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Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and One
VALERIAI paused in my work to watch him. He had scarcely put down the phone before it was ringing again. He spoke. He argued. He jotted some figures on the piece of paper he had in front of him and still I watched him, my own work forgotten.Dimitr had been busy these days, busier than usual. The Rosy project was scheduled to be announced to the public in two weeks and because of that, Dimitri was working around the clock to make sure that it went off without a hitch. Still, he found a little time to check up on me.Like now.He paused in his conversation to look at me and smile a little. His own way of checking if I was okay. I returned his smile and bent over my computer once again, to hide the worry I was sure was etched on my face. Especially since my conversation with Rosy, I had been thinking more often that I ought to tell Dimitri about what I was, to tell him that I knew what he was too. As the days passed, the secret got harder to bear. It was like a physical weight that was
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Two
VALERIA"Come see me again soon," Grandma Reese called as I walked to the door with Ivy. I waved to her. "Of course, gran. I will."It brought a smile to my face, looking at her and seeing how happy she was. Ivy and I had spent an hour with her. It has completely made her day. Ivy shut the door behind us, and the two of us were alone in the hospital's corridor. I took her arm and walked her to one of the lounge chairs provided."Your grandmother is positively glowing tonight," she said with a fond glance at the door she had just shut."Never mind about my grandmother. Let's talk about... you and Vance."I elbowed her in the ribs. She winced. My grin grew wider."What about me and Vance?" she said rubbing her ribs."You two are getting so close. It's almost like you are two halves of one whole."Ivy laughed and blushed. "Well...""Well what?" I started to nudge her again, but she evaded it this time. She held on to my hand. "Vance and I are close," she admitted. "He's actually very
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Three
DIMITRII drummed on the desk of my study table, being uneasy in my mind, very uneasy. I couldn't believe how trusting Valeria was. Seriously, how many near death experiences did it take for someone to be wary? For the average person, I supposed it would be just one. For Valeria, the number was near limitless. I was doing all I could to protect her while she was doing nothing at all to protect herself. This made me badly want to double the security I had around her.But I knew that this move would be fraught with difficulties. Valeria would not take it well at all if I were to tighten the security around her or further restrict her movements. We would most certainly have a row about it. I did not want to upset her, but something just had to be done about this.Her story about this Alexis guy sounded quite suspicious what with how he showed up a key moment. Then there was that story about him loosing his chance at getting interviewed at my company.With a sigh, I walked over to the win
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Four
VALERIAI knew who was at the door before I called 'Come in'. With a sigh of amusement and exasperation, I sat back to watch a smiling Alexis walk into my office with a folder held under his arm. "You came to see me... again."If Alexis noticed my emphasis on the word 'again' he gave no indication that he had done so. After hiring him, I had given Alexis a position with the tech team working closely with Dimitri. For some reason he was always coming to see me even though his office was two floors down from mine. Even with the elevators, it would still be tiring to keep constantly keep moving from his office to mine. Alexis did not seem though which was weird. Very weird. Just today, he had come into my office about six times and it was not even noon yet."Hi, how's it going?" he asked for what felt like the umpteenth time that day. "Fine. I guess." I waved him into a seat. "You have a question for me?"I wanted him to get straight to the point. He had a tendency to want to stop an
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Five
VALERIA"You knew!" I yelled at him. "All this time."Dimitri sighed. His puzzled expression disappeared. It was replaced with a sort of weariness and... sadness. I felt a pang of pity for him. Why? I didn't want to feel that way. Besides, what had he to be sad about anyway? I held on to my anger like a shield to keep my other emotions at bay. To my annoyance, most of my anger immediately dissipated when he said, "You're right. I'm sorry.""You're-"I flinched when he walked past me, thinking he wanted to touch me, but he only went to close the door."We wouldn't want anyone overhearing us now, would we?""Is that all you have to say for yourself?" I said."No. There are a lot of things I've been dying to say to you. The first is that I'm sorry, really sorry. But the truth is you were the one who put me in this position. I all but told you that I knew what was going on with you. Still you kept your discovery from me. You left me no choice but to keep pretending just the way you were
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Six
VALERIAI hid a grin as I stood by, watching Rosy giving instructions in terse, clipped tones to a member of her staff. The woman gave her a response which was obviously not pleasing to Rosy judging by how irate she was looking. The woman left, looking harassed. Rosy sighed, pressed a hand to her temples like a woman at her wits' end. She snagged a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. She barked an order at him. He hurried away, rather red in the face.I hid a grin. It was all very easy for her to tell me to always control my temper. Now she was having trouble doing it. It just showed you it easier to give advice than take it, though I had to admit that she had a legitimate excuse for her behaviour. Today was the day of the long awaited project launch. We had all been working around the clock for this day. We were all on edge in varying degrees, but Rosy looked like she was about to fall off the edge. For the past few hours, she had been biting off the head of anyone unfortunate
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Seven
DIMITRII moved slowly around the house, thinking. Why couldn't I shake off the thought that there was something off about Alexis? That was the question I kept asking myself.Yes, I wasn't entirely comfortable with the way he kept hanging around Valeria like a faithful lapdog, but I didn't think that was all. There was something, something I couldn't quite put my finger on. It felt like there was something about him that I ought to have been able to pinpoint before now. Valeria had kept insisting that he was positively harmless, but if we had to face it, her instincts for spotting danger were not in any way to be relied upon.I decided that the only way to put my mind at rest was to do something about this... hunch I had. I went into my study, went through my contact list until I found the phone number of a private investigative agency I had had dealings with in the past. I went straight to the point as soon as the owner picked up my call. I gave him Alexis's details and told him that
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Eight
VALERIA"It was an absolute success," I said. "Of course it was," said Sasha, dropping into the chair next to Alexis. "There was absolutely no way the Rosy project launch could be have been anything less than a success, not with the work we have all been putting into it." She turned slightly to face Alexis. "You were not here in the early days of the project. We were all working like... machines. You won't believe how hard we worked.""I think have an idea of that. I worked my ass off the day before the launch," Alexis said, laughing. He armed imaginary sweat off his brow. "I take it the boss is pleased.""Oh yes. Of course he is." Sasha gave me a questioning look. "Isn't he?"Alexis looked at me expectantly too. I supposed it had become common knowledge that I would be the one in a better position to know of Dimitri's moods and thoughts."He is pleased," I assured them. "He couldn't fail to be, not with all the massive attention the project has been getting these past few days.""T
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Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty-Six
VALERIAWith my hands on my hips, I took a step back to look at the decorations. After a few seconds or so, I had to admit that the decorators had done a pretty good job. I had as well. Jayden had his superhero theme decorations all in blue, his favourite colour. Jane had her favourite Princess whatsername theme also in bright yellow.I grinned, reflecting on how very different children's birthday parties were from those of adults. The entire living room area was a clash of yellow and blue, and then there were the balloons also, covering large sections of the floor."And what are you grinning about?"I felt myself relaxing at the sound of Dimitri's voice, leaning back against him until his arms went around me. He repeated his question."I was just thinking that the whole place looks like a rainbow exploded in it," I murmured."Mmm. I think I rather like the look of the place. It's an improvement if you ask me."I snorted. "Having kids have made you soft. There was a time when you woul
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty-Five
VALERIAIt was bone-chilling to see Amelia's expression when she realized the game was over. It was like she had been wearing a mask which had suddenly come off. Now I could clearly see what lay beneath the facade she presented to the world. The sight made me shiver and I unconsciously shifted close to Dimitri who gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Amelia, teeth bared, kept looking around like a trapped animal searching for a means of escape."There's no way out now," Dimitri said, leaving the sofa to stand in front of her. "You can't escape so bury that thought.""Why?" I said, the question drawn from my lips before I even thought of it. Everyone turned to look at me but I had eyes only for Amelia, the woman who was my mother but had done things to hurt me more than anyone in this world. "Why do you hate me so much? Why... all this? How could you-""You know nothing!" she declared vehemently. "So don't you think you can sit there and judge me when you don't know half of what happ
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty-Four
DIMITRII let my suggestions about Amelia's and Alexis' eventual capture sink in. When I was sure it did, and that Valeria was in agreement with all I had said, I stood up to leave. Valeria's hand on my arm prevented me from doing so."Wait," she said. "There is something more."I slowly sat back down. "Tell me.""I want to be part of the capture."My response was instant. "Oh no. You can't.""Why not?"Funny she would ask. Even the thought of putting Valeria, especially in her condition, through any form of danger was so abhorrent to me it made me shudder inwardly."Valeria," I said in the most reasonable tone of voice I could muster. "There may be danger when they are caught. I have no way of knowing, true. But I can't take the risk of you getting hurt. Silas, Vance and I with all the others I will bring in to help can handle them. Trust me. It will be best if you stay completely out of it."Then I groaned inwardly when I still saw that stubborn look on her face, the look I knew so
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty-Three
VALERIAOne of Ivy's nurse friends from the hospital clapped her hand over her lips to keep in a giggle."Ssh!" said a friend of Vance who just had to be a bodyguard. His tall, muscled figure could be made for nothing else.The man was smiling himself."Sorry," the giggler apologized as she smiled up at him.I felt much like giggling myself, especially at the look I was already picturing on Ivy's face when she eventually realized Vance had brought a lot of his friends and her friends on their date."They are here," Dimitri whispered in my ear.Dimitri's words were whispered back and forth between everyone."Remember everyone. Don't make a sound when they come in," someone said.I looked straight ahead and saw Vance, lead Ivy by the hand into the private booth of the restaurant where we were all hiding."It's beautiful in here," Ivy said, looking around. "But it's rather dark, don't you think? Maybe a little more light will-"She made a move to touch the light switch. I stiffened, drew
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty-Two
DIMITRISilas, who was to all appearances lounging on the verandah outside while making some calls, met my eyes. For the last few days, I had kept him in and around the house, ostensibly running a few errands for me, being extra security for Valeria, but really he was around to keep an eye on Amelia.We had all come to the conclusion that since she felt herself entirely free of suspicion, she would make a move to contact Alexis or to put her plans into action soon. I felt that she was about to do either or both of these things now.Just this morning, Amelia had been acting strangely. Although she had tried to hide it, Silas and I had noticed her acting ill at ease, although Valeria had of course remained oblivious. Amelia had started acting this way after Silas, as he told me, had overheard her yelling at someone over the phone.A few minutes later, with her handbag slung over her shoulder, she had said very casually, "I'm making a quick trip to the store to pick up some things we nee
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty-One
VALERIAAlthough it had seemed impossible at first, the endless hours after Grandma Reese passed became days. Days became weeks. The weeks eventually added up to a month, and then several months. Though I missed her terribly with each passing day, life went on. My pregnancy became advanced. The doctors told Dimitri and I to expect our child soon.That was the only happy thought that kept me going all through those months. That, and the fact that I had Dimitri at my side.The rest of the time, I was consumed by fear, fear that at least one archenemy was still out there. Dimitri had gently broken the news of Grace's death to me, but had confessed that he still had not found a trace of Alexis. I was terrified that he would one day make an appearance and attempt to harm my child and I. Whenever I voiced out my concerns, Dimitri was quick to assure me that he was still on the lookout for Alexis.And though I took a little comfort in his assurances, I never once forgot that Dimitri was not
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Forty
AMELIAThey were fools. The lot of them. Stupid, trusting fools, but their stupidity suited me just fine. It was how I had stayed hidden all this time, after all.It was a shame about Grace, but it had to be done. She had been becoming a wild card, a disappointment to me. This early in the plot, she had shown that her emotions overruled her thoughts, and anyone who thought with the heart rather than the head was a liability, was expendable. This was why I had taken Dimitri and Silas to the spot where she was to meet with me. Grace was dead now and a lot of the future complications I knew she would bring had died with her.I glanced at the locked door of my room and continued pacing.I had to get word across to Alexis. Just calling him on the phone wouldn't do. I had to see him face to face in order to assure him that our plan was still on, and that Grace's death changed nothing.The only problem now was Dimitri wouldn't want to let me, a supposedly grieving mother, out of his sight. T
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Thirty-Nine
DIMITRIThe place where Grace had chosen to meet with Amelia was very like the place where she had kept Valeria captive. It was on the grounds of a building, a deserted one by the looks of it. The building was in a scarcely frequented part of the city.Silas, Amelia and I got there a full hour before Amelia's appointment with Grace. We chose good hiding spots where we could see and not be seen. Then we settled down to wait for Grace to show up.Thirty minutes before the time of the appointment, we all clearly heard approaching footsteps. A woman came into view. She was wearing a scarf that obscured most of her face and huge sunglasses, but I knew it was Grace. My hands ached with the effort of keeping them still and not going for her right there and then. Grace gave a sweeping look around the area."Get down," I whispered to the persons with me.Though I was sure we couldn't be seen by her, we all went down and peered at her from between the thick foliage of overgrown shrubs we were h
Set me Free, Alpha Hundred and Thirty-Eight
DIMITRI"I can't remember."Amelia had said this more times than I could count in so many different ways, but it still boiled down to the same thing. She still clearly could not remember anything about what Valeria's grandmother had said about her and her past."Why can't I remember?" she said again, with tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes.She glanced over at Valeria. Whenever Amelia had declared that she didn't remember, Valeria, with her head resting on the sofa, nodded mechanically and simply kept staring at the blank wall before her.Seeing that Valeria was more or less unresponsive, Amelia turned to me. "What is wrong with me? Why can't I remember any of what happened?"I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring look, patted her hand. "It's okay. Don't worry. I promise you that I will do everything to find out how your memory was tampered with and if possible, you will get your memories back."Amelia nodded and then just sat there, crying and wringing her hands. I sat by
