The True Alpha's Destiny

Chapter 5

Emily’s POV:

I slipped into the black dress I picked out for today. Knee length loose midi dress with short sleeves. Alyson braids my hair back and helps me with my makeup. I decided on a minimal look in case I shed a few tears but I don’t think I will cry that much.

As I buckle my heels, there is a soft knock on the door. A part of me dreads what’s on the other side. Someone is going to tell me it’s time to go out and face the media, then walk around as everyone praises my father for the man he is…

Was.

Alyson places her hand on my shoulder before walking over to the door. She turns to look at me. “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, I guess.” I sigh.

She opens the door and Felix stands in an all black suit. Even his ear piece is black. He stands with his hands folded in front of him and he looks at me with pain filled eyes.

“We are ready for you, whenever you are ready.” He says as his jaw tightens.

I nod my head and give the most realistic smile I can manage to force my muscles to make. “Thank you, Felix. We will be right there. Leave the door open.”

He does so and steps away from the door. I take a deep breath and take a step forward. My heart sinks in my chest. I didn’t ever want to think about this day, and yet here we are. I swallow what little saliva is in my mouth and look at my feet. Without thinking about anything, I see my body begin to move but I am numb.

As we walk out the door, Justin and Hunter stand in all black suits. Not going to lie, Hunter looks better . His black hair neatly combed over to the side and his hands nervously in front of him, and his eyes lock with mine and for a split second I forgot all about the fact that I am about to go in front of thousands of people I don’t know and drive along the highway behind a car that carries a pieced back together corpse that is my father.

Then Justin reaches out for me and grabs hold of my arm. “Hey, how are you?” His attention turns from me to Alyson beside me. “How is she? Is she good?”

I squint my eyes at him. “I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”I say letting out a breath that I didn’t know I was holding in.

He raises his eyebrows and sharply inhales through his teeth. “Really?”

I close my eyes and nod my head. “Yes. I’m fine.”

Justin still looks at me with puppy eyes but decides to leave it be. He looks over and sees his dad. “I’ll be right back.”

I nod and watch as he walks away before I let out a heavy sigh. Hunter grabs my arm. “I know you’re lying about being fine.” He whispers as he kisses my hairline. “But I’m not going to push anything. I just want you to know that I love you.” He squeezes my arm three times before letting go.

I knew he was hot, but something about the way he is acting is so sexy to me. I can’t help but bite my lip as I look at him.

Alyson elbows me in the side. “Might want to pick your jaw up off the floor, you’re about to walk out in front of the media.”

I can feel the heat rushing to my cheeks. Before I can respond, I’m being ushered outside by Felix and his men. Alyson stays the closest to me, followed by Justin and Hunter who are acting more like bodyguards than they usually do. Somehow that was more comforting than them trying to shield me from the grief of the funeral.

Kate and my sisters walk out first. I can tell Kate is really soaking up all the attention from the media, acting grief stricken and fake crying in front of the cameras. Vicky and Melissa are both trying to act as if they only want attention, but I can tell they would rather get attention without the funeral part of this whole thing.

When I walk out the doors, the amount of cameras pointed at me are overwhelming. The flashes and questions seem to envelope me while I try to see where I’m being lead. My legs stumble about as a reporter reaches for me and gets inches from my face with his recording device. He is instantly snatched back by Wayne and the recording device smashed into pieces in the ground. Justin holds me up and Hunter takes his jacket off to shield me from the cameras. I knew it was going to be a lot of people asking questions and taking pictures, but I never thought it would be this bad.

My fathers casket is being carried in front of us by some men in black with ear pieces. They all move in fluid motion up to the stage where so many people stand and watch. We walk to the stairs that are surrounded by red ropes and security. The reporters and photographers try to get any last second questions in before we go behind the ropes out of their range. Secret service agents surround the stage and scan the crowd almost like robots.

Vice president McCevens takes the stage as we make our way to our seats. He talks for about ten minutes on what a great leader my father was. How beloved he was by the people and how much he will be missed. A couple more people stood at the microphone and said a few things about my father. All saying basically the same stuff. He was a great man, great father, great friend… all the wishy washy things one hears at a funeral. But, the last person to get up there was Kate. She was given a cue card on what to say, and she was given strict instructions on what she can say. She takes the stand and looks directly at me.

“There’s so much I could stand up here today and say about my husband. As many of you know, my husband was a great man. He led those he loved with such passion and kindness. But what most of you don’t know is that he and I didn’t agree on most things.” She looked towards the crowd with what I thought was a little smug smile. My hands gripped the side of my chair as I got ready to tackle her if I needed. “He thought Christmas should be celebrated with all of the family and Thanksgiving was the time for food and football. I always thought it was just a small intimate moment with close family, and we all know that he wasn’t for anything small. He would have been proud of everyone today for being here to celebrate his life that was tragically ended by a silly old bear. Please, don’t be upset today, he wouldn’t have wanted that. Remember to eat food, drink wine, and enjoy the time you have with your loved ones. You never know what could happen next.” She bowed her head and patted the stand before turning to come back over towards us.

She looks at me and winks. “Thought I would try something, didn’t ya?” She smiles with her tongue licking her teeth and shakes her head at me with a raised eyebrow.

I reach my hand out and touch her hand. “Thank you.”

For a solid second, I see her eyes actually soften. But then they harden as she pulls her hand away and looks at me in disgust. She flicks her hair over her shoulder and walks angrily away from me.

Justin stands up and buttons his blazer as he shoots Kate a glare. “Someone skimped out on the sugar in her weetabix this morning.”

Hunter stands with his elbow out for me to grab while looking at Justin with his eyebrow raised. “Yeah, well. She’s never been the biggest ray of sunshine, so.”

Felix and Wayne approach us with their serious faces on and I know it’s time to get moving. The rest of the day was a lot of avoiding the press questions, shaking hands with ambassadors from other countries, and hearing half-hearted condolences. All in all, the rest of the day went by rather quickly. I didn’t have time to spot and be with my thoughts all day with Alyson always one step behind me and the boys on each arm. It almost felt… good.

The last event of the day was a dinner party in the white house. More of a gathering than a party, but the whole East Room was full of people, eating little sandwiches and chatting amongst themselves. I found myself wandering over by the dessert section as my stomach began to growl and I realized that I hadn’t eaten much today. Before I can grab anything, Hunter rushes up to me, ever so gently placing his hands on my hips.

“Well, don’t you look like you could use some company.” He winks at me as he reaches behind me to grab a chocolate covered strawberry. He takes a bite of it before looking just to the left and seeing raspberry cheesecake. “Oh, that is something I need in my life.” He picks it up with his bare hand and takes a bite.

I raise my eyebrow at him. “Hmm. Charming.” I say as he sucks the remaining cheesecake off his thumb.

“What? I love me some cheesecake.” He says as he goes to grab another slice, but uses a fork this time to eat it.

“What is a dashing woman like you doing over here with such a neanderthal?” Justin walks up behind us with his hands in his front pants pockets.

“Just enjoying the company.” I say with a sheepish smile.

His eyes focus and get serious. “Hey, are you okay?”

I shake my head and press my lips together. “Yeah. I, just. I just need some time where no one is around me. Some fresh air and some breathing room.” I say as I gather my dress and tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

Hunter puts his hand on my stomach. “Oh, no you’re not.”

I let out an exasperated sigh with a raised lip. I turn away from them and scratch the top part of my head. “Look, nothing has happened all day to me or any one else for that matter.” I throw my hands out and let them fall to my side. “If I have to listen to one more person come up to me and say ‘your father was such a nice man, you have our thoughts and prayers’ I’m going to lose my s**t so please just let me have somewhat of a deep breath away from all of this!”

Both of them look at me with raised eyebrows. Justin clears his throat. “I mean, if you really feel that strongly about it.”

“But at least take someone with you.” Hunter adds before Justin can even finish his full sentence.

I bob my head and look at them with a raised eyebrow. “Fine.” I say with an attitude. They both straighten their suit jackets and look pleased with themselves as I start walking past them. “I’ll take Felix.” Within a second, they were both on my heels.

“Oh, no.” Justin jumps in front of me as I wave to Felix and motion him over. “We meant someone like us.” He whispers between his teeth.

“I trust Felix. He took care of my father and now he can take care of me.” My eyes turn from Felix to the boys and raise my eyebrows at them.

Felix straightens his suit jacket and nods his head to me. “Yes, Ms. Harmon?”

Hunter and Justin grit their teeth and try to signal to me no but I don’t pay attention to them.

“I would like to go outside for a breath of fresh air, would you mind accompanying me? I just need some space from everyone and everything right now.” I look between Hunter and Justin before looking at Felix.

“Of course.” Felix steps to the side and allows me to walk ahead of him to the gated area where there are guards posted everywhere. He remains about five paces behind me as I make my way outside.

I look up at the stars and feel a slight breeze as I see the constellation of Orion just above me. I close my eyes for a minute and take a slow deep breath through my nose. I hear faint bird chirps and the sound of water flowing in the garden, and goosebumps form on my forearms as I turn towards the doors.

“Alright Felix. I think I am ready to go back inside.” I say as my breath is more illuminated by the lights of the buildings. I put my hand up to block some of the light, and I see Felix standing off to the right. He doesn’t move.

I clear my throat and take a few steps towards him. “Felix? I’m ready to go inside, are you?”

He doesn’t budge.

My heart starts to race and I start to put my hands out to feel everything around me, but as I do, someone stabs me in the neck with a syringe and puts their hand over my mouth. My vision starts to go black but I see a face just before I black out.

I see my face.