THE ALPHA’S ADDICTION

Melvina soughed as she watched her son lumber into the kitchen, looking so crestfallen and melancholic. She wondered what had transpired between the three males in the room.

For a moment, she had wanted to attribute it to her mate knowing that their son had a human mate, but then she brushed it off; if he knew, she would have heard angry shouts already. He would have barged into the kitchen, knowing that she had already known about it.

“Mom, He wants some pancakes.” Derek said distastefully, sitting down tiredly on a stool near the kitchen counter; his head bowed down a bit. His father’s earlier pronouncement had zapped energy from him; it still taunted him. He was sure that his uncle was up to no good.

Melvina already knew the ‘he’ her son referred to. His tone said it all.

“What happened? What did you all talk about? Why are you looking so downcast?” She asked all at once, as she picked a plate from the rack.

“Dad wants to combine forces with Uncle Arnold’s pack.” He muttered angrily, tapping his index finger steadily on the counter.

“Clang..!!!”

The plate made a long ringing metallic sound as it came in contact with the tiled floor. It had fallen off from Melvina’s hand as she heard her son’s statement.

“What did you just say?” She asked Derek, the fallen plate completely forgotten, as she took a slow step towards him.

“Dad wants to combine forces with Uncle Arnold.” He repeated monotonely, not even taking note of his mother’s shock, or the fallen plate. His mind was totally on how he could thwart his uncle’s plans. Although it would be an added stress to him and his friends, he decided to keep a keen and watchful eye on his uncle and the pack warriors that would be sent by him.

“And why would he do that?” Melvina asked, getting annoyed at the decision. Was her mate so gullible or what?

“Well, according to him, he wants us to exchange knowledge and also team up to fight off the white sted pack.” Derek mentioned.

“But..” She tried saying, when she saw her son’s eyes gloss over for a second. It seemed he was receiving a message through the pack link. She decided to wait till he was done communicating.

“Dad wants the pancakes now.” He finally said, standing up from the stool.

“Okay. We will discuss this later then.” She said, to which Derek nodded to.

Picking up the plate which had fallen off her hands when she had heard the bad news from her son, Melvina took it to the sink and rinsed it again. Using a clean hand towel which hung on a rail, she cleaned off the water droplets from the plate before scooping some pancakes from the big metallic bowl on the counter, near the microwave, into it.

“Where is Eva?” Derek asked as he watched his mother scoop some pancakes into the round flowery-designed ceramic plate.

“I sent her to her room to read and sleep. She was making a mess of my batter earlier.” Melvina replied, as she recalled her little daughter’s attempt at cooking. A smile crawled its way stealthily across her lips as she relived the memory.

Derek seeing the smile on his mother’s lips after her earlier outburst, smiled too; knowing that his little sister had done it again. She always had this aura of happiness around her, spreading it forth to the people surrounding her. He wondered what she actually did this time with his mother’s batter.

“Here, take this.” Melvina said, handing over a blue plastic tray which contained two plates of yummy, sweet smelling pancakes.

“Mom…”

“Yes I know, yours is there in the bowl.” She said, interrupting her son’s statement. She already knew what he had wanted to talk about. Her son was a dire pancake lover; or a fan of hers rather.

“Okay.” Derek muttered, before turning away and walking towards the door that will lead him to the sitting room.

“Wait!” Melvina shouted. She had just remembered that she hadn’t put the syrup on the pancakes. Picking up the syrup, she walked over to Derek as he stood transfixed at the door post, and poured it gingerly on the pancakes.

“You can go now.” She said, taking a step back.

Derek nodded, then walked off with the tray.

“Arnold combining forces with us?? That’s the most ridiculous thing I have heard this year.” Melvina mused to herself. She would have to discuss this over with her mate tonight. There was no way she was letting her brother in law and his minions into her pack; the man couldn’t be trusted, not after what he had done during the last pack war.

Collecting a rag from the rail, close to the window pane, she started a clean up work on her kitchen. Eva’s ‘adult cooking’ still had its impact everywhere in the room. It could be seen in the litters of flour droplets on the counter and the floor.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

She must have cleaned for a while, before Derek came back into the kitchen. He strutted to the side of the counter where the big bowl lay, picked up a pancake and started eating.

“Derek, use a plate.” She said. “And take a seat too.” She mentioned, pointing at the nearest stool to the counter. “It’s not like the pancakes are running away.” She added in a whisper, but knowing that it was loud enough for her son to hear.

“So what again did your uncle say?” She asked, as dropped the rag on the sink, taking a seat on one the three stools in the kitchen. Derek was already sitting on one, in compliance to her earlier statement.

“Well, he is sending some of his pack warriors to us. Dad is also sending some of ours to his; exchange of intelligence according to him.” He said, pouring a large amount of syrup on the pancakes which lay idly, waiting to be eaten, on a plate in front of him.

“Oh God.” Melvina muttered. This was getting out of hand. She thought.

Watching her son gurble up the rest of the pancakes, she wondered, on the side, why her mate could be so forgiving and trusting towards his elder brother after what he had done seven years ago.

“Mom, thank you.” Derek said, taking a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

“You’re welcome.” She said. “Where are you going to?” She asked, taking note of his stance. He was looking towards the kitchen backdoor.

“I am going to see her.” He replied, walking towards the exit door.

“Emma?” She queried.

“Yes.” He answered, leaving the kitchen.