Cowgirls and Alphas

Chapter 10

Lottie’s POV

I do a double take to look at him. “You’re going to change your game plan because of my silly thoughts?” I say with doubt in my tone. My eyes are back on the road, but I can feel his gaze fixate on me before he starts talking.

“First off, you’re thoughts aren’t silly. They are valid, and I’m glad you shared them with me. Second, you brought up a point that I hadn’t stopped to consider yet. If we can give these wolves a second chance, we should. That is a big if, but I will do what I can.” He says everything so earnestly that I believe him. I can feel the walls I have built up starting to c***k with every word he says. That scares me.

“And, I’m not a fan of the thought of you being sad. Something about that does not sit right with me,” he says and shrugs his shoulders as if what he said is common sense. I can't believe he just said that. I'm caught between feeling flattered and suspicious. Who says something like that? What does he want from me?

“Umm, thank you?” I reply.

He turns to me and flashes a charming smile. “It's the truth! No need to thank me.”

I don't know how to respond to him, so I keep my eyes on the road ahead. We are coming to the point where the road turns to dirt and the switchbacks will start soon. I remind myself to slow down for Jackson and Eric. It's easy to race up the mountain if you know where you're going, but they are new here and have a trailer full of horses. I don't want anything to happen to them because I was careless. Once I get to a comfortable speed, I lose myself in the music and begin to sing along with whatever comes on.

~~~~

Drake’s POV

Lottie is a beautiful singer. I lean on my hand, which is propped up on the car door, and close my eyes for a moment. Feeling a sense of calm because of Lottie and her voice. Ivar is in the back of my mind purring like a freaking cat. I can't give him too much of a hard time though. I’m enjoying being able to spend some time with Lottie as well.

A flamenco guitar song comes on, halting her singing. She really does have a bit of everything on here. I take the opportunity to break the ice a little bit.

“Did you sing in a choir when you were in high school? You have a beautiful voice.” I look at her waiting for a reply. I notice the blush creep across her cheeks and she immediately bites her lower lip. She's adorable!

“Um, well... thank you. That's... that’s very nice of you to say. I actually did not. I liked drama class over band and choir. I was in a few musicals. Just as part of the extras, nothing too big.” She stumbles over her words, but it doesn't bother me at all.

“What else did you do in school?”

“I played a couple of sports. Softball, basketball, and track. I mostly sat on the bench for basketball. I was just good enough to be the extra body but never a starter,” she chuckles at the memory. “Track, I just did a few relay races. Softball though, that's what I loved. I played catcher or shortstop.”

I look at her in amusement. “Don't take this the wrong way, but I am having a hard time picturing you all geared up as a catcher.”

She looks at me with a fire in her eye. “What do you mean by that?”

I raise my hands in surrender. “I just mean you must have been swimming in the gear,” I explain, laughing.

She starts laughing with me. “Oh, so bad! I was always the smallest on the team. I kicked butt anyway,” she beams. I want to know more about her, but I'm going to need more time than this drive is giving me. When we're done with this job, I'll ask her on a date. Would that be too forward though? Should I give it more time before I do that? Who is someone I know that has a human mate? They'd be a good person to ask these questions.

Lottie pulls me out of my train of thought asking, “What about you? Did you do anything in school?”

“I played football as a defensive end. Other than that, I just worked for my Dad.”

“Do you miss it? I know that I would never go back to high school, but I do miss the game.”

“Honestly, I never have stopped to think about it. So not really I guess!” I laugh out.

Lottie smiles and listens as she turns onto a small road that I assume leads to their cabin. I roll down my window and start to look around to see if there are any signs that the rogues are close by. I hope they aren’t. At least until Lottie is back home.

We pull up to her cabin and see the herd in the meadow and the tree line next to it. That's smart bringing them here to keep an eye on them rather than watching them out in the open. I see Lottie’s uncles on the front porch with their guns. Thank goodness they weren't attacked. Those might as well be noisemakers when fighting a werewolf. If you have the right ammo they work, but I know for a fact they do not have that.

I look at Lottie. “Remind me which uncles these are?” I remember, I just want a reason to talk to her.

“The one with a beard is Uncle Seth. He's the second born. And the one with the glasses is Uncle Chase. He's the third born. Uncle Gavin didn't want to come up because his wife is about to have their first baby. Otherwise, I'm sure he'd be here too,” she explains.

“That's exciting! I bet your family is looking forward to that.” *Watching couples in our pack have pups has always brought me joy. Now that I am open to the possibility of having a family, there is a whole new level of excitement. Geez, this is such a weird transition for me.*

Lottie nods her head with a big smile, “We are! It's been a rough time for them to get to this point so it makes it that much sweeter.”

“Quit making googly eyes and get out here!” Eric shouts through our mind link. I don't want to leave her though.

“Thank you for reminding me who your uncles are and letting me ride with you. I really enjoyed it.”

“Of course! I'm glad you did. I had a good time with you. Maybe when you guys are ready to come down I can come to bring you back?” She immediately turns red and covers her mouth. She's pretty cute when she gets all embarrassed like this. “I'm so sorry! I don't know why I said that out loud! Don't feel like you have to say yes. I... I just thought that might be fun to do this again... But if you don't want to I totally understand-” I take her hand in mine to calm her down. I can feel her tense up for a moment before she relaxes.

“I'd like that. I'll let you know when I'm ready for you to come up. Okay?” I tell her softly. She is quiet as she nods her head. I'm captivated by her beautiful eyes once again and am enjoying the feel of her hand in mine. Our moment is interrupted by someone knocking on my window. Lottie snaps her hand away looking like she got caught sneaking cookies from the cookie jar. I look over and see Jackson giving me a confused look.

“Come on man! Let's go!”

I let out an exasperated sigh. “I better go. Drive home safely, Lottie,” I say with a wink.

She blushes again. “Thanks. You be safe too, Drake.” I take one last look at her before climbing out and wave goodbye while she drives away. I feel like a piece of me is missing the farther she goes, and Ivar is not happy about it. I comfort both of us by remembering that she will be safer off the mountain for now.

I turn to the group and introduce myself to Seth and Chase. They look at me with speculation so I try to ease their minds.

“Don't worry, we've got everything under control. These wolves won't be a problem for us to take care of. I'm sure of it.”

Seth speaks first, “That's not what we're worried about.”

“It's not?” I ask confused.

Chase shakes his head and answers, “No. We are worried about Lottie.” What the hell are they talking about? “We're not blind. We saw what was going on in the car. I don't know what was said, but I could tell you were hitting on her.” Oh, overprotective uncles. That's what is happening.

I stand a little straighter, “I won't deny that I'm attracted to her and want to get to know her better. I assure you that my intentions are not harmful.” They both scoff at me, not seeming to believe what I said.

Seth stares me down with his arms folded across his chest, “Telling you to stay away would be pointless. But, I will tell you to tread carefully. She's been through enough. We won't stand by and watch her suffer again. If you add to her pain in any way, I assure you that you're going to wish you were dead.” With that, they gathered their belongings and left.

I'm stunned. Not because of their threat, but because Lottie must have gone through something terrible for them to act like that. That was much deeper than a normal “don't hurt her, or else” speech. Even if this doesn't work between us, I’d never hurt her. I wonder what happened.

Jackson clears his throat behind me. “So you gonna tell us what that was about?” I did promise I'd tell them what has been going on. I rub my face in frustration before looking toward my friends.

“Let's unload the horses first. Then, I tell you everything.”