I
“Elianne Stella Harris! Get your ass over here!” The roaring voice of Patrick Harris is heard through the little wooden house.
Shit! She’s busted. Elianne rolls her eyes. Her dad is mad again. The thundering of footsteps coming down the stairs is heard, then the slamming of a door. The blond headed girl hurries to her father. It’s too bad her father is a former Beta. He still uses his traits to his advantage.
When she is in front of her father, she looks up at him. Even though he is retired, the man’s body is still as muscled, broad, and tall as when he was in his twenties. The only thing giving away his age are the grey streaks in his hair and the fine lines around his eyes.
Actually, her oldest brother Danny is an exact copy of their dad. Elianne has three brothers. First Danny, who’s the current Beta of the pack, he is thirty-one years old, mated to Ava and has two sons. Then comes Victor, who helps Danny with the financial matters for the Pack, he is twenty-seven years old and has a room in the Packhouse. Thymen is the youngest brother, who she is the closest with as he still lives at home although he is already twenty-three years old. Thymen is a cook in the kitchen of the Packhouse, just like their mother, Francine. He looks exactly like the male version of their mother.
“Dad! What’s up?” She pops the chewing gum she has in her mouth.
“Elianne, please, stop chewing your gum and show some respect for your father. “Stand up straight, don’t stand there like a sack of potatoes.”
“Dad! Please,” she rolls her eyes. “I’m not one of those minions you bossed around when you were Beta!”
“Elianne!” She notices her father is getting angry. She just loves to get in his hair, to get him all riled up.
“Yes, dad.” She has to try hard to stop herself from smiling.
“That attitude of yours has to stop! Right here, right now! I’m sick of it, I’ve had enough. You may be in your puberty, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to treat your superiors like that! Now go! Grab your things and get to school! I don’t want to see you skip your classes anymore!”
She looks at her feet. When he uses his Beta voice, he is one scary man. She’s not afraid of her father, but when he uses his Beta voice, well, then she is. “Yes, dad.”
“Now out of my sight! Now!”
She hurries to her room, grabs her backpack, and rushes out the door. She runs over the big central open space. In the distance she can see her brother doing some important things. She keeps looking without noticing where she’s going until she walks into a hard wall. “Ow” she rubs her nose with closed eyes.
When she opens her eyes and looks forward to seeing what she ran into, she sees a hard, muscled male’s chest. The man grabs her by her elbows, so she doesn’t fall backwards. She slowly looks up and looks into the bluest eyes she has ever seen. “Watch where you’re going, little one.” The man smirks.
“Sorry,” she blushes, “I didn’t see where I was going.”
“It’s alright. What is your name, little one?”
“I am Elianne Harris, sir.”
“Hmm, you’re the youngest of the Harris’s, the little sister of the three Harris-brothers. Interesting. How old are you, little one? Shouldn’t you be at school right now?”
“I am sixteen years old, sir.” She looks at her feet. Those blue piercing eyes make her feel uncomfortable. “I was on my way to school.”
“Hmm,” the man seems amused by her uneasiness. He puts a finger under her chin and raises it, so she has to look him in the eye. “Come and find me after school, I think I need to have a chat with you.”
She nods. “Where will I find you?”
“On the training grounds, little one.” He frowns. “Don’t you know who I am?”
She shakes her head. “No, sir, I’m sorry.”
“I am Leonard Anderson. The brother of your Alpha. They call me the Captain. I am the one responsible for your safety. Now go to school quickly. Don’t get in trouble.”
The school day was long and dreadful. Elianne feels bored most of the time. She has some friends at school, but everyone seems to enjoy their classes, she’s the only one who would rather be so somewhere else.
When she walks home from school, she remembers she has to go and see Leonard. She wonders what he wants. The man is handsome, just like the Alpha. If he were younger, she would be highly interested. But it seems he is a little too old for her taste.
When she arrives at the training grounds, she looks over the terrain. She sees him immediately, sparring with one of the warriors. She decides to wait a little, to enjoy the view. The guy is really a sight for sore eyes. He probably was warm, because his chest is bare, his tattoos on full display, he only has his short on. His muscles ripple with every movement. Sweat drips down over his chest, through the creases of his abs, it makes him look even better.
Leonard and the other warrior continue to spar for a little while, until Leonard notices Elianne standing at the fence. He says something to the other guy and gives him a hand. Then he grabs his t-shirt and a bottle of water and heads her way.
“You came,” he says when he is close.
She nods. “Yeah.”
“I wasn’t sure you would. But I’m glad you did.” He smiles and drinks almost half of his water bottle.
“Come with me, let’s get to somewhere more private.” He puts his shirt back on while walking in the direction of the packhouse.
She follows him, inside the packhouse, into a tiny office with a giant desk in the middle and a lot of papers on it. He gestures to one of the chairs behind the desk. “Sit.” He orders.
She quickly sits herself down. She has a feeling that this guy doesn’t like to wait or be disobeyed.
He sits down himself on the big leather chair on the other side of the desk.
“Alright.” He leans forward, his elbows on his desk. “Tell me, why were you late this morning?”
“Err,” she looks down. “I don’t like to wake up early. And I don’t like school, sir.”
“Hmm,” he frowns a little, “what do you like then? If you had to choose, what would you rather do to make yourself useful?”
It seems the man is sincerely interested in her. “I don’t really know, sir, to be honest.”
He leans back in his chair, stretching his legs and scratches his beard with one hand. “I can relate to you, you know. I used to hate school, I used to hate my life. As you know I have two big brothers with both an important job to fulfil. I felt useless for a long time and didn’t know what to do. Maybe if you find something to do that you really like; the rest of your life becomes bearable. You need to set yourself a goal.”
She gazes at him with wonder. There’s someone who understands? Someone who knows how she feels? “But I don’t know what to do.” She doubts.
“Well, you can maybe start by trying warrior training. Would that be something you could see yourself doing?” He looks at her curiously.
“I don’t know, I think I could try it.” She shrugs. Maybe this is what she needs, she’s willing to try.
“Alright then. I’ll contact your father and make sure he is fine with it. When he’s fine you’ll have to find me again so we can set you up a training schedule, is that good with you?”
She nods. “Yes sir.” She gets up from her chair and walks to the door but turns around before she opens it. “thank you, sir.” She smiles.
“You’re welcome, little one.” He points a finger at her, and he looks at her sternly, “stay out of trouble from now on.”
