Open the door, Alexander.

≈ Daisy ≈

~ The next day ~

Daisy feels her heartbeat quicken as Alexander approaches her, the rhythmic thumping echoing in her ears. Not to be a coward but she really feels like running away from him. So much for yesterday's bravado. The air around her is charged with tension, creating a prickling sensation on her skin.

His intense gaze locks with hers, and the sight of his serious expression heightens her unease. The scent of his cologne drifts with the wind into her nostrils, adding a layer of complexity to the atmosphere. "Rose," he calls out that name he's so adamant about keeping. As he speaks, his voice resonates, further emphasizing the gravity of the moment. All these sensory cues combined, leaves her acutely aware of the weight of his presence. There is no way he isn't an Alpha with that kind of aura.

Daisy stands, frozen at her doorstep, eyes narrowing as she takes in the unexpected sight of Alexander at her apartment complex as she's about leaving for work. His provocative smile is absent, replaced by an air of seriousness that sends a shiver down her spine. How could he look even more attractive this way?

"What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?" she demands, her voice laced with suspicion.

Alexander shrugs, his expression unwavering. "I had you followed. It wasn't that hard."

Invasive much?

Daisy crosses her arms, taking a defensive stance. "Why would you do that?"

He moves closer to her, his deep blue eyes seeming even darker up close. She gulps, trying so hard not to allow her body shrink under his penetrating gaze. "Because we need to talk, Daisy. And not out here on the street."

Daisy eyes him warily, a chill crawling down her spine when flashes of the last time they had been alone together rushes through her mind. "I'm not getting into any confined space with you alone."

Sensing her apprehension, Alexander gestures towards his car down the road. "Then we'll talk in there. It's out in the open. You have nothing to worry about."

She hesitates, biting her lip as she weighs her options. After a moment, she reluctantly enters the car. She tenses up at the sound of the door locking audibly. Panic flashes in her eyes.

"Calm down," Alexander says when he smells her fear, his tone steady. "We need to discuss something important."

Daisy shoots him a curious look. "What could be so important that you had to ambush me like this?"

Alexander stares at her for a moment, his eyes quickly taking in her white dress shirt and pants. Her lovely clove scent fills his car, seducing him, calling out his wolf. It's distracting and he would have forgotten what he had to say to lean in and inhale her scent if it didn't piss him off marginally. "Gabriel Carpenter," he spits out, the name leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. "I'm guessing you've also met him, right?"

The mention of Gabriel catches Daisy off guard. "How do you know him?"

A grim smile plays on Alexander's lips. "How wouldn't I know the second Alpha my mate is mated to?” He found out she is a Three Mated Luna from the tail he sent to follow her since their last meeting. The concept that he would have to compete with two other guys for her affections isn't the issue. The issue is who the second Alpha is. He doesn't want to believe it. Really, he doesn't but the shock in her eyes and they way her hand came to cup her chest over her heart, tells him he is right.

He scoffs, glaring down at his steering wheel. Of course. Of course it has to be that unruly Alpha that makes it a point to keep trying to surpass him in everything. It has to be his rival from the Dome pack. From the day they were in diapers, his father had always compared him with him. The brilliant young Alpha who took over his pack and excelled at such a young age. The pride and joy of his people. Then there's him, the screw up. No matter what he does, as long as it doesn't measure up to Gabriel fucking Carpenter, it isn't valid.

All his life, he had to examine his achievements side by side with the insufferable prick and now he has to fight for his mate with him too?! He let out a humourless laughter, his eyes flashing red momentarily in anger. What kind of sick joke is this?

Daisy grips her bag, watching Alexander cautiously. She feels a drop in temperature when his wolf eyes comes out. Even if it's brief, his aura changed. She senses his anger in the air, squirming in discomfort. Her wolf is restless. If she were in her wolf form, she would be whining and either trying to paw at the window to get out of the suffocating atmosphere or bowing her head with her tail behind her legs.

She is a Beta by hierarchy which means that Alexander is an Alpha since he's able to elicit such reactions in her. Surprisingly, his eyes are blood red and it makes her wonder what his fur looks like. If it's black, then he must be big and have serious bloodlust but if it's white, then he is a naturally calm wolf and a harbinger of death when provoked. She's sure it would most likely the latter from how he behaved.

Daisy shakes her head. Raena's myths and daily stories filled with random facts from when she was a kid really stuck, didn't they? She blinks when her warning alarm starts beeping. She pulls out her phone to turn it off. 6:45am. She is already supposed to be in the office by 6am but she had told Mr. Randy she'd make it for the 7am meeting. If she keeps sitting here, she would certainly be late.

"Open the door, Alexander. I need to go to work."

"So nothing about what I just said means anything to you?" He glares at her, feeling insulted. He is an Alpha! His words are never to be ignored! Never! Not anymore.

"I'm not saying that. I really need to make it for our 7am meeting with FlatIt.co-"

"So you're leaving me to talk to Gabriel?" He growls, eyes steadily turning red at how angry and agitated he's getting.

Alarmed by his reaction, Daisy makes herself one with the car door, feeling unsafe as she pulls at the lock. "Open the door."

"Do you like him more than me? Is that it?" He presses, half out of his seat as he crowds her smaller form.

She doesn't like this. She is starting to panic as it's slowly getting harder to breathe. She grips her throat, heaving slightly. It already feels like there isn't enough air. A little more and she'd be wheezing badly. "Open...the...door, Alexander." Please. She shut her eyes tightly, praying, hoping her mind doesn't take her back to that dreadful night. The moment her senses dulls and she starts hearing pelting rain drops, loud growls and slashes, she starts hyperventilating.

Alexander pauses, his anger swiftly replaced by concern when he tries touching her and she jumps so high, her head connected with the roof of the car. That doesn't snap her out of whatever she is seeing that is making her react this way. She's whispering and mumbling unintelligibly, her fear polluting the car, choking him. He is sure if he opened the car right now, she'd most likely shift into her wolf form and run off to God knows where so he rolls down the window instead.

"Rose. Rose!" He grabs her hands when her claws grew out and she tries scratching at his car door. Like hell he'd let her ruin the expensive interior. "Daisy!" He growls, using his Alpha voice and sighing in relief when she flinches and freezes. She isn't breathing though. She's holding her breath, her eyes transfixed on the space beside him, an other worldly dazed look in them. She still isn't conscious.