The Alpha's Choice (3 page)

It hit her then that she was no longer
afraid. Her initial terror had receded into simple cautiousness and
it was only a residual distrust that kept her from walking into the
house. This animal wasn't going to hurt her. She was sure of it.
Well... pretty sure.

"I'm not sitting here all night. The fire is
dying and I'm cold. Some of us," she sniffed, "Don't have fur
coats." As if to emphasize her point, the towel slipped. She
snapped it back in place.

The wolf snorted and Kat huffed right back
while recognizing how bizarre this situation was. Anyone with half
a brain would not be standing here talking to a dog, okay a wolf,
she corrected when the animal's head snapped up as if he'd heard
her thoughts. Anyone with an ounce of brains would be peeing their
pants.

The wolf slowly closed his eyes and sighed.
When he opened them again, he turned toward the house. His haunches
collapsed and he laid down with his legs folded in such a way that
he could easily leap into motion should the need arise. The eyes
slid from the house to Kat.

OMG, she thought in the texting shorthand
she'd picked up from the kids. The wolf's eyes were green!

Dark, thick lashes surrounded eyes like
glowing emeralds. She'd never seen a dog, a canine, she corrected,
with green eyes. How strange. Weren't wolf eyes yellow? If you
crossed a yellow-eyed wolf with a blue-eyed husky, would you get a
green-eyed wolf-dog? Kat found herself melting into those
mesmerizing eyes. Suddenly she reared back and snapped her eyes
shut. Holy shit!

She forced herself to look away from the
beautiful beast. She'd never heard of wolves mesmerizing their
prey, but then again, she didn't know they had green eyes, either.
Was this a mutation? Or was this handsome fellow a throwback to his
mystical forbearers? Was that a bit of fairytale magic in the wind?
Of course not, but bright stars and firelight had probably given
birth to such myths.

Wolves chased down their prey, ran it to
ground. Running was what triggered the instinct to chase. Was that
why this wolf showed no aggression toward her? Or was it simply
because he had already hunted and his belly was full.

Eyes shuttered with half closed lids, the
wolf cocked his head to the side again, this time not
contemplating, but listening. He gave a slight downward shake of
his head as if a decision was made and opened his eyes. Lip curled
in a snarl, his head snapped up as he rose and took a step toward
Kat, swinging his head and clearly herding her toward the back door
of the house. His chest seemed to broaden as he brought himself up
to his full and majestic height.

The wolf might not be King of the Jungle, but
this one was definitely Lord of His Domain. The change in the
wolf's demeanor was striking and a little frightening. Kat had
forgotten for a moment just how powerful this animal was.

Not needing a second invitation, Kat threw
herself off the lounge and headed for the door, pulling it closed
behind her and bracing her back against it. In her mad dash to
safety, she'd lost her towel.

As if to emphasize how ludicrous her
precautions were, the wolf butted his head against the door,
knocking her back. His nose jiggled the handle.

Whatever the wolf's mission, it was aborted
when his head rose again, scenting the night. His howl broke the
stillness, the final note of it echoing eerily through the
darkness. When the last faint echo died away, the wolf outside her
door snarled and then there was silence.

Kat pushed the door closed once more, this
time listening for the solid click of the latch and driving the
locking bolt into its seat. Standing motionless with her ear to the
door, she listened closely, but all she heard in the quiet of the
night were the small chirps of tiny creatures and clicks of insects
who found safety in the dark. There were no more screams from
nature's small victims, no more howls and nothing to indicate the
great golden beast was still outside her door.

Shivering with the full import of what could
have happened to her, she ran for the stairs, threw herself into
the bed and had all she could do not to pull the downy comforter
over her head. What was she thinking, trying to converse with a
wolf?

She had no intention to sleep, didn't think
she could, but the long day, the warmth of the covers and the
stillness of the night conspired against her. Twice she awoke,
startled by dreams of the green eyes staring at her through the
darkness. In the dreams, those green eyes belonged to a man and not
a wolf. They were only dreams, but they left her shaken and a
little breathless and they frightened her more than the wolf.

Chapter 3

In the morning, there was no sign of the
wolf, if it was, in fact, a wolf. She wouldn't pretend that the
creature was a figment of her dreams. It wasn't, but in the bright
morning light it was easy for Kat to believe the animal could not
have been what she thought. It was dark and hearing it breathing
behind her had been disconcerting. Oh hell, who was she
kidding? Seeing that great beast behind her had scared her
shitless!

First, it was much too large. She knew grey
wolves were big, but that animal had to weigh close to two hundred
pounds. Secondly, it was much too tame. Unless it was raised in
captivity, no wolf would be that comfortable around a human. And
those eyes! It had to be a cross breed of some kind, a wolf mix
perhaps. Either it lived nearby or some cruel and thoughtless
person had abandoned their pet, probably when it grew from an
adorable puppy sized ball of fluff into something that would cost a
small fortune to feed.

And the pack she saw along the edge of the
trees? Swirling mists and moonlight could easily distort one's
perception of size and it wasn't unheard of for stray dogs to
revert to their primal ancestry and form a pack. That was
certainly a more likely explanation than wolves.

Still, Kat was cautious as she peeked out the
back door. She was determined to have her early morning swim, but
not at the risk of another canine confrontation.

Her towel was on the lounge where it had
fallen the night before. The fire had burned away to ash. There was
no sign of her furry friend, not even a paw print in the newly
seeded soil around the perimeter of the patio.

Kat hummed the theme from the
Twilight
Zone
on her way back to the pool. What happened last night was
a tale to tell, nothing more and she wasn't about to spend precious
vacation time worrying about it.

The air was chilly, but the water was warm
and Kat wasted no time stripping off her short, thigh length silky
robe and tiptoeing down the steps. She ducked her shoulders beneath
the surface and made her way out to the middle of the pool where
the water reached just below her breasts.

The mists that hovered over the fields the
night before now gathered above the water's surface obscuring the
reality of the world beyond the pool. It was easy to imagine
herself alone in a fairy world of clouds and shimmering water, her
nakedness a water nymph's natural attire. She raised her arms,
threw back her head and closed her eyes in bliss.

"Thank you, Mr. Begley, for finding me this
job and thank you, Mr. Goodman, for providing me with this
beautiful heated pool. I don't know who you are, but I think I love
you."

This was the perfect way to start the day and
she made up her mind to make it a regular part of her routine,
after she bought a bathing suit, of course. It wouldn't do to
skinny dip in front of the children. And then she laughed, the
sound of it echoing in the soft stillness of the dawn.

She turned onto her back and waved her arms
and legs and came sputtering back to real life when she sank, butt
first, beneath the surface. A poor kid from the wrong end of town
didn't have much chance of learning how to swim, at least not
well.

Kat shook the water from her short, tight
curls and made her way over to the side of the pool where she could
hang on to the side while she kicked her feet and made plans for
the arrival of her small charges.

On her way to the pool, she'd taken a quick
detour into one of the rooms off the foyer, the one that would
receive the morning sun once those godawful drapes were gone and
decided it would make the perfect schoolroom. Peeking under the
drop cloths she uncovered a very comfortable looking overstuffed
chair covered in bright red cotton duck; a good, sturdy, child
friendly fabric if there ever was one.

A sofa, another chair and a wonderful wood
rocker started the wheels turning in her head and once she passed
the exercise portion of her morning swim, she rolled onto her back,
this time hanging onto the edge with one hand, and began to knit
the bits and pieces of ideas into a plan for a classroom that would
make Mary Poppins proud.

With a more relaxed reading and study area at
one end of the long room and a table for lessons at the other, all
bathed in glorious morning light from the tall windows, the room
would be perfect. She could almost see her young charges reading
before a cozy fire on a chilly winter morning. She could picture
them perusing the books of their new library in the bookcases to
either side of that glowing fireplace.

 "How's this one, Miss?" a sweet little
girl in pigtails and a pretty pink dress would ask.

 "Oh, that's a lovely choice," Kat would
answer sweetly, patting the seat beside her for the little girl to
sit and share her newfound treasure.

A chilling breeze interrupted the
fantasy. Kat shook her head and sighed in disgust. She was doing it
again; daydreaming about the way she wanted
things to be instead of the way they were. Her little girl
could be a tomboy in overalls and sneakers.

She rubbed her forehead and frowned. Was
there a girl in the group? She didn't know. She didn't know their
ages either. If someone had asked her right after her interview
with Mr. Begley, she was sure she could have answered those
questions. She was excited about this job. Mr. Begley had made
it all sound so perfect. But now? She couldn't remember how
many were coming. How many were boys? How many were girls?

 Frustrated, Kat thumped the side
of her head with the heel of her hand. The information
wasn't there. It worried her. She'd never been a forgetful person,
certainly not about something as important as this.

Of course, the interview followed the most
disastrous week of her life. That was what she remembered and
wished she could forget; The Bastard tearing her life apart and
then expecting her to wish him well.

Damn! Vision blurred as tears welled in her
eyes and the anger twisted her insides into knots. This was what
came from too much time to hang around and think.

She swiped at her eyes with the back of her
wrist, exchanging the salt water of tears for the chlorinated stuff
in the pool. Her morning swim was ruined. It was time to get on
with her day. Her stomach growled in agreement. Breakfast would be
the first item on her agenda.

Hunkering down in the water's warmth, she
made her way to the end of the pool. Goosebumps rose along her arms
and torso as she emerged and she shivered in the cold morning air.
She reached for the hand rail, looked up, shrieked and went
windmilling back into the pool.

Once again she came up sputtering only this
time to face the wolf. And there was no denying it. He was
definitely a wolf and seemingly a playful wolf at that.

The golden god of the forest stretched out
his front legs, and raised his rear end and wagging tail. He
pounced toward her, not threateningly but in fun and woofed much
like she'd seen his domesticated cousins playing with their masters
in the park.

"Shoo!" Kat splashed water with her
fingers.

The wolf dodged the water and woofed again,
daring her.

She took the dare and drove her flattened
hands along the top of the water creating a wide wave the edge of
which caught him in the snout as he dodged away. He shook his head
and sneezed.

"Serves you right," she laughed, both
thrilled and astounded that she was playing games with this wild
creature. Nature chose that moment to send a cold breeze skimming
across the open field and yard to remind her it was only spring.
She shimmied with the chill. "Game's over," she told her wild
friend.

Starting with his head and wiggling down the
length of his body to the tip of his tail, the wolf mimicked her
shimmy and playfully bobbed his head.

"Game's over," she said and pointed to her
tightly pointed nipples. "You see these? If I don't get some
clothes on, they're going to freeze right off." She started up the
steps. "Besides, it must be getting close to seven. What if someone
shows up and finds me naked in the pool playing with a wolf. Fine
first impression that would make."

The animal bowed. Kat was sure of it. He
bowed to her, her gentleman wolf, and then he turned and trotted
off toward the woods and never looked back. She was amazed,
astounded and thoroughly charmed.

Tying the belt of her silky robe, she entered
the kitchen in search of breakfast, her mood lightened by her
encounter with the wolf. After a lifetime of trying to prove she
was just like everyone else and an adulthood of reaching for the
life she thought every woman was supposed to want, her exchange
with the wild and beautiful creature made her rethink her whole
future.

Maybe, The Bastard leaving her wasn't such a
tragedy. Maybe resigning from her teaching position wasn't a
catastrophe. Maybe, just maybe, Grams was right and she wasn't
meant to be like everyone else. Maybe she wasn't meant to be
ordinary. Maybe she was meant to be different. Maybe she was meant
to talk to the wolves.

Her pragmatic side snorted and Kat laughed.
And maybe that was the biggest load of fanciful bullshit she'd ever
concocted. It didn't matter. For the first time in a long time, she
felt happy.