ALPHA(9)

I was about to question what he meant by being Jackson’s enforcer and patrolling the area, when Annabelle wriggled until Ethan placed her on the floor, ruffling her hair as he did it. She ran to me, and grabbed my hand, smiling up at me as if I was her new favourite aunt.

“This is my new friend! She’s staying here forever, aren’t you?” She looked up at me, and I felt really bad at the thought of breaking the poor kid’s heart.

“Erm…” Thankfully, Ethan saved me from the situation, by offering Annabelle a race back to the house, and she screamed in delight before taking off, faster than I ever thought a child would be able to run. Ethan followed after her, and I trailed at a more leisurely pace, enjoying the beautiful surroundings, and wondering if I really wanted to leave this place.





JACKSON



“Hey, anyone home?” I shouted as I walked through the front door of my brother’s B&B. A part of me always felt wary that they left their door open for just anyone to walk in, but as my brother reminded me on a daily basis, that was kind of the point of them owning a B&B. I knew as soon as Laura mentioned she needed somewhere to stay, that this place would be perfect. My brother and his soul mate, Jasmine, had worked their assess off to get this place together and it really was amazing. Jasmine often got disheartened when they hardly had anyone wanting to stay for the night, but that was just the way the town was. My brother and I had tried to explain to her that with strangers being like gold dust around here, they wouldn’t get that much business, but it had been her dream. Noah was unable to deny her anything, so they had opened the B&B about six months ago. Seeing the smile on Jasmine’s face the other night, was proof that I had done the right thing taking Laura there. I just hoped that Jasmine didn’t get too attached to her, and persuade her to stay longer. I had been suspicious Laura had not been ready to leave yesterday, but Jasmine assured me she was ‘catching her breath’ and would be better today.

“In here!” I heard Jasmine shout, as I approached the door through to the kitchen.

“Hey!” She smiled as we walked in the door, and I noticed Noah sat at the table reading a newspaper.

“Since when did you get so domesticated? Reading a newspaper in the morning and everything?”

“You’re just jealous.” Noah smiled as I scoffed.

“Nah, thanks man. Won’t see me being tied down any time soon.”

“Really?” Jasmine chimed from where she was leaning against the kitchen counter. “I don’t know, I think I saw a spark between you and our visitor the other day.” She smiled and I knew exactly where she was going with this.

“Forget it, Jasmine. She can’t stay here, you know that.”

“Why not?”

“Have you forgotten that she’s human?”

“Of course not! But, Jackson, she actually stood up to you! She didn’t just do whatever you wanted; I mean it’s nice to have a change around here. “

“You don’t know that though, because no-one is ever allowed to come here. I like her.” Jasmine turned back to clean the counter as if her comment was final and that was the end of the conversation. I looked toward Noah for some support, to find him just shrugging his shoulders as if afraid to disagree with her. Pussy-whipped.

I was about to fire back up the argument, when I heard a child’s laughter and looked through the glass doors that lead toward the garden. I watched as my beautiful niece was carried on Ethan’s shoulders through the garden, her laughter having the power to make even a grumpy git like me smile. She really was a blessing to my brother, and the whole family. We probably all spoilt her rotten, but as the only little girl in the family it was pretty much mandatory. As the two of them got closer to the house, I noticed Laura trailing behind quietly observing everything around her. I noticed the curiosity and wonderment in her gaze as she looked at the various flowers in the garden, trying to quell the attraction to her I was feeling. Honestly, I hadn’t been attracted to a woman in so long I worried I was ill, but turns out it just took an annoying human to fire me back up again. Not ideal. Man, she was beautiful though. Luckily, I was pulled from staring unashamedly at Laura, by the ringing of my phone. Saved by the bell.





LAURA



As I approached the house, I couldn’t stop the smile that graced my face when I saw the scene before me. Ethan was holding a giggling Annabelle and swinging her around in the air, whilst Jasmine and Noah stood watching, with their arms around each other and beaming smiles on their faces. My heart sank at the same time as my body tingled when I saw Jackson standing off to the side, talking in to a mobile phone with a serious look on his face. No change there then. As I walked up the group, Jasmine smiled and called out to me.