Golden: A Paranormal Romance

by Ellis Marie

  Paradise.

  “It’s quite a sight, isn’t it?”

  I jump at the voice beside me and quickly stand, avoiding spilling hot liquid over my bare legs as I spin around to the person standing at the doors with my heart pounding.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  The person is a boy—one that I’ve never seen before. As soon as I see the grin on his face, I relax, the anxious feeling disappearing slightly. I smile timidly and pull Trent’s jacket around me more, feeling exposed in my shorts from the night before.

  The boy glances at my movement and smirks, his grin widening.

  “I’m Lou,” he states and begins to make his way towards me. It’s only now that I realise that his arms are strapped to two poles and he’s leaning on them to walk, one of his legs dragging along as he does. I quickly look away, not wanting to look like I’m staring.

  As he goes to sit beside me, I pull out the chair for him. He throws me a grateful grin before sighing and dropping into the seat. I follow suit, curling my legs up underneath me as I do.

  “I’m Elle,” I say quietly, my fingers twisting in each other.

  “I’m—”

  “I know who you are,” he interrupts with a chuckle as he leans his supports against his chair. “I might be crippled but I’m not an idiot.”

  I blush at his words and swallow the lump that forms in my throat.

  Have I offended him?

  Lou sighs beside me and clears his throat. “What I meant by that is that Trent talks a lot about you, and we don’t really have girls here except Scarlette. Plus everyone knows that you stayed last night, so . . .” he trails off and I relax a little. Maybe he isn’t so mean after all. “And you’re wearing his jacket.”

  Caught.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Lou,” I say after a few seconds of silence. He scoffs, making me look at him. I watch him run a hand through his blond hair, his thin lips stretched into a sarcastic grin.

  “That’s the first time anyone has ever said that.”

  How am I meant to reply to that?

  I look back out at the view and take a sip of my coffee, trying to figure out what kind of conversation I’m meant to make with a person who seems to have an answer for everything.

  “The view from here is definitely my favourite in the entire house,” he comments after a while, his voice a murmur and I smile. “It’s the perfect angle to catch the rays of light when they first appear. You can watch them grow for miles.”

  He’s not wrong.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it,” I comment truthfully, watching as the light begins to spread over some of the green leaves hanging on the tops of trees and the peaks of the mountains. “It’s almost unbelievable.”

  “You’ll see a lot of unbelievable things here if you stick around long enough,” he teases. I can’t help but glance at him as he speaks, noticing the hint in his voice that makes it sound like he isn’t completely joking. “You better start convincing yourself you’re not crazy.”

  “What, living in a house full of boys?” I ask. He looks at me in a way that lets me know that he thinks I’m an idiot.

  “No,” he says slowly. “I mean, living in the house under his lordship.” I frown at his words and look at him in confusion, which only makes his expression deepen. “Trent?” he asks with a laugh. “Your boyfriend? The giant, aggressive guy with the gloomy face and assh*le personality?”

  “He’s not my boyfriend. And that doesn’t sound like Trent,” I quip back, my mind not even processing my words until after I’ve defended him. I quickly bite my tongue, not wanting to seem rude, but he’s rude about Trent.

  Lou raises his eyebrows at me and lets out a whistle before settling back into his seat, tapping his finger on the table as he watches me.

  “Maybe they were telling the truth then,” he comments casually. “Maybe you have changed him.”

  “I haven’t changed anyone,” I counter, not knowing why my skin seems to feel prickly and my hands uneasy. “And anyway, what do you mean ‘his lordship’? I thought lots of people put money in for this place?”

  Clearly, going by Lou’s amused expression, this is not the case.

  “Is that what he told you?” He laughs. “No, this was not bought by a couple people. This house belongs to Trent. It’s been in his family for as long as it’s been built; it gets passed down through generations.”

  I’m gobsmacked at his words. The house is so magnificent and well kept. How on earth did Trent manage to look after it and all the people inside of it? And why did he lie?

  “So Trent just let’s all of you guys stay here?” I ask, still not quite understanding why he’s here if he hated Trent.

  “More like demands we do,” Lou jokes. “He’s a bit overcautious when it comes to things like that.”

  What?

  “Overcautious?” I ask, trying to catch up with everything that’s being said, but Lou is making it pretty difficult by being vague.

  “He’s a bit of a mother hen, our alpha.”

  Alpha.

  That’s the word that Cole had used before when he addressed Trent.

  “What does that mean?” I interject, cutting off his rambling about rules or something. “You said ‘alpha.’ Is that not like a thing in movies or animals?”

  Lou assesses me for a moment, staring at me as if he’s debating something, until eventually his mouth quirks up a little. He turns away from me, but the smile remains on his lips. “Maybe you’re not as dumb as I assumed after all.”

  I don’t know whether to take the comment as a compliment or an insult, but to save my own feelings, I choose compliment and I let it go, not wanting to cause arguments.

  “But you’re right,” he adds just when I think he’s finished “In stories, the alpha is always the leader, the strongest member of the pack, the one who gives the orders, who controls the group.”

  “And that’s Trent?” I ask incredulously, not believing him for a second. He just raises an eyebrow at me.

  “Have you seen anyone else that would beat him?”

  I go to respond but stop myself, my mind already whirring through all the memories I have of situations with Trent in them. I try to find a flaw in Lou’s theory, but I can’t.

  What kind of house is this?

  “So Trent is in charge of you guys? Like a gang?”

  My heart beats a little louder as I place a hand on my chest, trying to slow it down. I start to see it—the obedience, the tattoos, the house.

  Are they some sort of mafia?

  A snort of laughter breaks me from my thoughts. I glare at Lou who is clearly laughing at my scared expression, his eyes crinkled at the corners.

  “Surprise! You should see your face,” he cackles wickedly, clapping his hands together. I wait to get the joke, not knowing what’s so funny.

  Is he crazy?

  If all these boys really are in a gang, does that mean that I’m now in it too? Have I dragged my friends into it? Are they criminals? Are we criminals?

  “Hey! Hey! Hey!” Lou’s hands grab my arms. I gasp, looking at him in shock as my breath catches in my throat. I hold it, not knowing what else he’s going to tell me.

  “We’re not a gang!” he explains. The tingles disappear from my fingers and my hands stop shaking. “It’s just a name we call Trent, I promise we’re not thugs and murderers.”

  Shakily, I let out a laugh, embarrassed by my reaction. He shakes his head at me, his hand holding my arm now rubbing it in an act of comfort. I’m a little shocked at the kind gesture.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you like that,” he confesses, wincing a little. “Maybe don’t tell Trent that happened? He’d probably kill me.”

  I chuckle at his plea and nod in agreement, relaxing once more into the chair. My body sags at the now relaxing atmosphere settling around us. I watch the sunlight make its way towards us, the streams of sun licking their way across the grass as it lights up the whole garden.
<
br />   “Our secret,” I tease, and he grumbles something back. “Plus no one is awake to hear you.”

  Lou scoffs at my comment and shakes his head. “Everyone isn’t asleep,” he tells me. My head snaps to him in shock. “They’re already up and out running. It’s the morning routine. The whole house has to get up and do it. Trent’s orders.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I exclaim. “Is that not torturous? Why would you want to live here?”

  Lou smiles at my comment but it doesn’t reach his eyes. His gaze trails down to his leg before moving off into the distance, the silence between us deafening.

  F*ck.

  “I didn’t mean to—”He cuts me off with a wave of his hand, not even looking at me. I want to punch myself in the throat to stop any more words coming out.

  “I didn’t really enjoy running much either until I couldn’t anymore,” he mumbles with a wistfulness in his voice that I’ve never heard someone so young have before. My heart aches at the ghost of a smile that flits across his lips.

  I raise my hands slightly. I feel myself lean forward as if I’m going to reach out towards him, to comfort him or at least let him move some of the pain for a moment, but he quickly coughs. I flinch back, scolding myself for the action.

  That’s not your place.

  “The boys are back.”

  It takes a second for me to understand what he’s saying, but when he nods forward, I turn and look out at the open forest. Far down at the bottom, emerging from leaves, is a figure and the sound that follows is the howls and cheers of men.

  I place my coffee down on the table and stand up, heading to the railing to get a better look. After squinting profusely for a few seconds, I finally make out the dark hair and large body of Trent who is moving at a rapid pace, weaving in and out of the trees.

  At the base of a large tree, which almost stands on its own, he halts and turns around quickly, crouching his body low. I gasp as someone flies past him, almost colliding with his body.

  “What are they doing?” I ask Lou as I rise on my tiptoes, trying to make out anything more than I can already see, but it’s pointless.

  “It’s a challenge. If someone can tag him as they run past, then they don’t have to do another lap. If they don’t, then . . .” He shrugs and winces, making it clear that the activity is not the most fun.

  “Do people often manage to tag him?” I question curiously, turning back to look at the figure of him as he dodges another person running at him. I can hear the groans and cries from all the way up here and Trent’s laughter that follows.

  Lou scoffs beside me and rises to his feet, his crutches firmly in his hands as he hobbles over and glances at the scene, a sigh escaping his lips.

  “No one has ever beat him,” he states casually, as though he’s talking about the weather. “And I doubt anyone ever will.”

  It’s not that I’m shocked that Trent is active and agile; it’s just that the blurs of boys that are running towards him all look to be just as much so and it’s a lot to believe that the towering man that I’m watching could go untouched, but then, as I watch him duck and dive across the grass, it seems to become more believable. His body seems to move so gracefully that it’s mesmerising, like a dancer who already knows the choreography; it’s like he’s inside his opponent’s head. I’m caught in a trance, watching and waiting until the last person runs past him. He lets out a howl of victory, his shouts of encouragement echoing through the forest.

  Undefeated again.

  “Wow.” The single word leaves my lips as barely a whisper, but it’s as though he hears, and his gaze snaps up to me. It’s crazy to say, but I can feel his eyes watching me, making me weak at the knees from hundreds of metres away.

  Oh no, he’s coming.

  He starts jogging towards me, and I move away from the railing, not wanting to look like I was ogling. I turn to Lou quickly, trying to think of something to say but the boy has turned his back to me and is heading indoors, grumbling under his breath.

  “Lou!” I hiss, trying to get him to come back, but he just pauses and raises a half hand as a goodbye and heads indoors, not looking back for a second. I want to scream at his retreating figure.

  Just act cool, Elle. Act cool.

  All my mind can think of is that the kisses we shared last night were drunk mistakes and he’s going to say something that makes me want to throw myself off the balcony in embarrassment and unrequited attraction. I’m so busy panicking over that, that I don’t even see him climb up the stairs until he appears a foot away from me and I jump a little in surprise.

  “Good morning.” He grins and my stomach flips at his beautiful face that’s lit by the golden sun. “Lou wasn’t bothering you, was he?”

  I’m listening to the words that he’s saying, but my eyes are following a bead of sweat that falls from his brow bone and makes its way down his toned and tanned chest, the muscles bulging from the adrenaline pumping through them. I have to tear my eyes away when the sweat trail disappears lower than where is appropriate to stare.

  Oh Lord.

  “Elle?”

  I shake my head rapidly and try to get rid of the dryness in my mouth by drinking some of my coffee, drifting my eyes away from him and back to the mountains as I calm down my breathing.

  “Lou was pleasant.” Lou was pleasant? Who the hell says pleasant?

  “Good. Did you sleep okay?” Again, I nod, not trusting my vocabulary at this point. “Good.” He peers at me as he combs his fingers through his damp hair, taking a step closer. I feel my heart skip a beat. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  I’m sure the noise that my throat makes at his biceps is audible but I’m grateful that he doesn’t point it out. Instead, he just chooses to acknowledge another nod from me, although the smirk on his lips might say otherwise.

  “That’s impressive,” I comment, my voice ragged. I quickly cough, attempting to cover it up. “There were a lot of boys trying to tag you. Lou said you’ve never lost.”

  A soft smile lights up his features as he looks out at the forest, where, no doubt, the rest of the house is still running. He rests on the railing, bunching his shoulders up at the movement and I have to look away.

  “He’s right. I haven’t been beaten. Not since . . .” His words fade out and I grin.

  “Since you became alpha?” I offer, a teasing tone accompanying the words.

  I expect him to laugh or roll his eyes at my comment, perhaps even be a little shocked that I know the nickname, but instead, the smile drops from his lips so quickly that I almost miss it and, in an instant, I know I’ve said something I shouldn’t have.

  “What did you say?” he asks, tilting his head in my direction but his eyes pointed downwards, his jaw clenched.

  “Alpha?” I answer shakily, watching how his hands tighten around the metal railing. “I heard Cole calling you that name, then Lou—”

  “What did he tell you?”

  “He just said it’s a nickname because you’re in charge.”

  I’m not scared of him, not really. It’s just that I don’t think any human could not be a little unnerved by the harsh expression on his face and the stone-like features that accompany it.

  For a second, he’s silent, taking in my answer like he’s mulling it over. I watch as his muscles flex—tightening and untightening like the heartbeat drumming through me.

  After a few painfully long seconds, he stands up, letting go of the metal and lets out a breath through his nose, closing his eyes as he does.

  Maybe don’t use that nickname then, Elle.

  My fingers reach out of their own accord, moving towards him like a magnet but, in almost the same instant, he turns away from me and heads for the door.

  “I need to take a shower.”

  I don’t say a thing as I watch him leave, his thunderous footsteps echoing across the tiles inside. It’s not until I can’t hear them anymore that I let the breath rush out of me and I collapse on the chair i
n a heap, my heart like a hummingbird as I sit and try to stop the rushing tide of panicking thoughts in my head.

  Well, he certainly has a sensitive spot.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “I mean, I’ve never heard someone have the nickname ‘alpha’, but that doesn’t mean he’s lying. It is a term for someone in charge, so it could be true?”

  Kristie, Tom, and I have been debating this all morning as we got ready for school at her house with the little time we had to spare. It has been a challenge to wake them both up and get them out of their beds, but once I had managed to coax them out with coffee, they sped up and started to realize that it is indeed a Friday and not the weekend—which means we have class.

  “I mean, I would still like to know who moved my car this morning more than anything. It was just sitting perfectly outside the front door.” Kristie’s voice wavers with confusion, but she’s also laughing slightly. “Like who got the keys and moved it from the beach? Why did they do that? Who do I have to hire to do that for me daily?”

  I chuckle at her last comment while Tom rolls his eyes and starts lecturing her on insurance and why she shouldn’t let other people drive her bright yellow ‘death machine.’ I lean against the car window and pull myself out of their argument, my mind instead going back to the topic that has been circling my head all morning.

  Trent.

  I suppose I could have waited for him to come out of the shower before I left with my friends, but I’m a little apprehensive to see him. What exactly am I meant to say?

  It’s not as if I could understand why the word would annoy him; I don’t know the backstory, and as far as I can tell, there isn’t a bad connotation for it. Unless it means he’s too controlling? Lou seemed to hint that something annoys him about it. The whole thing is giving me a bit of a headache if I’m totally honest. It has such a huge effect on him that I’m terrified to see him in case he regretted what had happened the night before.

  That amazing kiss. Our first kiss. Would it be our last?