4. Sophia

                        I pop my eyes open and stare at the ceiling. Focusing on the light bulb because my mind is blank. There's nothing. No thoughts of anything or anyone. Even my wolf is almost non-existent. A fly buzzes above my face and I settle for watching it. What does it feel like to float around in the air? Do flies have thoughts? Like do they understand each other the way humans do? How did it get in here anyway? I'm sure the window is closed and I used a net to cover the vents so I could keep out lizards and spiders and anything that crawls through there. Fucking insects. Tired of the buzzing sound coming from the fly, I time it. My eyes track its movements and when it's close enough, slap it. The action requires me to lift my head from the pillow and just as I go to lie back down, everything comes rushing back. I jerk upright. 

"What the fuck?" How did I get home? The last thing I remember is Reagan suggesting we go home. There was a voice in my head agreeing with her. I know for a fact it wasn't mine. Whose was it? Throwing the covers off, I jump out of bed. Heading to the bedroom. On my way, I catch a glimpse of my reflection. Aside from my hair sticking out in different directions, there's nothing that would indicate I went clubbing yesterday. I always look like shit after nights like this. Not just look but also feel like shit. My body doesn't react well to alcohol. But I'm fine today. How? 

My bladder is screaming so I pop into the bathroom. After I'm done, I wash my hands and face. Still puzzled about last night. Something doesn't feel right but I don't know what it is. I've only taken a step out of the bathroom when I hear voices downstairs. People rarely visit us. LC has quite the reputation and other women in the pack don't like her. Which means, by default, they don't like me either. Aside from Reagan, almost no one ever comes here. 

"Hello, is this Sophia Rush's house?" It's a man's voice and they're looking for me. I don't know of any guy who will come looking for me, especially here. Before LC convinces them to stay for dinner -it's only nine in the morning- I hurry downstairs. 

"Who are you?" I ask halfway down. The man looks up. I think I've seen him somewhere but I can't remember where. 

"Here. Alpha sends his apologies for last night" he says holding out a small box and a bouquet of flowers. 

"Alpha?" LC and I ask at the same time. 

"Alpha Logan. You'll find his number on the card. He requests that you call him immediately" 

Alpha Logan? As in the guy who the bartender warned us against? How the fuck did he know which pack I'm from? Also, requests that I call him immediately? That sounds a lot like a command. Request my ass. I might not recall how I got home but that bartender told us enough about that dickhead. No way am I accepting anything from him. 

"Go back and tell him that I thank him for being thoughtful but I'm fine. He doesn't need to send me flowers or..." 

"At least look inside the box first," LC says grabbing it. She flips it open and takes out a key "What does this open?" The guy steps aside. In the next moment, LC squeals and gasps at the same time "Oh my gosh, is that a car? Like a brand new car?" 

"Yes, ma'am. Our Alpha is very generous" the guy says proudly. Taking the last steps, I snatch the box and key from LC, put it back inside, and hand it to the man. Seriously, a car?

"I don't need a car or anything from your Alpha" 

"You can't turn him down" 

"Says who?" I take a peek at the car. It's red and flashy. Goddess, who buys a stranger a car? We spoke for a few seconds. A minute at most. What made him think I wanted a car? Is he insane? Who let this guy in anyway? I can't believe they just let a stranger into Bittercrest because he said he had a delivery for me. What if the car was strapped with a bomb or something? 

"You should be thankful..." 

"You should leave" I cut him off "Before I tell the enforcers you're harassing me" visitors are welcome to Bittercrest but anyone who misbehaves might not be able to walk out on their legs. If you're lucky, you'll leave in a wheelchair. If not, it'll be a body bag. He gets the message and walks towards the car. It's then that I realize he wasn't alone. Another guy is leaning against another black car. An SUV. It looks shiny and new too. As a matter of fact, everything about them screams wealth. I wonder if they're related to that Logan guy. For real though, is he nuts? How can he just gift me a car? 

"Okay, spill. What was that all about? Did you blow that Alpha or fuck him? Why did he send you a car?" 

"Because he's insane. Don't go making a big deal out of this, LC" 

"Nuh-uh. I'm not buying that. Tell me what happened or I'll follow those men and question them" she's not above that. I know she would actually do it. 

"I'm not lying. We talked for like a minute then I don't know what happened to him but he left. If that guy didn't show up here, I wouldn't even remember him" 

"You must have made a good impression on him. Do you think he fell in love with you on the spot?" 

I roll my eyes. She's doing exactly what I told her not to do "You're making a big deal out of it" 

"It's a car, Sophia. How rich is he to just send a stranger one?" 

"Not how rich but how crazy. Get the difference?" 

"Soph, you up yet?" Reagan calls entering without knocking. 

"Someone just sent her a car" LC blurts out. Everyone is going to know about it now. If they don't already. What the fuck was that asshole thinking? 

"What car? Who? Where is it? It better be from that ass Fred. I'd totally accept his apology if it came with a car" 

"Who is Fred? Is that her mate's name?" 

Goddess, it's barely ten in the morning and I already need five cups of coffee. Throwing Reagan a dirty look over my shoulder, I move to the kitchen. She couldn't help herself. She just had to mention his name. Now LC is going to dig until she finds out everything about him. Fuck knows what else she'll do. I want to rewind time and go back to a few minutes ago when I woke up. When there was nothing in my brain. 

"Anyway, you look good for someone who drank her weight last night" 

"Speaking of that. What happened? How did we get home?" 

She scrunches her face in thought then shakes her head "I don't know. I can't remember" very carefully, I place the cup and coffee pot I just lifted back on the kitchen counter. 

"What do you mean you can't remember? You barely drunk anything" 

"Exactly. I vaguely remember this guy approaching us but I can't tell you how he looks or who he was" 

"Did someone drug you two?" LC asks moving to stand beside her. 

"No" Reagan shakes her head "There's no way someone could have drugged us. Unless it was the bartender..." 

"Shit, do you think it could have been him?" But why would he warn us about Logan? 

"He seemed so nice though. Why would he do that and then send us home?" 

It's weird. I spend all day trying to figure out why the guy would drug us. There's also that voice in my head that I haven't stopped thinking about. Who did it belong to? By the end of the day, I feel like I'm losing my mind. Deep down, I know this is about him. A part of me hopes I hadn't conjured him up. So when I sneak out of the pack, my excuse is that I need to figure out how I got home last night. But in reality, I'm hoping I can catch another glimpse of that man who looked so much like Kaden. 

It's still early when I arrive at Cipher but the place is already open. There's no security at the door so I walk right in. My eyes go straight to the bar and I'm glad that the guy from yesterday is there. The fact that he doesn't run but smiles when he sees me tells me that I was wrong. There's no way this man spiked our drinks. 

"Hey, I remember you. You're early today" 

"That's because I'm not here to party," I say leaning against the long island "I wanted to know what happened yesterday. How much more drinks did we consume?" 

"Other than the one you bought? Nothing else" 

"We didn't get drunk and pass out?" 

"You didn't get drunk but you did pass out. Your friend said you were lightweight and couldn't handle more than one drink"

"Who Reagan? No way. She knows I can..." 

"No, the man who took you home. He said you knew him and since you're here, I'm guessing he wasn't lying" 

I straighten up. A man took us home. He probably messed with our memories so we wouldn't remember him. Wolves don't have the ability to erase memories. Alphas can force you to open your link and accept a command but that's as far as their abilities go. Mind control? It's the first I've heard about it. Not wanting to spook the bartender, I bid him goodbye and leave. Heading straight to the library to do some research. Thoughts of Kaden pushed to the back of my mind. Bittercrest has a small library and the books don't have anything about species that can erase memories. 

Maybe I'm overreacting. Making a big deal out of nothing the way LC normally does. I mean we're fine. Nothing happened to us. Whoever that man is, we should be thanking him. Shaking my head, I leave the library and head home. Only to find that guy is back. With an extra car. 

"Are you kidding me?" Behind me, the door opens. I whip my head around to see... "Logan?" 

"You remember me. Good. Come on inside. We have a lot to talk about" 

Is he for real right now? 

"Talk about what?" 

"Your mother already told me everything. You're looking for a mate?" 

It's official, I'm going to murder LC and feed her body to the wild animals.

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