Chapter 23: Chapter 23

(Chapter song ‘Drinkee' by Sofi Tukker)

SAMMY “Sam. You can’t do this.”

My mother is following me as I load up my truck with my necessities. The movers emptied out my office this morning and Dylan is loading up his stuff into the truck bed.

I throw a bag over the edge and turn to my worried mother. “Mom. It’s fine. I’ll be ok.”

She places a hand on my cheek. “What if you have another episode? What if he finds out?”

Dylan joins us and leans on the truck. “That’s why I’m going. I’ll watch her. Sammy’s going to therapy, so she should be good.”

I take my mother’s hand. “This is a chance of a lifetime for me, Mom. Beast or not, I have to live my life. I can’t pass this up.”

She looks at both of us with major concern on her face and hugs both our heads. “If things go wrong, you come home right away.” She chokes.

“We will.” I hitch. I don’t like making my mother worry and truth be told, I’m terrified myself.

She pushes us back and points to Dylan. “You make sure the Alliance never hears of her.” She warns sternly.

Dylan wraps his arm around me. “I’ll die before they take her, Mom. You know that.”

“I love you both.” She hugs us again and I hug her back as we all fight the worry in our hearts.

“You got everything?”

We break apart as my dad joins our circle.

I smile as he drops a box of my paints in the truck. “Yes.”

"I hope you know what you're doing." He smiles and hugs me. "You call me. For anything at any time."

"I will." I hug him and wipe my eyes.

“Where's Eric?” Dylan asks.

“On his way to the pack house. He'll meet us there. I swear, he’s more excited about it than I am.” I grin as I walk to the driver’s door.

“I'm sure he’s not thinking about the new location of Sam’s Designs.” Dylan smirks as he gets into the passenger side.

“What else would he think about?” I ask as I start the engine.

“The same thing I am.” He clicks his seat belt. “Pack house hotties. Have you seen some of the kitchen staff?” His brows shoot up and a smirk crosses his lips.

“Dylan.” I groan to the roof as he cackles in his seat.

I shake my head and back out of the driveway of the only home I’ve ever known.

“Boys are weird.” I shake my head as I start down the road.

“Trust me. Girls? So much more weirder.” He sits back and gets comfortable as I chuckle.

****

“Welcome home, Sammy.” Dylan grins as he pulls out his duffle bag.

“Home is the last thing I’d call it.” I mumble as I grab a bag and we walk across the lot.

We walk through the service entrance and are immediately greeted by a rather excited Alpha.

“Good! You're here!”

It's funny. The look on his face as he sees me says that I’m just supposed to forget he bulldozed me into this. Well, I’m sorry. I don’t forget that easily.

Bastian crosses the main foyer to greet us. He stands and looks at us both. “All ready to move in?”

“I don’t know, Bastian. Why don’t you tell me if I’m ready?” I chew my lip and arch a brow.

He stands in front of me and places his hands on my arms. “I can tell you’re upset. Trust me, Sam. This is a smart business decision. I’m helping.”

“That’s great, Alpha. I love that your definition of helping means manipulating someone for your own agenda.” I shoot him a look then motion to my bag. “Where can I put this?”

He backs off and takes a huge breath. “Follow me.” He turns away and walks into the main foyer.

He felt that. He needs to know any progress he made with me was just blown out of the water with this move. Yes, I’m excited about it, but I won’t let him off the hook for being a spoiled brat and interfering with my life to get what he wants. He’s going to feel my distrust until I say he’s had enough.

As we walk behind Bastian, Dylan leans to me. “What was that about?”

“Nothing.” I grumble as I glare at Bastian’s back.

We cross the foyer and walk under the second set of stairs on the right side of the room. At the back is a small marble staircase tucked in a corner.

"This is the staff stairs. There's no access to the rest of the house from here, so you'll have to go back the way we came to get down stairs. This wing is cut off from everything else." Bastian informs as we climb.

I admire some of the artwork on the walls, and also notice there’s less mirrors in the halls once we reach the top. Clearly, Bastian doesn’t come up here very often since the rest of the house feels like a hall of mirrors.

The corridor is long and there’s a number of doors with turns that go left and right at the end.

He stops at two white doors. "Dylan. This is your room. Everything should be in order. If not, don’t hesitate to inform Anton and he’ll fix it for you.”

Dylan opens the door to a room that's at least double the size of his at home. "This is staff room?"

"Yeah. Is there a problem?" Bastian ticks his brow up.

Dylan shakes his head. "No, Alpha. No problem at all." He grins.

Bastian walks in. "Your closet is there. The showers are at the end of the hall. Showers and laundry are shared, so I hope you're not shy." He chuckles.

"Not at all." Dylan chuckles back.

"Ok. Sammy will be just a few doors down." He motions.

"Bye, Dylan." I wave.

"Bye. We'll meet up later." He waves back and shuts the door.

My heart starts to flutter as I walk beside Bastian to my room. I give occasional glances as he walks proudly down the hall. I have to remind myself that I'm angry with him.

He stops at a door and places a hand on the handle. “And this…” He throws open the door. “Is yours.”

I peek in and my brows cinch together. I lose my air as I walk in and take in the room.

It’s bright and much bigger than Dylan’s. It has a large, arched window that overlooks the wood lot in the back and the bed is a king-sized bed with a big fluffy duvet and lots of pillows. There’s also small, elegant arm chairs around a two person table.

“Bastian.” I breathe as I take in all the rich décor.

“There’s more.” He beams as he walks over to another set of doors.

He pulls open another set of double doors and motions me inside. "This is your closet and at the back there, that’s your private bathroom. All separated for your convenience.”

I looked at him curiously. "Why don't I have to share?"

"This is the only room up here with a private bathroom. I figured you'd like the privacy." He grins.

"Bastian. This is incredible. It's too much, really." I shake my head at him.

He tilts his head. "With all the hard work you've been doing, it's nowhere near enough."

I try not to blush, but my damn cheeks are not listening.

He clears his throat. "I also had this room upgraded a bit. He walks to a set of glass doors on the other side of the room. "I had this installed for you. Open them."

I walk over and I can already see the surprise through the glass. "You didn't."

He's smiles a toothy grin and waves me to go ahead.

I open the doors an enter the brightly lit room. Blank canvas' are everywhere. Three easels stand on the floor and there's glass door cabinets with paints in them.

"You also have an immense number of sketchbooks and other choices of media should you wish to express yourself in different ways. If you're missing something, I'll get it for you." He rocks on his heels with his hands behind his back.

I turn to him. "Bastian. I...."

He walks over to me and puts his hands on my arms. "I want you to be happy here. I want this room filled with those paintings I saw." He points a finger in my face. "But don't forget you have a ballroom to decorate.”

I can’t help but giggle as I look around the room and my imagination swims. Besides my mother, I've never had anyone push my artwork so hard. I mean, I never really gave anyone reason to, but the fact that Bastian has taken a vested interest in it, is making me pause. "I won't. Thank you."

"No problem. Now, get settled and meet me in my office for a progress report on the ballroom." He turns on his heels. "I need this done soon. Because in a few weeks..." He turns and raises a brow at me with a smirk. "You're going to a party."

"Excuse me?" I tilt my head with curiosity.

"You'll see." He winks and shuts the door.

I stare at the door and twist my lips. What is this man planning now?

I shake my head and push it aside. He’s just trying to get on my good side. I turn and walk into the art room he built me. I look around at all the fresh brushes and tools. The shelves are full of almost every oil paint color known to the art world. I wrap my arms around my waist and turn.

He is trying to get on my good side and the scary part is…

I think it’s working.

****

"Hey, guys!' I chirp as I strut into the ballroom with Dylan beside me.

Everyone is in here and all loudly expressing their excitement for the move. This is the positive thing about this. They've all worked so hard for me, I’m glad that I can finally give something back to them that they can be proud of.

Lisa squeals, runs at me with arms up and slams me in a bear hug. I laugh and hug her back. "Oh my God, Sammy. This is amazing!"

"I know right?" I grin as I push her back.

Eric turns around. "The new residents of the Black Rock pack house. How is it?”

Dylan grins. "Excellent. Dude, the showers are shared with the rest of the staff!"

Eric smirks. "Those wait staff girls look pretty fine."

"Oh, yeah." Dylan nods with a mischievous grin.

"Dylan, don’t be a pig. We're here to work, not date." I warn.

Dylan bumps me. "I can do both."

I laugh. "Get to work. I have a meeting with the Alpha. I’ll be back."

As I leave, the celebration kicks up again and I grin ear to ear. I guess I have to give credit to Bastian for this, but how he made it happen, will not go away.

I stride up to his door, fix my business jacket and knock.

“Come!” He barks from the other side.

As I enter, our eyes meet. He immediately gets up from his chair with a big smile on his face. As I enter, he quickly walks around his desk and meets me half way.

"Sam. I'm sorry to pull you away for this. I’m sure you have so much to organize." He chuckles as he lays a hand on my arm.

“It’s fine, Bastian." I say civilly, but I’m keeping my excitement in check.

He leads me to a chair on one side of his desk and sits in the one next to me. "Good. Bring me up to speed." He leans on the arm of his chair and props his temple up with two fingers as he crosses his leg.

"Well." I cross my legs and fold my hands in mu lap. I catch his eyes shoot down and back up to mine. "The furnishings are here and they're better than we expected. The table cloths, too. We still need your opinion on table settings."

He waves me off. "Whatever you choose will be fine. I trust you." He gives me a charming smile that does something to my stomach. He’s punching at my disappointment. Damn him!

"Sure. Now. The walls seem a bit bare. So, I wanted to know if you had any pieces we could hang." I ask. “I’m thinking something related to the moon?”

"No. But I know a wonderful artist I could commission." He eyes me with a slight smirk.

"No. Bastian. I already told you. No one sees my art. You weren't even supposed to see it." I hold firm.

"Sammy. Your art is amazing.” He leans on his knees and looks into my eyes. “Please. I just want to show everyone how talented you are. Let me show everyone how proud I am of you." He pleads.

"Bastian. The ballroom is enough of a gush for you and for the final time. No. I'm not yours to be proud of. My art is my secret and I’m keeping it that way.” I stand and head for the door.

“Sammy!” He jogs around me and stops. "Fine. I'll see what I can come up with. But I'm telling you, right now. None will be as good as yours."

"Flattery will get you nowhere." I cross my arms and eye him.

"Oh. My flattery has got me lots of things, Miss." He smirks.

"Not this time." I snort and walk past him.

He turns. "Sam."

I turn back.

"This is turning out to the greatest challenge I've had yet." He gives me a sly smile.

I shake my head and leave his office.

He thinks is charm and wit will get to me.

I have to be strong if I’m winning this thing on my terms.

The days of Bastian Cole getting what he wants, how he wants it, end right now.