Alpha Ray's Luna

EMILIA'S POV

Emilia's children were driving her crazy

They ran around the office, throwing bits of paper up and screaming, while she tried valiantly not to hide behind her desk. She had never felt this rattled in a long while.

She ran her hand through her tight black curls of hair and sighed, then stood up from behind the desk, hoping her tall frame would scare them into silence.

"Kids! Stop this instant!" She yelled at the top of her voice. They stopped for a moment, looking at her from the other side of the room, then continued throwing bits of paper up as though she hadn't just spoken. Emilia sighed again and collapsed into her chair. The only person who could calm them was her boyfriend, and he was nowhere to be found at the moment. Where the hell was Kenneth when you needed him?

As though her thoughts had conjured him up, a knock came from the door and Kenneth poked his head through it. He gave Emilia a dazzling smile before turning to the screaming 6-year olds.

"Kids, what did I say about disturbing mommy?" He asked them with raised eyebrows. One of the little girls raised her hand.

"No ice-cream if we disturb mommy." She said, smiling to show gaped teeth.

"Exactly!" Kenneth said and stepped into the room. He had his hand behind his back , and brought it forward. He was holding a plastic bag which Emilia knew contained said ice-cream. Her boyfriend waved the ice-cream in their face, grinning from ear to ear. "Now, no ice-cream for you because you disturbed mommy."

Emilia watched as her kids began their shouting again. They gathered around Kenneth's knees, stretching their hands up and begging for the ice cream.

"Now, if I give you this ice-cream, do you promise to leave mommy and let her work?" He asked them, raising the plastic bag just above their reach.

"Yes, yes!" They yelled, and her boyfriend lowered the plastic bag. The children grabbed it in their little hands and ran out of Emilia's office, screaming at the top of their voices.

Kenneth chuckled as he watched them run down the hallway, then closed the door. He walked forward to her desk and sat before it, then propped his elbows up and watched her tired face.

"Well, at least all I have to do now is clean up the mess they'll make on their clothes. Thank you, Ken. What would I do without you?" Emilia said.

He raised his eyebrows. "You owe me, young woman."

Emilia smiled and leaned back on her chair in a dramatic pose. "What could I ever do to repay this singular act of chivalry?"

"Oh, I don't know. Get married to me, perhaps?" He proposed, his voice getting a little more serious.

Emilia opened her eyes and studied him from across the desk. He was good to her–perhaps the only person in this city who didn't raise eyebrows at the fact that she was a very young woman and had so many kids already. He had been good to her children too, taking them as his own kids despite the fact that he had three of his own too: three teenagers–though she'd never met any of them–all products of a nasty divorce.

Emilia had been attracted to his personality first and foremost, even before she became physically attracted to him. He would be turning 40 that year and was almost two decades older than her, but they had fit like gloves. His looks had added to it: his dark hair that curled at the nape of his neck, that she loved to run her hands through, his baby blue eyes that lit up with excitement all the time, his tall frame that matched hers so well.

She couldn't deny the fact that she was attracted to him. She was attracted to him, but she didn't love him. She had loved only one man, and he had broken her heart.

She sighed as her stormy grey eyes met his blue ones across the desk. She hated crushing his hopes everytime like this. "My answer remains the same, Ken. I cannot marry you."

She watched as his face fell for a second, then he put on a brave smile. "Oh, shoot. Well, I guess I'll try again next week."

Emilia laughed at that, the sound echoing around the office. "Well, who knows? Perhaps I would have changed my mind by then." Who was she kidding? She would never agree to his proposals, and it saddened her more than it should.

"Would you at least agree to have dinner with me at my house tonight? You could bring your three little minions along." Kenneth continued.

She smiled. "Of course, Ken. It's a date."

Suddenly, their conversation was cut short by a loud ring. Somehow Emilia knew who it was before she picked up her phone. A shiver went through her body as she looked at the screen and saw the tag "Unknown Caller".

She had been getting calls like this for several days now. Some unsaved number would call her, and when she picked, it would be the same words: "Get ready, Emilia. I'm coming to take you home". The first few times she'd picked the call, she'd tried to find out who it was, but the person would cut the call without a reply.

She had never been scared of anything like this in her entire life.

She watched the screen of her phone in trepidation till the call rang out. Then she dropped the phone on her desk and placed her head in her hands.

"It's the same number, right?" She heard Kenneth say and groaned in response. She'd told him about the call after she received the first one.

Kenneth picked up her phone and flipped through her phone. "Caller ID isn't on." He looked up at her, a frown on his face. "Can I have this number? I'll try to find out who it is." Emilia made a dismissive gesture at him with her hand. The unknown caller had said "home". She knew exactly what that meant.

She would never be able to run away from her past.

EMILIA'S POV

Emilia herded her children down the streets of Chicago, wondering why God had to curse her with this predicament. Their nanny had called at the last minute that she couldn't come to pick them from school, so the job of taking care of them had fallen on her.

One child was tugging at her dress, another was standing still and crying, while the third was running down the street after an ice cream truck. She sighed resignedly and hoisted her tote bag up, then went after the running kid while dragging the other two by the hand. When did her life turn to this?

It was a warm Friday evening in July. She should be in a club with the rest of her friends, swaying to loud music and taking shot after shot. She should be going out, exploring the city and having fun. She was just 25, for fuck's sake!

But somehow fate had dumped a set of triplets on her to take care of, alone. In all her years on earth, nothing had prepared her for the headaches that came with raising one child, talk less of three. Three kids, born to her on the same day. Three headaches to take care of while their father was busy playing alpha in some unknown suburban pack.

She was happy to be their mother, of course. But sometimes, she couldn't help but wonder if things could have been different if she had made wiser decisions.

Oh well, she thought. She had made the choice to skip town with them all those years ago. Their father hadn't wanted them anyway. They were her headaches now.

She hadn't even told Kenneth about her past. How would he react to knowing his girlfriend and her kids were werewolves?

"Jasper!" Emilia called out to the running kid. "Come back here this instant!"

The six-year old boy didn't stop. He continued to run down the street while his mother yelled at him on the top of her voice. Then the ice cream truck he was chasing turned down a corner and the little boy turned the corner after it. Panting, Emilia dragged the two other children by the hand and went after him.

She turned the corner and saw her son, standing a few metres from her. The street was dingy and deserted, no ice cream truck in sight. Emilia and her children were the only people standing on the street.

"Jasper, come back here. Why did you run off like that?" She called to him.

Little Jasper stopped and turned to her, smiling innocently. She opened her mouth to call his name again, but before she could, a black car stopped behind him. She dragged Jasper's sisters by the hand and moved towards the car. She got there and pulled her son to herself protectively, staring warily at the tinted windows of the car.

The window of the driver's seat rolled down and a bald head peeked out of the window. "Good afternoon, Ms Emilia." The driver said. "I need you to please get in the car."

His words took her by surprise. She stalled for a moment, then looked around, a little scared. Was this the man who had made those calls? How did he know her name?

She found her voice and opened her mouth. "Who are you?" She asked.

"There is no need to know that." The bald man replied, then came down from the car and opened the door of the backseat. He gestured for her to enter. "If you'll kindly go in, Miss."

Emilia drew her kids even tighter to herself and stepped back. "I'm not stepping into your car until I know what you want from me."

The man sighed and rubbed a hand across his face. "He did say you'll prove stubborn." He muttered to himself.

"Me? Who told you that?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Never mind that now." He said, then tried to reach for one of her daughters but she pulled the little girl away, her face steely with distrust.

She watched as the man's jaw tightened. "Look, Ms Emilia. We can do this the easy way, or the other way. I would like you to step in to the car without restraint, or I'll be forced to use force."

"No." Emilia shook her head and turned to go, pulling her kids along. For a split second, she sensed that something was wrong. Werewolf instinct kicked in as she heard a faint noise behind her. She pulled her kids to the back and turned, shielding them with her body.

She was growling now, her eyes darting every which way. They were glowing with a fiery amber light. She hadn't realised that her claws were extended. Her fangs which had shot out from her gums, bit painfully into her lower lip.

"Kids, stay behind me!" She snarled as her children began to cry. One of her girls tugged at her dress and said "Mommy, I'm scared."

The strange man was nowhere to be found. The black car still stood where it was, with the backseat door wide open. Emilia kept her eyes darting, looking for any sign of movement.

When the man didn't show up, she relaxed a bit. She flexed her fingers as her claws retracted, but she didn't turn to her children. A few slow seconds passed as she waited for action.

Then a hand grabbed her from the back suddenly. Fingers went around her throat and began to press down. She retched and spluttered, trying to catch a breath. She heard her kids screaming, and pried the man's fingers from her neck long enough to scream: "Run, kids! Run!"

She couldn't see her children, but she heard the soft patter of feet as they ran across the street. She heard the man curse softly under his breath, then press something against her nose and mouth.

She felt hot breath on her neck as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "The alpha sends his greetings." Then she slowly let go of consciousness and slipped into darkness.

EMILIA'S POV

A sudden jolt woke Emilia up. She gasped and opened her eyes. Blurry images swam before them, and she blinked several times before they came to focus. She looked sideways and saw buildings flash by. The sky outside the window was dark; it was night time already.

The vehicle she was in was bumping slightly as they drove along a highway. She was in the backseat of a car; she suspected it was the black car that had accosted her and her kids.

Her kids!

She suddenly sat upright, then groaned as a banging pain split through her head. But she didn't care. Where the hell was her kids?

"Mommy?" She heard a soft whisper beside her and turned to look. Three scared little white faces stared at her from the darkness of the backseat. She sighed gratefully, then stretched her hand and drew her children to herself.

"I thought I told you to run." She whispered, holding them to her side.

"The bad guy came after us and carried us back to the car." Her son Jasper replied, pointing at the driver. "We thought he would hurt you mommy."

"It's alright, I'm fine." Emilia replied. "I'm glad you're alright. Everything will be fine soon, okay?"

The driver looked up as he heard Jasper's voice and cleared his throat. His eyes found hers through the rearview mirror.

"I see you're awake, miss." He said, giving her a faint smile. "I'm sorry for the way I accosted you."

Emilia's hand immediately went around her neck, where she could feel a ring of bruises. "You're going to pay for this." She said, her voice trembling.

"You know it's not my fault, Ms Emilia. I was following orders from him. I did give you two options, and you chose not to come with me. I had no choice but to use force."

She swallowed past the fear that lodged in her throat. "Who the hell is 'him'? Who is behind all of this? I demand to know."

"Alpha Raymond." The driver replied promptly. "I am a chauffeur in his service. He asked me to come fetch you. He needs your help."

Her heart did a spin as she heard that name. "Alpha Raymond...Ray?" She whispered.

"Exactly, ma'am." The driver replied.

She narrowed her eyes. "And he needs my help because?" She asked.

"That, I cannot say. He only asked me to fetch you."

Emilia leaned forward until her head was close to the driver's seat. "You'd better tell me what he wants from me before I–"

"You'd do well to keep your threats to yourself, Miss Emilia." The chauffeur replied in a brisk voice. "You and I know that your threats are wasted on me. And I know you're excited to see him again."

She shook her head. "How presumptuous of you to think you know what I want."

The chauffeur's eyes met hers in the rearview mirror, then slid away. It was obvious he knew much more than he was willing to say.

"I'm sorry if all of this has caused any sort of inconvenience on your side, but it's extremely urgent I get you to the alpha. He needs your help." He added .

"And how's that any of my business?" She spat venomously, feeling the rage and hatred of six years rise to the surface. "He is the father of these kids, and yet he totally ignored their existence for six years. He has no right to demand to see me now."

She watched as the alpha swallowed uneasily. "I'm sorry ma'am. I'm just following orders."

Emilia narrowed her eyes. "Get me and my kids out of this car this instant." She demanded in a deadly cold voice.

"No can do, Miss Emilia."

"That's bullshit." She yelled and jerked the door handle. "Let me out of this car immediately. This is kidnapping!"

"Miss, you'd do well to keep your voice down, please." The chauffeur said, his own voice full of warning.

"I am going to open this door and jump out, and you'd have nothing but a dead body to take back to your precious alpha Raymond." Emilia threatened dangerously.

"Ma'am, please. People can hear us." The chauffeur replied. She could hear a bit of fear in his voice now.

"That's the goal, isn't it?" Emilia snapped, then returned to the door and began hitting on the windows. "Help! I'm being kidnapped!" She yelled at the top of her voice while her kids watched with fear in their eyes. She didn't care if Raymond was waiting for her at the end of this journey. She wanted out.

"Miss, this is your last warning..." The chauffeur threatened.

Emilia raised her voice a notch higher. "Help!" She screamed. She saw a squad of police cars in front and wound down the windows. When the car got within a distance of the police, she craned her neck out of the window and screamed. "I'm being kidnapped!"

A lone cop was standing by the roadside, leaning against his car. His head jerked up when Emilia screamed, and she watched as he hurriedly yelled something into his service radio, then opened the door of his car and went in. Soon a police car was hot on their trail.

"Shit!" The chauffeur cursed under his breath as the squad car began to trail him, sirens blaring. Emilia settled back into her chair, satisfied.

"You'd better pull up and wait for the cops, Mr Chauffeur." She said with a smug look. "They'd have a ton of questions to ask you."

"I told you not to scream, Miss. Now I have no choice." The chauffeur said in a calm voice that sent shivers up her spine.

"What do you mean?" She asked, but he ignored her. He sped up the car until they got to a highway, where traffic was heavy. The police car was still somewhere behind them, but it had been lost in the sea of cars.

Once safely in the jam-packed lane, the chauffeur wound up the windows, then turned to her. "I'm sorry for this." He said.

"Sorry for wh–" Emilia started, but the words were knocked out of her mouth as the chauffeur gave her a heavy blow to the head, and for the second time that night, she sank into unconsciousness.