My Personal Hell, D. Richardson [ebook reader browser txt] 📗

his loyalty and allegiance in return for training, an education, and permission to live on my territory. At the age of twenty two he has yet to cross the line or disobey an order. In many ways he was better than my own enforcers.

After I agreed Tom left in a hurry. I immediately picked up the phone to get Sadler here. The sooner they became acquainted the better. If he wasn’t a stranger it would be easier on her to accept him as teacher when or if the time came.

Aside from his part time job as my employee, Sadler had a life of his own. He lived in the same town, but rented a flat on the opposite side. He could get here quickly, but he valued the semblance of privacy living apart from us provided. There was a reason they were called lone wolves.

“What’s up boss?” The wonders of caller ID. Sadler always answered his phone in a personal greeting to anyone that called.

“Sadler, good you’re home.”

“When am I not? What do you need?”

“I have a lone wolf here.”

“Do you want me to escort him off the territory?”

“It’s a she actually.” I was answered by silence. “And no I don’t want you to escort her off the territory. It seems I have unwittingly become her legal guardian. She’s only seventeen and doesn’t know what she is.”

“Doesn’t know?” I almost laughed. It is an odd concept.

“No, she was born a lone wolf, and her past…well, it’s complicated. I don’t think I even know all of it. She’s also a half-breed, and hasn’t shown signs of her wolf yet. But we think it’s only a matter of time. What I need is for you to come over, and spend some time here. Let her get accustomed to you. So when the time comes you can kind of, show her the ropes.”

“You want me to stay there?” he asked. There was a edge to his voice that I knew well.

“No, you don’t have to stay here, but I do need you come over as often as you can.”

“And what reason should I give if she asks?”

“I don’t know, you could say you’re coming over here to hang out with Asher.” He snorted.

“Yeah, like that would actually happen.” That was the problem with having more than one alpha around that wasn’t family. They didn’t exactly get along very well.

“Then one of the others, I don’t know, come up with something.”

“Okay, and what should I tell her when she notices I’m spending more time around her than my ‘friend’?”

“Just let her think you have a crush or something. She‘s a seventeen year old girl, I‘m sure she‘d believe it. And if she does then she won‘t ask questions.” He sighed.

“I didn’t realize I would end up babysitting for you,” he grumbled but then added. “I’ll be there in ten.”

“Thanks,” I replied but the line had already gone dead. He wasn’t happy about his new assignment, but he would do it without question, and do it well.

And true to form, ten minutes later someone knocked on the door. Becca answered with me right behind her. Sadler stood there leaning against the banister. His native American heritage stood out in the way he kept his hair longer than usual, even for our kind, and his dark skin. The only thing that showed his Caucasian side were his deep blue eyes. He stepped in and rolled his shoulders.

“Where is she?” he asked stiffly. No matter how comfortable we tried to make him, he never forgot that he was on another alpha’s territory. His little rivalry with Asher didn’t help.

“Kitchen last time I saw her.” Becca was the first to enter the kitchen, and the majority of my sons were already at the table.

 

 

 

 

Sadler

 

 

 

I could smell her scent the moment they opened the door. It was almost like she spent her time just standing in the foyer. Definitely female, though not as defined as most others. Her scent was more subtle until you focused on it. Then it grew in strength and potency. Though I had never been there, her scent reminded me of the ocean. What I thought the ocean smelled like anyway. Mixed with roses and a hint of a smell I associated with a library.

I followed Becca into the kitchen, where she joined a girl that had her back to the rest of the room. She was at the sink, and it looked like she was getting a drink of water. A waist length braid rested between her shoulders, which stiffened as soon as I entered the room. When Becca approached she half turned to her without looking at the room.

“Another one? How do you put up with all of them?” she murmured. Becca actually threw her head back and laughed, when she sobered up she answered.

“It takes a lot of practice.” The girl half shrugged and put her now empty glass in the dish strainer. She finally turned around so I could see her face. I took a deep breath which turned out to be a mistake. Her scent saturated the room.

Her dark brown, almost black, eyes met mine, and I couldn’t pick out what I saw. It was like she had no emotion, or if she did, she kept it under tight control and almost completely hidden. Her body was slender, but I could see muscle lines under her shirt. Her hips were the perfect width for her frame, and smoothly flowed into well defined legs.

“You’re awake,” she said softly, and I was brought back to reality. While I had been staring at her she had been looking past me. I have to say that doesn’t do much for the ego.

Then something short brushed past me. I looked down to see a little blonde haired girl making her way to the wolf. She didn’t hesitate to open her arms, just as the lone wolf didn’t hesitate to pick her up and place her precisely on the hips I had been admiring. I took another deep breath, prepared for the onslaught of her scent. The girl had a human scent. But then again, so did the lone wolf.

“I tried to keep her in bed, but she insisted.” Another girl said as she entered the room. She made her way over to the two, and made herself comfortable beside them. The little girl stuck her tongue out at the new girl.

“I’m bored. There’s nothing to do in bed.” The wolf smoothed the little girls hair the way I had seen several mothers do to their young.

“Well, I’m sure we can find something to do,” she answered quietly. Just as the little girl finally noticed me. She turned to the one holding her.

“Who’s he?” The wolf met my eyes again briefly.

“You know, I have no idea,” she answered.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Girls this is Sadler, he works for us on occasion. Sadler, the little one is Kadi, the middle is Lori, and the one holding Kadi is Ailith.” Becca made the introductions hastily. I gave a half hearted wave and each of them returned it, Kadi more enthusiastically than the other two. The older ones looked at me with more caution.

“Hey, look what I found,” Lori said turning to the little girl, and holding up three decks of cards.

“What do we do with those?” she asked in a child’s way and reached for one of the decks.

“We play games. Come on we’ll teach you about the wonderful world of Go Fish,” Ailith answered moving to some free space on the floor. They sat in a circle while Ailith mixed the decks.

I made my way to the opposite end of the table from Asher. He stiffened as I passed and I’m sure he would have growled if it hadn’t been for the girls. I glanced over to see Ailith switching between us with a calculating expression. Then she turned her attention back to the game and proceeded to explain the rules to Kadi.

I sat in the chair closest to them while still being able to see them. Three hours later their game was winding down and Kadi yawned. Ailith gathered the cards into one pile, and Lori took Kadi up to tuck her into bed.

Ailith stood and stretched, not knowing that I was watching every move she made. She evaluated the available seating at the table, but didn’t have much choice but to take the seat next to me.

She sat down with one leg folded underneath her, and leaned close to the table. Then she proceeded to separate the decks into their appropriate piles. She was quick. Really quick, her hands were practically a blur. When the decks were separated, she then proceeded to separate them into the appropriate suits to make sure they were all there.

“It’s rude to stare,” she said quietly. It took me a moment to realize she was talking to me.

“Sorry, bad habit” I murmured.

“An impressive one.”

“What do you mean?” She finally looked up at me but only for a moment.

“Not many people can stare at someone for three hours without a break.” I chuckled. She was observant I had to give her that. She had never even let on that she felt me looking. She gave a half smile and I relaxed back into my chair.

When she looked up at the clock she sighed slightly. And then proceeded to do card tricks. They were amazing. It wasn’t magic tricks, it was more like tossing a single card up out of the deck using two sides of the deck separated. Then she would catch it in the same spot facing the right way. After she got bored with that she just started to shuffle them over and over again.

You’d think it would be annoying, but I found it oddly relaxing. It seemed she did too. She unfolded her legs and stretched them out. Then she started to zone out. Just staring straight ahead with unfocused eyes, but her hands never stopped.

It wasn’t until Adrian had called her name three times, without a response that I intervened. I snapped my fingers in front of her face. A dangerous thing to do to a lone wolf, but she only blinked slowly, and turned to look at Adrian.

“I’m sorry, what?” Adrian chuckled fondly at her.

“Where’d you go?” She shrugged.

“Space.” He only nodded.

“Well, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to join our game,” He said indicating the poker game him and the other guys were playing. They were using cheetos as poker chips. She shook her head.

“I don’t think so. Thanks though.”

“Why not? You look like you know your way around a deck.”

“You’d hate me afterwards.” He brought his eyebrows together.

“Why would we hate you?”

“Because I’d win.” There were several chuckles around the table, but she just looked back at them, completely serous.

“What makes you so sure?” Asher asked and she zeroed in on him.

“Experience. Besides it‘s late, I‘m going to bed,” she said as she stood. Before she left the table though she turned to Adrian and nodded toward Asher. “He’s bluffing by the way.” Without another word or glance she walked out of the room. She really should have stayed a second longer. The look on Asher’s face was priceless.

With her in bed I was no longer needed. I got to the foyer just in time to see her climbing the last of the stairs. I watched until she was out of sight then let myself out.

Three days went by in that fashion. I would show up early in the morning and hang around until she went to bed. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

She wasn’t a talkative teenage girl. She was quiet and reserved. She only spoke when she was asked a question or felt that she had something worth saying. Otherwise, she was perfectly comfortable just sitting and watching. The most emotion I ever saw from her was when she was interacting with Lori and Kadi.

My second day, Drake pulled me aside and told me their story.