Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

20. And then there was darkness!

RILEY

Twenty minutes later, I was at the Windcrest mansion, waiting for Natalia to join me. It looked somewhat different without all the fancy decoration, but it was still imposing nonetheless.

"Hi Riley. Ready to go?" Natalia said as she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"You have no idea. Where should we go?"

As we stood there thinking of which route to take, I saw a familiar busty blonde eagerly make her way to us.

"Natalia! So happy to see you, dear. Have you seen Rafe anywhere? I've looked for him all over the pack's grounds and I can't find him." She was all smiles and innocence, yet I couldn't help but get the feeling that she was acting overly friendly with Natalia. I saw Nat's body stiffen a bit as the busty blonde tried to hug her. Clearly this was not their usual dynamic.

"Oh, hey Amy. No sorry, Rafe has been keeping to himself lately, so I have no clue where he is." It sounded like Nat was covering for her brother but her lie was so subtle that I only picked up on it because of my professional background.

The other girl finally decided to acknowledge my presence as well and I was happy that I had my scent still masked. Definitely didn't want her to be nosy about me. I don't know what it was but I just didn't like her. She was one of those people that you had the feeling that she was not being genuine, especially when you have Natalia, one of the sweetest and most sincere people ever, standing right next to her. Perhaps I had an issue with how desperate she was in her attempts to go after the idiot Rafe Macalister- I was just not a fan of girls who threw themselves so eagerly at men. Or maybe she just had one of those bitchy faces that you just ended up disliking someone for. Okay, I was being a bit judgemental here but whatever the reason, I did not have a good feeling about this girl.

"I see. Oh, you have a friend with you. Sorry, hun, I didn't see you there." Seriously?! Was she in kindergarten still? "Amy Spade."

"It's okay. I'm sure you must have something urgent on your mind, seeing how desperately you are trying to get hold of the future Alpha." I said, ignoring her introduction. Her eyes flashed with annoyance. Good, I hit a nerve!

Blondie turned her back to me and continued talking to Natalia. "Are you going for a walk? I heard that the Culag Woods trail was perfect today. There is no one around so if you two", she looked at Nat before glaring at me, "want to shift, it would be perfect. And it's a beautiful trail."

"Thanks, Amy, I was thinking about taking Riley to Inveruglas."

"No, no, no, hun. Why go so far? Culag Woods is closer. And I am sure that you and your friend will be surprised by the trail."

Amy seemed to be pretty insistent on the Culag Woods and eventually left after Nat promised her that we would check it out.

"I don't like this girl at all, Nat." I shared as Amy finally disappeared.

"I know. Me neither. I know that my brother is just messing around with her, as he does with many others, but Amy seems to be more set on becoming the next Luna than any of my brother's other dalliances. Sometimes I wonder how far she would go in order to make that happen. Rafe doesn't really believe in the concept of mates but when he takes over, he will need a Luna and I really hope, for everyone's sake, that she doesn't somehow convince him to take her on."

I thought about Rafe Macalister. The guy was a prick but he didn't strike me as stupid so I would have expected him to see through Amy's desperate advances. Then again, how often were men blinded by their lust, thinking with the wrong head when making decisions.

"I have to admit that it was really odd to have her come talk to me. We barely speak normally. She did have a point though- the Culag Woods trail is beautiful and way closer, so maybe we should follow her advice," Natalia said as we got into the car. I still had a bad feeling about listening to Amy but reluctantly I agreed.