Elijah and Lacey

~*Warning: This is NOT a quick fix for sexual relief. Please move on if that is what you are looking for. For everyone else, please enjoy and thanks in advanced for reading it!*~

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Chapter 1

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At five thirty in the evening I'm usually wrung out. My shoulders ache and my head hurts from all the thinking and staring at a computer screen for hours at work. My friends tell me it's psychosomatic and that I'm bonkers. Werewolves aren't supposed to feel tired or have aches of any kind. I tend to agree with them but that changes nothing; I feel what I feel...the same way I felt over three years ago.

Three years ago, February 14th, I was attacked. On the 'supposedly' most romantic day of the year, per the Hallmark commercials. I was attacked by a rogue werewolf. Of course, I didn't know that it was a werewolf at the time. I remember mumbling something about a big black thing with huge claws before blacking out. When I came to, I didn't find myself in a hospital room as I expected. I woke up in my own room. I had no memory of how I got there and for a moment, I entertained the thought of the whole experience being a really bad dream. Then, a note left on my night table burst my bubble completely.

'Hello, Lacey.

My name is Sam Torres. I have been assigned to be your buddy throughout the year. My address is 2526 Fever Lane off Rt. 61. My street sign is hard to see so look for the big Christmas reef on the right.

I can't stress the importance of how important it is that you come here, preferably today AFTER 3:00 P.M. I watch the morning to afternoon dramas and I don't like to be disturbed.

You are a werewolf. You were attacked by a rogue werewolf. I am not crazy and neither are you...I hope. If you show this letter to anyone, you will die. If you tell anyone about this letter and yourself, you will die. Eyes are everywhere, young lady, so don't get cute. That was a friendly warning, by the way.

I know you have questions about your new life and you may even be freaking out right about now but that's your problem to handle in the best way you can. The attack happened a week ago so you should try to get over it. I would appreciate it immensely if you got over it before you come here. I'm not good with hysterical females.

Write my address down on something else and burn this letter.

Thanks, Sam

PS; If you do not come and see me, you guessed it, you will die.'

That was three years ago and with Sam's help I was able to get my life back onto a normal track. I went back to work and even befriended Sam's two daughters, Jazmin and Tia. Life was settling down nicely and my world didn't look so scary and unrecognizable. I just wished it could have lasted longer.

Thinking that I was going to come home from work and relax with a hot bath, chicken Alfredo, and a mindless television show; I found the second wolf related letter on my coffee table. Unfortunately, it wasn't from Sam this time.

'Miss Lacey Trenton,

You are required to report to Alpha's house by 8:00 P.M. If you fail to make this appointment, someone will be sent for you.

Thank You'

I called Sam as soon as I read it over again.

"What do you think this is about?" I asked him in a near panicked voice.

"Don't know. You haven't told anyone anything, have you?" He asked.

"No." I answered.

"You haven't shifted in front of someone non-were or traded secret information with another pack, have you?" Sam asked in a flat monotone.

"NO!" I yelled.

"Hey...you're not getting hysterical, are you?"

I closed my eyes as my hand tightened around the phone and took a long deep breath. "No, I'm cool."

"Good. So, get your butt to the Alpha's place. You haven't done anything wrong...I would know. Call me later when you leave there. See ya." Sam hung up the phone, leaving me no more calmer than I was before.

I had been a werewolf for over three years and I had never had to report to Alpha's house or headquarters since registering for pack membership. Sam was with me then but now, I was on my own.

Thirty minutes later, I sat in the cozy but large lobby-ish room after telling the receptionist that I was here. She didn't hide her disapproval as she perused me from head to toe.

"Long day at work." I explained as I smoothed down my wayward hair and groaned at the run in my pantyhose. She gave no response other than pursed lips. "Yeah, my company was just bought out by another company. It's such a pain. We had to re-interview, if you can believe that insanity...as if we didn't have enough on our plates already. Upper administration...you gotta love em', right?" Her face finally softened and she gave a small tilted smile.

"Always seems to work out in their favor, though." She offered.

I snorted in an unlady-like manner. "Yeah, at our expense."

Rita told me to wait in the waiting room, brought me coffee, and assured me that the Alpha would be with me very soon. I wanted to ask her if she knew what he wanted to see me about but I decided that if she knew she would have told me, based on our newfound rapport. Ten minutes later, we walked to the Alpha's office and knocked on the door. I was ushered inside and presented a comfortable chair that faced the Alpha's large cherrywood desk.

If I was nervous before, I was terrified at that moment. I read and heard about this Alpha. He looked so young and unsuspecting. He had rectangular shaped, black horn rimmed glasses. His black,silky, curly hair was cut short. His cafe au lait complexion was as smooth as a baby's bottom and after six o'clock in the evening, his five o'clock shadow was barely noticeable. In a word...he looked like a young college nerd. I was almost tempted to check for a 'kick me' sign on the back of his leather jacket...or place one there myself.

He silently smiled at me with straight white teeth. I guess my gawking was apparent. I willed my mouth to close. It wasn't as if I hadn't seen pictures of him. Sam took me to the council library and the Alpha's picture was in many of the books I glanced through, looking for any celebrities who I thought could be werewolves.

In one of the pictures, he was surrounded by many men---males. He did indeed look young but that picture did not do him justice at all. The person in front of me looked sweet, wholesome, and innocent.

HE was the Alpha? No...way. I took an extraordinary amount of time studying him to the point of awkwardness. The book I thumbed through, three years ago, said that he single handedly decimated a whole pack when they tried to overtake his pack in a matter of minutes. He was only sixteen years old at the time... And this took place over a hundred years ago, I might add. Either he had a major pair of balls or that little story was just that...a good little story.

His patience must have run its course because he cleared his throat. I tensed, though, I tried to appear relaxed...even smiling back at him. I doubt I pulled it off. My reflection in the bay window behind him proved that the maniacal look I was showcasing was all wrong. I tried to tone it down.

"You are permitted to breathe, Miss Trenton." He said.

My eyes widened more. I know I looked creepy but I couldn't help it. His voice. It was if it shot out of his mouth and wrapped itself around my body...intimately, if you know what I mean. His voice was deep...freakishly deep. Barry White would have turned over in his grave and James Earl Jones would have cried like a girl from envy. I wondered what he sounded like as a kid before puberty slammed his vocal cords with everything it had.

He began to laugh and I know it was from my facial expression. Even his laugh had a peculiar effect on me. It felt like someone was caressing my whole body in pizzicato movements and I began to squirm in my seat. I felt my face heat up from embarrassment.

"Something wrong, Miss Trenton?" The Alpha asked. He tilted his head a bit and subtly sniffed the air. I squeezed my thighs shut and gripped the arms of the chair tightly.

"N-no." I swallowed and shook my head. I looked away when I saw his lips curl into a knowing smile.

"Well, let's get to the reason you are here then, shall we?" Oh...that, I thought to myself. I watched him fold his hands, placing them onto his desk. I noticed how long and graceful his fingers were. Those did not look like the fingers of a dangerous male...nothing on him did.

"I have been searching for my mate, Miss Trenton, for a long time now. I have traveled all around the world with no luck. Years ago, I had some of my employees do interviews with several females that were registered with my pack. I wanted to find the most compatible females without them knowing what they were being interviewed for. I gathered most of the females for consideration here at headquarters under the disguise of a kind of census for the pack. You didn't have to participate because at that time, you were registering for the first time. I did have you interviewed at your place of employment."

He pushed a sealed envelope toward me and though, I was in a clouded state from his voice, I took it and opened it. I pulled out copies of my birth certificate and social security card and various other important, personal documents. I also pulled out several pictures of myself. Some, I saw, were taken while on my lunch break at work. Some were taken inside and outside of my apartment. There were even pictures of me with Sam and his two daughters, my best friends. I began to feel a little more than uncomfortable. The photographs were recently taken. I should have been aware...

"I have members of my pack that are trained to mask their scent and to be virtually invisible." He explained. I didn't feel any better. What I WAS beginning to feel was pissed off but there was no way in hell that I was going to say so...not to him. I kept my silence as it was safer.

"I just wanted to get an idea of who you were before we met face to face. Your scent already had me hooked and I---"

"Wait a minute. I don't understand. Are you saying that you think I'M your mate?" I blurted, cutting him off. The idea was preposterous. I was just a junior copy editor for Mega Woman Magazine. I was NOT the mate of an Alpha, especially one that was reputed for being one of the most dangerous alphas in the world!

"I do, actually, and you are the undisputed winner of the title." He smiled, showing more teeth this time.

"Sorry, but I can't accept the honor. You'll have to give my crown to the next runner up and I wish you both a long prosperous life together." I again blurted out. The Alpha silently stared at me as he slowly leaned back into his massive chair. With his average height, the chair seemed to swallow him. He folded his hands again but this time both of his pointer fingers rested in the clef of his chin.

The silence and the tension in the room stretched on for ages but I was stubborn enough, or insane enough, to hold my head high. In my mind, I was picturing myself cowering under the chair I was sitting in.

We had to have been sitting there, that way, "challenging" each other for several minutes...or hours. He sat like a statue with focus that unnerved me. I, on the other hand, found everything in his office, except for his piercing hazel eyes, to be of extreme interest to me. Avoiding his eye contact was a means to survival. Eventually, I began to pick at the cuticle on my thumb nail, ignoring him entirely. When that became a bore, I rubbed the outer part of my thighs, repetitiously. Then, I shamefully began to scratch my arm pits. They itch something awful whenever I'm feeling anxious; it was a miracle that I held off for as long as I had. He had to have thought I was insane. He looked like a nerd and I was acting like a weirdo.

Pit scratching must have been his limit because he took a deep breath before he spoke. "I have already sent some people to your apartment to pack everything for you. Your belongings will be brought here and your furniture will be put in our storage units. We will be married tonight in a private ceremony but I won't introduce you as my mate, to the pack, until we are actually mated."

Though he stated this in a nonchalant manner, his voice still made me tingle from the vibrations. I gripped my chair harder and my toes turned inward. My knees were sweating from the lack of air between them. If he had said anything more, I would have melted on the spot. My panties were completely soaked and I couldn't even find the strength to be incensed. I should have been outraged! Instead, I wanted to close my eyes and let his voice take me there; push me right over that sweet edge. I was practically panting, for goodness sakes! This was so unfair. How was he doing this to me?

There was that silence again. I was happy for it. It gave me time to collect myself. My breathing returned to normal and he smiled. The little comic book reader knew he had this effect on me! I almost narrowed my eyes at him but I am not a stupid girl. I looked down instead, hoping to be dismissed soon.

I wanted Sam. He was the closest thing to a father figure I had. He wasn't the most eloquent...or affectionate, or patient, or supportive, or thoughtful, or tactful; but you always knew where you stood with him. One day, after watching his two daughters and I laughing during a dinner I was invited to, he made a remark that I would always keep in my heart. He said, "Great, just what I need. Another daughter to get on my nerves. I'm going to the bar...don't wait up." He wasn't a drinker but ever since his mate was killed by a rogue werewolf years ago, he spent time at the local sports bar for comfort.

I had become an honorary part of the Torres family from then on. It was certainly better than dodging my crack addicted mother on pay days and wondering which one of her many johns helped bring me into the world. I paid her three hundred dollars to tell me who dear old dad was once but it never panned out and I didn't see or hear from her for a month.

As of that moment, I felt screwed. It had been ten minutes of letting my mind wander and the Alpha never flinched. He was silently daring me to defy his wishes. At least, that's what I was guessing he was doing. I braved a peek into his eyes before looking away quickly. My shoulders caved in defeat.

What would Sam say right now? After he stopped laughing, what could he say? Sam was a stickler for pack laws. He was never one to question them and he expected Tia, Jazmin, and me to be the same way. He would let me vent but he would ignore my complaints.

"I'll have Rita show you to our rooms." He said simply, without looking at me. He picked up his cell phone, dialed a number, and spun his chair around so that I could no longer see him.

I shot up quickly and almost ran down poor Rita, trying to get out of his office. I felt thoroughly dismissed and a small part of me was feeling the tiniest bit hurt by that.

Rita was quiet and our former rapport seemed to have diminished. It could have been the fact that I was nearly hyperventilating more and more with every step we took. Suddenly, the light in the hallway we were walking through began to dim until it was dark. When I tried to force my eyes to adjust to the change of light, it became bright again.

Immediately, I noticed I was lying down on a bed and looking up a strange ceiling. I heard him...his voice. He was speaking in low, hushed tones, outside the door, but I could still make out what was being said. Rita was talking to him...about me, obviously.

"You're saying she just...fainted?" He asked.

"Yes, sir. I don't understand it either. What werewolf...faints? I have never heard of it or have seen anything like it! I don't think she's...well, Alpha. Her breathing was rushed and harsh as well. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to embarrass her by putting her on the spot." Rita took a breath.

"I didn't sense anything wrong with her physically. I'll just have to have someone look her over...run some tests, maybe." The Alpha added.

"No offense meant, sir, but maybe you should postpone the marriage ceremony until you know if she's healthy?" Rita suggested.

Part of me was applauding Rita for being a busy-body. Another part of me wanted to claw her eyes out...and I had NO idea why I felt that way.

I sat up in the bed and felt my hair unravel from the bun I put it in this morning. My dark wavy hair cascaded down my back and over my shoulders just as the Alpha walked into the room I was in. He looked as surprised as I was. I could see his full height now that he wasn't sitting behind his desk. He couldn't have been any taller than five foot ten! I was five foot eight inches without heels. I'd tower over him in some of my regular stilettos. And THIS was the Alpha?

"Are you feeling okay, Miss Trenton?" He asked while making his way closer to my bedside. He looked so concerned that I felt guilty for shivering at the sound of his voice. He seemed genuinely worried and I was tempted to demand that he recite the Gettysburg Address in full so that I could really feel alright.

"I-I'm fine...really. I'm just a little...uh...sleepy." I almost let the word 'tired' slip out of my mouth. Sam says werewolves don't get tired and that I was weird thinking it.

"You were so sleepy that you thought the hallway was just a good a place as any for a nap?" He asked.

I pressed my lips together in annoyance. How did one answer that? I probably should have just played the silent role...but no.

"That was good one. Did Dumbledore teach you sarcasm or did you master the talent playing 'Dungeons and Dragons' with Ron?" What!? When the hell did Sam get here?! I searched the room hopefully but I slowly had to come to the scary realization that the snarky retort came out of my mouth. So much for my survival instincts. Rita, who stood behind the Alpha, gasped dramatically. I wanted to thank her for that.

The Alpha just stared at me silently...again. I knew this was going to be a habit between us. I will say something utterly stupid and he will stare at me until I feel an inch tall. Awwwww, we already had a couple's routine.

"Right. Glad you're okay. Marriage ceremony is in five minutes. Make sure she's not late, Rita." The Alpha then spun around and left the room. Rita and I both were stunned.

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Getting married is a lot like being stuck in a country where you are not able to understand the language. I let my eyes travel over the room we were in. It looked like a study of some kind. The Alpha was next to me on my right while some Minister performed the ceremony in front of us. Rita was behind me, grinding her teeth and a male that looked like he could use the Alpha as a neck tie stood behind him.

Everyone turned toward me and I guessed that an 'I do' was in order. I swallowed. I swallowed again...and again. My mouth was so dry. Did I really have to marry him? I would definitely buy ALL his CDs if he made any but, COME...ON! Marriage? With HIM? I swallowed again.

"Perhaps the female needs more time?" The Minister asked softly, directing his question to the Alpha.

'YES, bless you, the female needs LOTS of time...like forever!', I screamed inside. I looked out of the corner of my eye to find the Alpha staring at me...again. This time, however, he added sound effects. The low growl I heard coming from him made me nearly pee on myself. I broke out into a sweat. His growl sounded like the bass on a stereo, at the highest setting. What might he sound like if he really wanted to show off?

My arm pits itched so much at that moment. I was about to let my hands travel upward for a little relief when the Alpha seized both my hands in his own to stop me. I was both horrified at the contact and grateful he stopped my self inflicted humiliation. His touch turned out to have the same effect on me as his deep melodic voice. I don't know how my underwear held up against the sudden recurring onslaught of wetness. My knees buckled and the Alpha caught me around my waist.