"Where's the gardening shed? I can make this place look pretty!"
I saw a grin snake onto the guard's face.
"It's just over there, be careful, it's full of spiders."
Shut up. I hate spiders, I'm not necessarily scared of them, they just creep me out a bit. Ok that's a massive lie, I'm terrified of spiders, I'm almost afraid of the dark.
I twirled my foot in the dirt.
"Can one of you come with me?" I asked very quietly
"Yes of course, in fact just stay here, I'll get them."
He walked over to a quiet little shed. I'm gonna have to upgrade that, if I choose to stay here. He came back with a wheelbarrow full of gardening tools. There were things like whipper snippers, large hedge trimmers and a bunch of hoes to cut through the vines, weeds and other unwelcome things in the garden. I smiled giddily.
"This should be a great distraction! Are you guys gonna help?"
They looked at each other and shrugged before picking up the whipper snipper and a hoe, so I grabbed the hedge trimmers.
I found a ladder and started from back to front, tackling the vines that have managed to grow all the way to the top. This garden must've got unchecked for quite a while, this will take us all afternoon.
I finally took into consideration the events of the day. I was supposed to be at the carnival by now. What if Carlos told my parents that I'd been abducted, my mother would be bawling and my father would probably have Carlos against a wall asking why he wasn't with me. What if they were on their way? I really don't want any of them getting hurt.
We spent a long time tackling all the vines and overgrown weeds. It was very relaxing to be honest, it almost felt like I was back at my Nan's house, helping her reach the things her back wouldn't allow. It was one of my favourite things to do, I hope she doesn't have a heart attack if she finds out I'm missing.
We stepped back and admired our work, the garden was now completely dirt, and the vines were gone, creating a perfect area for gardening, only, the condition of the dirt wasn't acceptable. It was much too hard.
"Is there a hose around here?"
"Yeah I'll go get it, why?"
"The ground is too hard to plant flowers, we need to soften it up."
He nodded and left to go get the hose, when he returned, he set it up and handed it to me.
"Do you have a sprinkler, it will spread the water out more evenly."
He disappeared and came back with a sprinkler in his hands. I pulled the hose and sprinkler into the middle of the garden area and adjusted the sprinkler to high so it would roughly cover the whole area, if not, I can just go over it later.
"Ok, do you guys have flowers available?"
They shook their heads.
"Unfortunately not, we have never seen a need to as no one has ever bothered with this garden."
"Can we go and buy some?"
They looked at each other and then at me, no reply.
"The Alpha did say I can go where I want as long as you guys come with me, surely you have a garden shop in your pack?"
"We do." One of the guards said with a sigh
"Ok lets go."
I heard them both sigh loudly, we have been working all afternoon.
We drove into town, it was much nicer than the town in my pack, not that ours wasn't nice, theirs was just much nicer, there were decorations everywhere.
"Is there something to be celebrated? What's with all the décor?"
"It's just how people like to look at the town, it's a small club where they make decorations to improve the mental health of themselves and the people around them."
"How cute."
This pack seemed so rigid on the outside, the guards were always standing at attention, I wonder what this one is called.
"Hey?"
"Yes Charlotte?"
"What pack are we in?"
"The same one as before, miss."
"Yeah I know that but what is it called?"
"Obsidian Claw."
I looked at him wide eyed, hoping to see some hint of a joke but his face was like that of a statue. There's no way. That can't be Alpha Koi's, he can't be MY mate.
"You're really funny, you know that?"
He looked through the rearview mirror and met my eyes, looking more serious than before
"No I'm not joking, you're in Obsidian claw pack territory."
I felt the blood drain from my face, he must've noticed because he attempted to comfort me.
"Hey, it's ok, we aren't that bad, look at how much we care for each other, we have full trust in our pack, it's just other packs we don't trust, so we come off aggressive so they don't bother us."
This isn't happening, the Obsidian Claw pack is the worst and most ruthless one, known for killing any unwelcome visitors, what if Carlos didn't listen and is lying dead outside the clearing?
"Carlos? Carlos are you there?"
Silence. No, I've killed my best friend. I've known him since we were little, he would give me piggybacks and tell me stories about how he and his Dad would go hunting, different techniques of how to handle a knife and limit the damage inflicted on yourself from an enemy. Now I'm glad he taught me that, because I'm gonna cut out Alpha Koi's heart and use it as a trophy and a warning towards his disgusting pack.
I started to cry, Carlos was gone. Why didn't he listen to me?
"Charlotte?"
I almost screamed in joy, he was ok, well alive at least.
"Carlos?! Why didn't you answer me the first time? I thought you were dead!"
"Why would I be dead? Is your mate that bad?"
No Carlos, he's the most sweet and heartwarming creature in the world, I would marry him right now if he asked. YES HE'S AWFUL YOU APE!
"Yes, he is Carlos, it's Alpha Koi, the Obsidian Claw Alpha."
"HA! You're always good for a laugh."
I stayed silent, and I swear I heard the gears clicking in his head through the link.
"Wait, you're serious? CHARLIE! YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF THERE!"
"I've tried, but I've got two guards everywhere I go, look, just don't come for me, I'll try to convince him to let me see you."
"That's not gonna work, it's Alpha Koi, remember when Alpha Knox tried talking him into helping us, he's not trustable nor is he fair or reasonable."
"I know, but maybe, just maybe he'll let me see you, look I have to go the guards are looking at me weird, just stay safe Carlos, and I love you."
"I-"
"I love you too Charlie…"
I blocked the link as we slowed to a stop outside a small flower shop. I could already see all the beautiful flowers lining the windows of the shop. It lightened my mood a little bit.
We were there for just over an hour. I picked multiple colours of Dianthus, Salvia and the usual Petunia's. I also picked out a variety of different coloured roses with a few other highly spreadable plants like succulents. I asked the guards to carry some of it and put it in the car in a way that I could only hope wouldn't ruin them.
The ride on the way home was dreadfully silent, I'm just glad Carlos is ok, I'm still going to bring Koi's heart and drop it in Carlos' lap with a big smile on my face.
The second we got there I jumped out of the car to grab the plants before my two barbarian guards did something to them. I at least wanted to save some of my flowers.
I planted them equally spaced so they could spread like they were supposed to, I also bought some large decorative rocks, the succulents will spread and create an overgrown look.
Once we were done, he headed inside and my guards led me to the room I was in before. I was soon going to start panicking, why was this happening to me? Maybe I can run away, steal his car or something. I read a book about a girl who did that. I start pacing around the room, and it's only now that I've decided to take account of the room itself, it's honestly a very stylish room. It seems to be a modern but usual bedroom, with custom tables with their pack symbol carved into each piece of wooden furniture. There are hanging plants in the far corner of the room with two large old fashion chairs underneath and a coffee table in the middle of it. It is a nice room, but it's a tad bit messy, there are papers littering the area around the coffee table and the fireplace is stained with soot around the edges. Why would the cleaners not do this room? It would have had to have been left for some time to become like this, the rest of the house is stunning.
"If I'm going to be thrown into a room I might as well clean it." I mutter to myself
I start with the papers. I put them in a box next to the bed, it was a beautiful King sized bed, and the pillows were all very fluffy, the bed faded from black to very nice dark blue at the end. I dust off the surfaces and go into the bathroom to find a cloth so I can clean the soot off the fireplace.
Once I'm done, I view my work, everything looks much cleaner, I always feel cramped when I'm in a messy room. Unfortunately now, I'm rather bored, and my thoughts are starting to catch up to me. I doubt I can run away, and they probably have some way to track his car if I were to steal it.
Then an idea hits me, what if I catch a train or something, a bus, but I can't go home, I can go somewhere else and call Carlos, Alpha Knox would get confused and I could make it home whilst he's running around looking for me.
It still wouldn't work, he would go back to my pack constantly and wait for me to get home, I can't live on my own, the job that I've got won't keep up with a house, and it's within my pack so I'd have to go back to do it, I'm stuck here. I haven't got my phone either, maybe I should mind link Carlos and just rant about the situation, though I'm not sure what good it would do.
Instead of doing anything productive, I shuffle onto the bed, curl up into a little ball with my head against my knees, and cry. I cry hard, heart wrenching sobs that shake my whole body. I start talking to myself.
"Why didn't you just stay with Carlos and Miriam, or go back to the festival…?"
"We would be safe and happy."
For the first time in a while, Elsie included herself in my conversation. I must've let the block fall while I was crying.
"I'd like to apologise, for a lot of things, I shouldn't have talked about Carlos that way, I was just too focused on our mate."
"How could you still consider him as our mate, he's terrifying, and he could hurt us and the people we care about, I don't trust him."
"You just have to try, he is giving you a chance, so you have to give him one too, you can't run from this, how would you feel in his position, if your mate was afraid of you?"
"Well maybe if he didn't threaten Carlos and actually give me the choice of whether or not I wanted to go with him, I would be slightly interested, he dragged me away from my family and my friends, they haven't got an explanation and I've sworn Carlos to secrecy! How can you expect me to go through with something I don't feel comfortable with?! Elsie why aren't you thinking about the both of us first?!"
Once I stop talking I realise that I didn't mind link that argument, at least not that last section. I look up to see if anyone came into the room and I see a large figure at the end of bed staring at me with a mix between a hurt expression and a concerned one.
"Well, can you let me explain my actions, I'm sorry for what I did."
It's Koi, Alpha Koi. I shuffle forwards so I'm not hunched over and wipe my eyes. He makes a move to get into bed with me but I hold up a hand to stop him.
"You can explain but you can stay there."
He stops and looks at me before sighing loudly and pulling one of the old fashioned chairs to the end of the bed. He sits and places his chin in his hands in deep thought. And then talks in his beautiful husky voice