The Challenge Two Alphas, One Girl

Chapter 28: Alphas of Art

Fang’s POV Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Finally, Astrid had some good news. She was going to be Fridays’s lady-in-waiting to help her get dressed while in her cast. The only problem was it had to be supervised. I sighed. It was a start. I gave Astrid a nod of approval. She tried to kiss me but I dodged it. I saw a flash of hurt in her eyes. Astrid went to bed. I knew she was sad because we had grown distant over these past few weeks.

I was consumed with this plan to safeguard my family’s future. If Maze was really devastated over Friday after my plan, maybe he would even step down and I could be Alpha!

Thaddeus’ POV Astrid knocked on my door at seven o’clock as previously discussed. “Good morning, Astrid,” I said brightly.

We went to Friday’s room and I unlocked the door. Maze had given me the key. He was actually being helpful. I found Friday already sitting up in bed, waiting patiently. She was so cute! Astrid helped her shower then she picked out her outfit and did her hair and makeup. Friday looked even more beautiful than usual in a short floral navy blue dress, eyeliner and lipstick. Astrid was so good at doing everyone else’s makeup and picking out their clothes. She should do this for a living and hire someone else to choose her

clothes and makeup. Friday drank her morning coffee and ate a cream cheese bagel while getting ready. I decided to take my coffee as sweet and milky as my Luna’s for a change. I ate sausages and eegs with a plain bagel.

When Astrid was done, Friday thanked Astrid and I wheeled Friday away. “Where are we going?” Asked Friday, turning around to look at me.

“We’re going to an art studio and gallery,” I said. “Ohhh, fancy!” Exclaimed Friday. I chuckled as I lifted her into the passenger seat of the car. I got in the driver’s side.

“Friday, I really am so sorry about your foot,” I said earnestly. I did blame myself on some level. Horseback riding had been my date idea.

“Thaddeus!” Said Friday sternly. “This is not your fault. I rushed ahead of you on the horse. You even tried to stop me,” she said, sighing.

“How are you feeling?” I asked. “Still in pain.” “I feel ok. The painkillers work really well,” Friday said brightly pulled into the parking lot of Alphas of Art, a studio and art gallery, I carried Friday inside, cradling her gently to me. Friday snuggled into me, sighing contentedly. Friday’s POV

Even though I was in a cast, the female art gallery workers all seemed extremely jealous that I was being carried around by Thaddeus. Their jealousy made me feel both lucky and uncomfortable at the same time. I really was a lucky wolf-less she-wolf to have two Alphas vying for my affection. However, I could tell some she-wolves thought I was unworthy of such fine specimens being interested in me and that hurt.

Thaddeus had rented out a large private room in the studio. The walls were a bright vermillion and the wouia nave propady gave me a neaaacne. Inaaaeus naa newspapers spread all over the floor of the room. There were two blank canvases with balloons taped all over them. The balloons seemed to be filled with liquid.

“What’s in the balloons? Paint?” I asked.

“Exactly,” Thaddeus said, grinning. I would have never imagined Thaddeus being interested in the arts. He was so masculine. Maybe it was ignorant of me but I could not picture him painting and sketching and writing poetry about his feelings.

He handed me a container to put on my lap. It was filled with darts. I grinned.

“We’re splash painting! You just throw the darts at the balloon you want to pop. The colour of the balloon corresponds to the colour of the paint so you pop as many or as little as you want and in the order that you want,” Thaddeus explained.

Thaddeus demonstrated, throwing a dart at a red balloon. The balloon popped allowing red paint to splatter and run down the canvas. He threw the next dart at a white balloon near the popped red one. The white pain mixed partially with the red so there were white, red and pink areas. I threw my first dart at a big

blue balloon. It just bounced off, not popping at all. I groaned.

“You have to use a tad bit more force, Baby,” said Thaddeus, chuckling.

I tried again, throwing the dart as hard as I could. It missed the blue balloon I wanted and popped a red one nearby. I aimed for the blue again. Success! I cheered and Thaddeus high-fived me. I watched as the blue paint splattered over the red to make some purple areas. I began throwing darts at random. Thaddeus did too. The room was filled with the sounds of popping balloons and wet squelching noises from splattering paint. My painting actually looked cool. Thaddeus’ splash painting was cool too. We got to keep them.

The next activity was pot making which I had seen people do in a romantic movie before. Thaddeus had me sit between his legs so he could guild my hands to form the clay pot. Thaddeus had his huge hands over mine as we shaped the spinning clay. He kissed my would-be marking spot and then trailed kisses down my neck and across my shoulder. He nipped playfully at my shoulder. I squealed. I felt sleepy because of my medications. I yawned. I turned around and gently pressed my lips against Thaddeus’ lips. I kissed his cheek, jaw and his neck. I sucked on his marking spot. He groaned and shivered. I giggled. Thaddeus smirked.

“I love you, Thaddeus,” I whispered. “I love you, Friday,” Thaddeus said, nuzzling me.

The pot he helped me to make was tall and narrow in diameter like a vase. I would put flowers in it the next time he bought them for me. We put the pot to bake and harden in the kiln.

Thaddeus’ POV

I wheeled Friday around the gallery part of the building, showing her the recent art exhibition. I had another surprise for her. We met with Frederick Mackie, the most celebrated werewolf Artist in the art world right now. He was a peculiar guy as was to be expected. He had his hair completely shaved off except for a tuft of red hair to the left. He wore tiny round spectacles with translucent blue frames. He had one blue eye and one green eye and a very bush red beard. His suit was white and khaki pinstripe. Friday was thrilled to meet him. She clapped when she saw him.

“I did a project on him in Visual Arts class in high school,” she whispered to me. “I love your watercolour paintings, Mr Mackie,” she said. “Thank you, Luna! I hope you’ll love this one I’m about to unveil. It’s acrylic though,” Fred said. painting was covered win a wnite sneet. Frea grippea tne wnite rapric ana ripped it on or ine canvas to reveal his masterpiece.

Friday’s POV

One day I was meeting the most famous chef and the next day I was meeting the most famous artist. Broken foot or not, I was having a great time. I wished I could have champagne though like the other guests at the gallery but I could not have alcohol with the painkillers I was on. Mackie paused for dramatic effect, gripping the white fabric covering his masterpiece teasingly. He had a glint in his eyes. He swished the fabric off of his painting with a flourish of his hand. I gasped.

The painting was of a young woman with golden skin, brown eye and wavy long hair riding on the back of a brown wolf with piercing blue eyes. They were in a lush green forest. It was me and Thaddeus in his wolf form. I smiled. It was beautiful. The crowd cheered. Mr Mackie handed the framed piece to me. I held it carefully.

“Thaddeus had that commissioned for you,” Mackie said, winking.

I beamed, my eyes glistening. Thaddeus kissed me. His lips were so soft and warm. I actually requested junk food for lunch from Thaddeus. I had not had it in so long. Thaddeus got everything imaginable from a couple drive-throughs and we took it back to the pack house. There was pizza, breadsticks, buffalo wings, fried chicken, fries, quesadillas, fajitas, wontons, mini spring rolls and egg rolls.

I was stuffed in a matter of minutes.

“Satisfied, Baby?” Said Thaddeus.

“Not quite,” I said. Thaddeus frowned. I tugged on his sleeve, pulling him towards me. A wide grin replaced his frown as he leant in. I kissed him eagerly, relishing his taste and smell. We lay on my bed under the covers and softly kissed and caressed each other. There was no sense of urgency this time and I liked that. I removed his shirt to reveal his gorgeous muscles. I kissed his arms and hands. I kissed his chest and planted kisses all over his abs which made him groan. I could see his huge member straining against the denim of his jeans. I unzipped his jeans and he pulled them off. I rubbed the bulge through his boxers while he explored my mouth with his tongue. I broke away from him, glancing at the painting of us he had put on the wall of my room. I smiled at it. I couldn’t believe I owned a Mackie original and I was the subject of the piece!l wrapped my arms around Thaddeus. He kissed my forehead.

“Do you think your family will like me?” I wondered out loud.

“Of course,” said Thaddeus. “They’ve been hoping I would meet my mate for a while now. They’re were tired of me moping about.” Thaddeus chuckled.

“I can’t picture you moping,” I said with a giggle. Thaddeus was always so jovial. “Trust me, I moped,” he grumbled in his deep voice, pressing his forehead to mine. Maze’s POV

Rather than mope around the pack house like I usually did on Thaddeus’ days with Friday, I went to visit my family. They lived in an affluent and exclusive gated community in Marigold appropriately named Prestige Gardens. My chauffeur drove me past well-manicured lawns and sprawling mansions. We pulled up in front of my parent’s house. I tipped the driver and told him to be back for me in an hour. The house was just as I remembered it, a towering grey brick building with flowering vines growing along its walls.

The butler, Willis, answered the door. He grinned at me and clapped me on the back.

“Are they out back?” I asked, sliding out of my blazer.

“Your mother is our back. Your father is in his office. He’s very busy today and can’t be disturbed,” said Willis. retirea. Ine entrance room was spotless as always, i ne mardie rioors gleamed and every surface was immaculate. My mother gave the housekeepers hell. I found her on the patio out back with a few of her other glamorous house-wife friends. They squealed in delight when they saw me.

“Is this Maze? So big and handsome!” Said Mona Merry, my mother’s best friend. She was a slender, brown-haired she-wolf who always wore designer shades even at nighttime. I bet she wore them even in her wolf-form. She had a periwinkle scarf tied around her hair that matched her dress. She extended her hand to me and I kissed it.

Martha Vaughn, a voluptuous blonde, with oversized lips that were clearly enhanced, pouted at me.” You never come to see up Mazey-poo. Your mother misses you and so dol,” she said in a breathy voice.

Martha was about a decade younger than my mother and her other friends putting her in her early forties. I distinctly remember her hitting on me the moment I turned eighteen. She had a husband twenty years her senior and he was always away on business while she was constantly hiring a new pool boy or gardener. She was holding her white and black French poodles in her hands who were named Salt and Pepper respectively.

“He’s busy! He’s the new alpha! What do you expect?” Said Orla Faulte who had deep brown skin and high cheekbones with almond shaped eyed. She was tall and thin with her curly black hair in a large bun. I gave her and Martha hugs.

I kissed my mother on each cheek and handed her the bouquet of roses I had gotten her. Her three friends “awww”ed at that.

“You really should visit me more often Mazey Darling,” said my mother, frowning. “I will,” I promised, feeling guilty. “So where is that…er mate of yours?” Asked Mona. “She’s with the other Alpha,” I said, trying not to think about it. “Today is her day.”

“What a lucky, lucky girl she is. The two most handsome Alphas in the region fighting over her,” said Martha, pursing her full red lips.

I grumbled inwardly. I soothed myself thinking about tomorrow instead. I had an interesting idea of what to do with Friday and I was curious to see her reaction. I was always interested in her reactions. She was so unique, neither easily impressed nor difficult to please.

“Where’s Dad?” I asked, ensuring my tone was lighthearted. My mother stiffened. They had been fighting. I could tell just from her reaction to the question. Her friends glanced in random directions, seemingly all thinking about other things.

“He’s in his office,” my mother said, smiling in a way that did not reach her eyes. “He’s so busy these days,” my mother added.

“Doing what?” I could not help but ask. I was the Alpha now. Dad was retired.

My mother shrugged.

“So tell us about Wednesday!” Said Martha in her lilting sophisticated drawl.

“It’s Friday,” I corrected her. “She’s…beautiful, kind, smart, she loves animals, she’s really easy to talk to, she’s playful like a child almost…”I stopped myself. Listing things I liked about Friday was making it difficult to breathe. I fidgeted in my chair.

I wondered if I’d ever forgive myself for rejecting Friday. It was such a dumb move and I might have to pay for it for the rest of my life if she chose Thaddeus.

“You ok, Hun?” Asked Orla. up than with my father.

“I’m gonna say a quick hello to Dad,” I told Mom. She nodded.

I went up the winding staircase and down the hallway. My Dad’s office was all the way to the end. I pulled on the handle and found it locked. Normally, I would just knock but something made me go around. There was a seldom used second door into the room. It was technically a secret door but my father and! knew all the passageways in this manor. I went into the upstairs library and found the panel door that blended right into the wall. I pushed on it and walked into the office. My eyes widened and I inhaled sharply at the sight before me.