Fire in the Heir

6.

It was Alpha Riese’s wolf, Vaughn, who stood before us, and I finally realized why Kana was bowed down on the ground.

It was not that she was getting ready to attack or flee, she was showing a respectful submission to our pack leader.

Alpha Riese Whitevern was one of the most powerful men I have met besides my dad, but his wolf Vaughn was a whole different beast.

Vaughn was one of the biggest wolves I have ever seen. He was solid black except for a small oval-shaped patch on his chest that was tinged with cinnamon and auburn streaks, and his eyes looked like pools of liquid amber.

To say that he cast fear with his size alone was an understatement, but just being in his presence one could feel the immense power radiating off of him.

“Rise.” With one word Kana stood, but she did not move towards Vaughn or Stella. We stood there for a few moments until I heard Stella finally break the now awkward silence.

“Should we head towards Taylor’s house? Her parents are now home and they are awaiting our return.” He looked at me for a moment, then turned to Stella.

Quickly, we both looked towards each other, and then back to Vaughn to see if he would be joining us.

“You two go along, I will gather your things and meet you back at Caed’s house when I am done.”

And with that he turned and walked out of the little clearing, probably to shift and dress before gathering our belongings.

Kana only waited long enough for him to take his last steps out of the little clearing before she turned and bolted to the road leading to my house.

“Is everything okay? Why is he here? What does he want?” The questions were streaming out of her so fast, but I wasn’t sure if she was talking to Stella, me, or herself.

As we got closer to my house, I could still feel the hint of fear running through her and it felt like it was pooling inside of me.

The lights were on in the house, but Kana ran around the house towards the back yard, and behind the small shed that we had back there.

Right before she let the shift take her, I could have sworn that I heard her whisper, “be careful my heart.”

Being wolves, we went through clothes quickly and often and had spare tops and bottoms scattered all around our homes.

While nudity was not seen the same with wolves as it was with humans, it was still uncomfortable to walk around naked in front of one’s parents.

We had extra clothes in the shed so I ran inside and quickly shifted back before Stella had even skidded around the house and headed towards me.

I pulled on a sports bra, some leggings, and an oversized t-shirt as quickly as I could because I didn’t know how long it would take for Alpha Killian to show up at my house and I wanted to talk to my parents.

As I was slipping my shirt over my head, I saw that Monika had shifted back as she threw the door open.

Chucking a shirt at her, which smacked her right in the face, I got a ,“Thanks jerk.” Monika grumbled as she grabbed the shirt and started to pull it over her head.

I threw a pair of running shorts at her next, but this time she caught them and slipped them on.

Once I was sure that she was clothed, I ran out of the shed and towards the house to the now open back door.

My parents were both sitting at the bar obviously waiting for us. “Maybe we should have gotten our story straight before coming in here,” Monika whispered under her breath towards me.

But the slight smirk that appeared on my dad’s face let me know instantly that he heard her. “No need for stories little Monika, we have already heard from Riese and he will be here any second.”

My mom stood from her stool and walked around the bar into the kitchen. As she walked past me she reached out and tugged on my ear lobe softly like she used to when I was a little girl. Instantly I knew that something was bothering her.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come straight home after school and that I didn’t stay for practice. I really didn’t mean to scare you or anything and I won’t ever let it happen again. I wasn’t feeling well and I thought getting Kana out might help me to shake off these feelings, and you know how I am about shifting in front of others, and how much,” I trailed off as I realized I was literally just rambling at this point.

I was just standing in the middle of the kitchen, vomiting up words that seemed to make sense in my head but were getting too jumbled as they left my mouth.

Right as my dad stood from his stool by the bar there was a knock on the front door. Instantly, Monika and I froze and my mom turned toward the door wringing her hands together as my dad went to answer it.

I wasn’t sure what the hell was happening. I mean I know that I probably worried the hell out of my parents, but did I do something wrong that could have caused the Alpha to get involved?

If I was thinking straight I would have asked Monika what was going on the second we got into the shed, but my mind was racing at that point.

As the Alpha of White River walked into my house, which he had been to so many times, for some reason, it felt so different.

It felt as if something bad was going to happen or I had done something really wrong. Monika looked like she was nervous or scared, or she was about to get into trouble too.

Maybe we had done something wrong. Maybe we pulled my dad or mom out of an important meeting or duty to come and find me. Whatever it was, I knew that this was not going to be a good thing.

“Evening everyone,” Alpha Riese said as he walked in carrying all of mine and Monika’s things from the clearing.

“Evening” we all sounded off in unison and acknowledged him with a slight bow of our heads. “Welcome in Riese, can I offer you something to drink,” my mother chirped from beside me now.

“No, I don’t have much time. I just happened to run into the girls in the woods near by while I was out and decided to bring their stuff for them since it was so late and I knew that you were worried about her.”

For a split second, I saw Alpha Killian glance to Monika and she flinched, actually flinched and I had an even worse feeling about what would happen next.

My dad must have seen it too, because he walked toward Alpha Riese and took our things from him.

“Riese, I thank you so much for getting the girls home when you came across them. Are you sure we can’t trouble you to stay for dinner?”

The offer was sincere, but I could feel my mom inhale next to me and hold it for much too long. I looked over to her and must have missed something because just then Monika squeaked.

“Uncle, can I go back with you, I think that Taylor needs to talk to her parents and get some rest since she wasn’t feeling to well today.” Right away Alpha Riese’s eyes shot to mine, “Are you unwell Taylor?”

It took me a minute to answer his question, but I couldn’t figure out why I was feeling like this? I know Alpha Riese, he is practically family as much as we are together and how often we see each other.

I mean he is my dad’s best friend for goddess sake, but the look of concern that was etched into his features, for me, was more than I could handle.

“No, I was just a little out of it today, that’s all. I didn’t sleep well last night and I was really tired today, nothing to worry too much about.”

Answering quickly, I then gave a small smile. He smiled back at me and I felt a flutter of emotion inside that I knew didn’t come from Kana.

“I’m glad to hear it. Come Monika, let’s get home and see what Chef has made this evening.” Monika ran over and hugged me and kissed my mom on the cheek.

She walked over to Alpha Riese and my dad on the other side of the counter and slugged my dad in his shoulder with a huge grin on her face.

As we all said our goodbyes, I was left with a small ache in my chest that I wasn’t sure was there now because Monika had left, or because Alpha Riese had.