Challenge the Alpha

Chapter eleven - A Long Day

Indie;

I stood, dumbfounded, staring after the stranger, still clutching a fist full of clothing to my body. My skin felt clammy and my knees felt weak. I wanted to scream and cry some more, wanted to be angry, but I just felt drained. I wholeheartedly believed him. I probably was just a pet, a new plaything, god knows how many he'd had before.

I looked around me at the mess. I decided to push down all feelings for Rollo and just focus on clearing up the evidence of my tantrum. I organised each item my way, the ones I would wear all the time hanging one side and the less likelys the other. I looked at each pair of shoes, tried on some tops and after an hour and a half, the wardrobe was back in place but to my liking. I'd found an Alice Cooper tshirt that was far too big for me and, although I realised it was Rollos and I should be avoiding allowing him in my head, I decided to wear it as a dress with some grey leggings and a belt around my waist, but first needed to shower.

I stood in the warm water, overcome with emotion and clawed at my arms. I wasn't coping so well and I didn't know what to do. I was restless. I placed my forehead against the cool tile wall and tried to think of nothing but the rise and fall of my chest, the way the air felt whooshing in and out of my lungs. Once I was sure I had rid myself of the cold sweat left by the intruder, I shut off the taps and stepped from the cosy shower cubicle. I quickly dried off, dressed and wrapped my damp hair in the towel.

Moving back into the bedroom, I tried to find a clock. I had no idea what time it was, I didn't really even know what day it was. The sky looked to be getting darker but there was still some light to be had.

"Well, may as well go downstairs and find something to do." I muttered to myself as I dug out a pair of dr martens I'd found and taken quite a liking to. They were an off silver, matt colour with a flower pattern almost the same colour so if you just glanced, you'd miss they were even there. I ruffled my hair one last time and chucked the towel in the bathroom on the floor, I'd pick it up later.

Stomping slightly because I was still in a mood from Rollo ditching me as well as being humiliated by the unsettling creep, I made my way towards the stairs. I still felt weird wondering around this house alone. It wasn't my home.

At the bottom of the stairs, I paused and looked towards the large door. I couldn't leave, I didn't know where I was. I'd end up lost on the woods, relying on a certain wolf I don't think I want to see right now coming to my rescue again. I felt useless. I felt pathetic.

Just as I was about to sulk my way back to my room, the door opened and Reggie strolled in wearing his infectious grin,

"MISS INDIE," he exclaimed, very excited to find me there, "I've just been to fetch you some more good veggie stuff, I thought I'd make you a pumpkin katsu curry for dinner."

He was carrying three bags for life and I hoped it wasn't all purely bought with me in mind. I wondered if Reggie was here all the time, maybe he'd seen the off-putting pervert I'd encountered earlier today.

"Come, come, Indiana, you will be of use to me in the kitchen, come, come!" Reggie insisted, as if understanding my current limboish state of being and throwing me a life line.

I followed his instructions to the letter, he was very pleased with me. He said I made a wonderful sous chef and he would love my help any day I was up for it. By the end of the preparation, I'd all but forgotten my awful incidents and was smiling away and laughing at Reggie's spot on impression of a ticked off Rollo.

"Listen, child. I know how daunting it can be as a new human around the wolves, they are a very intense bunch and some times quick to forget we are not the same. But there is no where else I would rather be." I trusted Reggie. I wasn't one to trust many but he had a heart of gold that shined through in his every action.

"I just feel a bit useless right now. And I don't feel like I'm really feeling my feelings." I began to open up.

"What you mean, feel your feelings?"

"I'm grieving. I lost my best friend of my whole life. I have been taken from one captive situation to another. And a lot of the time, it's like my head is clouded, as if there's something keeping those thoughts and feelings away. And then other times, I'm being suffocated by them. I handle my feelings. I don't like feeling numb, I'd rather know the pain. Only knowing the pain in snippets, is difficult and it makes it tough to cope."

"Ah. Don't mind me saying, but is there a someone you have in mind that is doing this cloudin' you mentioned?"

I nodded, and sighed, rubbing my temples.

"It's just been a long few days, Reg."

He threw his head back and erupted into a roaring fit of laughter.

"I went through s**t at the hands of wolves and I thought I got over it well, then there's you, little cute Luna, just calling in a long day and helping me cook for the house," he shook his head while trying to fight off his chuckling, "we humans gotta stick together, child, you need me, I'm around."

"Thanks, Reggie, I really appreciate it."

All of a sudden, Marcus came bouncing into the kitchen,

"Honey, I'm home!" He yelled, arms open wide. Reggie just shook his head some more, I looked at Marcus in confusion,

"I didn't think Kimberley was here?" I couldn't imagine she would have ignored my breakdown earlier, I hadn't actually seen her since lunch.

"I was talking to you!" He ran around and scooped me up in a bear hug, lifting and spinning me in circles.

A low growl came from the direction he had just come in and he plopped me down immediately,

"I had to run ahead to make sure I got a proper hello in." He whispered and winked at me.

Rollo walked into the room and my heart stopped, he was wearing the same black tshirt as when he left, only his expression was tired. If a toddler were to draw a picture of a man having a bad day, they'd draw Rollo right now.

And he barely looked at me.

He sat in one of the stools and held his head in his hands. I couldn't help myself, I wanted to be mad at him, wanted to ignore him, have him fuss over me but I needed to comfort him. He seemed a half broken man and I wanted to make him whole. I moved around the counter and right up to him. I gripped his bulging arm and heard a low purr at the contact.

"Is everything okay?" I whispered in his ear, leaning closer, stroking his thigh with my hand.

He turned quickly and pulled me into his lap, burying his face into my neck and inhaling deeply,

"I've just never been very good at long meetings is all. Marcus is much better at politics than I am," His arms wrapped entirely round my waist, holding me as close to him as he could, "I spent the whole time missing you and wondering if you were mad at me for leaving."

"I was," I confessed, "but you make it hard to stay mad with that puppy dog face of yours."

"Believe me, baby girl, I'm no pup."

I giggled and felt him smile against my skin,

"That's a lovely sound, almost as good as the squeal I got out of you earlier." He teased and nipped at my neck with his teeth,

"Put the poor girl down, she slaved over this meal for us all and you aren't even letting her eat it." Reggie scoulded Rollo and he reluctantly let me go.

Just as we were plating up, Kimberley skipped in.

"Sorry I'm late, I was chatting with some peeps after patrol and lost track of time." She leapt at Marcus and bombarded him with kisses all over his face,

"so what happened at the gathering?" She asked and Marcus, very animatedly with voices and everything, began to go through a thorough analysis of the meeting.

The next pack over, the one Rollo and Marcus originally came from had been attacked by witches. No one really stopped to let me process the fact they exist but apparently they do, so, move on. They had only lost three wolves, all children taken near their homes from the woods. Right, definitely not going to let myself go get lost in the woods then. No bodies had been found so they could still be alive and they had failed to take the fourth child and were caught.

"Why would they take the children?" I asked, I had tried to not get involved or invested too much in the conversation but the thought of a child scared and alone and in danger made my blood boil.

"Witches are awful. They're the worst, sickest women you will ever meet. They are all human, or were, and they only get their powers by doing dreadful things and swearing their loyalty to the demon of all demons." Marcus explained,

"Are they all women? Can't a man do the same?" I probbed, they'd peaked an interest. It was a pandoras box. I knew I would hate anything they told me, I knew it would upset me but I couldn't help myself.

"Only women can be witches." Rollo confirmed with a nod.

"How come?"

He took a bite of his chicken and gave me a sad look, he took his time chewing before he'd worked out the way to tell me,

"You can only become a witch and show you're true commitment to the demon by enacting the most barbaric and inhuman sacrifice."

A chill ran through my body,

"Are you referring to what I think?" I dropped my fork, my eyes stung with tears.

"A child they carried in their womb. They sacrifice their own born. And usually in slow, diabolical ways."

I looked down at my food. I suddenly didn't feel like eating. You always heard tales of witches stealing children but there was also always some good witches. It was hard to hear us humans got everything so half wrong. Those poor babies, wanting nothing other than love from their mother and being given nothing but pain. Some women truly did not deserve the right to bear a child. The world was unfair and harsh before I knew about the supernatural beings, but everything seemed to get a whole lot worse.

I pushed the rice on my plate into a pile before squashing it to rebuild, Rollo gripped my knee and gave it a reassuring squeeze,

"Alpha Finn is very confident he can resolve the issue but we're on hand to help. Witches are cowards and know they can't face us, that's why they hide in the shadows and are only targeting those without their wolves yet. Now we have identified what happened to the kids, we can get them back." Marcus stated, very matter of factly while he continued to shovel in spoonfuls of meat and rice.

Even Reggie wasn't surprised by any of this news, was this all a normal occurrence around here?

"That wasn't even why it was so long, that was easy to work out, the real debate happened when Josies uncle brought up the way she was banished from the pack house." Marcus continued to fill in Kim and I continued to overhear the discussion.

"This is how I keep so up to date with the local news," Reggie whispered, "Marcus tells Kimberley everything, they have no secrets."

"Then Timothy said 'is it not disrespectful to end a fruitful relationship with a high ranking she-wolf so' and Rollo was all like 'I don't ever remember committing to a relationship with Josie, it was a convient arrangement that is no longer required' and then Rollo nearly lost his s**t when Tim referred to Indie as.."

Suddenly, Marcus was no longer sat at the counter. He was lay on the floor. I hadn't seen Rollo move but he loomed over Marcus from behind,

"Don't you dare say what you're about to in my house."

Marcus looked up at him, genuinely terrified. In his defense, Rollo seemed a monster in that moment.

"Sorry, Alpha, you're right. I got carried away." Marcus managed to stutter as he looked away.

I watched as Rollos black eyes gradually cleared and his almost normal colour was back. He extended a hand for Marcus to take and helped him stand, dusting him off and gesturing for him to sit and continue eating.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room while everyone returned to their food. Everyone except me. My stomach was in knots. My throat felt tight. I could feel my legs shaking. I really did have no idea who I was getting into bed with, did I.

A warm palm grazed my thigh, so soft and gently I would have questioned if it was really there had I not watched him do it. He held my leg and the shaking faded. I braved to look at him and he was just eating his chicken, as if he was almost embarrassed to look at me after his snap at Marcus.

"Hey, Mr Boss man, did you send the Gamma here earlier?" Reggie asked out the blue.

Rollo looked up at him and frowned, "No, did he say I did?"

"Nah, Mr Boss. I didn't speak to him, I just saw him coming down the stairs to your wing laughing to himself about someting. He went straight out the door."

Rollos annoyed gazed snapped straight in my direction, "Did Ezekiel come see you earlier?"

I had no idea why I felt as if I had done something wrong and was now under interrogation, but my head spun.

"I mean," my voice was small and I gulped trying to find some more courage, I picked up my fork and thought if I ate some more, he would drop the subject to let me finish my food, "someone just kinda popped up but they didn't tell me who they were. They were probably just looking for you."

I put a mouth full of pumpkin in my mouth and chewed slowly as the air became heavy. I felt the need to cower. I lifted my head up to see everyone in the room avoiding looking in my general direction. Except for Rollo whose mouth was in a hard line and his eyes were swirling with the abyss again.

"You're lying."

I'm sure he could see my face pale because I felt it. I didn't want to fight, I didn't even understand what this fight would be for.

"I think we just found rule five, Indie. Come with me." He grabbed my wrist and roughly pulled me off the stool.

"But we haven't finished ea.." Before I could get my words out to argue, he pulled me round in front of him and threw me over his shoulder. I realised we were going in the opposite direction of the bedrooms and panic washed over me. What was he going to do with me?

My long, blonde hair was covering my face as I was carried towards my doom. He went down the long corridor past all the pack rec rooms and came to his office. His cold office he said he didn't want me in before. The room that represented a different side to him.

He threw me down on the desk and turned to slam the door shut so hard, the wood cracked by the hinges.

A whimper escaped me as I wrapped my arms around me and looked away from him. His breathing was loud, almost like a growl as he paced back and forth in front of me slowly. Like a predator who's cornered his prey and is deciding how to strike.

He turned and grabbed a metal tree ornament from a shelf and launched it at the window behind me causing a loud crack that made me jump and hide my face with my hands.

I couldn't hold it in anymore and I started to cry. I was rooted to the spot and there was nothing I could do. No one knew I was here. If he decided to kill me, that would just be me wiped off the face of existence.

"You CANNOT LIE to me when it involves my third in command, Indie. He doesn't just show up at the pack house without a reason and he knew where I was this afternoon." He growled at me. His low, harsh voice barely recognisable to me.

"Why was he here?" He demanded but I had nothing I could say. I didn't know why. He didn't speak to me much. I just cried harder into my hands.

"WHY WAS HE HERE, INDIE?" He shouted and I shook my head.

"I don't know," I croaked back "I really didn't even know who he was, he was just some off-putting creep that walked in on me half naked."

Rollo became silent. The only sound in the room was now my sniffling as I continued to weep. I felt his warmth near me, I could feel his body was close. He tried to touch me but I flinched and pushed him away.

His hands fisted at his sides, his eyes black and his lips pulled back as if showing his teeth.

"What did you say he did, Indie?" His voice was much softer but there was pure rage in his expression.

"He.. he just sorta appeared when I was finding something to wear. And said some stuff, then left. He was there all of a minute. "

Rollo swayed back and forth on his feet and screwed his fists tighter. Shaking his head, he growled but mostly to himself. I didn't feel threatened or scared of him anymore. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand and tried to dry my cheeks with my fingers.

"Humans smell different when they say something they know is dishonest," he was much calmer now, "it's like the air around them changes, darkens. Us wolves can pick up on it. You said something off in the kitchen and I need to know what it was. I can't have secrets about wolves I put trust in to help me lead the pack."

He stepped towards me and I flinched again.

"So you'll manhandle me, humiliate me like that anytime I try to keep something to myself?" I half shouted at him.

"No, no," he shook his head, "I shouldn't have ..that's the Alpha in me protecting his pack. There was a secret about the one who plans all our fighting strategies, our defenses.. I can't doubt him and if I do, I need to remove him."

With that the door was forced open by Marcus, the split in the wood making it stick in the frame. Behind him trailed the unsettling figure from earlier and a shiver ran up my spine.

Rollo noticed and I saw his eyes darken at the sight of my reaction to this other man.

"Well Zek," Rollo started, his voice cold and emotionless. He walked round to his chair and his dominating presence filled the room, "I think we have need to talk about you walking in on my girl without an invitation."