ALPHA GREY (Re-written)

Chapter 5

GREY’S POV

She had left.

One minute she was in my arms and the next I couldn’t sense her any. Her scent lingered in the particles of every ich of the pack house, driving my wolf to the edge of his unravelling.

You let her leave.

Mason couldn’t fathom why I’d let her slip away from my grasp when we’d waited so long to finally claim her. Tonight, was supposed to be the night she came to know that she was mine. Our mate, the Luna of the Lycan Blood Pack. Where could she have gone? I wondered as I roamed through the halls, hoping her scent would lead me to her but it was like searching for a white wolf in a snow forest. I grew more agitated as the minutes ticked by, my wolf’s restless unyielding.

Find a mate they said. It will make you stronger they said. If anything, the thought of being without her unleashed a wave of vulnerability that I had only ever felt once before. She had no idea who I was yet she had become the centre of my universe. I did not relish in the thought that she was slowly becoming my weakness, though I would never share that truth with anyone. Just one encounter and already she had left me so undone.

Deeming my tracking futile, in this sea of what seemed a thousand wolf’s whose whiffs seemed to erode my mate’s sweet fragrance, I decide to employ other methods. The mystic of our first encounter would soon wear off as she comes to know that she belongs to me. First, I would have to find her. My wolf would not let me rest otherwise.

***

With my first breath of consciousness, memories of the night before come rushing back just as the chilling reminiscence of yet another night terror wore off. I try to piece together the jumbled traces of memory that flooded my brain.  I feel a painful throbbing at my temples at the onset of a migraine I knew would remain for at least a couple more hours. As my vision focuses, I realise that I wasn’t in the comfort of my room, though not in unfamiliar territory. I sit up abruptly as the door slowly opens.

“How are you feeling?” I stare back into a pair of familiar silver eyes.

“What happened to me? How am I here?”

I question, still trying to piece together the stray pieces of my memory puzzle.

“Someone tried to drug you last night. I found you, well more like you found me before anything could happen. I don’t even want to think about what could have happened if I hadn’t been there. I’m just glad you found me before the drug could take full effect.”

For a moment, I remained silent as I tried to trace back my steps. The more I tried to force myself to remember what had transpired, the more the memories seemed to slip from my grasp. I rubbed at the sides of my head, the pounding intensifying with my mounting frustration.

“Hey. It will come back to you. Just take it easy for now. Okay?”

I sigh, knowing he was right. If I was going to remember, I needed to be calm only then would I be able to focus.

“I made breakfast. You can shower afterwards then I’ll drive you home.”

“Xander…Thank you.”

He simply nods before leaving the room, a subtle smile barely masking the concern glimmering in his eyes.

Only when I pry the sheets off me do I realised I was still clothed in the dress I wore the night before. I sigh, thankful that Xander hadn’t undressed me. Although he is my best friend, the though of him undressing my limp unconscious body doesn’t seem to sit well with me.  I slip off the bed, my legs already knowing the route to take as I head to the ensuite shower. Pieces of my memory begin falling into place when I strip. Slowly they come, as the hot water cascades down my flesh.

When I finally descend down the stairs, wearing Xander’s sweatpants and graphic tee, both a size too big for my petite frame. He looks up from his phone, his eyes taking in my appearance before a small smile breaks from the corners of his lips.

“I was worried you weren’t ever going to come down for breakfast. Not that I would mind. You know you can always stay here as long as you want.”

A chuckle slips past my lips at his nervous blabber.

“I thought I’d shower first. I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed your clothes.”

“Don’t be silly. They look so much better on you anyway.”

We both laugh, clearing the awkwardness in the room. After breakfast, he drives me home. We sit in comfortable silence, each lost in thought. The flashes keep coming.

I knew as soon as my vision began to blur, the images in front of me becoming distorted that the drink I had so graciously accepted in an effort to calm my erratic heartbeat, had been spiked. Non-alcoholic, I had specifically instructed the fine gentleman who I’d shared a dance with just before the song ended. He had approached me at the bar I had escaped to in an attempt to rid myself of the foreign emotions that the mysterious masked man from before had had on my body.

His politeness had fooled me into thinking he had no ill intentions. I did not question his offer to get me a drink. How naïve I had been to trust a man whose name I barely caught, a complete stranger from a foreign pack. Looks can be deceiving, I should have learned by now that snakes to not only slither at the feet of their prey, they offer wry smiles to unsuspecting victims, their fangs concealed to the naked eye.

Panic began to set in as I went on seeking safe ground or even a familiar face in the sea of masked guests. I could feel the room begin to spin as I stumbled onto the balcony, my eye-lids becoming heavy with sleep.

Don’t fall

The words ring in my head as I grab onto the railing to regain a steady balance. In the hazy fog, I hear a familiar voice. The smell of his cologne reaches my nostrils willing my sight to readjust briefly to take in his appearance. Though his silver eyes are slightly hidden away by the mask he wears, they still sparkle under the moonlight. Relief washes over me at the realization that it is him instead of the monster that stalked in the shadows awaiting my collapse.

“Bly, is that you?”

“Xander, I don’t feel so well. I think…”

My heavy eyelids finally give in to the overwhelming reach of an engulfing darkness.

“We are here.”

Xander’s soothing voice snaps me out of my trance, the flashback fading into the background. I clear my throat as I look to find that we had indeed arrived at my house. I begin to panic as I see unfamiliar cars parked outside my house, my parents must be worried sick. I realized then that I didn’t even know where my phone was.

“Hey, are you sure you are going to be okay? I can come inside with you if you’d like.”

I offer a forced smile, trying to convince him I would be alright but not even I was convinced. Bradley’s name pops up in my mind and I realize I am in more trouble than I anticipated. I find comfort in Xander’s warm hug just before I step outside the car. Sighing, I brace myself for the worst.