The Green Witch and the Alpha

Chapter 16: Ian

I had never been anything but confident when it came to women. Partly because I was an Alpha, partly because of how my mother raised me. My mom stressed how important it was to treat women as equals, even though much of werewolf society did not. I simply treated girls with respect and never took it personally if they weren’t interested.

Even my dad, that old school, quick-tempered curmudgeon, would tell me, “Just don’t be a d**k, son, and if a woman tells you to leave her alone, do just that.”

That calm confidence had flown out the window when I got ready for my date with Samantha. My shirt had been changed twice before I went back to the dark green polo shirt I’d originally planned on wearing. Earlier in the day, I’d relentlessly researched different wines before calling in a favor with the chef at my favorite restaurant in the city. He tracked down the restaurant’s sommelier at home and had him personally deliver a couple of bottles of wine that would pair well with any vegetarian meal. To show him how much he was appreciated, he was greeted at the gate with an envelope containing enough cash that he offered to be on call 24/7 for future wine deliveries.

I also sent Connor to a flower shop two towns over to pick up the bouquet of pink peonies I’d ordered for Samantha. When he texted that he’d arrived at the shop, I asked him to send photos of each of the different arrangements the florist made at my request so I could pick the one that looked the best. He complained that I was “making too big of a deal about stupid flowers” and that I needed to “chill the f***k out”.

That earned Connor a phone call.

“Do you or do you not currently hold the rank of Gamma of this pack?”

He huffed into the phone. If he were here in person, I would have rolled my Alpha aura over his punk a.ss until he was flat on the floor.

“Yes, Alpha,” Connor finally answered, “I am the Gamma.”

“Remind me: what is the primary responsibility of the Gamma?”

He paused before he stated evenly, “To serve and ensure the safety and happiness of the Luna.”

“You’ve been a Gamma without a Luna for six years now. That’s six years you’ve had to prepare for your duties. I am trying to convince my mate, your future Luna, to accept me and this pack. If you feel that picking up a bouquet of flowers befitting a Luna is beneath you, we can have a conversation about your continued role in this pack.”

Connor was silent for several seconds.

“Ian…Alpha, I’m not sure she herself is befitting of the role of Luna.”

I growled at him through the phone. If Connor had told me that in person, he’d either be dead or wishing he were dead and he knew that. No one was foolish enough to insult an Alpha’s mate to their face. Being 45 minutes away and on the phone must have made him feel brave.

“Bring the damn flowers back, Connor. In pristine condition. Have Dave deliver them to me. In lieu of training tomorrow morning, you and I will have a meeting to follow-up on this conversation.”

I hung up without waiting for his response. Between him and Dave, Connor was the one less receptive to the idea of working with the coven and of me accepting Samantha as my mate. But he seemed to have been on board since our chat in the car the other day. We’d sort it out in the morning.

Moments after I’d ended our call, Connor sent me several texts. I tapped on the notifications, and expected an apology. Instead, there were photos of Samantha in what looked like a dimly lit bar with a text that said, Doesn’t this make you question it?

In most of the photos it looked like she was embracing different people, mostly men but also two of the female witches from the coven. After studying the pictures it was apparent she was dancing with all of them. I found myself smiling at the pictures; she looked happy, like she was really enjoying herself.

The only questions I had were why did Connor have these photos of Samantha in the first place and why was he sending them to me?

The last photo gave me pause; it was of Samantha and Jimmy. I couldn’t tell if they were dancing in this one or not. It looked like they were standing and facing each other. Jimmy had his hands on Samantha’s waist while hers were on his shoulders. He was looking at her with that usual smirk on his face, but Samantha was beaming up at him.

I instantly hated that photo.

It was unrealistic, not to mention unhealthy, to expect Samantha to only smile for me. It annoyed me to no end that it was Jimmy, though. There was something about him that irked me.

Samantha said they planned to stay in the city last night, so I assumed Connor had run into her while he was there. He typically met clients on Saturdays and we’d had some properties in the downtown area listed lately. We would have to talk about these photos, among other things, tomorrow in our meeting.

The situation with Connor was complex. I had taken him on as my Gamma six years ago as part of a treaty with another pack. We already had an alliance with them and the renewal of the treaty was simply a formality. The Alpha of that pack had gone to college with me and Dave and knew we didn’t have a Gamma at the time. He had suggested we take on Connor for that role.

Connor was the second son of that pack’s Gamma, a strong warrior, and had an interest in joining Hunter’s Moon Realty. He had definitely been an asset to the company; with his intelligence and charm, he’d sold a ton of real estate no matter how difficult the client. We’ve only had a few skirmishes with small packs of rogues since I’d taken over as Alpha but Connor had been able to hold his own every single time. He had a reputation as a player but I’d never heard anyone say he’d treated them with anything but respect. The elderly she-wolves loved it when he flirted with them. He’d worked well with me and Dave over the years and I’d sincerely thought he would be an excellent Gamma for my future Luna.

Handling Connor and his concerns would have to be done with care, and that would wait until tomorrow.

-

I pulled into the long driveway at the coven’s farm and saw Moira and Jimmy coming out of the main house just as I parked.

Please, let them stay on that porch instead of coming to talk to me.

They didn’t intimidate me but I was looking forward to my evening with Samantha and didn’t want to be delayed. After getting out of the car, I carefully pulled the bottle of wine and flowers out of the back seat and started walking.

“Good evening, Mr. Alpha,” Moira called out, “Do you know the way or do you need help? Jimmy can take you.”

“It’s all good,” I answered with the most reassuring smile I could muster. “Samantha sent me directions.”

I sure as hell didn’t want to deal with Jimmy right now. My mood was too good.

“Oh good!” she exclaimed, “And I see you brought wine and flowers. How thoughtful.”

I just smiled, nodded my head and continued walking with hopes she’d get the hint. I rounded the corner of the main house and followed the gravel path Samantha had told me about. The tiny homes came into view and I knew I was getting close to hers when the mate bond started to pull at me.

Samantha’s home was painted a deep blue with dark gray shutters and had several planters with blooms surrounding it. There were also several large, lush, green plants on the small porch. It was tiny but looked so welcoming and homey, just like the rest of the homes here along the row. They were the complete opposite of the witches’ houses in the books they’d used to scare us as young pups.

I neared the small set of stairs at the front of her house and paused to take it in. All these years of waiting for my Luna, and now I had the added pressure of having to win her over first. I said a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess asking for this night to go well.

Samantha opened the front door and gave me a sweet smile as she started to come down the steps. She was wearing black pants and a shirt that was a shade of blue that made her fair skin glow. Her golden hair was in a ponytail again.

She looked like an angel as she started to descend the stairs.

Suddenly, her face contorted into one of surprise and she started to fall forward. I rushed to catch her and heard her cry out as she fell hard against my chest and right shoulder. I stayed frozen in place with my arms extended slightly around her in a loose hold, my hands still holding the wine and flowers, and tried to ignore the feeling of her breasts smashed against me. Even through the fabric of our shirts, the mate bond sent tingles across my skin.

Samantha muttered, “f*****g motherfucker,” while huffing like the wind had been knocked out of her and I held back a chuckle. My Luna, who looked so angelic, cursed as much as my old man.

She pulled back from me and whimpered with a pained look on her face. One of her hands started rubbing over the breast that had directly hit my shoulder while she patted my chest with her other hand.

“Are you alright?” Samantha asked, still holding her breast, “Damn, that felt like I hit a brick wall.”

“I’m fine. Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help?”

Like letting me kiss it and make it better.

She shook her head, “No, I just need a second to catch my breath.”

I watched as she took a few slow breaths and continued massaging her breast. I couldn’t help but notice it was way more than a handful for her; it was possibly more than a handful for me. That was definitely a challenge I was hoping to partake of, and soon.

She must have noticed me staring where her hand was because she suddenly pulled it away and blushed.

“Well, that was not how I was hoping the night would start,” she commented. “I’m so sorry. I forgot to hammer down that stupid nail sticking out of the second step and it caught on the toe of my shoe. Are you sure you’re okay? I fell pretty hard against you.”

I smiled at her, “I’m fine. It was barely a tap.”

She was smiling but her blush deepened and spread down her neck and chest, which only stoked my desire to wrap her up in my arms and kiss her until she forgot all about the fall.

As I stepped back to put some much needed space between us, she glanced at the flowers and bottle of wine.

“My offerings for tonight, my Lady. Where should I put these?” I asked.

“Oh, Ian, these are beautiful! Thank you!”

The look on her face when she looked at the flowers was so adorable I wish I could’ve bottled it. But then when she said my name like that, I almost lost it and growled from the feelings of lust and desire that had stirred.

This was going to be a long night.