Rita's question bugged him far into the next day. Why did he choose her? The whole thing felt one sided. More than one sided even. The only connection between them was three years ago and the relationship he had with her as of late was work related up until his wolf started to act out of wack. He did not choose, Rita did not choose, his wolf chose. It did not seem right at all. He did not even know much about her, well except for things in her files. That did not count. And she hardly knew a thing about him.
He did not want to ruin both their lives because he did not understand himself. Reason why he had called up the Dr. Evanston, one of the pack's doctors for a raincheck.
“So you say you and your wolf are out of sync? For how long, Alpha?” The doctor asked over the phone. They were on video call.
“A couple months.” Samuel answered, thinking back.
“Anything good or untoward happen in those months aside from what we already know?” The doctor further questioned.
A lot of things had happened and each one taking their seat on either side of the aisle, the problem was he still had not figured out which ones were where. “No, not exactly.”
“So what has your wolf done or is doing that makes you think so?”
“My wolf had been making decisions and taking actions without my knowledge or consent. Sometimes I get pushed to the backseat with no control whatsoever or it blacks me out so I have no recollection of what happened or what is going on.” Samuel answered. Now he had said it out loud it sounded like he was talking about going off the rails insane.
After a long while, the doctor finally said something. “Hmmm. This could be bad.” That statement did not help.
“How bad?” Samuel asked, anxious.
“Very. Considering the times we are in.” The doctor replied. Samuel did not miss the way Evanston was low-key looking at him like someone he would have to admit into the psychiatric center.
“What do you think this is?”
“Maybe it's stress from being far way from the pack for so long. I'm not sure Alpha but I'll need to look into your family history and medical files. May I have permission to do so?” Evanston surmised.
‘Maybe it was being away from the pack.’ Samuel thought. Still he wanted to know exactly what was going on with him. He did not want to be a danger to his family, the pack or to Rita. “Yes, you have my permission but it must be kept private. Let me know as soon as you find anything.”
“I will Alpha.”
********
He had not called or sent a single message after he had dropped her off at the apartment. Rita knew she had hit home with that question. Whatever little game he thought he was playing with her, he did not have it all planned out and she was going to use that to her advantage. She did not trust him as far as she could throw him. Not one bit. And she was not going to let herself fall for any tricks.
At least she had some time to herself. She took the hot chocolate she made and exited the small kitchen. The kitchen, much like the rest of the apartment was small and semi crawling with bugs and a rat or two, it was what she could afford since she was not sure if dear Princeton would grant her request or not. Again she could not tell if they were shifters or just regular rats. The last thing she wanted on her case was the police department on her back for possible assault and murder.
Samuel gave her back the company house and even offered to get a new one for her but she did not want it. She had just wanted to leave but he did not allow that. Now she was essentially trapped with a laser blade hung over her head.
She tried looking for a lawyer and no one wanted to take her case. She tried filing a case against Samuel either they did not take it seriously or someone's money and influence got in the way of it.
Her only chance out of here was him. Even better that he included walking away without that humongous debt on her head and the promise that he would not go looking for her. Although, she could not trust his word, now could see.
Rita squealed and almost spilled her cup when she felt a ball of fur around her ankles. She jumped to the nearest chair and stood on top of it. Below her was a huge rat the size of an average alley cat with beady yellow eyes looking right at her.
“Friend or foe?”
No response. The thing just kept looking at her and standing so still it could have been a statue. It was freaking her out. She took off her shoe and threw it at it. It just dodged it without taking its eyes off her. The other shoe brought up the same result. “Leave or I'm calling the police.” she huffed. Still nothing.
You know what, to hell with it, whoever or whatever tis rat was, it was going to die.
THIRTY MINUTES LATER
Change of plans. She suddenly had a change of heart. The rat could have the apartment. Oh she got the sleazy furball, she fought hard but it was nothing when faced with ten more rats who were in very obvious disapproval of their friend's close demise. They had won. For now.
As soon as she got her hands on some good old pesticide then the tables would turn. The aftermath would be messy but she would deal with it. While she was going down to the shop, she might as well add some bug spray to the grocery list.
The floor boards creaked and a few roaches scrambled away from her feet. A few were braver though and just stayed were they were. She could feel their eyes daring her to step on them. Well, she dared. She squashed each of them before the others had the sense to scamper away. That was a definitely on the bug spray.
******
THREE HOURS LATER
Samuel took the motorcycle again. Max was less than willing to part with it the first time. He had to pull out a hundred grand for him to ‘tearfully’ say goodbye. Of course, he had given it a new paint job and a tune up before hand. He had not ridden a motorcycle in years, getting on one brought back good memories. It gave him reprieve from his persistent bodyguards, plus Rita said she liked it, which to him, felt like a whole lotta reason to keep it.
Samuel had been doing research on his... condition. None of the instances, causes or outcomes looked good. So he decided to take his mind off it. He took a long ride and then thought of Rita. He had called her but no answer.
He was in front of the apartment building now. The place smelt of bugs, dirty rags, sewage and vermin. It was hard to imagine how anyone stayed or how Rita found the place, in addition to it all, the place was narrow and small. He took a good look at it and felt bad that he had pushed her into this. From the corner of his eye, he spied a group of Crows, a murder, tearing into a bloody cat. An normal cat by the smell of it.
Staying was her decision. He needed to respect that and he did. He made his way inside, he overlooked the greasy looking caretaker who bowed his head and went right up to Rita's floor, the second one. Something was off. Last time, it was not this quiet. He could not even here the rats and roaches that were aplenty, now it seemed they had all disappeared. He reached Rita's door, the air around it reeked of pesticides and was about to knock when the door fell open on its own.