Chapter 25

On the flat surface of the roof, I see Ann sleeping in the lawn chair, under the crescent moon. When I see her, her skin seems to glow with a beautiful light. Is it possible for a wolf to have more than one mate? I find it nearly impossible not to be attracted to her. I sit next to her in a lawn chair and read my book. It is not long after reading where I last left off that I too fall asleep.

I wake up confused thinking how come it is raining in my room? I squint, forcing my eyelids open as I am blinded by the sun. I look up and see the most beautiful eyes staring at me through the rain. I barely hear her yelling at me to hurry and wake up, as we need to get to work. Instantly my fogginess is gone, and I remember I fell asleep on the roof and right now Ann is pouring a pitcher of cold water over me. I jump up and apologize.

As I look at her, I see she is staring at my chest and then lowering her gaze. It makes me laugh to myself; perhaps she is also attracted to me for the same reason. I tell her my eyes are up above and I get her to look at me. As I watch her blush a deep red and then become enraged, I see her walk away. I hear her whisper under her breath for me to hurry and get dressed as soon as possible.

I run down the four flights to my basement suite. I throw on some jeans and a t-shirt as I haven't received a uniform and badge yet. I comb my hair, brush my teeth, and run out to the front of the house to find Ann in her uniform waiting for me.

I watch her smile as she motions for me to follow her.

Clair -

"What are you a girl? Alpha, I got ready faster than you did. Hey, bet I can beat you to work. Care to wager?"

Alpha James (Xander) -

I laugh, "You think you could beat me in a race? Not a chance, whoever wins buys the other lunch!"

Ann shakes my hand and says, "Deal." Then she runs without warning. I hear her laughing as I yell at her.

She is a cheater.

I let Ann beat me, as I am a guy and want to buy her lunch, instead of her buying me lunch. I will never admit to that, though.

Ann walks me over to HR and leaves me with the, stating HR will tell me where next to go. Ann stated she will wait for me to get done while she clocked in and headed to our utility vehicle.

Back with Esmeralda -

"Alpha, please send beta Michael to see me right away. I need to talk to him about some pressing issues he is involved in."

Alpha -

"Anything I should be concerned about?"

Esmeralda -

"No, dear Alpha all is well, I just need to discuss some personal issues with him if you don't mind?"

Alpha -

"I will send Michael over to see you right away."

Esmeralda -

"Thank you Alpha."

Back to Clair -

I see Alpha James walking up to me, now in his uniform, and he could make a potato sack look sexy. When I saw him smiling, I cursed myself a bit. What is wrong with me? I am salivating like so many she-wolves do shamelessly. I immediately put on a straight face with no emotions.

I don't see Michael around; I figure he must know I am training someone today, I just sort of miss his witty humor. I show James the equipment in back and go over our equipment and how I expect him to help me with the clients today. Basically, he will carry the bags and watch and learn.

Alpha James (Xander)

Ann is showing me the ropes, I try very hard to concentrate on what she is saying, when all I want to do is lock my lips to hers, fondle her breasts and bury myself deep inside of her. I realize I am in trouble; she isn't my mate; I want to prove to my mate I have changed, and I am not a male whore. I do not understand why I have such a powerful pull to this woman, but I am not letting my mate down.

Once it is time for lunch, I take us to the town diner and we walk in and take a table; the server comes over putting the menus on the table, dropping off coffee and water. I find something strange, Ann always wear gloves. I decide to while we are waiting to order why she wears gloves? I swear I even saw her wearing them on the lawn chair last night while she was asleep.

With great curiosity in my voice, I ask, "I know this isn't my business, and if you tell me it isn't my business, I get it. But why do you never take off those gloves? Why do you wear them 24/7?"

Clair -

"I have a germ phobia is why I wear the gloves. As a child, I accidentally put my hand on some slimy stuff in the wall. From then on, I have worn gloves to never feel that again."

I watch James nod and then smile his beautiful smile. The server comes up standing awful close to James, her boobs near his face, and Unbeknownst to me, Catherine growls at the server. This is when James looks up from the menu and takes notice of where the server's boobs were.

James -

"Mam, could you please get you boobs away from my face? In fact, send me a different server right away."

Clair -

Once James commands the server to leave and get a new server, my wolf purr in contentment. What is WRONG with my wolf??

The new server comes and takes our orders and we chit chat on small talk. "So, Alpha, what brings you to Meadow Springs? I know it isn't the fast pace of a large city, or the busy life of a pack Alpha?" I notice a sad face take over the once smiling face.

James -

I sigh, I play off the ruse while still answering truthfully. "I lost my mate and needed to get away if only for a short time," Clair nods.

"Clair what brought you here?"

Clair -

I sigh deeply, knowing this part of the conversation was going to come up. "I have never done so many things, I just wanted to check off my bucket list and then I will go home."

James -

"What plans are on your bucket list?" I ask Clair.

Clair -

"Seriously, I have never really thought about creating a bucket list. But have you ever felt like life is passing you by so fast, and that it has painted you into a picture you never asked to be in? What is even more sad is that I can't even have the ability to pick out the colors of the picture. It would be interesting to have some say over what they paint in my painting, or even if I want to be a part of it.

To me, freedom is the most important thing on my bucket list, because it allows me to make my own decisions. "I just want to feel that freedom of choice, to choose anything and everything, or even nothing if I want to."

James -

"I have never thought about it, from the day I was born I was raised to be an Alpha. I admit I liked all the respect and attention I received from the pack. I never wanted to be anything else but the pack Alpha. They trained me day and night to become an Alpha, so I didn't have freedom like other teenagers, but I still got to party on the weekends."

Clair -

"Anytime I wanted to party, I was retrieved and brought right back home to my room. I know it sounds like I was a prisoner. I wasn't abused, and I was well-loved. I don’t want to lose that love, I just want a short period to paint my painting, I would love to dance in the middle of the night without being accountable to anyone.”

James -

“What do you say, we go dancing tonight without a care in the world. As friends, because we both just need a friend right now.”