Beyond Fate

Handsome intruder

(Unknown pov)

“ I don’t know if I can do this man” I whispered to Lucas as I stared at the big oak door unable to reach up and twist a simple knob. I gulped audibly. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

“ Come on bro this is why we came here now…you can do this” Lucas said encouragingly patting me on the back. He was a good friend. I knew he had things to do in his own pack but he’d taken the time to come out here with me to support me. He knew how hard this day was for me coming back here. If it wasn’t for the tiny person that resided in this very room I probably would never have come back at all. It had taken me three years and a lot of coaxing from Lucas to get to this point.

My hand was trembling as I reached up twisting the handle but it didn’t budge.

“s**t! It’s locked” I swore agitated all that psyching myself up and the door was f*****g locked. Lucas pushed me to the side, I stumbled slightly grabbing the edge of the door frame then leaning against it for support.

“ Christ man did you really have to drink the entire tavern this morning” Lucas murmured over his shoulder at me while he fiddled with the lock. I rolled my eyes ignoring him, so I’d had a few drinks to steady my nerves. It wasn't like I was meeting her now, I wasn’t ready for that yet. Besides, it wasn’t like anyone would recognise me. I'd been letting my head and facial hair grow for a while now, even my scent was disguised. Ok that was mostly booze but still. Happy accident.

“ Quit judging and open the door” I slurred slightly. I wasn’t sure how much I drank this morning. The guy had offered me something with a kick so I’d said yes. I normally drank until I felt numb to the aching hole in my heart I’d been feeling for the last few years.

“ Just make sure you shower before you meet her” Lucas groaned trying to force the stiff lock now, he gave it one last jiggle before wrenching the door open with a creak. Making a huge sound up the quiet hallway. I wanted to be incognito. We’d already bumped into an omega heading to one of the spare bedrooms. Thankfully she’d been paying more attention to Lucas than taking time to look in my direction. Which was how I liked it even in normal circumstances. I huffed, becoming irritated with Lucas’s sudden judgemental attitude I pushed past him storming into the room.

“I Apologise that my falling to pieces is affecting my personal hygiene and offending your delicate nostrils your highness” I threw back over my shoulder at him. Earning myself a growl from him under his breath but he wouldn’t say anything though. He knew how hard this was for me.

I suddenly realised I’d walked straight into the room without a thought. I let out a shakey breath, taking in the sights inside the beautifully decorated nursery that was filled with pinks, whites and golds. recognising the familiar decor on the walls. I remember clearly all the designs that had been sent to me during training. At the time I’d been so eager every time I’d been sent a new idea I couldn’t wait, now it only brought back painful memories.

Tears began to gather in my eyes thankfully I had my back to Lucas. I didn’t want him to see me like this. Not that he hadn’t picked me up in worse conditions before. Lucas was a good man; he'd pulled me back from the brink long after I’d given up on myself.

“ Do you want me to stay?” He asked cautiously. I roughly wiped my hand over my face trying to rid myself of the tears that were beginning to fall.

Without looking back at him I shook my head needing a moment to gather my composure. I waited a few moments then hearing his retreating footsteps.

I breathed in the unfamiliar scents around the room. The smell of strawberries and cream lingered on the surface of pretty much everything. And something else, the scent of mango and passion fruit drifted around the room too, it had my wolf peeking up suddenly interested, it was a dominant scent in the room but not permanent. Probably belonging to one of the care workers for the pup. There were other faded scents but nothing I recognised.

I looked around the room taking it all in. There was a floor to ceiling window just to the left of me, a small toddler size table and chairs in the centre with drawings and crayons strewed across it. In the far corner there was a small chalk board hanging on the wall with numbers and simple sums across it in a child’s hand writing. Or at least an attempt at handwriting.

Everything in the room had a clear pink and white theme with gold trees standing out against the pink backdrop on the walls giving off a princess forest vibe. It was stunning, there was no doubt this room belonged to an adored little girl. It gave me a sense of pride. She was so loved by this pack. Going over to the photos on the walls. There were so many images of friends and family surrounded by the little pup but one in the centre caught my eye making my heart thump painfully in my chest. The image was a framed drawing of the beautiful red head who haunted my dreams. The drawing was of her sat cradling her swollen belly smiling absently down just where her hand lay. The sun beat down on her red hair making it glow like fire. I had to admit the artist was exceptionally talented, they had captured the moment beautifully. Immortalising the beauty in the drawing that I longed to see every day but would never would again.

The grief was beginning to consume me again and I felt myself stumbling backwards just to get away. I hit the chest of draws behind me hearing a crash and a metallic smell. I cursed myself picking up the framed photo from where it had landed with a smash on the floor. I flipped it over looking at the face of the beautiful little girl staring at me through her mother’s eyes. She was sitting on the lap of a young blonde female. They were both happy and cuddling up to one another. I couldn’t help but smile at it myself.

“ What the hell are you doing in here?” The sound of an angry female voice shout behind me. I turned still clutching the broken frame in my hands to see the slender form of a female standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. Her frame was illuminated by the sunlight coming from the landing behind her. She was the blonde in the photo I’d just broken.

It was becoming late in the afternoon and the daylight was beginning to fade but even in the shadow of the room I could tell she was beautiful, she actually took my breath away and for a moment I forgot how to form words. Her blonde hair was tied back but large pieces were hanging lose. The kind of hot messy style that females made out took five seconds to do but actually took the best part of an hour.

I realised I still hadn’t said anything and it was only making her more furious with me. For some reason that bothered me. I never cared what people thought anymore, especially not females.

I sighed in relief despite the situation of the angry she-wolf staring at me waiting for an answer that I couldn’t give her at least not one I was willing to divulge. It was nice to actually feel something akin to contempt, instead of the crippling heart breaking pain I’d been feeling for the last three years.

I took in her scent, smelling a familiar scent of mango and passion fruit. It was intoxicating and I wasn’t the only one affected by it. My wolf did something he hadn’t done in years, something I thought he was incapable of doing. He purred.

(Alisha pov)

He just stood there unmoving in the darkness, the only light provided by the sunlight from the hallway at my back made it hard to see his face. He didn’t say a word, his eyes were wide as if he’d just seen a ghost. I placed my hands on my hips waiting for an answer but he never gave one. Who was this guy and why the hell was he in Mina’s nursery?.

Even with the lack of light in the room I could clearly see the outline of his tall broad frame, that seemed to be swaying slightly. He’d clearly been drinking from the stench of booze coming off him but what was more alarming was the smell of blood in the air.

Feeling frustrated by the lack of light in the room. Damn it why did I have to close the curtains earlier. It had been a rare sunny day and I’d closed them early to keep the rays from over heating the room, an action I was now regretting.

I quickly swiped my hand over the light switch on the wall next to me. The man squinted at the sudden bright light, instantly rubbing his tired, red looking eyes. Yep definitely drunk.

“ Listen buddy I don’t know who your here with but you can’t be in here this is the Alpha pups nursery” I said when he focused on me again.

“ it’s fine I’m a frie…” I interrupted him before he could even get his lies out.

“ I’m gonna stop you there buddy because unless visitors are approved by me there’s no excuse for you to be in here, so let me just say it’s most certainly not ok” I stated saving us both the awkward part of the conversation where we both know he’s lying. He stared at me wide eyed. Don’t tell me he was that arrogant a male he didn’t think women couldn’t stand up to a man.

“….and I sure as hell didn’t approve some alcohol induced male to visit with the Alpha pup nor would I, no matter who’s friend you are” I said glaring at him. It wasn’t just his sent of booze and blood but also his clothes. They were filthy and clearly not his own with how they hung off his lean body, they made it look like the poor guy needed a decent meal. His dark hair was long and unkept along with the full beard he was sporting. He looked like he should be out in the forest hunting deer with a gang of his drinking buddies the only thing missing was the full camouflage outfit.

My statement was supposed to give him his chance to leave before I called for one of the worriers, they may not like me but if they knew it involved Mina they’d come running the second I called them, however to my surprise the guy stayed rooted to the ground. His expression unreadable he looked almost, impressed, no that couldn’t be it, shocked maybe. He tilted his head to the side studying me for a moment before smirking.

“ and you are?” He asked trying and failing keeping the amused look off his face. This guy was beginning to piss me off now.

“Wondering why your still in here!” I folded my arms over my chest trying to seem confident but even I was getting annoyed at the sound of my voice. I wasn’t used to using an authoritative tone on people anymore and I was out of practice that’s for sure. I felt like I was just coming off whinny. The guy raised his eyebrows in amusement. I was about to start ranting again when what he had in his hands caught my attention.

“ What the hell did you do!” I exclaimed seeing the broken glass on the floor and the man clutching the broken frame in his hands.

“ I’m sorry I…” he mumbled, I stormed towards him snatching the frame from his hands.

It was the photo of me and Mina at her birthday party a few months ago. My mother had always wanted to get one of the two of us together. Being her primary caregiver I tend to stand in the background at pack functions, what with everyone hating me and all.

Mom had sat us on the picnic bench next to Mina’s cake and balloons with the forest as a background. It was a perfect picture of the two of us and I loved it. I had the same picture framed in my own bedroom at home.

The now smashed frame wasn’t salvageable, half of the glass was lying in a pile on the floor and there was a gash along the middle of the photo cutting across Mina’s face.

“ It's ruined!” I glared at him angrily, he stumbled backwards unable to focus.

“ shit..I…fuck…I’m so sor…” I focused on his pathetic excuse for an apology, hardly believing it was possible for a wolf to get this drunk. He must have drank a small town dry unless he’d been mixing his drink with something else.

Sometimes wolves experimented with drugs like wolfsbane and even silver. They found that mixing a small amount in alcohol wouldn’t harm them but would weaken and disorientate their wolf enough to be able to get a buzz. Personally I wasn’t sure it was worth the risk. Drinking wolfsbane willingly sounded insane to me.

My attention was pulled from the i***t in front of me by the sound of dripping and then I heard it again. Looking down I saw that there was blood on the rug. The mumbling i***t had cut himself and was now bleeding all over the pink rug.

“ Hey are you ok? Your bleeding” I said, no longer listening to him, I pulled back his tatty old jacket seeing that there was a patch of blood soaking his T-shirt. He must have cut himself on the glass when he broke the photo.

The guy looked down to where I was inspecting. He tried to cover it back up with his jacket so I couldn’t see anymore.

“ It’s just a scratch, I’m fine” he stated looking back at the photo I’d placed on the side. He seemed to look at it thoughtfully.

“ Is she…is she well?” He asked without looking at me.

“ Mina?” Why was he asking about her, I thought for a moment about not answering him but the haunting look on his face made me soften to him.

“ Yes, she’s well, she’s the packs heart, they love her.” I said proudly to him.

“ Just like her mother” he whispered, I wasn’t sure if I was meant to hear it. I didn’t respond. Instead I took hold of his arm. He flinched at my touch like he wasn’t used to people being close to him, finally he looked at me as if just realising I was there. I wasn’t sure why but I felt the overwhelming urge to help this man. He was clearly haunted by something and needed help.

“ Come on let’s get that cut cleaned” I turned heading for Mina’s bathroom pulling the man along with me, he resisted at first but soon followed me.

I grabbed my first aid kit from the cupboard turning back to the guy who was now sitting on the toilet lid.

“ Ok so if you want to stand, take off your jacket and shirt I can get a look at the damage.” I said sounding completely professional, telling myself working on an adult was no different than a child. One of the perks of being in charge of Mina’s care was that Luna Jamie had insisted I be allowed to study child care on the side which included basic medical training, I wasn’t at a doctors standards but I could certainly give the nurses at the pack hospital a run for their money. I had been a dedicated student and loving what I did only made me want to perfect my skills. The only problem was I was pretty sure this guy wasn’t going to be interested in a pink barbie plaster.

However when the guy took off his shirt all thoughts of being professional went out the window. My mouth dropped so wide I was surprised it didn’t hit the floor, and not for the first time today, at the incredible heart stopping slab of muscle that lay beneath the pile of baggy old clothes. His lean frame had been disguising how incredibly ripped this guy was. He didn't have a six pack, he had an eight pack. An actual eight pack. Even Nathan didn’t have an eight pack. The guy was pure mouth watering muscle. I just wanted to run my fingers along every bump.

Do it!! My wolf purred. I couldn’t believe she actually agreed with me for a change, I’d never known myself to check out other guys ever. Not that I hadn’t wanted to, I’d just never been interested in other guys. Apart from the arsehole.

“ You ok miss?” Huh? I looked up into his green eyes trying to come out of my day dream.Trying hard not to blush. Thankfully he didn’t seem to be watching me as intently as the Lucas guy from before. The alcohol was working in my favour thank goddess. Damn two for two on the gaping at strange hot men today.

“ y..yea I just think you have some glass in the cut” I mumbled to him, turning back to my bag to get my surgical tweezers.

I inspected the wound on his lower torso trying not to lick my lips as I touch him, ironically there was a small piece of glass stuck in there.

After removing the glass I cleaned the wound up applying a small bandage that was still a little too big. When I’d tried to joke about the barbie plasters he’d completely missed it seeming deep in thought, I’d carried on with the task at hand, feeling a little awkward.

When I finished I noticed the guys arms had a few tattoos on them too I’d been so distracted by his abs I hadn’t noticed he too was covered in tattoo’s, nothing like what Johnny and Lucas had but still. They made a nice addition to his already perfect body if I did say so. I was trying to tear my gaze away from him when I noticed something familiar on the guys right bicep.

“ Is that from the military?” I said pointing to the matching tattoo I’d seen on Lucas’s bicep with the wolf and infinity symbol. The guy looked down towards the tattoo I was pointing at.

“ oh yea, elite officer of the high council” he said shrugging as if it was nothing important. Causing my mouth to make an O shape.

“ you worked for the council?” I asked him shocked. The high council were the police of the super natural world, they were a group of leaders from every super natural species, voted to enforce our laws and intervene when said laws weren’t being obeyed.

Being part of the councils worriers wasn’t easy. But to be an elite officer was like being a marine of the supernatural world. Spaces were limited and they weren’t given out often. Johnny had told me that many wolves spent their whole lives in service of the high council and were never given such a prestigious position.

“ once upon a time” he smiled down at me sadly. It felt like the first time he’d actually really looked at me. What ever he’d been drinking before was starting to ware off.

“ Is that where you met Alpha Mitchell?” I couldn’t help being curious this was the most information on our future Alpha any of us had been given in years I’d had to ask.

“ huh?…oh yea he did a brief spell there a couple of years ago..but he dropped out” he smiled tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear.

“ why?” I frowned not understanding why anyone would pass up the chance of being and elite officer. It was like being given the rank of Alpha in our world, then I realised that maybe Alpha Mitchell hadn’t wanted to settle down with the council knowing he’d one day need to return to lead his pack.

“ Guess some people aren’t meant to follow rules” he smirked down at me. His green eye like emeralds sparkling in the light entrapping me. They held secrets and pain I wanted to dive into head first to unravel and heal.

His rugged shaggy, I don’t give a crap what I look like look suddenly seemed really attractive. I found myself struggling to control my breathing again. Seriously. What the hell was wrong with me today?.

Unlike with Lucas my wolf seemed to be silent this time instead of scolding me for looking at another male this way. Even encouraged me.

He didn’t move he kept staring at me silently examining me, his eyes didn’t roam my body boldly either he was being a perfect gentleman, maybe he wasn’t attracted to me. He just stared into my eyes like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve. His gaze was so intense, I could have been completely naked and felt less exposed to him. He reached up hooking his finger under my chin. I felt the rough pad of his thumb graze gently over my bottom lip. I closed my eyes feeling the unfamiliar feeling of my core aching and not being immediately disgusted by it. I felt him move closer, so close I could feel his warm breath against my cheek.

Then in a moment his hand was gone, I opened my eyes to see he’d stepped right back away from me. He was now having a staring contest with the bathroom floor. I saw him shake his head as if he was having an internal battle with himself. I stood there silently feeling silly for thinking this guy would be attracted to me. Obviously I’d got it wrong.

When he opened his eyes again, his whole demeanour had changed, he seemed almost ashamed of himself like he done something wrong. Maybe I should say I didn’t mind, in fact I’d enjoyed his touch.

Just as I was about to say something he scrambled for his shirt and coat, pulling them on quickly forgetting about his injury.

Without a word he left the bathroom leaving me stood there dumbfounded, still holding the bloodied bandages I’d used to clean his wound. I put my stuff away quickly before heading back into Mina’s bedroom to clean up the glass still on the floor.

To my surprise the guy was still there. I thought he’d bolted. He was staring at the portrait of Rose I’d drawn of her. I smiled gently thinking about that day. She had looked so beautiful, absently rubbing her pregnant belly with the last of the days sun catching her red hair, talking away to her bump about how excited she was to meet her pup. I’d been inspired. The drawing was bitter sweet for me, every time I looked at it I was reminded that moments later events would transpire that would change the corse of all our lives. You may wonder why I’d frame such a drawing and place it on Mina’s wall for all to see. Simple. It was beautiful and Mina got to see how much her mother loved her every single day.

The man turned back around quickly hearing me come up behind him, he had tears in his eyes and I wondered what could have gotten him so upset. He rubbed his face roughly and I looked around the room not wanting to draw attention to his distress. Male wolves weren’t exactly known for showing their emotions. They considered it a sign of weakness. No one had ever thought to tell them women were attracted to men who weren’t afraid to show their feelings. Sadly that’s how I’d fallen for Nathan’s lies.

“ I’m sorry for intruding, I shouldn’t have come in without permission”

“ It’s ok I’m sorry for getting so angry, I’ve been known to over react when it comes to Mina, I’m overprotective” I confessed.

“ you seem very invested in her” he smiled at me.

“ She has my heart, as did her mother….I made her a promise to always be there for her child” I said thoughtfully without really thinking before I spoke but it was the truth. Rose had been my friend in a time when no one wanted to be my friend. She had been there for me through my struggles, now I was there for her with caring for Mina.

When I looked back up the guy was smiling. Not flirty or mocking just a full on genuine smile. It was contagious and we both stood there for a few seconds smiling to one another before he turned to leave.

When he reached the door he turned back towards me for a moment. His hand resting on the frame.

“ Thank you for your assistance, miss….” He asked clearly wanting to know my name.

“..oh….Alisha, Alisha clayton” I said, recognition appeared on his face and he frowned stepping back into the room a step.

“ I know that name… that wouldn’t be a relation of ex Beta Clayton?” He asked curiously. He knew my family.

“ Yes, he’s my dad. '' I smiled brightly but my face dropped when I saw the man's reaction to my answer.

I knew without a doubt something I’d said was a terrible mistake when I heard the wood the guy had his hand on crack from the sheer force of his grip. It was incredible how a spilt second ago this guy was smiling brightly at me, nothing could be further from the beast of a man that now stood before me. His green eyes were now gold and filled with rage, his body went rigid and fists clenched so tight at his sides that they were white.

I could hear the distinct ferocious growl coming from him making my blood run cold.

Suddenly I felt very foolish being in a room alone with the stranger. He clearly knew of my father which wasn’t a surprise. My parents were well known in the werewolf community but from the way this man was looking at me it didn’t seem like anything good had passed between the two of them. I backed up against the wall terrified, my eyes scanned the room looking for an exit. There was the window to my left but it was locked and we were on the top floor. Nope. I could run into the bedroom but judging by the power radiating off him he’d easily break the door down and that was even if I’d make it there before he got to me. Nope no good, the only exit was the door I was facing that had the huge angry male wolf stood in front of it. Oh goddess.

Was this how it ended for me? No it couldn’t be. Could it. I could fight, I was still a Beta by blood and I was trained. My parents had trained me themselves. I doubt I’d be able to take him for long but maybe I could distract him enough to…

My thoughts interrupted when the angry male moved towards me. I braced myself for the familiar impact of pain but I was determined I wouldn’t go down without a fight.