The Alpha's Choice (2 page)

"See?" Kat laughed with relief, "Nothing to
worry about."

Mr. Begley wasn't exaggerating when he said
it was a large Victorian home. There must be at least twenty rooms
in this house, but the light housekeeping part of her contract?
This place was going to take a lot more than light housekeeping to
keep it tidy. Then again, they were paying her a helluva lot more
than she'd ever been paid for anything else. She'd see they got
their money's worth.

She hadn't realized how worried she was over
her first impression of the house until the weight of it was lifted
from her shoulders. Kat was a planner, an organizer. She hadn't
done a spontaneous thing in her entire life and yet she'd fallen
for everything the agent, Mr. Begley, told her about the job and
the place where she would live. She'd been hurt, angry, and not
quite in her right mind when she'd spoken to the man and feared she
only heard what she wanted to hear. Not that there was anything she
could do about it if that was the case.

After the mess she'd left behind, she doubted
her ex-landlord would let her back in even if her old apartment was
still available and if he did, she had nothing with which to pay
first and last month's rent. Every dime she'd made in the last
eight years had gone to The Bastard in one form or another. Now he
had everything and she had nothing; no job, no home, no family and
no future prospects.

Mr. Begley insisted the house would be vacant
and no one would be inconvenienced by her early arrival. He
promised to make the arrangements, but surely all that food in the
kitchen was not for her alone. Once more she was beginning to doubt
her decision.

The bedroom at the top of the stairs chased
away those doubts and the view from the kitchen window sealed the
deal.

Her bedroom and she knew this because of the
notes Mr. Begley had given her along with directions, was larger
than her first apartment. A huge four poster bed took center stage
with a mattress raised so high off the floor the little set of
steps alongside weren't just for show. On one side of the room, two
wing chairs angled toward a fireplace with a hand carved surround
and mantle. A desk filled the corner on the other side of the bed
leaving plenty of room for a dresser between two doors; one of
which led to a luxurious bath with a huge claw foot tub beneath the
window and a glassed in shower stall along the back wall. The other
door led to a closet the size of Rhode Island.

It took ten minutes to run down to her car,
grab her bags and unpack every piece of clothing she owned. They
filled a corner of the closet.

In spite of the open wall of windows, Kat
hadn't bothered to take a good look outside the first time she was
in the kitchen, but when she finally did, the patio beyond the
kitchen made leaving the house impossible. She instantly took back
every bad thing she thought about the landscaping. Who cared about
the hellish front of the house when the back was heaven?

Within fifteen minutes, she had a piece of
salmon on the grill and a patio table set for one with real dishes
and flatware, a cloth napkin and a glass of white wine. The wood
for a fire was laid ready in the pit with a lounge chair beside it
where, after her delicious dinner, she would relax and enjoy
another glass of wine. Or two.

If The Bastard could enjoy a vacation, why
shouldn't she? Kat filled her plate and sat down to enjoy her
surroundings.

In addition to the fire pit and outdoor
kitchen, the backyard paradise included a heated pool, a hot tub,
two dining/seating areas and a putting green. Her former students
vacationed at fancy hotels that didn't equal this and beyond the
grassy area on the far side of the pool it was evident more was
planned.

Beyond that, the land went wild, beginning
with open field and ending in forest which rose up and up into one
of the many small mountains that dotted this part of the
Appalachian range. She wondered how much of this small valley her
employer owned. There didn't seem to be another house for
miles.

For the first time in years Katarina Bennett
felt completely relaxed and at ease. With a bath towel wrapped
around her shoulders and a small fire to ward off the evening
chill, she closed her eyes and exhaled noisily as she allowed her
body to collapse in her patio lounge.

She was barely thirty years old and yet she
felt old and worn out and for what? What did she have to show for
all those hours and years of hard work? Except for her degrees? Not
one damn thing, that's what.

She had no savings or investments and even
her 401K was minimal. Her checking account had a whopping seven
hundred and thirty five dollars in it.

She owned a twelve year old car and enough
clothes to fill two beat up suitcases. She'd disposed of her half
of the furniture which was purchased second hand to begin with and
was worth nothing now. The Bastard's portion was still in the
apartment. All her worldly possessions were stuffed in her compact
car. Nothing of hers was left behind unless she counted her half of
the flat screen TV. That was something she found too difficult to
divide so she'd left it with a table leg sticking out of one side
of it, a table leg from his half of the ancient kitchen table. The
rest of the table lay on the kitchen floor surrounded by his half
of the chairs she'd neatly sawed in two.

It took her eight years, but she'd learned
her lesson. From here on in, Kat came first. She was tired of
playing it safe; tired of living her life by a set of rules that
seemed to benefit everyone but her. She was still young enough to
make a new start and the year she would spend at this job would
give her that. The pay was excellent and she would have none of the
expenses she'd had before.

She laughed bitterly and poured herself more
wine. Her major previous expense was somewhere in the Bahamas with
his pregnant new wife.

Chapter 2

The sun had set, the fire had burned low and
the wine bottle was half empty when she saw them. She was also half
asleep, her chin bumping on her chest in a heavy-headed nod that
brought her head snapping upright and her eyes popping open. She
almost looked around to see if anyone had witnessed the
embarrassing display before she remembered she was alone. Movement
along the tree line caught her attention.

The warm earth and cool night air had merged
to form a mist that settled low across the field stretching beyond
the back of the house to the edge of the woods. The waning moon was
almost full and brighter than Kat's urban eyes had ever seen. It
rose above the trees, a bright, slightly misshapen opalescent ball
that illuminated the swirling vapor and gave ghostly form to the
shadows that played within.

She watched those shadows in the same way she
used to watch white fluffy clouds flit across a bright blue sky.
Her mind would form them into images only she could see and when
they disappeared with the motion of the wind, she had only to
reform them into something else from her imagination.

These shadows did the same, but without her
mental manipulation. They formed and reformed, vague dark images
engulfed and released by the mists to finally coalesce into
darkened and undefined animal shapes travelling through the brown
and gold of the tall, dry grass.

Kat blinked her incredulity and squinted into
the haze, only half believing the reality of a line of animals
trotting along in single file. They were too small to be horses and
yet too large to be dogs. She dropped her feet to either side of
the lounge and leaned forward to get a better look. The lead animal
stopped and turned toward her as if it heard the faint thump of her
feet touching ground. The others passed behind it in a steady line
into the woods while their leader stood guard.

Like a curtain being parted for a stage
performance, the mist gave way, giving her a clear vision of a
great beast watching her as intently as she watched him. Moonlight
glinted off his head and massive chest as he raised his snout to
the heavens and Kat held her breath waiting for the long, mournful
howl that never came. It didn't matter. Just the sight of the
animal sent a fingernail running along the blackboard of her
spine.

When he lowered his head, he looked across
the field again and Kat knew he was staring at her. She nodded
slowly in acknowledgement of the warning, blinked and the animal
was gone.

They were wolves, she was sure of it, though
what wolves were doing here, she couldn't fathom. She'd read about
the reintroduction of elk in the higher elevations to the east, but
nothing of the predators that might endanger the new herds. On the
other hand, it wasn't the kind of thing she kept up to date on
though she had read articles about deer populations growing out of
control. This place was close to Federal lands. Maybe they were
introducing the predators through some program there.

Not that it mattered. Except for the leader,
the animals showed no interest in her and stayed at the far edge of
the field and watching them, she felt no fear. Once there was more
activity around the place, she expected the wolves to give the
place even wider berth.

A look at her watch told her it was late and
she rubbed her arms against the night air. Spring was already
giving way to summer, but the nights were still cool. Too lazy to
retire upstairs, she replenished the fire from the stack of wood
beside it and shifted her body this way and that until she was
comfortable again and closed her eyes.

She'd just released that final sigh of breath
that passes into sleep when a scream echoed through the night. Kat
bolted upright, the hair at the back of her neck rising with the
chill that ran the length of her spine. Another shadow rose out of
the mist, rising into the night sky, great wings flapping silently
as it rose.

As the huge owl flew across the field with
its rabbit dinner dangling from its talons, Kat tried and failed to
laugh away her city girl squeamishness. She pulled her terry cloth
cover more tightly about her shoulders and scrunched down into her
chair. As soon as she closed her eyes, visions of cute little
bunnies danced through her mind.

"Poor baby bunnies," she pouted.

Something snorted behind her and her breath
froze. Whatever it was, it was at the back of her right shoulder
and it was larger than a bunny. Much, much larger. The sound was
coming from behind her ear.

She glanced down at the fire wondering if the
creature behind her could sense the movement of her eyes. A piece
of branch, a couple of inches in diameter, stuck out from the fire
and ended about two feet from the lounge. The tip was glowing
brightly with flame. Kat was calculating how quickly she could grab
the branch and turn, when the creature behind her snarled. It was a
low, barely heard growl, but it was enough to cause Kat to change
her mind.

"Sorry," she squeaked. Her heart was pumping
so hard her sweatshirt moved to the pounding rhythm. Or maybe that
was just her body shaking uncontrollably. The animal snorted again,
a chuffing sound that almost sounded like a laugh.

"I think I should warn you," she whispered in
the same squeaky voice. "I'm human. I read somewhere that we don't
taste very good and you don't strike me as a Red Riding Hood kind
of guy."

She heard the animal chuff again and this
time she got the distinct impression of laughter. Did animals
laugh? She had a hamster named Bernie once when she was seven, but
he wasn't very personable. He bit her every chance he got. That was
the only up close experience Kat had with animals and it only
lasted about a month before Bernie ran away to live and die in the
living room sofa.

She pointed to the field, lifting only her
finger from the arm of the lounge. "There are bunnies out there.
Big, fat juicy bunnies. I saw one earlier. I'm sure they taste much
better than me and they'd be a lot more fun to catch."

The animal laughter sounded again.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Kat turned her head
until she was looking directly at the beast behind her. As she
suspected, it was a wolf, a different wolf from the one that
watched her earlier and under any other circumstances she might
have admired this one's strength and magnificence.

He was a beautiful animal. At first, with
only the moonlight to cast away the darkness, his coat appeared as
a solid gold mane, but when she shifted her shoulder and the
firelight flickered over his velvety fur, she could see a variety
of reds and golds and browns with a soft, silky sheen that made her
want to reach out and touch it. He was a golden god of the
wild.

She didn't realize she'd swung her legs over
the side with her hand stretched toward the tawny head until the
animal curled his lip at her approach.

"Why Grandma, what big teeth you have," she
whispered while she withdrew her outstretched hand.

As if the animal understood, he showed her
more of them, a wolfish grin that almost made her laugh.

"Uh, I hope that's not an
all-the-better-to-eat-you smile," she said nervously.

The wolf cocked his head, first to one side
and then the other as if considering the idea. He licked his jowls
before giving her another wolfish grin. With a sharp shake of his
head and another chuff of canine mirth, the wolf sat, completely
relaxed and comfortable.

"You're making fun of me."

The great beast closed his eyes and bowed his
head.

Kat took the opportunity to make a move
toward the safety of the house. The wolf was immediately on his
feet, taking a step to block her retreat. Kat stamped her foot.

"Fine," she snapped, "Have it your way." She
crossed her arms over her chest and gave the wolf her coldest
stare, one that usually stopped teenagers in their tracks.