Page 2 of Trust No Alpha
Mathias bowed his head, his own dark hair covering his cheeks. “Yes, Father.”
“You’re to be first, then,” Father said, making a brisk motion with his hand indicating Mathias should enter his private study.
From my vantage, all I could see was the right side of the study where a fire roared in a hearth big enough to stand in. The oranges and golds and yellows lapped at the air, making it crackle. I sensed another person but couldn’t see him. But of course the doctor was in there. Father’s friend for years and years. A doctor who made house calls to the very wealthy. His true name was Doctor Poe. But I called him Doctor Pokeme all the time. He was awful.
Mathias slinked into the room past Father’s stern form. I heard Pokeme’s voice but couldn’t make out what was said.
Father turned to look at the four of us who remained in the hall. “You four wait here. And not a peep, you hear me? Kris, I’m putting you in charge. If your brothers act out, I’ll hold you responsible.”
We all nodded.
Father was probably the richest man in the country. Maybe in the world. We liked to think so. We joked about it.
We were spoiled with everything we could want. We had the finest tutors, clothes, furniture, games, and toys. The downside was he kept us isolated in that big mansion.
We didn’t go out much at all, and our only friendships in the world were online, which he strictly monitored. We had each other, though, and our litter-mate brotherly bonds were tight. But at eighteen, we looked forward to more freedom.
Father had already bought the cars he’d planned to gift me, Mathias and Trigg in just a few days on our birthday. Since I enjoyed art, I was to attend a high profile design school. Mathias had an aptitude for math and would go into accounting. Trigg wanted to be a physicist.
We’d all be able to still live at home as we made our way into the world, and slowly we’d become the great Alpha men our father could be proud of, perhaps even have our own mansions one day.
Beams of light spread like long shards of amber glass across the walls from the big window at the end of the hall.
The door to Father’s office opened smoothly across the shining wood floor.
Mathias came into the hall and made funny faces at us, then mock fell into my arms. “Save me from that horrible man!” he whispered loud enough for us all to hear.
I caught him under the arms. “How’d it go?” I asked.
He stood up straight, his black hair flashing blue and white streaks from the sunlight that tried its best to break through my father’s mansion windows.
“I’m in perfect health. Ready for the Burn. I can’t wait!” He danced back, nearly bumping into Father who came to the threshold to beckon me in.
“Mathias!” Father’s voice boomed. “You are finished here for the day. Go change out of your robe and return to your studies.”
“Ohhh.” But his groans didn’t last. Father never tolerated whining.
As Mathias nearly flew down the hall to the stairs and back to our waiting tutors, Father smiled at me.
My heart kicked me in the chest, a combination of dread and duty.
“Kris, you’re next.”
All the hairs stood up on my body. I hated this. But Father’s smile spurred me on. To please him, I would do anything. Even face the horrible Doctor Poe.
I entered the study, which was warmer than the hall, and heard the fire crackling, smelled the mix of burning pine and antiseptic, and saw the doctor standing by a folding bed with a clean, white sheet tucked around it. A small table to the side of the bed had all sorts of things laid out on it that made me want to shudder. Little bottles. A syringe. Gloves. Darker metallic tools that I did not understand the purpose of.
Doctor Poe, who was older than two hundred according to his online bio, had a ring of silver hair around the top of his head, and features heavily lined, the valleys around his mouth so deep they looked dark and bottomless. His eyes were pinpoints of black ice that seemed to bore right through the skin.
Scary as shit.
He said, “Hello, Kris. Good to see you again.”
“Yes, sir,” I mumbled. I didn’t realize my hands made fists underneath the long arms of my robe until Doctor Poe reached out as if to shake my hand and I held my arms back, away from him.
I turned without touching him, but Father stood just to my right, and really there was no escape even if my body, with its flight instinct, couldn’t quite understand that fact.
“All right, Kris,” Father said kindly. “Up on the bed now. You know the drill.”
