Page 4 of Elusive Alpha
“Welcome to the Bearclaw Inn.”
“Thank you. This place is incredible.”
“I think so too.” The man chuckled and waved me inside. “Let me show you to your room.”
The smells of several alphas permeated my senses but this was Franklin’s home, so most of it was him. “Thanks. I almost missed the plane. I’m one of those open-your-mail-every-week-or-so people.”
That stopped Franklin in his tracks. “Really? Huh. I hadn’t considered that. Perhaps I should send the letters out sooner. Thank you for sharing that with me.”
The inn was incredible. I passed a library filled with hundreds of volumes and comfortable overstuffed furniture, but the stained glass window in the stairwell took my breath away. “It’s so beautiful,” I whispered.
“It is. My mate made that by hand. Your room is right up here.”
At the top of the stairs, we came to two doors opposite one another, and Franklin showed me into the one on the left.
“I’ll just get cleaned up and change.”
“Great. We’re working on dinner. It will be ready soon, but take your time.”
I rushed to the bay window and looked out over the back of the property. An expanse of grass butted up to a thick forest. My bear roared inside me, wanting to run among those trees. To feel the dirt beneath his paws and the wind in his fur. We didn’t get out much in the city. Once in a while, I made a trip to the country and found some land to run on, but my bear stayed inside me more than what was comfortable for us both.
I took a quick shower since I smelled like all kinds of people and the airport and recycled airplane air. Once dressed, I took a long, deep breath and put my hand on the doorknob. It was time to meet my fated mate, this moment the place marker before my whole life changed.
Goddess, I hoped he liked me.
Chapter Five
Rook
After several days of exploring the countryside, I was ready for the big event. I loved my mountain, but it was refreshing to get away and see something new. I’d traveled for business many times, usually to big, exciting cities, but this was the first trip I’d ever made just to relax, hang out, and mingle with locals, and it was a revelation.
The Bearclaw Inn was in an area where farms and woodlands were interspersed with small towns, each similar at first glance but with their own personalities when I slowed down and saw them on foot.
Zipping through in a car, the main streets would be a blur of small businesses, and the one thing they did have in common was the lack of chain stores. I spent one day in each of four towns and learned that the stores lining those commercial districts were owned locally, and one diner was not the same as another.
The town near where I grew up had been kind of run-down and depressing, but that was not what I encountered here. I’d feared that I’d be so focused on the weekend coming up that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself, and was pleasantly surprised to prove myself wrong. And then it was time to check out of the rental cottage I’d used as a base and head over to the Bearclaw Inn where, if the legend was true, my mate would be waiting for me.
The Victorian home was beautifully maintained, and no sooner did I pull up in front than a dapper older gentleman stepped outside to greet me. “I’m Franklin,” he said, but I already knew that. My research had revealed that I could expect a gracious host, delicious food and, of course, an introductionto my mate. I’d been in business a long time and tended to be skeptical, but maybe this time the rumors were true.
Franklin, as he led me inside and upstairs to my room, certainly filled the gracious host role. “Dinner is a little way off yet, if you’d like to freshen up and maybe have a rest?”
“The room is very nice and that bed does look good.” My cottage rental had charm and a very uncomfortable bed. “So I think I’ll take you upon it.”
The room had an attached bath, and I showered and crawled under the comforter expecting to drift off, but then I wondered whether the omega was here yet. If there was a chance I truly might meet my mate and begin the life I’d prayed to the Goddess for, how could I waste time sleeping? He could be sitting in the living room right now…
I scrambled out of bed and dressed, primed for my new adventure, but nobody was in the living room when I arrived on the ground floor, so I followed my nose to the kitchen where Franklin was pulling a sizzling prime rib roast from the oven. Having skipped lunch, my growling stomach and snarling panther demanded we devour the whole thing now. I was an adequate cook, I thought, but living alone did not inspire me to create exciting meals. Mostly, I stuck with simple grilling in nice weather and soups and stews when it was cold and blustery outside. Filling, tasty, and nothing like the feast Franklin was creating. And of course, while building my company, I hadn’t cooked at all. There just wasn’t time.
“Not sleepy, huh?” he asked, drawing me out of my obsession with the roast. “Maybe you’d like to watch a movie or explore outside?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d really prefer to help you with dinner. It’s nice to be in a kitchen with someone else. What can I do?”
“If you’d like to assemble a salad, the ingredients are in the crisper.”
“Gladly.” I opened the refrigerator and found three kinds of lettuce, gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, rainbow carrots…too many veggies to fit in one bowl. “Everything? Or can I edit?”
“Put in whatever looks good to you.”
While Franklin placed the roast on a platter and surrounded it with roasted root vegetables, prepared a pan sauce, and ground fresh pepper over it all, I tore lettuce and cut up whatever other raw veggies appealed. A fresh-herb dressing was drizzled over my creation, and then Franklin sent me off to the dining room to set the table.
