Megan's POV
Emma shouted "Bubba!" and I was jolted awake, so I think I must have slept off. Blaire had moved from the sofa to the chair with Jack, where they were both sound sleeping. I saw Emma's arms around a guy with the same red hair as her as I peered over the back of the sofa. He and Alpha Jason were grinning at Emma when he had her in his arms. When the strange guy finally glanced up, his brown eyes met mine. Emma turned to look at me when she saw her brother wasn't paying her any attention.
It's "That Meg!" She excitedly told her brother. Then she indicated her brother. It's Ryland here.
Ryland greeted me with a head nod before turning to face Alpha. Ryland wriggled his eyebrows as Alpha nodded his head up and down. When Emma grabbed her brother's face to attract his attention back, they both began giggling. It was a truly lovely moment that made me grin with my lips shut. I haven't used my facial muscles in such a long time that they ache.
I quickly exited the room and went outside since I felt like I was invading at the time. Even now, being around the Alpha still made me uneasy and gave me odd emotions. My wolf was hankering to gallop in the brilliant full moonlight. The snow sparkled in the moonlight, and it was a lovely night.
I could hear the night-bound animals racing and scuttling beside me in the quiet woodland. I sped through a pack of raccoons and dodged several possums that were hanging from trees. I like the way the wind felt on my fur and how the chilly earth felt under my paws. I spent some time next to a snowy owl before smelling blood. I quickly shifted course, but I was cautious as I did so. A carnage ensued. It seemed to be a crime scene. Even though there was no visible dead body, I could tell it wasn't an ordinary animal. It was another werewolf of my sort.
I searched the large bloody area as I went around it, but I was unsuccessful. Blood smelt strongly like rotten flesh and of a rogue, not a pack. I gave it no consideration. There must have been a rogue who entered the area and was repelled by a warrior. I was ready to depart when I breathed in a very comforting aroma. There was a lingering pleasant aroma, one of a flower, behind the powerful metallic scent.
A stunning white gardenia was found lying in the snow. It blended well with the snowy surroundings and was virtually invisible. Without the overwhelming smell it emitted, I would have entirely missed it.
It did not bring pleasant memories of home to mind. My mum loved them as a flower. When I initially came upon it, I read about it in her journal. Gardenia shrubs that had beyond their borders bordered the backyard of Alpha's home. Their pungent perfume filled the home in the early spring and early autumn. At first, I liked it because it made me feel close to my mother. The scent comforted me and made me feel connected to them. After Alpha hit me or shouted at me, I used to stroll around them and sniff them. They were more enjoyable to me than Alpha was.
The shrubs expanded as I aged. Every spring, more flowers grew in bloom, and the fragrance became stronger. As the years went by, Alpha's rage increased. The potent perfume permeated the whole home whenever the breeze blew from the rear to the front. He would lose his cool and lash out at me if he caught a smell of it or even just saw it. He also thought they were too reminiscent of my mother. They were especially dear to me since they gave me a sense of motherhood.
After a while, he began bringing ladies into the home that he had purchased for the evening. I distinctly recall that day. A witness has never before witnessed Alpha lift a hand and hit me. At the time, I was nine. During the summer, the home became intolerably warm. Alpha was gathering his "buddies," as he referred to them. He was picking up a delivery from his narcotics traffickers. We didn't have air conditioning since he didn't pay the power bill. I opened every window in the house since it was becoming hotter inside than it was outside.
He brought a lady home with him this time. She essentially had nothing on. She was a "lady of the night," but I was too young to know that. She had a terrible attitude and, if I may say so, was rather unattractive. She had filthy, long golden blonde hair, and her heel was just too high to be at all comfortable. She didn't like that I was there, and I was aware of it. I was advised to be quiet and tidy by him. I immediately detected the powerful aroma of bourbon, alcohol, and narcotics as he spoke it. I gave him my quiet OK, and he poisoned the unknown woman upstairs. They did not linger for very long. When I heard his bedroom door slam open and the house was once again swept by the summer air, I knew what was about to happen.
When I heard him storming down the stairs, I ducked into the kitchen corner where the cabinets converged. He arrived without a shirt on, with white powder beneath his nose, and bright Barbie pink lipstick all over his neck and chest. His eyes were cloudy from the medication and drink he had taken earlier that night as he scowled at me from across the room.
After that, all I can remember is him seizing my hair, banging my head against the counter, and his voice fading in and out of clarity. I recall the ringing in my ears, the crushing of my ribs when Alpha struck me once again, and the sound of her stupid-looking heels clicking on the kitchen tiles above. Only a pair of dark red pants that matched her shoes were on her. She shared Alpha's experience of having the same white stuff beneath her nose and a 'blunt' hanging from the side of her lips.
She swaggered up to where Alpha was towering over me and around his chest with her arms. His chest was scratched by her manicured claw. When she took her hand away to remove the "blunt," she blew a large cloud of smoke directly into my face. He nodded as she continued to speak in his ear. He glared at me as they exited the kitchen and said, "They better be gone before I come back to finish you."
He forced me to cut down my mother's shrubs that evening. I was hurt by each one of them. As I saw each blossom disintegrate and each pedal drops to the earth, I had the impression that my mother was abandoning me.
I was aware that having a gardenia in the dead of winter was difficult, and I know just how to do it in this location. He completed it. He's aware of my whereabouts.
My Alpha has found me once again.