Page 94 of The Alpha

She gaped at him, a thousand questions running through her mind. First and foremost. Who was Melvale? “He did?”

“Yep. It’s a long story, and I probably don’t have the time to tell it properly. Suffice to say, he built all this for us so we wouldn’t be so homesick when we came here.”

Pari’s heart beat faster. “Are you prisoners?”

“Of course not. We work for King Jaireth.” He looked her up and down. “If he offers ya a job, make sure he gives ya fair warning about a few things. Like,everythingthe job entails. He likes to leave things out. Usually the most important parts. He’s kind of a prankster. Can’t help himself though.”

Pari had no idea what he was rattling on about. She needed some answers, and he seemed willing to talk. “Did you mean it when you told me I could go home?”

“Oh, well, now that I think of it, you were obviously brought here for a reason. Most likely to keep ya safe, and if Melvalehas anything to do with it, that tells me that you’re mighty important. Maybe ya ought to stay for a spell and see what’s what first. That’s what I’d do.”

“But what if I don’t want to?” She ran a hand through her hair again. “What if I didn’t want any of this?”

Wilfred studied her a moment, his eyebrows knitting together as his mustache twitched to one side. “Something tells me you will want it. You just haven’t given yourself a chance to.”

She looked away. “That makes no sense.”

“It does if ya know a few things. Why don’t you ask Melvale?”

“I can’t, he’s the…” She blew out a breath. “Problem.”

“Melvale?” He laughed. “He’s usually the solution.”

Pari wanted to believe it, but so much had happened to her in such a short time she didn’t know which way was up at this point. She buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know what to do.”

A warm hand patted her shoulder. “It’s all right. There’s times I don’t know what to do myself. That’s when I seek out my friends.”

“But I don’t have any friends here,” she whined. Good grief, could she sound anymore pathetic?

“Well, now that’s not true. You can make friends,” he pointed out.

She straightened, letting her hands drop. “I guess I do have friends. I have Raina and Halden. How could I forget that?”

“You’re upset.”

“You said it.” Pari hugged herself. “I’m not sure I want to go back to Melvale’s quarters. But… everyone acts like I should.”

Wilfred looked at her, his eyes widening. “My advice to you, young lady is to listen to what he has to say. Then decide what you want to do.”

She gave him a pleading look, unable to keep it off her face. “But why am I here?”

He sighed. “For the same reason anyone is brought here. To keep them safe.”

Pari thought of Dr. Charles and shivered. If he knew Melvale and his people were aliens, then what else did he know about? Couldhetime travel?! Her eyes rounded to saucers. “They came for me…”

“Who?” Wilfred asked.

“The doctor’s men. They knew where I lived and came for me. Oh no… Uncle Al and Leo, what if they come for them next?” She stood and hurried down the porch steps.

“Where ya going?” Wilfred called after her.

“To find Melvale. I need to make sure my uncles are safe!” She was told they were, but if Dr. Charles could find and kidnap her so easily, how was anyone going to keep Uncle Al and Uncle Leo from being harmed? She had to know how Melvale’s people were keeping them safe. Then she was going to demand some answers before she had Melvale take her home.

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Melvale stared at Pari, horrified. “You want to do what?”

“I want to go home.”

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