Christopher
"Ohmygod! Did you see it? Did you see it?!"
"Yes, we saw. Please settle down, Alpha, you're driving." Dee lightly scolds from the passenger seat.
"Okay. Yes." Breathing out a breath of air, my focus turns to the task of heading home to the pack house. If I don't grip the wheel tightly my hands would be shaking in excitement. Even now, my palms still tingle from the warmth of Alec's skin. My heat, a steady barrage of fireworks bursting in my chest.
It was incredibly hard to play it cool. It was difficult not to lean into Alec's relaxing form during the massage. I wanted to wrap him in my arms and hold him until he fell asleep. To keep rubbing that soft skin and fluffy hair forever. The presence of Reed and Dee kept me in check, along with the thin, tenuous trust Alec was placing in. "Amazing." I whisper to myself.
A slight chuckle pulls my mind from the distracting thoughts. "Look at you," Dee teases. "All grown up and wooing your mate. You got yourself a cute one, Alpha."
"I know, but do not call him cute to his face! Oh, and thank you, Dee. Alec really needs some help at the clinic. I know you've already fully retired and I appreciate you willing to work."
"You don't need to thank me. Alec is as good as part of the pack, besides I meant what I said. I'm not doing charity work, my time is valuable. He's seems like he's working hard and I know what a good vet means to the farmers in our community."
Pride and yearning both swirl in my chest hearing Dee call Alec part of the pack. I knew she'd be right for the job since she was personal assistant to my dad for so many years. Running our large company and large pack takes a sharp mind and crazy organization skills. Dee's no-nonsense attitude will fit to a T alongside Alec's prickly and severe personality.
"He does work hard, its incredible. I haven't seen it drag him down like it did today."
A snort comes from the back seat. "It didn't drag him down too much, he seemed feisty enough to be rude." Reed finally chimes in.
"He's still our future Luna, Reed." Dee beats me to the punch. "From what I've heard, Christopher has had his hands full with dealing with him, but the mate pull can be a powerful thing. I trust our Alpha and Luna will be settled together soon. Look at tonight, the Alpha sure had some luck."
"Luck? Did you not hear the fuckery today would have ended in if Christopher's mom hadn't finally shoved some sense into our dear Alpha's ass?"
"Marigold? No telling, if she got involved. What happened earlier?"
"Tears, Dee. Tears."
I cringe at the way Reed described it, but it wasn't far from the truth.
It was after my beta dragged me away without being able to speak with Alec earlier. Reed's appearance played the part the I needed help lifting and carrying everything. Even moving at a human's pace, the task was completed too quickly.
It was obvious Alec wasn't going to spare me a moment, even if he had one. It looked like he had a killer headache too. Every one of his winces sent an echoing pain through my chest.
Alec's apartment caused a spiral of joy and distress in me. His heavenly chocolate and cream scent hung lightly in the air, only just starting to permeate the old wood floors and other furnishings. The sight of blankets sprawled on the floor where he had obviously slept on the couch. Everything else was neat and orderly, but no homey touches. Hotel rooms are more welcoming.
Once home at the pack house, ignoring everyone else, I hauled the mattress and extra furniture into my suite. Like an expecting mother, I shoved aside the living room furniture and built my nest, the offending mattress in the center. The sight of it made me feel so embarrassed and guilty but it still smelled like Alec and it was all I had.
Sprawled out I didn't pay any mind when Reed came to lounge in the still open door and watch my misery show. His time will come, I thought ungraciously.
Christohper, are you back- "Oh." Mom found her answer as she too arrives in my doorway. Not bothering to look up, I bury my face into the uncovered mattress. Did Alec even lay on this one at all?
"Christopher?"
"Mm."
"Reed, can you please tell me why my son thinks he should answer me with a grunt?"
"Ha, about that Ms. Barnes, seems the future Luna hates the Alpha."
"Oh, no! Christopher, what happened?" My parents know about Alec but have agreed to keep their distance for now. I hadn't been to help myself telling the pack immediately about finding my Luna, but they had all understood to need to give my human mate time and space. Things turned out to be this rocky, I can't imagine if the pack had shown up and overwhelmed Alec.
"Nothing that bad, Mom."
"What is all this furniture, it has a human scent on it. Is this your mate's? Did you rob him?"
"No, Mom! This was a gift." Silence.
"A gift?"
"Yeah, well, you know I've been having a hard time getting Alec to accept me-
"Or even stand the sight of you." Reed chirped in.
"Anyway," I continued through gritted teeth. "I wanted to do something nice since my charm hasn't been exactly working."
"Oh, boy," Mom hummed under her breath.
"Actually, I thought he could use some spoiling."
"So you bought him furniture?"
"I also, kind of, switched out his mattress for a better one."
"You didn't! That's like inviting yourself into his bed! Christopher, what were you thinking?"
"I wasn't thinking like that!" Sitting up, I finally faced my mom. She used to be a warrior before mating with dad and taking over her Luna responsibilities. Her figure is still tall and imposing at this age, still extremely fit. She looked like she just came in after training, her work out clothes sweaty and her long ponytail slightly mussed up. "I swear it wasn't like that."
"It doesn't seem like you were thinking." Reed stood just behind my mom, his face that of such a longtime friend, they've seen their buddy scolded so many times and is always entertaining to them. "He's a grown man, a doctor with his own vet practice. Do you think your mate is somehow an imbecile and can't possibly pick out his own things?"
"What? Of course not!" How could Mom say that? "I just wanted to do something nice for them. However, in hindsight, it does seem a little arrogant and rather rude to do this. You were right, I wasn't thinking.
Honestly, Mom, I don't even know enough about Alec to know what he likes and dislikes. He never speaks to me willingly. Now...well, now it's like Reed said. He must just absolutely hate me." My voice quavered over the last couple of words. Ducking my head, tears started to burn in my eyes.
"Well, what are you going to do now?" I heard it in her voice. The concern that her son won't get his mate to accept him. The Alpha rejected.
"Oh, he chose wallowing, Ms. Barnes. Like a boar."
"Yes, thank you, that's enough Reed. Christopher, look at me," my mom crouched down, still maintaining a respectful distance from my sorrow nest. "It's not over yet. You need to think and take a new approach. You messed up, but mates is something stronger than a few mistakes. What do you know about Alec?"
Those were the words I needed to hear. What had I known about Alec? He worked, all the time and by himself. I almost always found him downstairs at the clinic when I went to see him.
Also, he didn't seem to put a lot of time into himself. His home was sparse. He hadn't done any socializing since moving to town. If there was something aside from being a vet that he enjoyed, there was no sign of it in his life.
Thus, my plan to bring in Dee formed. With her there, Alec will have good help to run his business. Not to mention, Dee had immediately agreed to nefariously spy on my mate and help me get to know him. I know now, that I need to slow down and get to know Alec if I want to have any hope of Alec wanting to get to know me; to get a chance to grow to like me.
"Thanks, again, Dee. You really saved me tonight."
"You're going to do fine with that one, Alpha. I know it. You were able to recognize his needs and fulfill them. It was great how you got him to cooperate in treating his headache, poor thing must have had a migraine something fierce."
"Don't give me too much credit. I don't know his needs yet, but I'm willing to try as long as it takes."
"You've got a lot of patience, Alpha." Reed chimes in from the back seat. "Good luck with your terrifying demon of a mate."
"Reed!" The growl in my voice clearly asserting my Alpha authority.
"Hey, don't blame me. The way you've been going on, I was expecting 'anime cute' not 'devil's apprentice'. Did you see the way he glared at me? What did I do?"
Dee just smirks and shakes her head.
"By the way," Reed continues, "what was with that bullshit about 'even an animal has instincts'. Where'd you learn how to do the massage?"
"Internet." Duh.
A/N: Holy shit, I really struggled through this one, y'all. It takes me about an hour to get into writing anything, let alone something. However, I tend to fall asleep after about thirty minutes of sitting still, so I'm sort of my own worst enemy at this point. The saga continues.
If you see an update on the previous chapter, I just added a paragraph with more description of how Alec perceived Christopher's touch.