Page 25 of Aleko
There had been a wadded receipt at the bottom of the bag from a local youth hostel. A phone call had confirmed that she’d been spending her nights there. Alex had sent Sebastian to pick up whatever belongings she had there, but it hadn’t been much more than what was in the bag. Just a few more clothes and a sleeping bag. No passport or other papers.
Once he had emptied out her bag, he’d noticed an odd bulge in one seam. His fingers found the concealed zipper pocket along the interior lining. Inside was an envelope containing three neat—if tiny—stacks of cash, each paper clipped together andcarefully labeled: passport renewal, plane ticket, Athens. Plane ticket had the least money. Overall, she’d managed to save about twelve hundred dollars. But it wasn’t nearly enough. She failed to realize that she couldn’t buy a plane ticket with cash. She had to have a cashier’s check or a credit card. And the passport replacement would take several days, if not weeks. She would also need more than a passport—she would need a work visa, which would cost more money. He didn’t think she had enough to pay for a hotel in Athens for that long. She was clawing her way up from the bottom, but it was going to be a long haul. He laid out the cash on his desk and then noticed two folded pieces of paper in the envelope.
The first was neatly folded in business-like thirds. It was a doctor’s statement of antibodies and immunity. He couldn’t tell if it was legit, but it was more confirmation of her intelligence. That little piece of paper probably opened a lot of doors for her. The second piece of paper was folded at odd angles and looked as if it had been crumpled at some point. He opened it cautiously. It was a note on a piece of hotel stationery from one of the big soulless resorts down the coast. The note was written in the elegant script of someone who prided themselves on their handwriting.
Don’t bother contacting us. You’re no longer welcome in our home. I’m telling your father you ran away.
It wasn’t signed.
Alex refolded the paper with an odd sense of satisfaction. If he had been in doubt, he wasn’t now. Like the rest of them, Eliandra had been rejected—dumped by the side of the road like an unwelcome pet. She had been abandoned in a foreign country by her family with no resources or means of escape. Alex knew that feeling. It had taken him the better part of a year to make his way off the atoll where he had been marooned, but the feeling of having his pack—the ones who were supposed to have his backno matter what—toss him aside still burned over seventy years later. Eliandra belonged with them.
She was waiting for him to speak, and Alex knew he ought to, but he found every word he’d ever known was gone. All he had was his wolf, who wanted to smell her and show off to impress her. Why had she picked that dress? Why hadhepicked that dress? He had tried to be sensible and choose practical clothes she would like, but that one had been the one he wanted to take off of her. He wanted to tug at the bow around her neck until it untied and came tumbling down.
“You’re up.”
Good. Those were words in an order that even made sense. Now he needed to follow that up with… something.
“I’m Alekos... Alexander Ash.” He wanted her to know his proper name. He wanted her to know everything. Well, what he really wanted was for her towantto know everything about him.
“Where is my phone?” she demanded, ignoring his introduction.
“I took it,” said Alex, startled.
“Obviously! You went through my things!”
She was mad. Well, she would like a new phone, so he could smooth that out.
“You can’t have a cracked phone,” said Alex reasonably. “You could barely see the screen.” He fished in his pocket for the phone. “I got you a new one.”
“What?”
“A new phone.” He held it out.
“You can’t… I need my old phone. It had all my data on it.”
“I had my IT person crack it. He said it copied fine. I put it on our plan.” He pushed the phone at her again, and she looked from the phone back up to his face.
“I can’t pay for a plan. My phone had minutes.”
“But you’re with us now, so it’s better to be on a plan. Usingminutes is a waste of money.”
“With you? I’m not with you.”
Alex felt his nose wrinkle in an approximation of furrowing his muzzle. It meantdislike,and he huffed out in disagreement. Shewouldbe staying here.
“No,” said Eliandra, shaking her head vigorously. “No. I’m not staying here.”
“Yes,” said Alex. “It’s better.”
“For who?”
“For you! You can’t work under the olive tree. You’ll work for us.”
“I will work wherever I please,” she snarled.
She took a step closer to him, and he bit at the air, frustrated that her scent was so pervasive but that she didn’t want him to touch her right now.
“You need a home.”
