The Code Of The Alpha

I stared at the half-finished canvas in front of me; trying-as I had been for the past two hours-to gather the motivation to paint. I had nothing else to do and Luca had disappeared into his office above the garage.

I fought the urge to slap the paint on my brush in a large ‘X’ across the canvas and trash it. All I had done for the past few hours had been stare at the imperfections and flaws that I saw and it infuriated me.

Would I be able to finish the painting in a month? If I was, who knew if I would even see my parents on their anniversary…

When would I give them the painting?

I couldn’t imagine just mailing them something that had taken me months to finish. All of my work up to that point felt useless. Taking a deep breath, I stood up from the floor and stretched my legs out.

As I was walking downstairs to make myself a late lunch, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out to see Mady’s name and photo flashing across the screen.

I eagerly answered the call.

“Bitch, you are not going to believe what I’m about to tell you,” I said as soon as I answered.

“Oh, let me guess,” she laughed.

I stopped on the staircase.

“Wait, you know about Luca?”

“The whole town knows about you and Luca,” she mumbled through the phone.

“Why? Did my dad say something?”

“Your dad flipped his shit,” Mady answered honestly.

“He came over at the crack-ass of dawn a few days ago and met with my dad for over three hours. I could hear them yelling at each other in the garage.”Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

“They were arguing about Luca and I?” I asked, continuing down the stairs.

“More so about Luca,” she answered.

“Neither of them were happy he was on our pack land. Obviously they weren’t happy you had gone with him either.”

I sighed as I sat down at the kitchen countertop.

“Do you know what they’re going to do?” I asked.

“I don’t think there’s much they can do. Luca Ronan isn’t exactly known for his respecting the pack codes and ordinances.”

“You can say that again,” I mumbled.

“Don’t worry about things here,” she said, trying to cheer me up.

“Tell me how things are there… Tell me about Luca. What is he like?”

I took a deep breath, wondering where to start.

“I’ll admit it hasn’t been as terrible as I thought it would be,” I said slowly.

“Luca is certainly not what I expected after hearing my dad talk about him in Vegas.”

“Is he scary?”

“A little intimidating,” I said honestly.

“But I’m not frightened by him.”

“What does he look like?”

I laughed hearing her question.

“Like a figment of some horny soccer mom’s imagination.”

Now it was her turn to laugh.

“You’re kidding?” She said.

“That good-looking?”

“Yep.”

“You need to send me a picture.”

I hummed.

“I’Il work on it, but for now you’ll have to take my word for it.”

“Does he have a brother you would want to set me up with?” She asked laughing.

My eyebrows furrowed.

“Carrie?” She asked when I didn’t say anything.

“Sorry,” I said slowly.

“I just… I don’t know if he does or not. To be completely honest, I don’t know a lot about him other than he knows how to run a pack and workout like he’s training for Mr. Universe.”

“I’d say you might need to work on that,” she said.

“It’s kind of weird to be living with someone you don’t know.”

“Tell me about it. I feel like Persephone trapped in the Underworld.”

“Except you don’t want to escape,” she guessed I

didn’t answer her.

“Have you fucked?”

“Mady!”

“What?” She asked defensively.

“I’ve been dying to ask since you answered the phone.”

“No,” I answered shortly.

“Why?”

“The circumstances haven’t exactly allowed for that.” I said.

“I didn’t really choose to be here.”

“Oh, whatever,” she said.

I knew she was rolling her eyes just by hearing her tone of voice.

“Mady, he literally kidnapped me in the dead of night from my own home.”

“From what I heard, it sounds like you agreed to go with him she argued.

“I didn’t have a choice not to!”

“Listen, maybe give the guy a chance. It doesn’t sound like he’s as terrible as you thought he would be. And he is your mate, right?”

I sighed.

“In other news, I got fired today,” I said, changing the subject.

“Yeah, Kate, one of my friends from the school, called to ask where you were yesterday. I figured it was gunna happen.”

“It sucks,” I told her.

“Maybe you can find a teaching job there,” she said, offering a little hope.

“Yeah, maybe.”

We talked for a few more minutes about the final she had taken for her civil procedure class that morning and the internship she was lining up for the summer in the courthouse to clerk with her dad before she had to hang up.

After hanging up, I sat at the kitchen countertop for a few more minutes, thinking about my dad. I tried to call his cell phone, but my call was sent straight to

voicemail.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up and grabbed a bag of apple slices from the fridge before walking outside. I walked out under the breezeway to see that the garage doors were open and the Jeep and truck were both sitting on the driveway. I could hear

old rock music blaring from inside.

Taking a bite of an apple slice, I walked around the truck to see Luca standing behind a gorgeous, sleek slate-gray sports car with the back of the car popped open.

I walked up slowly, admiring the car.

As soon as Luca saw me, he pulled his phone from his pocket and turned the music down.

“Is this a McLaren?” I asked him, gesturing towards the car.

He nodded.

“720S,” he said.

“It’s about a year old.”

“It’s a pretty car” I said.

Luca just smiled to himself.

“Pretty,” he repeated under his breath, almost sarcastically.

“What?” I asked.

He just shook his head, still smiling.

“What are you doing?” I asked, trying to seem interested.

“I like to check the oil the old-fashioned way,” he said, pulling off a cap and tapping it to the corner of the hole it covered.

“Typically, if there’s an echo, you need to add more oil.”

He must not have heard one, because he put the cap back on.

“That’s not a very scientific method of checking your oil,” I said skeptically.

“It works.”

Luca closed the engine cover and looked at me. Noticing the apples in my hand, he reached out and grabbed a slice from the bag.

“Wanna go for a ride?” He asked.

“Can I drive?”

“No.”

He answered so quickly that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Maybe another time then. You like Mötley Crüe?” I asked, hearing the music that still played faintly in the background.

He nodded.

“It makes for a great distraction.”

My eyebrows furrowed and he gestured behind me to the open kitchen windows.

“I heard the part about me being the figment of a horny soccer mom’s imagination and I began to feel intrusive,” Luca laughed.

My eyes widened and cheeks flushed.

“A rather creative compliment,” he said, walking around the McLaren to stand in front of me.

“Glad you thought so,” I mumbled, reaching for

another apple slice.

Luca looked as if he would say something else but was interrupted by his phone ringing in his pocket.

He pulled the phone out and sighed when he saw the name on the screen.

“Sorry, I need to take this,” he said.

I nodded and backed away as he answered the call. Going back inside, I put the apples away and walked back upstairs to paint.