Chapter 3: Of houses and packs
"I cannot believe you just did that!" a familiar feminine voice screeched.
"Back off Tomoyo, you forget who you're talking to."
"I was itching for a good old bar fight. Too bad they left with their tail wagging between their legs."
"I just finished renovating guys. I'd appreciate it if you take violent matters outside my establishment."
"You should've let her ease into this. What were you thinking?!" The familiar not so feminine voice now shouted again.
"Yup. Definitely Tomoyo. I can't make out the other voices." Sakura thought while slowly coming to her senses.
Not so hushed voices filtered out the living room waking Sakura up from her sleep. She squinted one eye open, her head throbbing and her throat dry. She slowly brought herself up to sitting, grasping her head with both her hands, trying to recall what happened.
"Bar. The creep. The stranger. Those 10 shots. Creep creepier than the other creep. And... dog? No, a very big dog. More like... wolf?" Sakura thought to herself while studying her surroundings. She wondered why her sheets were so smooth and how her pillows suddenly became heavenly soft. Turns out she wasn't in her apartment. The big black king sized bed she was on was in the center of a room, with black drapes hanging over the top. Glancing around more, she saw the entire room was painted black with gray and white accented furniture, a big window with a canopy at the far side of the room.
Sakura bit her lip when she noticed the voices outside suddenly ceased, as if they knew she was awake. She took a step towards the door cautiously, "I'm officially screwed. I got kidnapped as soon as I arrived in Japan damn it." she mumbled to herself.
A low chuckle came from the other side of the door and her step faltered. She gulped while eyeing the window. She gauged the distance to the ground and deduced she was at the second floor of a building. "If I jump, I can escape...with a broken leg probably, but I can escape still."
The door knob turned and Sakura's emerald eyes widened, all hesitation flew from her mind as she made a dash for the window. Strong familiar arms wounded around her waist before she could jump and she turned to see intense dark brown eyes staring at her.
"I'd appreciate it.." his clearly aggravated voice dropped a pitch lower, "if you stop trying to kill yourself."
Sakura screamed before scrambling away from him, managing to make a beeline for the opened door. As she made a sharp turn to the right of the hallway, she collided into a soft body. Small feminine hands grasped her upper arms, steadying her. Sakura looked up and saw Tomoyo's worried face.
"Sakura? Are you alright?" Her concern very evident.
Sakura's right eye twitched. The past events quickly raced through her mind and felt her sanity snapped.
"Alright? Alright you ask?!" She wrenched her arms away from Tomoyo before fully standing, her expression livid.
"I was manhandled by two creeps yesterday and now I'm being held against my own will. To top it all off, I have one hell of a hangover. How do you think am I doing?" Sakura's voice escalated with every sentence, not noticing the very much interested crowd gathering.
Sakura paced back and forth in the hallway while clutching her still throbbing head, muttering expletives to herself before her eyes widened then whirled towards Tomoyo, "YOU! You were in on this too. My God. I have a syndicate for a roommate. You had me fooled with your smiley pancakes and bunny shaped cookies!"
Sakura backed away from Tomoyo's pleading look and bumped into Syaoran. His familiar scent making his presence known to Sakura before she even looked to her back.
"You won't take me quiet. I'll fight you every inch of the way you hear me?!"
Syaoran looked at her with an exasperated look.
"I certainly hope it doesn't come to that my dear." a new soothing voice said from the shadows. Sakura turned and saw a man with blue hair and equally arresting blue eyes, a lean build and a kind smile on his face.
"How about we continue this lively conversation in the living room. I had English tea and cakes prepared." His blue eyes then moved to Sakura, "We'll explain everything. You're safe here."
Sakura scoffed but wisely followed him, keeping her distance from the weeping Tomoyo and scowling Syaoran.
"My name is Eriol. I am the owner of that bar." The blue man started after all of them were seated. Syaoran disappered a while ago.
"I would like to apologize for the unpleasant incident you found yourself in the middle of. I was not present to control the situation." his face clearly looked apologetic, Sakura found herself nodding.
"I've heard a lot about you from Tomoyo but we didn't expect you to enter the bar yourself. Therefore, we were unable to make necessary... preparations."
Sakura's wary gaze moved between him and Tomoyo, "What preparations? I just wanted to get a job."
"Well yes, but you see.. this is no ordinary bar." Eriol continued somewhat cautiously.
"Wh-What do you mean?" Sakura heard warning bells in her mind. "Are you part of the mafia too?"
Tomoyo giggled nervously, "Not anything like that really. We're leaning more to the mystical side."
Sakura, clearly baffled, just stared at them like they were idiots.
"Why did you come to Japan Sakura?" Eriol questioned.
"Because I wanted to escape my lunatic mother." Sakura instantly answered.
"Is there no other reason?" Tomoyo pressed.
Sakura paused, her father and the urgency to meet him suddenly filled her mind and heart but she remained silent, not willing to let them see how vulnerable and alone she realized she was feeling all along.
"You are not who your mother says you are Sakura." Eriol broke Sakura's train of thoughts.
"How do you know what my mother thinks of me?" Sakura fired back.
Eriol, after a moment's hesitation, said "I'm a seer. I have the insight to see what the future holds."
Sakura pursed her lips, not letting Tomoyo and Eriol see what she was feeling.
"Ahem. I saw you coming..to Japan. I researched you and your family, for a greater purpose I assure you. You will be the catalyst to a great change in the state of affairs around our world."
"Seer? Future? Catalyst? Our world?" What. The. Fuck. Sakura thought but remained quiet.
"We were planning to keep your identity hidden, with enchantments but we were too late. The enemy has knowledge now of your existence."
"If you can see the future, why didn't you see me walking into the bar alone?" Sakura replied sarcastically.
"My.. visions are sporadic. I cannot control them at will. I saw you coming to Japan but I did not know who you were. Hence why, Tomoyo has been assigned as your room mate to keep an eye on you."
Sakura glared accusingly at Tomoyo, "so she was in on it." Sakura thought.
"Who do you think you say I am?" Sakura questioned, asking just to amuse them, still disbelieving.
"You are the last sigma on earth. The coveted bride of any house and pack. You will bring great wealth and fortune to whomever you belong." Eriol replied.
"Okay. Enough. I'm calling bull right now. Can I go home? I promise I won't press charges." Sakura could barely keep her sanity in check. "I'm surrounded by crazy people."
"Honey.." Tomoyo started, her voice very gentle, "do you remember what you saw yesterday?"
Sakura recalled everything that happened, nothing borderline mystical coming to her head...except...that dog. That very big dog.
Sakura widened her eyes at the thought.
"Well yes, we are-" Tomoyo continued.
"Werewolves." Syaoran's voice whispered so close to her ear, she could feel his breath on her neck.
Sakura whirled around and screamed, her hand immediately covering her reddening ears. "Where the hell did you come from?!"
"I was right behind you for the past five minutes. Didn't want to interrupt." He replied nonchalantly.
Sakura's breathing became erratic, "I didn't hear him. How could I not hear him? That time also in the room, how did he get next to me so fast before I jumped... unless..that dog..werewolves?" Sakura felt herself panicking.
"You're scaring her Syaoran." Tomoyo warned the man standing still so close behind Sakura.
"So much for easing her way into this." Eriol said with sympathy. "Can you calm her down?"
Syaoran sighed and sat next to Sakura before plucking her from the couch and onto his lap. He started making soothing patterns behind her back with his hand, while getting pills from his pocket then handed it to her.
"I went out to buy you hang over pills. This will help." Syaoran said.
Sakura's unfocused eyes cleared and she found herself looking directly at Syaoran. As she tried to get herself off his lap, Syaoran's hand on her hip firmed.
"Just drink this." Syaoran said again.
"No. How do I know its not poison?" Sakura asked.
Syaoran grinned, "You are asking very ridiculous questions right now."
Sakura glared, but felt herself calming down. "What is this? Where did my panic go?"
"It is the connection Sakura. Every sigma can connect to the alpha of a pack. They ground each other together." Eriol sensing Sakura's confusion.
"I don't accept this. I still don't believe you." Sakura replied vehemently.
"You know deep down what we're saying is real. That's why you're here right now. You know you don't belong in America, you were always looking for something. Your mother wasn't the only reason that drove you away from your home." Eriol continued.
Sakura knew he was right. She always felt something was missing but attributed that loss to not knowing her father, that's why she left. Not all this crap about sigma and werewolves.
"Shall I show you?" Syaoran's rough voice filtered through her myriad of thoughts.
"No! No, uhm, I believe you." Sakura replied. "Sucker. I'll say anything as long as I can leave. Quick, change the subject." Sakura racked her brain for anything, the man named Fuzen suddenly flitting through her mind.
"Who's Fuzen?" She asked.
The air suddenly became tense, Sakura could feel Syaoran's whole body tensing, the muscle on his jaw twitching.
"Hhmm, he is the alpha of another house Sakura. Like how Syaoran is the alpha of this one." Tomoyo giggled, amused for some unknown reason.
Sakura squirmed on Syaoran's laptop, clearly uncomfortable from the sudden anger radiating from Syaoran.
"If he's an alpha too, does that mean I also have a connection with him?" Sakura voiced her thoughts out loud, not realizing the danger her question was provoking.
"Well, if you put it that way, yeah you do." Eriol replied uneasily.
"How does the connection work though?" Sakura followed up another question. "Come on Sakura, keep them talking. Let them believe you believe all the crap they're saying?" Sakura inwardly thought.
"You have to be in physical contact Sakura but if you bond enough, you can connect as long as you're near each other." Tomoyo grinned looking to and fro Sakura and Syaoran.
"You see.." Tomoyo continued, obviously enjoying an inside joke and apparently at Syaoran's expense, "A sigma bride is the ultimate bounty for any alpha."
Eriol sighed and shook his head but Tomoyo finished up, "Of course, the sigma bride can pick the alpha of her own choosing."
"So it doesn't have to be Syaoran?" Sakura blurted the question out, genuinely curious now.
"No, it doesn't have to be Syaoran Sakura." Tomoyo replied, a smug smile on her lips.
Syaoran burst from his chair, his size making Sakura step back. "What's wrong with you?! Stop scaring me!" Sakura blustered.
Syaoran gripped her hand, "Now its time for me,to explain things." Syaoran started dragging Sakura to the hallway.
"Hey wait! Why can't we stay here?!" Sakura scratched at Syaoran's hand, Syaoran didn't even flinch.
Sakura looked towards her back, seeing Tomoyo smiling while waving and Eriol having an apologetic look.
"Nothing like a jealous alpha male." Sakura heard Tomoyo sigh dreamily.
"You're evil." Eriol mused while shaking his head, both of them staring at Sakura and Syaoran's figure disappear into the hallway.
Author's Notes: RxR much love.