Kids from One Alpha

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Welcome to the Pack

Serena parked her car outside the house address she was given. There was a woman waiting on the front porch for her. Although Serena hadn‘t had many interactions with her yet, she knew it was Adriana, the woman who had secured her position in the pack medical facility. Adriana waved and stepped off of the porch, heading to the driver‘s side door. When Serena cut the engine, Adriana opened the door for her. “Serena?” she asked. Serena nodded, glancing behind the other woman at the house she was parked in front of. “This is your new home.” “Really?” Serena asked. She hadn‘t been expecting a whole house to herself!

“Come on, I‘ll give you the tour,” Adriana said with a soft chuckle. Serena got out of the car. Adriana went back to the porch, but Serena opened the back door of her car to let the twins out. Olivia immediately ran up the front steps, but Oliver hung back and walked next to his mom. “Adriana, these are my children Olivia and Oliver,” she said. “They are adorable,” Adriana said, smiling at Olivia. Olivia stuck her tongue out at the chief of medicine. “Olivia!” Serena snapped, grabbing Oliver‘s hand and rushing up the steps, half dragging him behind her. “That is rude. Please apologize to Adriana and say ‘hello,” she instructed. Olivia pouted, looking down at her feet bashfully. “Please, I work with children, I‘m used to it,” Adriana said. Serena sighed. “Come on, Olivia, be a big girl,” Serena said. Slowly, Olivia raised her eyes. “I‘m sorry for making faces,” she said. “It‘s nice to meet you.” She was still looking at the porch, kicking at the boards with the toe of her shoe. “That is quite alright, Olivia,” Adriana said. “It is nice to meet you too, and Oliver.” She leaned down slightly to scrunch up her nose at Oliver. He laughed and hid his face in Serena‘s leg. “Shall we?” Serena asked. Adriana nodded, opening the front door and letting them in. Immediately, Olivia bolted into the house. ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“I‘m going to pick my bedroom first!” she shouted. Oliver ran after her. “No, I will!” he challenged his sister. Serena rolled her eyes. “The house is move–in ready,” Adriana said, flashing a smile at Serena. “Electric and utilities are hooked up. Three bedrooms upstairs and a full bathroom. Eat-in kitchen, living

room, office or den, and a half bathroom on the first floor.“. “This is amazing,” Serena said. Being in medical school, she hadn‘t had the luxury of so much space with her two kids. She imagined that the office/den would be converted into a playroom for them instead. “It was recently refurbished, so everything should be up to date,” Adriana assured. Serena nodded, heading into the kitchen to look around. There was plenty of cabinet space and the new counters had never been cooked on. It was more than she had hoped for. “Thank you, Adriana,” Serena said. “I‘m looking forward to getting to work.”

“Yes, of course,” Adriana said. “I am so happy you agreed to complete your residency here.” “Is the medical center short–staffed?” Serena asked, glancing over her shoulder at the other woman. Adriana shrugged. “Not necessarily, but I always appreciate an extra pair of hands, especially one with ties to our allied packs,” Adriana admitted with a somber smile. She did not need to bring up Moonshine pack for Serena to understand the woman‘s concern. “That is understandable,” Serena said, heading out of the kitchen and into the living room. There was plenty of natural light. The kids‘ heavy footsteps clomped around on the second floor, letting Serena know they were still running around. “Take all the time you need to settle in,” Adriana said, following Serena. “It is great to have you here, and I want you and the kids to get comfortable before you get too immersed in your work.” Serena smiled at the other woman.

“Thank you,” she said. “I am eager to get to work.”

“Alright, well, I will leave you to get settled,” Adriana said. “If you need anything at all, please let me know. I’m around.”

“Great, I will,” Serena said, walking with Adriana as she headed to the front door. “Oh, here are your keys,” she said handing Serena a key ring. One was clearly a house key. There were a few other keys on the ring too. “The others are for the medical facility,” Adriana clarified. Serena nodded, following Adriana outside: She went back to her car, popping the trunk to get the suitcases out. Adriana waved a final goodbye and left. Serena waved in return and then began hauling luggage out of her trunk. When

she got her the luggage inside, Olivia and Oliver had come down the stairs and were screaming at each other. “I said I want the room in the corner!” Olivia said, stomping her foot and crossing her arms. She glared at her twin. “I like the corner room more than you” Oliver argued, sticking his tongue out at his sister. Serena pushed the suitcases aside. “Alright,” she snapped, “That‘s enough, Olivia, Oliver, let‘s all go look at the bedrooms and settle this right now.” “Fine,” Olivia said with an eye roll. Serena worried about habits her daughter was picking up from her. “Fine,” Oliver grumbled more quietly. Serena took one of their hands in each of hers, being the Berlin Wall between them as they went up the stairs. There was a short hallway with three bedrooms, the one in the corner was the largest and had two windows where the rooms on either side of that were a little smaller and each only had one window. “Okay, this is what we are going to do,” Serena said. “I‘m going to take the corner room, then the two of you will have identical rooms on either side of mine.” “But…” Olivia began to protest. Serena looked sternly at her daughter, preventing Olivia from protesting further. “That is the only fair solution,” she said. Olivia sighed, pulling her hand from Serena‘s. “Okay, fine!” she said, stalking off towards the room she wanted. Serena looked down at Oliver.

“Can you be okay with that?” she asked. Oliver‘nodded and went to the other side room to claim as his own. Serena sighed. She headed back downstairs to finish putting the luggage where it belonged. Most of it was toys and clothing for the kids and would have to be hauled upstairs again. She couldn‘t remember fighting so fiercely with her own twin, Santino, when they were younger. It was easy to think that she and her brother had always just teased each other lovingly, but she thought it was more likely that she and Santino fought the same as Olivia and Oliver. Perhaps it was karma for what she had put her own mother through. As Serena pulled the last bags out of her trunk, she stiffened, a distinct scent catching her nose. A scent she hadn‘t smelled in over five years, one that was barely a whisper of a memory from the haze of alcohol that had surrounded it.

Swallowing, Serena found that her legs would not obey her to turn around and face the approaching male. She‘d never seen his face, she couldn‘t remember his features behind the mask, but she

remembered his smell!

Gripping the box in her hands, Serena slowly gained control of her legs again, even as her fingers and knuckles turned white from the strength of her hold. She turned to face him, brow creasing when she saw his friendly smile. No memory could put the face of the male she saw now on the body of the man she‘d spent the night with so long ago. He was handsome, muscular and well–built with greenish– yellow eyes and wavy ash blonde hair. If it wasn‘t for his scent, Serena would have sworn she‘d never seen him before. She still couldn‘t be sure; she‘d been drunk enough that she hadn‘t scented him properly back then. After five years, her mind could be playing tricks on her! Was it possible that her házy memory inserted a scent she recognized to the first Night Sky male she encountered? She hadn‘t even been sure if the man she‘d had the one–night stand with had belonged to the Night Sky pack. He‘d been in their territory and made references to playing there as a child, but he‘d never told her what pack he belonged to. Her mind panicked as she glanced at the open door to her new home. She willed that the children stayed upstairs until she could figure out what was going on. “You must be Serena,” he said warmly, a deep smooth voice that complimented his height. “Yes, that‘s me,” Serena said, her voice croaking. She swallowed quickly; glad she was holding a box to keep from having to shake his hand. “Welcome to Night Sky, I‘m Logan,” he said. Serena nodded, smiling again as she tried to find her voice.