I choose you

Doughnut

At the mention of the name the woman’s face darkened.

Sarah was sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. Dean’s supposed-to-be dead mate was standing right in front of her.

Before Sarah could say another word the woman let herself in since it looked like Sarah wasn’t going to let her in and went straight for the kitchen where she thought Dean would be.

“Hey Mel how are you?” he asked the lady.

She let out a sigh of relief. “I’m good just wanted to stop by to give you some good news over breakfast” she looked Sarah over and continued “but from the looks of it, seems to me like you’re busy.”

Dean nodded slowly, He was not prepared to let these two meet this early they both expected an introduction and they both looked confused. “Mel, this is Sarah. Sarah, Melissa”

The introduction was vague. They both knew their names now but not who the other person was and how could she not be Alice when she looked so much like her, something wasn’t right.

But unlike Alice her eyes were defiant, calculating she was the first person to talk.

She sneered at Sarah and ignored Dean. “Who are you? Dean, who is she?”

Fear gripped Sarah she couldn’t speak. The entire clan knew Alice was dead but if she wasn’t that would mean Sarah was an intruder but then that would be impossible since she couldn’t be Dean’s mate if his original mate was still alive.

So who was she? Her head was going woozy from thinking about it. Her wolf was screaming.

“You said you had good news” Dean asked trying to change the topic.

Melissa took a deep breath. She was annoyed but Dean would be mad if she made tantrums. “Duncan has been voted out and Connor’s been put in. The woods will be safe, he put out the law. You’re safe at least for a long time we hope.”

Was the woods in danger? Sarah thought. Dean’s face remained neutral.

“That’s good. Thank you, Mel.”

Mel took his reply as her cue to leave. She gave Sarah one last look. “I’ll leave now.”

“I’m his mate.” A low growl escaped Dean’s lips. She didn’t know why she said it. Her wolf compelled her to say it. She felt threatened by Melissa.

Melissa frowned. She was filled with rage. She gave Dean one last look and without another word she was out the way she came.

Sarah stared at Dean hoping he’d explain but he didn’t. “Get dressed. I need to run some errands.” He said. He was mad at her but she didn’t care she wanted answers.

“Who was that? She looked just like Alice.” She asked. Dean only turned his back to the sink to clean up.

“She’s a good friend.”

“A good friend who just happens to look like your dead mate Alice!”

The air suddenly shifted. Sarah could feel Dean's anger, his back was turned to her but she didn’t need to see his face to know.

“Don’t mention her name again. Go get dressed.” It wasn’t just a command; it was almost compulsion because he was her Alpha.

Without another word, she went to her room angry. Why won’t he tell her who the lady was and why was she sulking like a child? She hated him for being able to control her.

She hated herself for being too weak to resist even a little.

A couple of minutes later, they were in Dean’s car heading to God knows where. The tension in the car was too much and if it wasn’t for the damn bond she’d jump out the window.

They approached the supermarket and all she did was walk behind him while he pushed the cart and picked out the groceries. She didn’t miss the stares some ladies were giving him as they passed.

The ones that pretended to drop something so they could show him a glimpse of their boobs. It was disgusting and she found herself walking beside him, giving the other girls dirty looks. Mine her wolf screamed.

Dean barely acted as he noticed. He had a list in his hands where he wrote the things he wanted to buy. Sarah thought it was funny and old school. They approached the bread section and Dean put some sliced bread in the cart. She looked at the doughnut next to the bread and her mouth started watering, she wanted some but of course, she had no money and Dean would barely look at her.

Maybe she could try asking. No, Bad idea, she was mad at him and he was furious with her. She suddenly heard the hum in her mind. It pulsed with annoyance. She ignored it, he was angry at her she knew that already but she wanted a doughnut.

They were standing in line to pay their bills when Dean let out a groan “Stay here.” He said.

Meaning she should hold the line till he came back. She waited and kept the line moving. It was almost her turn. Hoping he didn’t leave her to sort the bill because she was broke.

As her turn approached she got nervous. When it was her turn she took out all the things from the cart slowly trying to buy time. Where the hell was he?

The cashier was faster than expected and called out the price when she was done costing everything. “Would you be paying in cash or card?”

“You see, I came here with-” Before she could finish Dean was right beside her with three boxes of doughnuts. Each box had six doughnuts inside.

“Add those too.” Dean didn’t look at her he just took out his card and paid.

She felt her wolf do a backflip.

He didn’t let her carry a single thing on their way to his car saying it was because her arms were too skinny.

The ride home was quiet until Dean’s phone rang.

The person on the other end did all the talking but Sarah could sense something. When Dean cut the call his mood seemed different.

“Who was it” Sarah asked

“It was the council. They want to see me.”

Sarah felt her heart in her stomach. If they want to see him then it’ll be because of last night.

Instead of going home, they took a turn that led to the woods.

The ride there was silent Dean didn’t talk much so she turned on the radio and grabbed a doughnut.

She started chewing loudly on purpose to annoy him. The hum in her head pulsed with annoyance telling her to stop but she ignored it.

“Stop that” he said but she pretended not to listen so he turned off the radio and gave her a stern look “Stop”

She knew he wasn’t going to try his alpha trick. Part of her felt he liked it plus she was getting a lot of joy from pissing him off. She turned on the radio and took another bite of the doughnut. He gave her a look that was surprised she would dare.

She was smiling at her small win when she bit her tongue “Ouch! Fuck.”

She could see Dean smile at her pain and the hum in her head pulsed with joy. “I hate you,” She said.

“You never seem to let me forget” his mood seemed to turn sour after that. They got to the town and he parked his car near their pack cave.

There was another cave close to it that led to the spot where the council held meetings away from everyone else.

“The distance wouldn’t be much. Just wait for me right here. Don’t move.”

He didn’t wait for a reply before he left.

The Council was made up of ten of the oldest and strongest people in their pack. Former Alphas and Betas, the Shaman, her father. There was no single person in charge although, by an unspoken rule, the oldest had the final say. They ruled the pack with a firm hand they were the law itself and whatever they said was law.

The Alpha was not below them but he wasn’t above them either. No one was above the law and even he must be handed punishment if he went a different path. The council ensured balance and continuity of the tribe which was their job.

During the day the woods were so lonely but Sarah did as she was told. She searched his car and found a pocket novel in his glove compartment. His Bride. It looked like such a steamy novel. Sarah was smiling hard. The Powerful Alpha read spicy romance.

She chewed on her doughnut, silently this time and read quietly.

She was yet to go to the tenth page when she heard footsteps around her.

“If it isn’t the rejected one.”

It was Gary, and he didn’t look like he came to say hello.