ROMANCE: Awakened by the Alpha Bear (Werebear Fantasy Billionaire Romance) (New Adult Contemporary Alpha Male Bear Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance Short Stories)) (36 page)

Destined
for the Alpha Wolf

Reginald sighed heavily as he
stared at the computer before him. As one of the richest men in the world, he
should have been able to have any woman he wanted, but he had a secret. It was
a deep family secret that meant he had to be very careful who he let into his
life. This was the only reason he was even considering a mail order bride. He
found that women who were desperate enough didn’t ask many questions. That made
him feel slightly like a jerk, but it was the truth.

With slight hesitation in his
index finger, he clicked on the link he had been staring at for the past thirty
minutes. The page loaded, and he found himself staring at multiple pictures of
beautiful women. Immediately, one stood out for him. All the other pictures
blurred in his focus, and a beautiful raven-haired girl became so brilliant he
almost felt the need to turn away. Hovering over her picture, he discovered her
name was Melania, and she was from a town in Italy that he had never heard of
before. He could feel his smile growing as he scrolled down the page to find
exactly what he needed to do to make Melania his and bring her to America.

Once he got her on the phone,
the two of them couldn’t stop talking about their lives, their favorite things,
and what they would do together when he came to America. Talking to her came
easily and felt natural. He felt so relaxed with her on the phone. It was okay
to let the façade continue because when she arrived things wouldn’t be so
great. He knew she would find someone a lot less carefree than he seemed on the
phone, and while he thought it was hard for him to stomach her seeing the true
him, part of him thought she could handle it. Yes, if anyone could handle how
cold and distant he could sometimes be, it would be Melania.

***

Melania couldn’t stop fiddling
with the strap on her handbag as she listened to the other passengers on her
transatlantic flight. There were a few Italian words floating through the air,
but most of what she heard was English. Although she had been taught the
language growing up, she didn’t have the confidence she would have liked,
especially in her situation.
Her situation.

Melania rested her head against
the tiny aircraft window and shut her eyes. She wasn’t sure what made her
decide to accept money to enter into marriage with some stranger. She wasn’t
sure if it was because she was ready to leave her small hometown or if she felt
that she would never find a companion any other way. She knew she was tired of
being alone. Losing her parents and only sibling in a house fire when she was
only twelve had completely turned her life upside down. She felt like she was
still hanging by a thread more than ten years later. She wanted someone to love
and take care of her. Maybe, this would be the man she could trust and give
herself fully to. More than anything, she wanted something that could bloom
into a pretty love that would replace the ache of emptiness she constantly felt
in her heart.

Melania knew that becoming a
purchased bride to a complete stranger wasn’t the most conventional method for
finding true love. She was days away from removing her profile on the website
when he contacted her. Reginald Andrews. Even in Italy, everyone knew who
Reginald Andrews was. He didn’t tell her his identity immediately. On that
first day, they talked on the phone for hours. When he did share when
discussing her travel pans, Melania couldn’t believe that luck had actually
come her way, but it had. Not only was this man gorgeous, but he was rich and
seemed to be a genuinely good person. And he made her laugh, which was
something she had needed to do for years.

Reginald was pacing the floor
in his expansive office. Melania would be here any minute. His chauffeur,
Erick, had contacted him an hour earlier to let him know that she had arrived
safely. Erick had stated that she was even more beautiful than in the picture
Reginald had shared with his most trusted employee.  Reginald found that hard
to believe, but was anxious to find out for himself. He so desperately had
wanted to meet her at the airport, but with his status, he didn’t want to risk
any publicity. He wanted to let the world believe he had met Melania at an
international event. His public relations team was already working to spin the
perfect story when Reginald would announce their engagement the next day.

Reginald wasn’t sure how he was
going to keep his secret from her. During the process of figuring out the
travel logistics to bring Melania to America, he forced himself not to think of
the demon he carried with him every day. His staff had been briefed on how to
handle Melania when the demon presented itself, but he himself didn’t know how
he would handle keeping his secret every second of every day from a woman who
was supposed to be his partner.

Just as he decided to sit at
his desk and try to do some sort of work to keep his mind occupied, there was a
knock at his office door. He stood quickly, running his hand through his thick
brown hair. He smoothed his shirt, stood up a little straighter, and called out
for his guest to enter.

Melania opened the heavy,
solid, wooden door slowly, trying to steady her shaky breathing. She wasn’t sure
what she was going to say when she saw him for the first time. She hoped he
would speak first.  As soon as the door was opened fully, she realized she
couldn’t have spoken first if she had wanted to. Reginald Andrews was more
gorgeous than she ever thought was possible for a human, and he was so tall
that she was intimidated immediately by his presence. Even through his
expensive suit, she could tell that his body was so perfect that the gods would
be jealous.

As their eyes locked for the
first time, she felt as if she had been put into a trance. His eyes were the
color of gold, in its purest form. They seemed to go deep, and she felt lost as
she stared at them. It was like being pulled into his soul.

Reginald was known to be a fast
talker. It was one of his best attributes as a business man. When he saw
Melania in the doorway, however, he couldn’t seem to formulate a word. He had
never seen a more beautiful creature in his life. Every part of her seemed to
shine and emanate bright light. As she locked eyes with him, he compared her
eyes to a Caribbean ocean at night. They were both clear and dark at the same
time. He had never believed in love at first sight, until now. He wanted to
share every detail of his life with this woman. Man, he thought. This wasn’t
the plan. He was just looking for a companion and love in the form of someone
he could hide his secret from. He realized he was going to have to be stern and
hold this beautiful woman at an arm’s length if he was going to make this work
for him.

“Come in, Melania,” Reginald
said gruffly as he waved her in through the door. “I am pleased you arrived
safely.” He said it in Italian! She was thrilled he spoke her language. It
would make it so much easier to communicate. However, he seemed very cold and distant,
which she had not expected.

Melania shook her head
slightly; confused by his attitude after the silent moment they had just
shared. She had expected a warmer greeting. “Thank you,” she responded, glad
that he could understand the words that came so naturally to her.

“I learned Italian for you,” he
smiled, and she thought he must be joking. There was no way someone could learn
Italian that quickly. He hadn’t spoken it on the phone. He must have known it
ahead of time.

Reginald crossed the room in what
seemed like only a couple of steps and leaned down to bring his face closer to
hers. His lips met hers before she could register her thoughts and grasp what
was going on. She felt like all of her nerve endings were firing off at once as
she accepted his kiss and returned hungrily. She pulled away from him after a
moment, though, and looked up at him.

“You’re rude then a kiss?” She
asked, trying not to melt into his eyes again. “I don’t understand.”

Reginald shrugged. “It’s a
greeting. Now, let’s go over the house rules and get you settled.” He turned
away from her and returned to his desk.

Reginald wanted to throw his
mahogany desk across the room in anger. Where was his self-control? He couldn’t
believe that he had kissed her so quickly, momentarily throwing away any strict
actions he had planned on using.

He didn’t know what it was
about Melania, but he was scared he had made the wrong decision. He was also
scared that he quite possibly had also made the best decision of his life, as
well.

After regaining his composure,
he brushed past Melania and motioned for her to follow him. With few words of
explanation, he showed her around his massive compound and introduced her to
his house staff. He chose to ignore the fear in the staff’s eyes as they took in
how beautiful Melania was, instead focusing on not getting to close to her. It
felt like electricity was pulsating off her body, and in his current weakened
state, he needed to keep his guard up. He wasn’t sure why they had brought
Melania in at this exact time. The date of the full moon starting to rise in
the night sky had been overlooked by everyone.

Melania was so upset. She
wanted to run out of the mansion she had just walked through and swim back to
Italy if she had to. The man she had talked to on the phone was not the man she
was currently walking behind, and that kiss still had her reeling.
What had
she done?  Why had she come to America? Was she really going to marry this man?
Before she could think anymore though, Reginald stopped in front of a set of
large double doors. She gasped when she saw there was wrought iron used to bar
the door from both sides, and there seemed to be an intricate series of locks
along both doors.

“What is this?” Melania
questioned, speaking out loud for the first time on their tour.

“This is completely off limits
to you is what this is,” Reginald declared, loudly. “If I ever see you near
these doors or attempting to enter this wing of the house, I will have you back
in Italy faster than you ever dreamed possible!”

Melania gasped. His eyes, which
were boring holes into her, no longer looked clear and beautiful. There was a
storm behind them, and Melania was overcome with fear. “What’s in there?”

Reginald growled and Melania
pictured a proud wolf protecting some secret, the growl almost didn’t sound
human. “It is none of your business! You know what? I don’t even want you in
this area of the house! The kitchen, den, bathroom, our bedroom, and any other
room you need aren’t near here. So, stay away!”

Our bedroom.
Despite the uncomfortable situation, the mention of anything being theirs sent
an exciting feeling throughout her body, and this unsettled her even more.

Melania was overcome with rage.
“Are there any other rules, sir?” She was screaming at him, but she didn’t care.
She might have been bought, but she was human.

“Yes,” Reginald stated with his
voice dull, lacking emotion. “Tonight, you are to remain in our largest guest
bedroom suite. This will happen at least one night each month. I need my
privacy from time to time. I don’t need you in my face every night. You are not
to question this.” Reginald turned and left her with this demand, his footsteps
heavy on the floor.

Melania made it back to a large
sitting room she had noticed on the house tour before she burst into tears. She
curled up on an oversized chair and pulled a blanket around herself, making a
cocoon. She used to do this after her family died, hoping it would help her
hide from the world. Right now, it just made her feel as small as her heart
felt. She couldn’t believe she had put herself in this situation. This life was
not a life she wanted to live. She didn’t know what she would do. She knew she
was under contract and couldn’t just leave. Plus, there really wasn’t anything
much better for her in Italy.

After the tears began to
subside, Melania began looking around the ornate sitting room. It was a
beautiful room, with a huge stone fireplace taking up most of one wall. There
was soft lighting around the room, casting an almost eerie glow on the
portraits and photographs along the walls. As Melania studied the photographs,
she felt an odd sensation growing in her stomach. The more pictures she looked
at, the more she realized she seemed to be looking at the same person.
Reginald.

She stood and crossed the room,
taking in each portrait for a while before moving to the next. They seemed to
be in different time periods, but they all looked exactly like Reginald. It
didn’t make sense to her. How could he have been a man in his thirties over a
span of multiple decades? It just wasn’t possible.

“I see you have noticed the
family resemblance?” Melania jumped and turned to see where the voice had come
from. It was Reginald, and he was standing in the doorway, his face relaxed. A
slight smile danced on his lips.  Although she was still scared to be near him,
he seemed more now like the person she expected to meet when she arrived.

Melania decided to speak
exactly what she was thinking. “These have to all be you. There is no way it
could be anyone else. You posed for each one in costume?”

Reginald chuckled and crossed
the room to join her beside one small picture on a shelf that seemed to have
been taken in the fifties. In it, the man was smiling beside an old car, and
Melania could see the deep gold eyes, even though the picture was taken from a
distance.

“Actually, this one is my
father, “Reginald stated, not looking at her. He instead seemed to be studying
the picture as he spoke. “You wouldn’t believe how many people are surprised by
how he, my grandfather, and great-grandfather, and I all look identical. We all
tend to look like the paternal side of our parents, getting nothing from our
mothers.”

Melania shook her head. “How is
that possible?”

“It just is, I guess. I’ve
never really given it that much thought. It’s just how it is.”

With that, Reginald reached
over and brushed a piece of Melania’s long black hair away from her face.
“You’re beautiful.”

His touch allowed Melania to
relax and feel comfortable enough to turn to look him in the face. “Why are you
nice again? Why were you rude? Do you want me here? The mixed signals are
making me crazy, you know.”

Reginald chose to ignore her
question at first. Instead, he sighed and touched her face, with the tip of his
thumb. “Did you know that your name means dark? Just that. Dark. When I see
you, I see bright and lightness. I don’t see anything dark.”

Melania leaned in to his touch.
“Why did you ignore my question?” Her voice was so soft he could barely hear
her.

“Because I have rules,” he
stated, matter-of-factly. “There are just rules that have to be followed, plain
and simple, but I do want you with me. You have no idea how much I want you
here.”

His voice sounded so genuine,
yet so conflicted that Melania pulled his face down to hers and kissed him
before she could even process what she was doing. He returned the kiss, and
they embraced, deepening it. She was hungry for him. She felt such an
attraction to him that she didn’t understand. On the other hand, she didn’t
want to get too close, too fast. She let go of him and looked up to his face.
“Why do you have all the rules? I think I deserve to know. It may not be by the
usual way, but we are to be married. I need to know.”

Reginald looked at her for a
moment before speaking quietly. “They are to protect you and to protect me.”

With that, he walked out of the
room, shutting the door softly behind him.