A Royal Mate

My head was throbbing and the light was hurting my eyes. I slowly looked up at the clock, 8am. I put my head back down and pulled my covers up over it. I drank way too much last night. But it was fun and Val's friends seemed to be nice people. I closed my eyes and tried to soothe the headache that was attacking my brain but nothing helped so I got up and walked to the bathroom, took some medicine and crawled back into bed. Three hours later I was feeling much better. I decided to go out for brunch but as soon as I looked out the window I saw the clouds and impending rain. So I decided to stay in and make waffles. Val was still nursing her hangover when I walked through the living room.

"Want some bacon and waffles?" I asked leisurely.

"Oh, please don't ask me about food right now! My head is killing me and I'm so nauseous." She moaned.

"Ok. Would you settle for a Bloody Mary?" I responded.

Her eyes lit up and she blurted out "YES!"

I mixed up a batch of bloody Mary's and poured her a glass while watching my waffles. She drank the whole thing in one gulp and layed back down. I chuckled at the sight and got back to the food. Once everything was done Val had perked up and was ready to eat.

She helped me bring everything to the table and asked "Why didn't you tell me your client was so damn hot?"

"I did tell you." I said with my hands on my hips.

"Really? You just me he was good looking. Not gorgeous. OMG Anna, he's like a GQ model. One that you will be working with very closely for the next year or more? Is he single?"

"I don't really know but judging by the size of that house he has to have a either a really big family or just likes spending his money. I mean it's a frickin mansion."

"So you know nothing about him? How are you supposed to build this guys house without knowing anything about him?"

"Val I don't really think getting to know him is a requirement for building his house. Besides I've already shown him the first rough draft and he loved it." I said as I refilled my glass of Bloody Mary. But she was right, I didn't really know anything about him and I would be spending a lot of time with him but that didn't mean we needed to get all personal with each other.

After we ate, the weather seemed to clear up a bit so I decided to go for a run. After my unusually calm and exciting encounters with the black wolf, I was a little more comfortable going to the park so I headed out towards the back of the complex. Once I made it to the trail the woods seemed quiet. Even the trees were still the further I got down the path. Suddenly I got goosebumps all over my body causing me to stop in my tracks. My eyes were darting around cautiously as my heart began to quicken. My skin felt like it was crawling, like it was about to burst open at any minute but I didn't see a threat anywhere. I started shaking and soon a loud crack of thunder made me jump causing my body to return to normal. I turned around and ran back to the apartment wondering what the hell just happened.

When I returned, Val was lying in the couch. I went into my room and sat down. It had been a while since the whole informative session with Zel and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I kept putting off calling my parents but I decided it was probably time to finally call them. I didn't know exactly what I would say or if they would even talk to me but I had to at least try. I picked up my phone and dialed my moms cell. After the third ring she picked up.

"Hello?"

Tears pricked my eyes as I heard her voice. I almost didn't respond but when she said hello again I needed to answer her. "Um, mom? I-it's Anna." There was a long silence followed by a gasp and a sob.

"Anna? Is that really you? Oh my God my baby is ok. Anna we have been so worried about you. Where are you? Are you ok?" The worry in her voice had me hurting. How could I have let this much time pass without talking to them? I heard another voice over the line and it sounded like the the phone fell on the floor then my dad said "Anna? Where are you? Are you still in Oregon? Can we see you?" My chest was tightening at the strain in his voice.

"I have been fine. But no I am not in Oregon anymore. Actually I just moved from Colorado to Virginia a little more than a week ago." I said with tears rolling down my cheeks.

"How did you end up in Colorado? Anna, we are so sorry about everything. We tried for years to find you but no one would tell us anything. We heard about Ryder and we couldn't believe you left. Did he hurt you?"

I cringed at the sound of his name. All the anger I had pushed down for all those years came bubbling back to the surface. "No he never hurt me. I left before he even tried but I never contacted you because I was afraid he would find out and come after me or you. I'm sorry I never called but I was just trying to protect you both." I was sobbing at this point and so were they.

"Anna, he's dead. He was killed last year after he traveled across the border to make a peace treaty with another pack but before he could get there he was attacked by Rogue's."