Daughter of the Alpha

Chapter two

AJ woke up with a splitting headache, her mouth was dry as a desert and her eyes sore. She didn't even want to try opening them. The sound of a crackling fire snuck into her ears, had she fallen asleep in the living room again? No, this didn't feel like the couch. She was on a hard surface, she was lying curled up on a thick blanket but that didn't stop her from feeling the very hard floor underneath her. There was something heavy on top of her as well, weighing her down, another thick blanket. It was rough on her skin and a little itchy. Her skin? Her eyes burst open.

She was naked.

Coughing and spluttering, her sore limbs flailed about, pulling the blanket, that she then discovered to be a fur rug, around herself fully. Her headache was begging her to lie down on the floor again but she couldn't. In a panic she scouted around the small room she was in, she was in front of a little fireplace, behind her a rickety bed, with wobbly old legs, was shoved up against the wall, the blankets around her had obviously been taken from there. A large backpack was thrown in the corner next to the bed, filled with items she couldn't make out. Light shone in from the greasy windows, illuminating the dust particles that danced around the room, dancing around the table against the window, a couple of chairs. AJ got her breath caught in her throat when she saw who was sitting there with his back to her, his feet on the table, rocking on the chair while reading that same book from yesterday and sipping on a, judging by the smell, steaming mug of coffee.

"You're awake," he stated without turning, his voice gruff. "I was beginning to wonder about you." He didn't sound friendly. AJ decided he didn't look friendly either, same old big boots, same dirty worn pants, a faded flannel shirt with the elbows torn and the same damn hair that made him look like a scarecrow.

"Where am I?" she demanded, trying to sound brave but her voice breaking. Her throat complained as if she hadn't spoken for days.

"Take a wild guess." He gulped down the rest of the content in his mug.

AJ huffed and pulled the rug even closer around herself. She knew where she was, of course, but the question had been on the tip of her tongue and she couldn't stop it. Then she gasped. Her clothes, all of them were hanging from the ceiling above the fireplace. Including her underwear. She could feel the blush creeping up on her cheeks. Winnie the Pooh underwear, a matching set she had thought cute at the time, honey-yellow with Pooh's grinning face on them along with Piglett. She wanted to hide in the blankets. No one was supposed to see those! No one! Not even a madman in an old hunting hut. Especially a madman in a hunting hut, she corrected herself.

"Yes, interesting choice of- of-" the madman coughed out and motioned to her underwear with his mug. "They should be dry though."

"You undressed me!" AJ accused him, "You old pervert!"

"It was either that or you would have to lie on the floor shivering in your wet clothes probably catching pneumonia. Which would you have preferred?" he asked, "Besides, I believe what you want to say is 'Thank you for saving me'."

AJ opened her mouth to argue but realized he was right. "Thank you," she stuttered.

He finally turned to face her. She wanted to back into a corner when his eyes fell on her, but she couldn't move, not without dropping the fur rug and there was no way she was doing that. His eyes weren't like she remembered them, they weren't narrowed and angry, perhaps she had thought them insane at the time. They were clear, a deep, dark brown, surrounded by black lashes that almost made her jealous. But while not completely insane, they were definitely not friendly, showing annoyance and a strange curiosity at her presence. "What the hell were you thinking?" he spat, "Are you out of your damn mind?"

"W-what?"

"Running onto a frozen lake in the middle of the night? Who does that?" he continued, standing up. She could tell he was tall, a broad man, or maybe the bushy beard and the massive head of messy hair did it, but as soon as he stood it felt as though the whole hut was filled with him.