Thirty–Two
Alexander’s POV
It popped into my mind just as I was finishing lunch with my parents. In fact, if I was being honest, it had been on my mind long before that except, it hadn’t been as vivid as right at that moment…not as definite, and before I could overthink it and let my mind talk me out of it, I went to grab my keys before hopping into my car and speeding as much as the traffic would let me down to her house.
All the way there, my thoughts were contrasting with each other. On one hand, I was asking myself what I was doing and telling myself to turn back.
On the other hand, I was ignoring the former, pushing forward without reason. I got to her apartment building and would have punched something out of frustration at how slow it seemed to be moving if there wasn’t someone else in there.
I finally reached her floor and rang the doorbell only to have her open the door with a scowl on her face even though it eased out after she seemed to register who it was standing before her door and then a confused look replaced the scowl.
“Who is it, Bella?” A female voice called out and I raised a brow. She had company? Who was she with?
“What are you doing here?” Isabella hissed but I ignored her and followed the other voice, my senses telling me that she wasn’t the only guest here and when I saw the young lady
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who I don’t think I had ever met with two other men in Isabella’s living room, my jaw tensed and my hand folded into a fist.
The lady’s eyes widened before she instinctively bowed. She straightened up again, and her eyes fell on Isabella who I could tell was coming behind me. “Bella, what is the Alpha doing in your apartment?” She whispered and yelled all at once. I didn’t know how to explain it but that was exactly what she did.
It didn’t really concern me though. My biggest concern was not the women in this room. It was the men, one of whom I had seen a couple of times and recognized to be Isabella’s ex- boyfriend and the other, Blake, my beta who I suspected had feelings for my mate.
The other female had gone to sit beside Isabella’s ex and the space beside Blake, I realized was where Isabella had been sitting. That realization made me wonder if I was too late.
Did Isabella have feelings for Blake? Had she decided that he was a much better option? What were they doing before I got here? Why did she invite all three of them together? Was she introducing Blake to her friends or something? Were her parents next? Had she already introduced him to her parents?
My eyes roamed around the room, taking in the scene. The TV was turned off but it seemed the table was the main point of their entertainment, with the snack packets strewn about and the lone bottle in the center. There were also shot glasses in front of them and my eyes narrowed. Where they drinking? It wasn’t even dark out at least. My eyes darted up to Blake and he gave me a guilty look.
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“We just had a few.”
“And why are we explaining?” Isabella’s ex hissed and while my wolf was itching to give him that fight that he seemed to be itching for, I forced myself to calm down, now realizing who the woman was. Isabella’s best friend who she caught sleeping with her boyfriend only to find that they were mates. How surprising to see them all chilling together here…in her house.
“What are you doing here…Alpha?” Isabella asked.
My first instinct was anger. She was chasing me away so she could continue to have fun with the people she actually wanted around her and while that may be the case, I realized that I had to explain why I was here otherwise they’ll start to ask themselves questions…start to ask themselves questions and I couldn’t have that. But that ‘Alpha‘ really had to go. There was nothing I hated more than having her call me that. It was too formal, too impersonal, too…it was almost like she was trying to insult me with my own title.
I turned to Isabella, “I know I gave you some time off work but there’s some urgent problem I have to discuss with you about the gallery so I came over. I hope that’s okay.”
If the look in her eyes was anything to go by, then she definitely didn’t buy it but she wasn’t the one I was hoping would buy my story. I read the other’s expression and well, they didn’t have any reason to not believe me.
“Oh.” Isabella’s friend was the one to break the silence that ensued. “We’ll just go then.” She said, looking around, from her mate to me to Isabella and then to her mate again who gave me one last look before he nodded at her. She went to
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hug Isabella, “We just got here.” She whined, “We have to hang out again soon, okay?” She said and Isabella nodded with a small smile.
The.friend whose name I had finally learned was Chloe soon left, hand–in–hand with her mate. The thought of Isabella’s ex- boyfriend used to spike anger within me and I admit, I felt a tinge of jealousy towards this man who once called my mate his but now I wondered how she had managed to make peace with the two… if she had truly made peace with seeing her best friend being all cozy with her ex.
Was she really at peace with it? Was she okay? I wondered turning to her and scanning her face. She wore a blank expression and there was nothing that could be gotten from it. Hopefully, she wasn’t still stuck on the dude but I knew that either way, it couldn’t be so easy.
I turned back to the couple, Chloe was taking her sweet time searching for her lipgloss which had apparently fallen from her bag while her mate helped out. She found it eventually and once they left, I turned to Blake.
“I also gave you some time off, I didn’t expect to find you here drinking away.”
Blake chuckled, “Chill dude, I had just one tiny shot. I think I’ll live.”
I didn’t laugh. “Anyway, I’m assuming you’re all better now. I have something important to take care of…that I need you to take care of.”
His eyes narrowed, “What is it?”
So I manufactured some ‘important errand‘ before sending
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Thirty–Two
288 Vouchers
Blake off and I still don’t know how I managed to muster up the kind of self–control that enabled me to stay in place while Blake went to hug Isabella before he left.
It must have been the shortest action, maybe it took five seconds but in my brain, it felt like it went on for hours. In my brain, every single thing was vivid. His arms around her, their torsos aligning, his face against her neck. She didn’t hug him back though and maybe that was what kept me in place even though I could break her kitchen island from how hard I was gripping it.
Immediately Blake left, my hard eyes found Isabella’s for one long minute. She stared back in that defiant way of hers that told me that she didn’t buy my lie and I should spit out my real reason for being here. Truth is, I didn’t know why I was here but somehow the bond was calling to me and I just couldn’t
resist.
I didn’t want to resist…not today.
Just when she looked like she was about to begin berating me with questions, I crossed the room in long strides as I went to her. In one movement, I removed the hoodie she was wearing and tossed it on the couch, revealing the form–fitting crop top she was wearing underneath. It smelled like Blake and I couldn’t stand it.
She gasped, her lips parting in what I interpreted as shock, surprise, confusion, and maybe a tinge of fear because I was sure my eyes had turned black by now. My eyes roamed her body. I had never seen her in anything so casual and it was inexplicably sexy.
If I could try to explain it though, I’d talk about how the top
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stuck to her like a second skin, molding against her perfect breasts which were definitely naked underneath. I’d talk about how her exposed belly drew me.
I wanted nothing more than to leave a trail of kisses along the smooth, soft skin. I’d talk about how the band of her cargo pants spoke of many promises and how absolutely perfect her ass looked in them and coupled with the look in her eyes now, as she watched me shamelessly ogle her.
It seemed I may have awoken her wolf just as she’d awoken
mine.
