The Falcon Ridge Series Book 4: Art of a Girl

(Chapter song ‘broken’ by lovelytheband)

BASTIAN

I casually hit a key on the keyboard as I lean my temple on my fingers and stare at the one sentence on my report. I had to check in with the office since I’ve been avoiding it for weeks now. The problems is, now that I’m at the Unit, I can’t get my mind off Sammy. Her problems are filling my head and I hate to leave her alone. Hopefully, this day will go quickly.

I turn away from my computer, rub my eyes with agitation, and pick up some paperwork. As I stand to file them, a knock comes on my door.

“Come.” I bark as I walk to a file cabinet and pull out the top drawer.

I glance at the door as I flip through file tabs and groan when the Falcon double brats walk in.

I shove the papers in a file and slam the drawer. "A little far from the recruitment center, aren't you boys?" I raise a brow as I sit in my chair and pull myself in. I turn to my computer and hit a few keys with one finger.

Wes and Grey Andrews. The wonderful Andrews twins who think their asses are better than everyone’s because their dad skirted the age protocol and got them in four years early.

They’re beefy guys and both Alpha trainers here. They’re identical twins with dirty blonde, short hair and blue eyes. They even have the same cocky smile, but Grey’s a little dumber. I’ll give Wes credit for his higher IQ, but he’s still a complete dick. The only thing I like about them is that they piss Jackson off. That’s funny as hell.

They are creepy though. They go everywhere together. They even talk at the same time sometimes. It’s weird as fuck and I shudder to think about what else they share.

Wes smirks at me as he places his hands on his hips. His blue military t-shirt stretches at his peck muscles. "Bastian. We thought you went AWOL."

"Me? Never." I turn, lace my fingers on my desktop and shoot out a fake smile. "Just had some stuff to clean up at home."

Grey fold his arms and raises a brow. "Yeah. We heard. You really think that fancy dance hall is going to land you the Head Alpha position?" He snorts.

"Multimillion-dollar grand ballroom and yeah I do." I correct. “When the Blue Moon hits, the job is mine." I lean back in my chair, cross my arms and smirk.

They exchange looks to each other, then Grey leans his hands on my desk edge. "I don't think so, bud. With our track record and Blake's fame, you'll be lucky to even place in the competition."

"Blake is a putz.” I snort and wave him off. “He's no threat. Especially after the stunts his pack pulled in Red Rock. He's sunk. You two…” I point my finger between the two of them and give them a smart look. “Please, you can't even touch the influence I have over the council. Unless Duke comes out of hiding, which he won’t because he’s pussy whipped to no end. I have no competition." I hold my arms out, lean back and place my hands behind my head with a smug look.

"Right. I'm sure they'll hire the guy that allowed the most dangerous criminal on the planet to escape from a high security prison. Face it, Bastian. You're a loser with a lot of money.” Wes leans on my desk beside his brother and arches a brow. “You got nothing. That’s really got to suck for you.” He smirks.

I lean on my desk and tick my jaw. "Is this all you two came here for?'

Grey stands and puts his hands in his pockets. "No. We're just here to tell you the final round of tests are this afternoon. We thought we better tell you to not bother coming."

I squint my eyes. "Oh, I'll be there. And I'm going to wipe the floor with both your asses."

"Whatever." Wes snorts. "Let's go."

The two leave and I'm left, not worried, but not confident either. I'm not prepared for these tests because I've been so wrapped up in Sam. I hope I don't blow this.

Getting back on track, I head to Rennet's office and knock on the door.

"Come in."

When I open the door, he’s sitting behind his desk and adjusting his glasses. He looks tired. Like he just rolled out of bed or something.

I motion to him as I walk in. “You look like hell. Not sleeping?”

He rubs his eyes then fixes his glasses. “No. Just lots of work.” He pushes the middle of his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

I point to them. "You should probably get those fixed."

He chuckles. "Yes. Um. What can I help you with?"

"How's the rehabilitation coming?" I ask as I sit in the chair across from him.

He ruffles through papers. "Yes. Of course. There's... There's a group I have all ready for processing. I think these people are definitely in the wrong place. I'm recommending a group home setting for them." He scrambles through the papers as he searches for what he needs. For a smart guy, he's not very organized.

He lifts a pile and pulls out a file. He flips it open then hands it to me.

I lean back, cross my leg and open it. It sits in my lap as I lean on the arm of the chair, cover my lips with curled fingers and flip through the profiles. No one of real importance stands out. Just some members who had been with Torrent for years. They do look like average people and their wrap sheets aren’t long at all.

As I casually turn the pages, I glance at Rennet. "None of these people wanted to join Torrent?"

He shakes his head. "No, Alpha. Far from it. These people were threatened. It's unfair to punish them for Torrent's insanity."

"So, instead of fighting back, they became traitors." I arch a brow.

He tilts his head. "Alpha. That's also unfair. A lot of these people had children. What would you do if your pups' lives were at stake?"

He's got me there. Although, I would die to protect my pack and family, if the lives of my pups rested in Torrent's hands, I'm not sure I would say no.

I toss the file on his desk. "Set it up. I'll sign the release forms with a year of house arrest before total release."

"Thank you, Alpha. You don't know how grateful they are." He smiles.

I stand and fix my suit jacket. "Just don't make me regret it."

He nods. "I won't."

I turn, but then stop. I turn back and scrunch my brow. "Doctor? How's Samantha doing?"

He cocks his head and grins. “You know I can’t answer that.”

I put my hands in my pockets. "Surely, you can tell me if you're making progress?"

"I'm sorry. I can't. I'm sure you'll see the improvements yourself soon." He picks up some papers and thumps them on his desktop to straighten them.

"I see. Well, have a good day, Doctor." I leave his office and walk down the prison unit halls.

I look to the floor and think. If he is making progress with Sam, I’m not seeing it. In fact, it’s like she’s getting worse. Since the ballroom, she’s had a series of sleepwalking and attacks. Usually after we've been close. I’m starting to think that her wolf doesn’t want me touching Sam and it’s trying to ruin this for her. But I thought her therapy was supposed to cure that…unless…

I stop and turn to look behind me. I chew my cheek as I stare at Rennet’s door. I just had a crazy ass thought.

Is it possible the good Doctor is using Sam’s wolf to get me to leave her alone because he wants her? When I’ve seen him at the house, he’s always super nice to her and casually touching her in ways that never felt right to me. It’s also a probable reason for him to not want to discuss anything about Sam’s treatments with me. He doesn’t want me to find out he’s fucking with her wolf and turning it into a Sammy guard dog.

I spin back around and walk to my office. I feel like there’s something going on. I’m starting to regret telling Sam to continue her therapy. Of course, I could be completely wrong and her wolf is just fighting harder against it, but let’s go with gut reaction one.

The Security unit is divided into sections. There’s inside and outside doors to each. The prison door inside is attached to the Main Security Unit building where all the offices are. As I make my way through the busy halls, I’m lost in thought. Sammy’s wolf is fucked up. Given what we know Torrent went through, it’s possible his venom was fucked because of it. I’ll have to stop by my pack house medic office. I think I’ll get Sammy to take a blood test and try to sneak a chance to compare them to the stuff River collected from the lab in Red Rock. Maybe, I can find something I can work with.

As I turn down the hall to the conference room where the testing will be taking place, my thoughts are interrupted by Blake.

He's another Falcon Ridge brat who got his position from dear old dad. At least I got in on my own merit. My parents may have funded a lot of the construction and made yearly donations to the cause, but I worked hard for my position. I didn’t need to ride daddy’s coattails or sit in my girl’s celebrity to get where I am.

As I approach, he crosses his arms and gives me that smirk that I just want to punch off. His black hair is messy on his head and his blue eyes just scream ‘I'm an asshole.’

"Alpha Cole. Nice to see you again." He reaches his hand out and I take it.

"Alpha Blake. How's White Rock?" He may be a dick most days, but of all the Alphas here, I actually do get along with him the best. It just he’s only good in small doses. The rest I can do without.

"Good. How's Black Rock?" He takes his hand back and shoves them in his pockets as he puffs his chest out.

"Perfect as always." I beam with my chin up.

“That's good.” He arches a brow. "How's the ballroom?"

"Coming along. The decorator I hired is excellent. Talented beyond belief, really. She’s the best that money can buy." Again, I say with pride.

"I'm glad to hear it." He looks into the conference room. "You ready?" He thumbs into the room.

I clear my throat. "Of course. I'm always prepared. Really these tests are just a formality. The duties of Head Alpha aren’t too far from Head Warden. Just much more pencil pushing." I laugh and slide my hands into my pockets.

River smiles. "I'm sure you think that, but I believe I'll be the one taking the job. Head Alpha takes discipline. Operations has the best training and discipline the Unit has to offer. As Head of Operations, I’ve been trained to make tough calls. I highly doubt you have that." He leans and winks then leans back.

"River. From what I’ve seen, the only one calling the shots is Anna. Do you even think for yourself anymore?” I snicker. “I mean, come on. Tough calls? You can’t even catch a demented, 6 foot 8 serial killer. You think you can run this Unit?”

He ticks his square jaw. "We'll catch Desmond White soon enough. He's just proving to be... a tad difficult."

I lean to him. "Good luck with that." I chuckle as I leave him in the hallway and enter the conference room.

They won’t catch him. The guy’s a ghost. Once I’m in charge, I’ll show them how I deal with ghosts.

We all sit around the conference table and turn to Alpha Fredericks who's standing at the head of the table.

"Good afternoon, candidates. " He smiles as he walks around the table and drops packages in front of us. "What I'm giving you is a series of tests and questionnaires. Fill these out on the laptops in front of you, send them to the Head Alpha office and your free to go. I'll be analyzing your answers and preparing to make my final announcement in the coming months. So, if there are no questions, you can get started."

We open the packages and pull out the papers. The tests are different scenarios that would come across a Head Alpha’s desk and we have to write our solutions on the document spaces provided on the website. I sign in, read the first situation and begin filling in my solution.

I type my answer, then delete it. I type another one, then delete that one, too. My mind is blank. Well, not blank. It’s full of Sammy. I don't even want to be here, but I’m trying to further my career. I need this, but her situation is making it difficult to concentrate.

I pull at my shirt collar because it's like the room temperature increased 10 degrees. I'm starting to feel really uncomfortable. I feel off. Something's not right.

My phone pings and I pick it up.

“Alpha. No cellphones.” Fredericks answers.

My brows scrunch as I read the text from Dylan.

DYLAN: Sammy needs you. It’s happening again.

Totally ignoring his warning, I push my chair back. "Alpha, I have to step outside for a moment."

"You really shouldn't, Alpha Cole." Fredericks says firmly.

"Just a minute." I stand and leave the room.

As soon as I’m in the hall, I reply back to Dylan.

YOU: What's going on?

DYLAN: It’s trying to get out. I’m doing what I can, but she wants you. She’s in the shower and it’s not working.

Damn it! I knew something was wrong.

YOU: I'm an hour away. Can you put it back?

DYLAN: I don't know. She's hurting bad.

I pause for a moment as I reflect on the fact that I’m blowing my entire career path to pieces.

YOU: I'm on my way.

I open the door to the conference room. "I'm sorry, Alpha. I must leave."

“This is a very important test, Alpha Cole.” He raises a brow.

I look around at the eyes staring at me.

I suck in a breath and shake my head. “I don’t care. She needs me.”

Before anyone can say anything, I run outside with my phone to my ear, calling Nigel to bring the car around.

As I throw open the Main Unit door, Nigel squeals the tires and stops in front of the building. I hop in the front seat and tell him to hit the gas.

We got to the pack house in a record 45 minutes. I stayed with Dylan the whole time.

As I run into the house and sprint to the service stairs, I rip off my suit jacket and roll up my sleeves. I take the stairs two at a time and mentally prepare myself for anything.

“Sammy!" I yell through the hall. "Sammy, I'm coming!" I get to her door and open it. I can hear the screaming. It’s bone chilling.

When I enter the bathroom, all four walls, floor and ceiling are covered in water and blood.

She’s thrashing and fighting back as Dylan tries to contain her. They're both completely drenched and covered in blood. Both of Sammy’s arms are cut up. Her canines are out and she’s letting out pain filled growls that vibrate the room.

“SAMMY! FIGHT HER, DAMN IT!!” Dylan yells before she slams him with both hands and he flies back into the cabinet doors. “Fuck!”

He sees me and whips his head to Sammy who’s screaming in a ball in the bottom of the tub. She’s fighting, but losing fast.

"I've never seen it this bad!" He gets up and yells over her screams.

I slide to my knees at the tub and her head rolls to scream at the ceiling. She buckles over and wails out her tears.

"Sammy. I'm here, baby!" I reach out and she growls, then snaps at my hand.

I yank it back, press my lips together and reach out again.

"I'm here, baby doll." I whisper as I lay a hand on her arm. Just as all the other times, the heat on her skin dies down, and in quick second, her body goes limp. Her head thumps against the wall and her body sinks into the tub. He eyes close and she’s put to sleep. I reach over and shut the water off.

I grab a towel and pull her out. "Dylan, more towels." I carry her to the bed and sit down with her in my lap. I look at her sleeping face as I cradle her and dry it off. Dylan brings more towels and I wrap them around her.

'What happened?" I growl.

"Nothing." Dylan shakes his head. "She was painting and then it went crazy. What did you do?”

“I can’t answer that. What was she painting?” I ask.

He looks to her art room. “That.” He motions to an easel and I look in the direction he showed me. My jaw goes slack and I set Sam down on the bed.

“She’s been working on it for a while. I think it’s your good side.”

I slowly approach the painting of me with a suit jacket over my shoulder. “It’s… It’s really…”

I stammer with shock as I turn to Sammy. She was painting me and her wolf attacked her for it. A feeling of grave concern comes over me. This isn’t a coincidence.

I try to make this all make sense when my eye caught Dylan's arm. "You're bleeding." I motion to the blood trickling from a gash down his forearm and toss him a towel.

“Yeah, she got me as I tried to force her into the tub. She didn't want to go. She demanded I get you, instead. I told her you weren’t here, but she wasn’t listening."

He wraps his arm up. "Alpha, this was way more intense and violent then the others. She was tried to shift before you showed up. She also started talking weird and called the wind. Something about a prince and a kingdom. I don't know. She wasn't making any sense."

I look at my beauty. Her soft lips start to turn pink from blue. She's covered in blood and Dylan sits on the bed to inspect her arms. He lifts his eyes to me. “She’s healed.”

“What? How?” I rush over and take her arms. I wipe the blood off and all her cuts are gone. I look to Dylan and stare with confusion. “Does this mean it’s stronger.”

“I have no idea, but from the outside, it sure as hell looks like it.” His face fills with fear as he swallows.

I place Sammy’s arm back, stand straight, wrap an arm around my waist and rib my chin. “She had a session yesterday, didn’t she?”

"Yeah." Dylan confirms.

“Did she mention anything about it? Anything about what he did or told her?” I ask.

Dylan shakes his head. “Sammy never tells me what goes on in her sessions.”

I wrap my other arm around me and pace. I have know other choice.

I lean down to Sammy and place a long kiss on her forehead. "I love you." I barely whisper. I don't know if she can hear me, but I don't care. I need her know that I do in fact love her and I came for her.

I have no doubt. I didn’t think it was possible, but I am willing to blow my entire life up for this girl and there’s only one reason why. I can’t live without her.

I turn to the door and snap my fingers at Dylan. “Get her dressed. I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?” He holds out his hands.

"I have a doctor to question." I growl with a sneer as I shut her door behind me and storm to the stairs.