I Slept With My Friend’s Alpha Son

NORA’S POV I did not belong here. The music was too loud, the lights were too bright, and every woman in this club looked like she had just stepped out of a magazine. They moved like they owned the floor, with toned and perfect looking bodies, and their faces glowing with the kind of confidence I had never known. Even in my twenties, I had never been that girl. Now, at thirty four, I felt like a ghost watching the living. I pressed my back against the cold surface, as I tried to make myself smaller, but it never worked. My body had always been too soft, too full, too much. Trevor had made sure I understood that before he walked out the door. Three years had passed since that day, but his words still echoed in my head like they had been spoken yesterday. “You are not a woman. You are a disappointment wrapped in stretch marks.” I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, trying to push the awful memory away, but it did not work. It never did. His voice clung to my skin like a cloth I can not pull off. Tessa was on the dance floor, with her arms thrown in the air, and her laughter cutting though the noise easily. She was beautiful, the kind of beautiful that made men stop and stare. Even at thirty three, she had a flat stomach, perfect curves, and skin that seemed to glow even in the dark. She could have any woman she wanted, while I was the friend who stood in the corner, invisible. The one who wondered why she had come to this place of perfect people. Why was I even here? Then my mind drifted to the clinic, to the stack of patient files waiting on my desk. I thought about Lily, my teenage daughter, who was probably asleep by now. I should have been at home, I should have been anywhere but here. But Tessa had insisted. She had looked at me with those warm eyes of hers and said, “You need to live again. One night, Nora. Just one night before you leave for Nightcrest Pack. Forget who you are, and forget what that swine said. Please.” And because I had never been able to say no to her, I had agreed. But now, I was regretting every second of it. Tessa spotted me from across the room and made her way over, weaving through the crowd with the ease of someone who belonged. She was breathless and grinning widely when she reached me. “Why are you hiding back here?”she shouted over the music. “I am not hiding,” I shouted back. “I am observing.” She laughed. “You are brooding. Come on, let us get you a drink.” Before I could argue, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the bar. I stumbled after her, and nearly tripped over my feet. The crowd parted for her like she was royalty, and I just tried not to fall. We found two empty stools at the end of the bar, and Tessa ordered something bright and fruity for herself and a glass of wine for me. I wrapped my fingers around the glass, and allowed the warmth seeped into my palms. “Don’t you think we are too old for this?” I asked, gesturing at the club. “I mean, we did this in our twenties, but we are thirty-something now. I have a daughter and a career. I have responsibilities.” Tessa shook her head and frowned. “You have a life. Or at least, you used to.” “I live every day.” “No.” She leaned closer and pointed a perfectly manicured finger at me. “You survive. There is a difference.” I did not argue because she was right. I had been surviving for three years, just getting through each day, and putting one foot in front of the other, pretending I wasn’t still broken. “When last did you get laid?” She asked suddenly. I choked on my wine and spluttered, “W-what?” She grinned widely. “I asked when last you got laid. I had the best s*x of my life last night. Since my mate died, I have decided to live my life to the fullest.” I stared at her, with my face burning. “Tessa—” “Don’t judge me,” she said quickly and held up her hand. “You are the one who has been celibate for three years.” “I am not celibate,” I said defensively. “I am just realistic.” “Realistic about what?” I looked away and my eyes drifted to the dance floor. The young women was still there, laughing and dancing, their bodies moving easily, without hesitation. They did not know what it felt like to be thirty four and broken. They did not know what it felt like to be told you were too old, too thick, and too pathetic to be loved. “Look at them,” I said quietly. “They are young, thin and beautiful. They are everything men want. I am not that anymore and I don’t even know if I ever was.” Tessa laughed and shook her head. “Nora. Oh Nora. How long are you going to keep punishing yourself because of the evil words your ex-mate said to you?” “Trevor did not punish me,” I said quietly. “He just….he just told me the truth. That I am not enough.” “He told you nothing but lies,” she said firmly. “Trevor was a small man with a small heart. He needed someone to blame for his own failures, and you were the easiest target. That doesn’t mean he was right.” I did not answer, because I couldn’t. Deep down, part of me still believed everything Trevor had said. My hands were trembling and I quickly clasped them together, hoping Tessa would not notice. My chest felt tight and my throat burned with the effort of holding back the tears. She reached over and took my hand. “You are leaving for Nightcrest pack tomorrow,” she said softly. “Greta’s invitation is your fresh start. But before you go, you need to remind yourself that you are still alive. That you are still a woman. That you still deserve to feel good.” “What if I don’t know how anymore?” “Then let me help you.” She said earnestly and squeezed my fingers. “One night, Nora. That is all I am asking. Forget who you are and forget what he said. Just for one night.” I was quiet for a long moment, staring at the wine in my glass. Then, slowly, I nodded. “Fine,” I said, smiling. “But if it is a disaster, I am blaming you.” Tessa grinned. “I can live with that.” She disappeared back into the dance floor a moment later, after being pulled away by someone she knew, while I stayed at the bar, nursing my wine, and watching the crowd move around me. Trevor’s voice crept back into my mind, persistent and cruel. “You are too thick, too old, too pathetic. You think anyone else would want you? Look at yourself, you are a joke. I am doing you a favor by leaving. At least now you can stop pretending you are worthy of anything. And Lily? She would be better off without a mother who can’t even take care of herself.” I closed my eyes, but the memory was too clear. I could still see the disgust in his eyes, the sneer on his lips, and the way he had looked at me like I was beneath him. I could still hear the door slamming behind him, and the sound of his footsteps fading away, leaving me alone with the wreckage he had created. Three years, and I still could not escape. When I opened my eyes, I looked at my reflection staring back at me from the dark window behind the bar. A woman who had been broken and never quite put herself together. A woman who had given up on being wanted. I was about to ask for the bill when Tessa appeared again, breathless and beaming from ear to ear. “I saw a guy staring at you,” she announced excitedly. I laughed and shook my head. “No, you didn’t.” “I did,” she insisted. “He has been watching you all night. Tall, dark, handsome. Your type.” “I don’t have a type.” “Exactly,” she said. “That is the problem. You need to remember what it feels like to be wanted. You need to remember that you are still a woman. Not just a mother. Not just a healer. A woman.” I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with air, and said finally. “Okay.” She grinned and pecked me lightly on the cheek. “That is my girl.” And then she was gone again, swallowed by the crowd. I turned back to my wine, with my heart pounding against my ribs and told myself I wouldn’t look up. I told myself I would finish my drink and leave and forget this night ever happened. But then I felt it. The weight of someone’s gaze and a pull I couldn’t explain. Slowly, I lifted my head. He was standing at the other end of the bar, watching me with eyes the color of silver-grey. He was tall and impossibly handsome, with sharp cheekbones and a jaw that could cut glass. His dark hair was slightly disheveled, like he had just run his fingers through it. He looked young. Too young, infact. Maybe twenty five or twenty six. My face grew hot, and I quickly looked away. My hands were shaking again, and I pressed them flat against the bar to steady them. He can’t be looking at me, I thought. He must be looking at someone else. Maybe one of those young women on the dance floor. But when I dared to glance back, he was still watching. His silver- grey eyes never left mine. And then, to my complete shock, he pushed away from the bar and started walking towards me. My heart stopped and I wanted to faint. I did not not know who he was, and I did not know what he wanted. All I knew was that his eyes never left mine as he crossed the room, weaving through the crowd like he owned the place. Then he stopped in front of me and opened his mouth to speak— But the volume of the music increased amd drowned out his voice and I could not hear him. I could only see those silver-grey eyes burning into mine, filled with something I had not seen in three years. Want. Desire. Interest. He was a stranger. A beautiful, too-young stranger, and he was looking at me like I was the only woman in the room. I did not know who he was and I did not know what he wanted, but for the first time in three years, someone looked at me like I mattered. And I didn’t want to run.