The Alpha Who Melts The Ice

Chapter 4

Grayson

We walked in the armory to the back which is the shooting range. Just as we stepped in, my mate was pulling in her target. The target's forehead, chest and groin area are peppered with bullet holes.

"Nice grouping!" I commented, willing her to talk a bit more. I really did not know what to say. Is it weird that I find it hot that she looks like a total badass right now?

"Thanks." Was her simple response. She looked at me with the same, damn bored look. She probably got uncomfortable with me staring so she cleared her throat that got my attention. "Umm, what do you want and why are you here? I said I don't want to be disturbed."

This time, Colin spoke "Dinner. Unless you want Mother to get you instead.."

Les shook her head and stepped away but not before holstering the gun to her belt. "Cee, you know those are not allowed in the dining hall, or are you really asking for it." Colin blocked her exit. She huffed and did the cutest little pout which was gone by the next second. She put down the Beretta at the counter and stormed out. Colin pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Is she always like that?" I had to ask. Colin smiled but it was a very sad one. "No. But it is not my story to tell. It will need to come from her. I miss that sister, you know. I really hope you can bring her back." We caught up to Les and she asked. "Wait, you said dining hall. What's the occasion?" 

 "This is the occasion" Colin pointed to me. She just nodded and jogged ahead of us. "I better get changed or I will never hear the end from Mother. See you at dinner" She really said to no one.

Celestine

I stepped into the shower thinking about today's events. In the span of 2 hours, my world will be changing into the unknown. One of the things that I hate is change. I have struggled to find my current rhythm and the thought of rearranging my life is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

I took deep breaths and concentrated on the water massaging my body. I focus on the warmth as I gather my thoughts. It may look like I just threw a tantrum when I decided to reject Alpha Grayson earlier, but there was a lot of thought put into that. Alphas, they need powerful Lunas to rule their pack. I am just a human girl and I do not want to be a burden. Besides, I will sure to cause an upheaval in their pack. Although word around is that his pack is progressive and modern-thinking, and wolves mated to a human is totally common, an Alpha being mated to a human - that is uncommon. I hate feeling weak and I sure as hell do not want to be anyone's weakness. To be frank, I think I will be doing him a favor rejecting him first. Maybe the Moon Goddess will give him a second chance. Surely she could not be this cruel.

I let my thought wander to my Mate -even that word still feel so weird, so foreign to me. Judging how he is a tad taller than Collin, I would say he is around 6'2" and all hunk. Greta is right. He can give Channing Tatum serious competition and Channing won't even come on top. This guy is oozing s*x appeal, with his dirty blond hair and clear blue eyes, muscle everywhere. I shook my head. He is just too good looking for my comfort. Clearly, the Moon Goddess was not listening to my prayers. All I wanted is a plain, stable, smart guy that will make me feel secured. Plus points if he is human too.

Since we are dining in the hall, it means I have to dress up. Usually, we would dine with the rest of the warriors in the pack mess hall. It's actually good strategy dining with packmates because you get the feel of how they are doing and how you stand with them. I took out my blush colored pantsuit, with a white printed tee underneath and white sneakers. I hate dresses and heels. They make me feel encumbered. I went to my top drawer to choose which of my babies will accompany me. Yes, I call my guns and weapons my babies. Women collect bags and shoes. Me? I collect anything that can inflict bodily harm. Opting for a smaller caliber that is easy to conceal. I slid the pistol in my chest holster before putting on my jacket. Carrying a piece for some reason calms me down.

As I reach the dining hall, I school my expression and counted down taking deep breaths before entering. Growing up with wolves, they can pick up on the littlest things, thanks to their enhanced senses. Even without the mind link, they can pick up on the chemical changes on the body brought about by emotions. They can gauge the level of your emotions through your heartbeat. As much as I can, I do not want anyone, specially my family to know how I am feeling and have then fawn over their human daughter. I hate worrying them. I hate feeling helpless and weak. This is why I have trained myself to have a stable baseline.  And that is when I walked in the dining hall.

As soon as I entered, I was met by the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. And he smiled! I have to keep myself from smiling back, but by goddess that man is HOT! He can walk in a room and panties will automatically drop! This is so bad. I think I am crushing on Grayson! I got to stop before this, whatever this gurggly feeling I have at the pit of my stomach is.

I walked over to the seat beside my mother and before I reached her, Mr. Hot and Gorgeous pulled out my chair for me. His close proximity is causing my system to go into overdrive! I do not understand what is going on with me but I really need to get a grip. I mumbled a quick thank you and for the first time, I wished dinner ends soon.

Dinner proceeded without a hitch, except I found it extremely uncomfortable. Grayson was staring at me the entire time. I found it irritating and at the same time it made me feel warm and tingly. I can hardly keep up with the conversations around the table. My takeaways are that starting tomorrow, meals will all be taken in the mess hall with all of the warriors and that their group will be staying with us for an entire week. Since it is a full moon today, after dinner will be a bonfire where the pack will be gathered and that they are welcome to join us. It has been New Moon's tradition to hold bonfires every full moon to honor the goddess. It's going to be a long week for me then.

In between the main entree and dessert, Colin started to tell stories about the pranks we used to play on the pack when we were kids. It was mortifying! He was telling of the story when we were thirteen, it was the night of the winter Solstice. All of the wolves will shift and go on a hunt. Colin hasn't had his wolf yet so we were left behind. We were bored, so we proceeded to squirt whipped cream in the shoes of all of the warriors! Everyone was cracking up while I wanted the earth to swallow me that time. My father's Beta, seem to have choked on something as he was remembering.

"... you see, my sister is not just book smart. She was the brains behind each of the pranks!" Colin said puffing his chest.

"No, you wanted to play the pranks but all your ideas suck, I just gave you ideas, that's all" I tried to defend myself.

"Which are brilliant! I remember Father soo angry he wanted to hang us upside down! We ruined his favorite shoes!" And everyone was laughing!

"Then why did you guys stop?" this was Grayson. The whole table suddenly fell dead silent.

"I grew up." is all I said.