Unwanted Alpha

Chapter 2

Shane's POV



“I’m just not bad?” startled by the deep husky voice, both Phoebe and I turned on our seat while Garreth is staring wide-eyed at the guy behind him. “Wow, that didn’t hurt.” The voice said, which I now know belonged to the blue-eyed guy earlier, while holding his chest pretending to be hurt.

Garreth turned to look at me with questions in his eyes, but I just shook my head at him because I didn’t know what had happened either. Are we too focused on our conversation to the point that we didn’t smell or even hear him approach us? I raised my eyebrows at Garreth, silently asking him if the guy is a werewolf, but he shook his head at me, which meant that he’s human.

“I’m sorry if ever I'm overstepping boundaries---” he said, suddenly embarrassed with us staring and smelling him, while looking down at his feet, then at me.

“Oh, you can overstep my boundaries anytime. Actually, do you mind getting a little closer, please?” Phoebe said while batting her eyelashes. When the guy is close enough, she reached over me to touch the guy’s arms and chest before turning to me and saying “Damn, he’s packed.”

“Would you stop touching him already?” I said while pushing her back to her seat, then winced when Phoebe raised her eyebrows at me because I sounded like a jealous girlfriend.

“Anywayyy, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Garreth, this is Shane and that girl over there who shamelessly harassed you in public is Phoebe.” Garreth said, introducing us to the guy.

“It is a pleasure to meet you guys too. And its OK.” He said while nodding at Garreth and giving a warm smile at Phoebe which made her wet, literally. Even Garreth looked at Phoebe, probably because he smelled her arousal too over this guy we just met. After smiling at Phoebe, he then turned to me “My name is…” I was ready to nod at him, but he offered his hand to me and stopped saying his name, most probably waiting to shake my hand first before saying it. Since I didn’t want it to be awkward, I just gave him my hand, “Clifden. My name is Clifden Whitlock,” he said, and instead of shaking my hand, he raised it to his lips, kissing the back of it instead, while looking into my eyes.

I immediately took my hand and looked away because I could already feel my cheeks heating up. When I looked at him, he’s still smiling at me. When Garreth cleared his throat, the guy, Clifden, was startled like he had just woke up from a dream. Then he mumbled a sorry.

“Right… um, the reason why I approached you guys in the first place, well aside from, I wanted to meet you… guys.” He said, looking at me, adding the ‘guys’ a little late. ”It’s because I heard you complain about being hungry. So, I bought extra food for you guys to eat.” He added, glancing at us, slightly embarrassed.

“Here.” He raised the two plastic bags he was carrying so we could get them. One of the bags is filled with refreshments like soft drinks, water, and even chilled coffee. The other bag is filled with snacks like crackers and chips, there are even some canned foods in there. I was going to refuse his help, but Garreth glared at me while Phoebe elbowed me on the side. I’m about to thank him instead, but he’s the one who cut me off. “Wait, there’s more.”

He then ran to the car parked a few meters away from us and carried the plastic bags in front of it and did something inside the car. He ran back to us and handed us both. I’m starting to feel embarrassed because he’s giving us a lot. “We can’t accept this anymore. You already gave us a lot.” I said, gesturing at the two new bags, while ignoring the glare of my two starving and shameless friends.

“No, please take it. I bought it for you guys. I overheard Garreth saying that it’s been three days since you all had a proper meal.” He said while gesturing at Garreth and the bag. “If you look here I bought you guys a packed lunch.” After hearing that, Phoebe immediately grabbed and opened the bag, earning a chuckle from Clifden. I looked inside the bag too and saw that there were too many packed lunches for three people in there.

I looked at the very generous guy for explanation and saw the tips of his ear bright red already. “Well, you see, I didn’t know what you guys like or if you guys have allergies to something sooo… I kinda bought each type of it. You guys should start eating already. I asked the store clerk to heat those up in the microwave, I think they’re still hot.” He then gave us the 2nd bag he had. While Garreth and Phoebe were arguing, choosing which ones they'd eat. “Here’s the spoon and fork you guys can use.” I opened the bag and saw that it wasn’t just spoon and fork in there. There’s also paper plates, cups and some more canned foods and instant noodles.

This too much generosity is something that is not usually given for free. Nothing in the world is free anymore. My old pack made me understand that. I placed my hand on the top of the food to stop my two friends from eating. “What’s the catch?” I asked Clifden and when I looked at him, he had his head tilted to the side, confused as to what I meant by that.

Garreth caught up to what I’m thinking and explained “We are not trying to be rude, OK? It’s just that, there’s nothing free in this world anymore. What we’re asking is, what do you want in exchange for these?” He asked while gesturing at the plastic bags.

His brow furrowed in confusion as he looked at the three of us and then light suddenly flooded his eyes like he just realized something. He just looked at the sky and took a deep breath and then smiled brightly at us. “There’s no catch. You don’t have to give me anything in exchange for those. It's free because I wanted to help you guys.”

Now we’re the ones confused. Why would anyone want to help strangers? As if reading my thoughts, he answered my question. “I helped you guys because I thought you needed it. You see, my parents are both doctors. And they usually volunteer to help those injured people like the ones stuck in the middle of a war. Which is why they’re not usually home because they’re usually in another country helping other people.” He explained while staring at the sky, probably reminiscing about a memory. “I asked them once why they keep on helping others and what do they do if those people they helped doesn’t want it. Then they told me that kindness is a gift that everyone can afford to give. And that is what they tell those people, that it’s a gift, it doesn’t matter if it’s a birthday or a Christmas one, what’s important is that it is a gift.” He's now looking at us while smiling. “So, I guess, just think of those as a gift, a gift from someone who cares.”

I looked at him as I felt my heart wrench. Someone who cares, huh? The last person who said that to me aside from my friends was my mom, so hearing it from him, someone who doesn't even know us, meant a lot to me or us, more than he knows.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything in exchange for these?” Phoebe confirmed while staring at the food, drooling. After Clifden confirmed that it is free, Phoebe slapped my hand that’s blocking the food. “Then, thank you so much because we’re so hungry already.”

“Move, please.” Garreth said after opening the door at my side and pulling me out so he could sit beside Phoebe and look for food he wanted.

“Hey, um… I don’t really have much time anymore cause we’re about to leave.” Clifden said, looking at me after briefly glancing and gesturing at the car where he got our groceries from. “But if you guys need a place to stay, you can always go to our town. Gotta warn you though, my town is a little weird.” He added while pointing at a sign that indicated that Capethorn town is 5 miles ahead.

“Weird how?” I asked with my head tilted to the side.

“First is that our mayor lives in a literal 4-story mansion with different couples living on each floor, while the 1st floor is open to some people only. Another thing that makes our town weird is that our police force is divided into two, the normal one and the special task force.”

“What’s weird about that? The special task force I mean.” I asked with my brows furrowed. I can also feel that my friends stopped eating to listen to Clifden as well.

“When you hear special task force, you would think that the cases they would handle are more about the likes of terrorism or m*********r, right?” he asked while we nodded silently at him. “Well, the cases my town’s special task force handles are more focused on… animal attacks, most specifically wolves.”

I looked at my friends, wide-eyed when we heard this. We all thought of the same thing. Does he live with a werewolf pack? The mansion with different couples living on each floor sounds like the packhouse back in my old pack. The special task force he’s talking about probably consisted of werewolves. If all this is true, then the animal attacks he mentioned are probably rouges attacking his pack.

“Hmm… is it because the wolf attacks have been happening frequently, which is why the special task force is needed to investigate them?” Clifden mused out loud, staring intently at the ground and rubbing his chin, clearly deep in thought.

“Um…” I was about to snap him out of his thoughts because he looked like a really smart guy, and we couldn’t afford him to discover the whole werewolf thing.

He shook his head instead to clear it up, then smiled at me. “Actually, just forget about it. I don’t want to scare you guys away.” He said while laughing a little. “If you’re worried about the wolf attacks, you don’t have to because it’s been happening for months now and there are still no reports of casualties.”

“ OK, we’ll think about it.” I told him with a smile while the others resumed eating.

After almost a minute, a woman, probably his mom, from their car called him over, so we said goodbye and thanked him again. When he was about to run towards him, mom, something in me pushed me to grab the hem of his shirt, causing him to look back at me with a frown. Since I already got his attention, I just pulled him into a hug and whispered thank you in his ear. He was surprised at first, but he eventually hugged me back as I nuzzled the side of his neck, making him shiver. I was excited about what he smells like, but he doesn’t smell like anything. As in none, as if he’s masking his scent. Can humans do that?

When we pulled back, we smiled at each other. “I’ll be waiting for you.” He said in a deep, husky voice before running back to their car and driving away.

I walked back to the van and saw my Gamma smiling and wiggling her eyebrows at me while my Beta had a frown on his face. “What?”

They looked at each other, then back at me. It's Phoebe who talked next. “You hugged him, which is so unlike you, because the only people you’re comfortable and like hugging with is us,” gesturing at them both, “and also a very few members of our pack.”

“I didn’t hug him because I wanted to.”

“Why did you do it then?” Phoebe pressed.

“Because… I needed to confirm his smell. He doesn’t smell like anything.” I reasoned.

“Yeah, righ---” Phoebe said while rolling her eyes, obviously not believing me.

“Its true.” Garreth said, looking down at his food. “I tried to smell him earlier as well while he’s busy talking to you both, but I didn’t smell anything.”

“So, the only reason you hugged him was to smell him?” Phoebe asked me and I just shrugged.

“Well, I needed to confirm it.” I said, not mentioning the fact that I DID want to hug him and I just realized he didn’t smell like anything because I wanted to know what he smelled like.

“Oh, darn it. I thought you were finally crushing on someone,” Phoebe said, obviously disappointed.

I just shook my head and sighed as I went into the backseat to eat as well. Crushing on Clifden, huh. It’s not impossible, I mean, ocean blue eyes you can drown in, a deep husky voice that can make you swoon, arms and hands that will feel go---.

“---, Shane?” I heard Garreth say, so I instantly tried to push Clif out of my mind and focus on the conversation. I looked at him from the food on my lap, trying to make it look like I was busy choosing which one to eat. “If what we’re thinking is right, then that town Clifden lives in is most probably a pack, right?” He explained, so I guessed that the question he asked earlier is whether we should go to that Capethorn town.

“I think we should try. It’s the best option we have got right now,” I said after chewing the food in my mouth.

“Let’s go now then. I’m done eating anyway.” He was about to start the van when he suddenly cursed. I looked at him questioningly and he pointed at the gas meter. We don’t have gas anymore. I was about to suggest that we could just run with our wolves when Phoebe suddenly gasped.

“What?” Garreth and I asked, surprised.

She showed us a wallet with money inside and a picture. She was about to take the picture out, but I took it before she had the chance. It’s a shirtless picture of Clifden, leaning on a railing, probably a rooftop of a building, looking to his left with the orange glow of sunset behind him. His wet hair pulled back and his abs glistened with water. I could feel my cheeks heating up, so I looked at the back of the picture instead and it had something written on it with beautiful handwriting, making me bite back, a smile starting to form.

Figured you guys wouldn’t take money if I offered it to you directly, so I sneaked it in the grocery instead. Oh, and tell Shane she can keep my picture as a souvenir if she promises to give me one of hers ;)

Someone who cares, Clifden

“Well, it looks like we have money to buy gas now.” I mumbled after clearing my throat. They both just looked at me before turning their backs at me and ignoring the fact that I was probably blushing, which I’m thankful for.

When we’re finally on the road, we head to Capethorn. I looked at his picture again before putting it in my pocket, then looking out the window, feeling excited and thinking about which picture I should give.