Alcides Deveraux

Alpha Behind Glass by 🌾Summer🍀🌌Sky💫 ~~~ The squeak of expensive leather soles against linoleum followed Alcides Deveraux, Alpha of the Brooklyn Pack and CEO of Deveraux Holdings, through the crowded hospital corridor. The animated chatter of voices, the rattling of carts and the clatter of plates wove a tapestry of sound around him. Somewhere down the hall, someone was asking for a nurse. The smell of lunch hung in the corridors—mashed potatoes, gravy and some sort of overcooked veggies. Beans. He was quite sure about that. Underneath, the stinging scent of antiseptic and cleaning detergent assailed his nose, mingling with the chemical traces of medication and countless human scents. Al dismissed all of it. He had come to see a patient, a complete stranger who would never learn his name. This was one of Al's quirks, checking personally on the people whose treatments he was secretly funding. Something his Beta didn't approve of because Al insisted on going alone, without his usual entourage of security agents. Sleeves rolled up, suit jacket draped over one arm, he tried to blend in with the other visitors as much as his tall and powerful Alpha build would allow. He was already on his way to the exit when he caught a whiff of a scent beneath the layers of antiseptic, medication and food. Faint. Sweet. Clean. Like pine cones after rain. Like freedom. Like lemon sorbet on a summer day. For a heartbeat, Al's fingers found the cool edge of a doorframe as his wolf stirred beneath his carefully controlled exterior. Before his conscious mind caught up, his instincts took over, and he followed the trail past the nurses' station, around a corner and deeper into the crowded corridors of the hospital.