confusion mixed with something else. Passion maybe? Desire? I’m not sure.

I shift back into my human form so we can speak, as does he. He is a few years older than me, 20 maybe and handsome to say the least. We are both now standing in front of each other, in the middle of Riversbend, completely naked. I’m comfortable with my body, so it doesn’t embarrass me. It doesn’t bother most wolves. I’m not stuck up or conceded but I know that I’m appealing. The wolf genes help. I’m 5’6 with long toned legs, and a plump and perky ass. I have a flat stomach and a nice rack, brought together with my long red hair and bright green eyes. It is strange to me though when I realize I’m not bothered at the way his eyes are roaming my body. Normally such things disgust me and I don’t tolerate them. But with this alpha it is kind of a turn on. I do a quick scan of his toned body. I admit, it’s hard not to stare. He is tan and perfectly carved. My eyes look over his chiseled abs and then trace his very prominent V-line until I spot “it”.

I feel myself start to blush but I force it back down. I tear my eyes away from his s*x and bring them back up to his face. He is staring at me with a confused look on his face. He finally breaks our stare down to look past me at his injured beta, John, and Olivia, his whimpering mate. “John” he says “Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine James.” Replies John. “She’s a rouge James, but looks like a Riversbend wolf.” James looks at me in an irritated manner. “I’ve never met, seen, or heard of you before rouge. Why do you look like a Riversbend wolf?” My wolf growls at the name rouge. “Like I told your arrogant and poorly trained beta, my name is Alexis, not rogue. I look like a Riversbend wolf because I am one.” Smiling at me he looks amused, which is starting to piss me off.

“Don’t test my patience, Rouge.” He smirks. Anger rising, patience fading, I take a confident step toward him. “My name is Alexis Riversbend.” I state to him with authority. “Granddaughter of Alphas Damon and Elissa Riversbend, and the daughter of Rose Riversbend.” My wolf whimpers quietly inside me. This is the first time I’ve spoken of my mother in years. Everyone around us gasps at my claim. I see pure rage fill James’ eyes. For a moment I am frightened.

“ROSE RIVERSBEND IS DEAD!” He yells at me. “And has been for ten years. Maxwell Redwood killed her and Alexis! They are both buried here.” I become nauseous at this statement. I knew my mother died years ago. But I never knew it was at the hands of my father, or that he had faked my own death as well. My father never spoke of it.

“Alexis!” I hear someone cry out behind me. “Is it really you?” Turning around I see a beautiful woman. She looks no older than her early forties but I sense she is much older. She has long silver hair that is pulled back into a braid. Her scent is familiar but only faintly, she smells like my mother. “Grandmother.” I sigh, “It’s me.”

Her eyes fill with tears as she rushes to embrace me. James growls and steps protectively between us. “Luna, this girl is a rouge. Alexis is dead. You know this, you watched her be buried.”

“James nothing felt right about that day and you know it. She is the spitting image of my dear Rose and you’d be wise to get out of my way.” She says in a calm but forceful manner. He backs away, shooting me a resentful look. “Come dear.” She says to me. “You must meet your grandfather. We have much to discuss.”

The walk to the pack house where my grandparents live is longer than I expect. The forest we are in is absolutely beautiful. I’m taking in as much of my surroundings as I can while we walk. I can guess we are probably somewhere in the middle of the territory. Soon I see the pack house. It’s a huge three story wood cabin with a wraparound porch.

As we get inside Elissa hands me a blanket and I wrap it around my still naked body. It’s late in the evening now and I’m both mentally and physically exhausted. I think we both are. She shows me to a bedroom on the third floor and tells me to get some sleep, that we will talk in the morning. Then she leaves me with a hug and a kiss on the forehead. I make my way to the bed in the corner of the room and collapse on it, wrapping myself up in the blanket. It isn’t long before I’m asleep.

I wake up to a wave of mouth watering smells. Someone is making food, and lots of it. My stomach growls and I put my hand on it to silence it. I’m absolutely starving. Days without a meal is something I’m used to, but not when combined with all the running I did over the last couple of days. Getting out of bed I make my way to the connected bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. I’m a mess. My hair is in knots and I smell disgusting. Sighing I turn the shower on hot and wait till I see steam to get in. The water feels amazing on my tired body. Then I pick up a hint of my old pack’s scent on me. Roughly I scrub my body to get it off. After I’m pink and raw I turn the water to cool and let it refresh my skin.

Getting out of the shower I notice there is an outfit sitting on the counter with a note. I can’t believe I didn’t hear or smell anyone come in. My wolf growls at me. I can’t let my guard down. Looking down at the note it reads, “I figured you might not want to walk around naked all day. These were your mother’s, they should fit. We can go shopping later. Breakfast is almost done so come on down when you’re ready. –Elissa”

I pick up the clothes and go back into the bedroom. The clothes fit surprisingly well. The T-shirt was a little low cut for my taste and the shorts were definitely form fitting. I guess my mom didn’t share my dislike for male attention. After quickly combing my hair with a brush I found in the bathroom I start making my way downstairs. The smells from the food are overwhelming and I’m having trouble not bolting down the stairs. Nearing the bottom I hear two voices. One I recognize to be Elissa and one I assume to be Damon.

“You had no right to bring that girl hear Elissa!” the male voice booms.

“Oh Damon, you’ve been so guarded since Rose passed. Just give the girl a chance. I’m telling you, she is Alexis. Once you see her you will know.”

My heart is pounding. I knew I shouldn’t have come here. Damon is going to reject me. My eyes find the door and I start planning my escape. I only have a few minutes till they sense my presence; it’s only taken them this long because I just got out of the shower.

“Alexis is dead Elissa and I will have no further talk of this. After she eats you will send that girl on her way. She is lucky that I am willing to let her go. We do not tolerate rogues here.”

“Damon please she..”

“I said enough!” Damon barks at her.

Tears forming, I make a move for the door.

“Good morning dear.” Elissa says with her calm and soothing voice. I stop dead in my tracks but am too afraid to turn around. I don’t want to face Damon. “Alexis sweetie, come sit and eat.” She calls out to me again. Damon growls at the use of my name. I slowly turn around to face them and immediately lock eyes with my grandfather. He looks like me, or I look like him I should say. He, like Elissa, looks younger than his age. He is strong but tired looking, very wise, definitely an old soul. His eyes are a dark green, like mine but filled with pain. He looks at me for a moment and then looks away. He and Elissa walk to the table and I follow.

I try not to look like an unmannered animal shoving food into my mouth as I eat seconds. I haven’t had a decent meal like this in ages. Breaking the awkward silence I look at Elissa, “This is amazing.” She smiles and nods. I can tell she and Damon are talking threw the pack link. She looks defeated and Damon has not removed his eyes from me the entire meal. I stand up.

“Thank you so much for your hospitality.” I say to both of them. “I knew it would be a mistake to come here. I will leave.” I turn and hurry toward the door.

“What is your name girl and what brought you here?” Damon asks.

I turn around. “My name is Alexis Riversbend. I am here because I need your help. I am running from my father, Maxwell Redwood. This was the only place I could think to go. My father is an evil man and has had me locked in the prison for the past two years.” The words fall out of my mouth before I can think, the truth spilling out like pent up tears. Damon’s eyes widen and fill with anger when I say my Father’s name.

Elissa gasps. “Why on Earth would he do that to you?”

“On my 16th birthday he came to me with a plan. He had been talking to the widowed alpha of a neighboring pack that apparently had an eye for me. The old man wanted to mate with me because he had no children and with him growing older he would need someone to take over as alpha soon. Coming from pure alpha blood I would provide excellent genes for a future alpha. Maxwell agreed to the deal. But it was a trick. He wanted me to mate with the man so his pack would become loyal to me through the mate bond and then kill him so my father could take over. When I refused he said I was a traitor to him and the lack and he locked me away.” Tears building up, I shut down, going numb. I will not be weak. I will not be weak! I tell myself, pushing down the tears.

Elissa was looking at me with wide teary eyes. She looked enraged. Damon took in all the information and stood up from the table. “My granddaughter is dead. But it is beyond me how you know so much. You are to stay in Riversbend until I know what to do with you.” And with that he left the house. Fighting back more tears I walk over and sit down on the stairs. Elissa comes over and sits next to me wrapping her arms around me.

“He knows sweetheart. Just give him time. We all suffered greatly when your mother was killed. There was a child with her but she couldn’t be clearly identified as you. We all just assumed it was you. She had your scent but it never felt right to me. Bring up these memories is painful enough but the fact that you’ve been out there all along is overwhelming. Your grandfather will come around, he just need time.” She reassures me. I just nod in response, not bothering to ask questions about what happened. I’m not ready for that yet. “What do you say we get out of here? We can have some girl time and I can show you around.” She offers with a smile. I agree and we begin our walk toward town.