The Alphas Sanctuary

Two Dinners

"What's the issue Apryl?" Alex didn't even try to hide his annoyance.

Raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms, Alex could tell he was dealing with a different side of Apryl this morning. He didn't want to make a scene, he could feel Gage watching them, Alex really hoped that Gage was smart enough to not listen in. So he stood there waiting for her to answer.

"The problem is what is all this doing here"

"You said you hadn't brought anything with you?" Really they called him here for this?

"That's correct. But doesn't answer what it's doing here."

"You needed stuff, so here's stuff"

"Alex I-l can't afford this stuff."

"That's why you won't let them in the house? Apryl it's fine." Alex was slightly annoyed, who would honestly show up at someone else's house with two trucks full of stuff and actually expect that person to pay without any type of warning? On the other hand it was refreshing to meet an independent female who didn’t expect things to be handed to them for a change.

"It's not fine to me." She whispered looking at the ground, and just like that her confidence was gone and the shy meek girl was back. Alex was confused, what had just happened? In a split second she went from a defiant determined woman to someone who now could no longer look him in the eye. Her hair fell slightly forward hiding her face from view and she absently dug her toe into the stones.

'Fix it! Fix it! 'Shi howled as he too could sense the sudden shift in her. You could almost smell the anxiety rolling off of her.

Alex pinched the bridge of his nose, and this did not go unnoticed by Gage.

'everything okay Alpha?' Gage's mind linked him. Gage had been his best friend since forever, he knew this habit of him pinching his nose, only happened when Shi was being annoying. He chose to ignore Gage, he would have to pay better attention. He didn’t need his beta asking a ton of questions about her. All Gage needed to know was that she was new and needed some help here at her new cabin. Other than telling him she was his mate there really wasn’t anything else Alex could tell Gage.

"Look I remodeled a few months ago and this stuff was either in storage or didn't match the remodel. So I brought it here." She said nothing but at least she had raised her head and was now looking at him. "Honestly, it's not a big deal." He said softly. At this moment he was glad he had all the price tags removed before they loaded the trucks. He had more money then he knew what to do with. She didn't need to know that though.

"On one condition. Let me cook for you tomorrow, 7 o'clock."

Shi started prancing in his head, Alex didn't want to find out what would happen if he said no. "Alright tomorrow it is.”

She gave him a small smile that never reached her eyes and turned towards the group. When her sight landed in Gage she gave him a huge smile. Alex's jaw twitched. 'are you jealous?' he swore he could hear the wolf laughing. But Shi wasn’t wrong, Alex really did want her to smile at him like that. No one else. But that wasn't fair. He didn't want her as a mate, so he couldn't hold her back from meeting other men. Gage had yet to find his mate. If anything were to bloom between he and Apryl all would be forgotten the moment he did. But what could he do? He didn't want anyone to know that she was his. In this moment that didn’t matter, he just wanted between them.

Walking over to the group he made sure to stand between Gage and Apryl. "Apryl why don't you go into the cabin and you can direct us to where we would set things up?" Alex turned from her expecting her to just go along with what he said.

"No" she huffed out.

The group around them tried to stifle their laughs, all of them failing completely.

"Did you just say no?" This was not a word Alex was accustomed to hearing.

"I'm not going to just stand around while everyone else does the dirt work. That's not who I am. Gage give me a hand up please." she stalked right past Alex holding her hand out to Gage who readily took it as she boosted herself into the back of the truck. Picking up a lamp she hoped out, reached back in and grabbed a kitchen chair for good measure. Gave Alex an ‘I dare you to say something’ smirk and headed for the cabin stairs.

Gage whistled "well well well"

Alex growled at him, Gage took a step back putting his hands up in surrender but not bothering to hide his chuckle.

"Anyone else have anything to say? No? Good get to work."

They made quick work emptying the two trucks. Alex frowned when they set up her new bed. "I thought you said you had extra blankets?"

Her cheeks blushed bright red, her eyes darted everywhere away from him. "Oh I'm I um. Okay truth is I don't have any."

Alex was silent, had he not come over last night and started the fire, she probably would have froze to death. "Apryl-you need to be careful it's colder here along the water. What if I hadn’t started the fireplace last night?"

"I know it was on my list of things to buy today."

"No need." He pointed to the hope chest "blankets sheets towels, all in there. And when everyone leaves I'll teach you how to build a fire."

"Alright, thank you." Maybe he wasn't so annoyed by her after all Apryl thought to herself. He was being nice to her for the most part. She couldn't explain it she liked being near him. He made her feel safe, perhaps it was her mind giving her false security. She looked around her cottage. The bedrooms looked beautiful and inviting. The dining room was rustic and comfortable. She couldn't help but to smile. It was as if she had picked all these pieces herself. The cabin was 100 percent her style. Country, comfy, warm and inviting.

It was then she noticed something on the porch. Red ribbon blowing in the breeze. She opened the screen door and there with a big bow was a rocking chair with so much detail carved into it she knew it had to be handmade. Running her hands along the smooth polished wood she took in every detail. Engraved across the top, two words, 'welcome home' "Alex" she whispered.

"When you told me how much you loved the view-" his words were cut short as she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest. His heart stopped beating. He was taken completely off guard by the tingles he felt they were over powering.

"Two dinners"

"What?" He stood there hands at his sides as she clung to him. Her scent was overwhelming, intoxicating, he let himself inhale her for just a second. Damn she did smell good…

"I'll cook you two dinners" she said again, not loosening her grip.

"Okay" he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "Two dinners it is" he would buy her a thousand more rockers if it meant she would hug him like that again. Eat your heart out Gage, he thought to himself. "I need to go cut some firewood so I can teach you how to start the fireplace."

Without a word she let him go. When he started to walk away she followed. "What are you doing"

"I'm coming with you. I don't know how to cut firewood I was hoping you would teach me that as well?"

He couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Do you think you're strong enough?"

"I'm strong enough for anything"

Alex got the impression they weren't talking just physical strength any longer.

"Alright then Rocky. Let's go"

Hours later her back ached, and her blisters had blisters. But she was stocked for a while with wood and had successfully started her own fire. Alex felt proud of her. She never gave up or complained. He wondered if she knew how strong she really was. She was hiding something. Something that scared her. Her confidence faltered often throughout the day, but she always managed to bounce back quickly.

Simple things brought her joy. The first time she successfully split a piece of wood she screamed "ha! Did you see that!" And the way she clasped her hands in glee when she realized the fire wasn’t going to go out. The more time he spent with her, the more remarkable he found her. The mating pull was in full swing now and he was helpless. He needed to try harder. Two dinners. He could do that and then back away, right? What harm could come from dinner?