The She-Wolf Alpha (Book 1 She-Wolf Series)
Chapter 8

We worked together to go through the rest of my office. Emerick was surprisingly adept at helping me organize and file. We joked and laughed as we went, chatting about our lives.

Emerick had grown up within my pack - apparently called the Redclaw Pack. His dad was in IT, and his mom was a teacher. They both held positions working for the pack directly, but I was surprised to learn that many werewolves had jobs within the human community.

The normalcy of his early years caught me by surprise, but I guess it shouldn’t have. I spent an entire day with the guy and he definitely did not seem like some scary, terrible beast as many movies and books despicted. Emerick told me about growing up with Christian as well.

While Emerick and Christian had always known each other, they became close friends in junior high and high school. After they both turned 16 and had their first shift, they were put in the same hand to hand combat training. Apparently, this class was common core among all the Redclaw werewolves. Emerick had been the only student who could hold his own against Christian. Even then, Christian bested him in almost every lesson and sparring session.

Rather than sounding embarrassed, Emerick spoke about Christian’s skill with pride. His alpha blood gave him an edge, but it was Christian’s tireless training and dedication that made him such a formidable opponent. Many wolves respected him greatly for it. As Emerick spoke about him, I found myself grieving the fact that I never had the chance to know him.

We were sitting at the kitchen island enjoying our second glasses of wine, when suddenly, I heard a car door slam and muffled voices from my front door.

This werewolf hearing was no joke.

I glanced up at the clock and realized how late it was.

“Crap,” I said, “Luke's home.”

“Do you want me to bail out the back door?” Emerick asked, jokingly.

I turned to him, serious.

“No. Your car is in the driveway so he’ll know someone is here. I’m just going to tell him we work together.”

Emerick nodded but looked disappointed and maybe hurt.

“I haven’t had a man, except family and friends, here since his dad died,” I explained, “I am really hoping for a normal night tonight, and I don’t have a better way to explain you being here at the moment.”

I needed a plausible explanation for the super handsome, super muscular man sitting in my kitchen.

Wait, did I think he was super handsome? The wine must be getting to me.

I tried to clear my thoughts, unsuccessfully. The truth was no man had caught my attention since Travis had passed, but Emerick certainly held my interest.

Now, I was facing having to explain his presence without using the word werewolf.

“Hey mom!” Luke called from the front door, “Whose car is in the driveway?”

“In the kitchen, kid,” I answered. “My friend Emerick is here from work. We are just going over some sales paperwork.”

Luke walked around the corner and froze. He took in Emerick sitting at the counter and the two glasses of wine set out in front of us with wide eyes. He immediately tried to mask his shock, but stood to his full height and lifted his chin slightly.

“Hi. Emerick,” Emerick introduced himself and stood to shake Luke’s hand, “Your mom and I were just finishing up, so I’ll be out of your way shortly.”

I could see Luke studying Emerick’s appearance with suspicion. Most of the men I worked with at the real estate firm wore suits or at least dress pants and a collared shirt. None of them had the body of a linebacker. Emerick was still dressed in all black and looked more military than business.

“Right,” Luke said slowly, “Well don’t rush out on my account. You should stay for dinner if you don’t have plans. I had burgers with my friends, so Mom is going to be stuck eating on her own.”

My jaw fell open.

Had my kid just set me up to eat dinner with a guy?

I guess I had just told him Emerick was a work friend. Maybe he was just being considerate. I was forgetting that he was not aware our lives would be turned upside down tomorrow, or that I was harboring a secret that would implode everything we knew.

“In that case, I can have something delivered?” Emerick asked, turning to me, “Then we can keep going over… work stuff.”

“Umm, okay…” I bit my lip.

“Alright. I’m going to go shower. I’ll catch up with you guys in a minute,” Luke said and headed up the stairs.

I vaguely heard Emerick start to place a pizza order as I nervously straightened the kitchen. I needed to speak to Luke. I should’ve been paying closer attention to the time. I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea about my having a strange man in the house. The more I thought about it, there wasn’t really a good explanation. No matter what I told him, it would be a lie.

“Earth to Sam.”

My attention snapped back to the man sitting at my kitchen island, “Hmm?”

“I said pizza should be here in about 30 minutes,” Emerick said.

“Oh, great,” I muttered. “Thank you.”

“Are you okay? I’m sorry I should’ve been paying closer attention to the time,” he apologized.

“No, it’s fine,” I waved him off. “If anything the ‘us working together’ explanation is the most accurate. I think I’m feeling self-conscious because I know there’s a huge secret I’m keeping from him.”

Suddenly, I heard Luke yell from upstairs, “Hey mom! Can you come here please?”

“I’ll be right back,” I told Emerick and immediately ran up the stairs.

I used the trip to steady myself. I needed to clear my head, and I hadn’t had a moment alone since the werewolves had snatched me this morning. Taking a deep breath, I rounded the corner to Luke’s room.

“Honey? Is everything okay?” I asked, knocking on his door.

Luke quickly opened the door, pulled me in, and shut it behind me. I yelped in surprise.

“Are you okay?” Luke asked.

“What? Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered, catching my breath.

“I have a hard time believing that’s a friend from work,” Luke said, carefully scanning my expression. “If you have a guy over it’s fine, Mom. I just wanted to make sure he’s not holding you hostage or something.”

Internally I laughed.

Was I being held hostage? Not really I guess, but he had kidnapped me this morning. Sort of. Probably shouldn’t mention that.

“Oh. No, I invited him here. It’s kind of a long story, but he recently had some major life changes and would like to work with me going forward.”

While it was basically the truth, I didn’t feel very good about the lie of omission. There was a lot I was leaving out.

“If that’s the story we are going with, that’s fine,” Luke started. He continued quickly when I started to protest, “Honestly, I was hoping you had finally met someone. Dad loved you. He would want you to be happy.”

His words left me speechless. We had never discussed the possibility of me dating again, and I had assumed he would be angry or upset if he thought I was moving on.

“You’re 33,” he continued, “That’s a long time to be alone. Plus, I’m going to be going to college soon.”

He paused like he was waiting for me to say something, but I stayed quiet. My mind was spinning at the truth of his words.

“Just the next time you decide to bring a giant home, a little warning might be nice,” he finished with a teasing smile.

At that I laughed and hugged my son. He was only a couple inches shorter than Emerick even at 15, but Emerick had quite a bit of muscle on him.

“Thank you for the insight. Sometimes I forget how mature you are,” I said, still hugging him, “Emerick is just a friend from work, but I will keep what you said in mind. Now get in the shower. You need it.”

We both laughed, and I left his room. I paused in the hallway and leaned back against the wall. How was it that my fifteen year old could be so rational and mature, when the thought of replaceing love again tore me apart inside?

I was 15 when I met Travis. I had never really known love aside from his. I had never even slept with another man. If I was being honest, I was terrified at the possibility.

I shook myself from my thoughts. There were bigger worries at the moment than my love life. Namely, the fact that I was the alpha of a werewolf pack of which I hardly knew anyone.

‘You were born to lead them,’ I heard Ayisha’s voice in my head.

I smiled slightly at her reassurance. Her presence had been a warmth and comfort throughout the day, but she had mostly stayed quiet. She let me take in all that was going on without interjecting too much.

Her words gave me some relief. Maybe I didn’t know much about being a werewolf, but I knew she was with me.

I had put my life back together once. I could do it again. To keep my son safe, I would do anything. I certainly wouldn’t let being the alpha fall to him to save myself from having to take on the responsibility.