The Alpha’s Desire 2(29)

 

 

 

Walking into the bathroom, the faint lingering scents of my soaps, creams, and perfumes took over. I inhaled deeply to get the other smells out of my nose. Stepping to the tub, I reached in for my favorite bubble bath, vanilla with a hint of jasmine. Opening the bottle, I inhaled again. Once my eyes opened back up, I spun around to get a good look of a clean room. My flowered curtains in deep greens, browns, and purples brought me comfort as I got lost in their floral pattern. My hand towels, an assortment of the same three colors, hung by the sink. The few items out on the sink were neatly arranged in baskets, and I gave thanks for the small things, as well as the things that remained the same.

 

 

 

Here, on a small stand at my right that stood by my tub, I had another book, one with the hardback cover barely creased. I always kept a fiction book in the living room or bedroom, wherever I’d last dropped it, and a non-fiction, self-help type book by the tub. I liked to read a few lines, close the book, and then sink into the bubbles as I let my thoughts go around whatever I’d just read. I’d been currently devouring the inspirational autobiography of a woman who’d spent time interviewing Mother Theresa.

 

 

 

Shaking it all off, I grabbed some towels from the closet and laid them out for Lex. I figured he must be about done with his conversation, so I went to start the shower. With a second thought, I went to close the door first, to trap the warmth of the steam into the room. I shivered, but I couldn’t have told you if it was truly cold out or not. But, just as I was about to close the door, officially block out the mess, I heard Lex’s voice.

 

 

 

“Three dead,” he stated into the phone like a news reporter, completely removed from the situation.

 

 

 

The tone caught my attention, but maybe he had to put on a show for whatever type of guys came to houses for a living and cleaned up such gore without issue. I had to wonder if any women did this, too. They served in the military, so why not? Though, me, I couldn’t imagine such a job. But then, I couldn’t even imagine being a nurse. Answering phones and making endless copies, though it bored me to death, I could at least handle. One drop of blood bubbling up from a vein, and, well, I was toast.

 

 

 

Of course, I’d now have to rethink such overreactions given what I’d just witnessed and walked away from today. Maybe Lex was right, though. I’d probably more passed out than been knocked unconscious, as Lex had suggested. While my head ached, the pain ached, not throbbed like a head injury would.

 

 

 

“Back up may be necessary at some point. They threatened her,” he went on.

 

 

 

I stopped, door nearly shut to eavesdrop at the mention of me, the her, in his statement. Backup meant that Lex himself was afraid, so what should the person he was protecting be, then, terrified to the point of curling into a fetal position behind locked doors secured with heavy furniture? I wondered if my chest would be heavy enough to stop a wolf from breaking down a locked bedroom door as Lex paused to listen on the phone.

 

 

 

“So, she’s not the only one then? ...Shit! Yes, the one turned right in front of her and threatened to take her and mate with her. They have a sorcerer now, they claimed. Is that why the threats are increasing around the globe?”

 

 

 

The globe? That mean my bloodline, the royal, magic werewolf bloodline that is, had been spread all over the place. Probably on purpose, no doubt. That meant that, in a way, I had family, no matter how distant, somewhere out there. If I survived this, I wondered if I’d ever be allowed to meet them. Or, was that forbidden too? More questions for Lex, of course. I wished I could hear what the person on the other line was saying.

 

 

 

But, if I wasn’t the only one, then that meant more of these werewolves were attacking others of my bloodline, exposing what they were to them, and thus their protectors. I didn’t get why now, other than, like Lex had mentioned, it was this sorcerer they claimed to have.

 

 

 

“I get it. Hypervigilance. Just get someone here fast as you can then, to clean up this mess. It’s really freaking her out, though I know she tried to act tough in front of me. I know I exposed myself to my charge, so I’ll come in to give my report on it being absolutely necessary,” Lex stated. He’d taken on more of a lawyer tone now.

 

 

 

“They’ve amped up their attacks to include the humans, showing themselves,” he continued. “Our rules will have to be adjusted as well, though I get what you’re saying. I will wait for your decision on how to proceed next, but in the meantime, I’m not leaving her side.... I’m sorry to be so abrupt. Forgive me, due to the situation at hand. She has to be protected and I am the best suited to do it. They may just be sitting in wait, hoping we will leave her vulnerable while we decide what to do next. I wouldn’t take any protector at this point away from his charge. We are on new territory, now, pardon my suggestion.”