Challenge the Alpha

Chapter seventeen - Pancakes And Apologies

Rollo;

Clay ran and ran and ran until his legs couldn't take anymore and all of a sudden he retreated, leaving me naked and alone in the woods.

He had let me scream and yell without even a hint of a retort for hours.

'She came back, Clay! You said she left us and wasn't coming back.'

I heard a faint, low whine but nothing more. He had slunk into the shadows of my mind and remained silent, but I could feel his guilt. Our guilt. I had doubted Indie, I had felt abandoned and believed she left us. I stopped hoping she'd come back. And now she had, I'd screwed it all up by her seeing Josie there.

"For f**k sake." I muttered. I wanted to blame Clay more, he blamed himself. But this wasn't all him.

I took in my surroundings, we weren't too far from the house. Clay had run for hours but at some point must have started to circle back round.

I needed clothes. I was bareass in the wood, the sky had only just started to brighten, it wouldn't be daylight for a while but I was a good 20k from home still. Even jogging I wouldn't be back for well over an hour.

I scrambled around, desperately trying to sniff out one of our hidey-holes of stashed clothes. We had them all over the woods and, luckily, Clay had ditched me near one.

I was still mad. I was mad at him, I was mad at me. But thank the goddess my wolf thinks to look after me even at times like this.

I dug out the box and popped the top, yanking the joggers up my legs. There was a harsh chill in the air, one even a werewolf could feel affect his manliness. I straightened and pulled the tshirt over my head, before starting my early morning run back home.

Indie;

I was cosy and snug, waking without a hangover for the first time in weeks. I had no idea I had missed this bed, somehow it made me feel safe and content. The most I'd been since I'd left.

I was snoozing, in and out of dreamless naps when a light tapping started to pull me back into the reality of the morning.

Tap, tap, tap.

Erg. There was a limited number of people this could be and a chance it was one I couldn't bare to see just yet. The second he crossed my mind, I couldn't unsee the image of him with Josie and throat grew tight. I buried my head under the duvet and decided to ignore it.

Tap, tap, tap.

I wonder if I can fall back to sleep with that...

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Sooner or later I'm gonna have to pee ..

"Girl, you make me knock one more time, ima take me these pancakes I slaved over for ya and feed dem to the birds!"

Reggie! I leapt from bed and flung open the door to see the happiest, most welcoming facing.

"Come, Marcus told me you'd need to eat something so I brought you breakfast in bed," he hustled his way through the door and used his foot to swing it closed again, "let us catch up, I have a lot to fill you in on."

I nodded and flatted my hair to my head. I did feel hungry. In fact, my whole body felt sore. Like I'd worked out for a week solid. Reggie had a tray with legs and settled it over his lap as he made himself comfortable on the bed.

"I can make the bed up fi.."

"No, no, don't worry. Come, come eat sweet girl, you look like you've lost weight."

"Liquid diet does that I guess." I mumbled in response.

Reggie hummed as he passed me a plate of pancakes, "honey, lemon, sugar?"

"Just honey please Reg ....you know it's really good to see you." I looked down at my plate. I realised how alone I'd been feeling since I went back. Ben had been my everything, all I'd needed but without him, I had nothing.

Reggie reached out and gripped my hand, "Everyone of us missed you. You have no idea, none of us could wait for you to come back. All of em started to have their doubts, bloody werewolves, but not me, I knew. I told em, 2 months is nothing for us humans."

He was back up to his normal fast pace talking in no time and squirting honey all over the place.

"So," he sighed, "we need to talk about the lady you've scared out of the house."

Suddenly, I didn't want my pancake anymore. I chewed slowly trying to ignore the pain in my chest.

"I know, I know."

I looked up and saw the sympathy in his face. He was so obviously concerned for me. My eyes began to sting, my head grew tired.

"Rollo missed you the most. He was broken Indie, Clay has been running the house, not that he's done a bad job at all, he was just desperate to help Rollo move on. They didn't know what to do, it wasn't normal circumstance for a mate to leave, not without rejecting."

"I don't know what that means Reggie, I don't think me and Rollo even decided we were something."

He sucked his teeth, "I shouldn't be telling you so much, but the fact that none of them pups have is probably why things got so messy."

He paused to dig into his own pancakes, soaping up lemon and sugar from the plate.

"Werewolves have mates Indie, not a decision, like a soul mate. Something the moon goddess blessed them with, another half of them to make them whole. You're Rollos."

"Is that why I'm so ..confused ..why I feel this pull to him?" I'd thought I was crazy. I was fated to be with Rollo? We were made for each other? It all started to make sense, the comments some people had made, people had called me ...

"Reg, what's a Luna?"

"Well," he chuckled, "if Rollo's the Alpha, the Luna is his mate. You're made to run the pack with him, keep him and Clay in check. Something I hear you did last night."

"I don't know the first thing about ..I'm not even"

"A wolf no, it's rare but apparently not unheard of. A Luna is usually the only one with the balls to challenge the Alpha, you damn sure can challenge Rollo, being human didn't stop that, but Marcus said you'd probably be feeling it?"

"Is that why my body aches?"

"That and you not taking care of yourself for weeks. Why didn't you come back if things were so bad, Indie? We were here, we would have helped you through whatever."

"Before I left ..Rollo wouldn't see me, I didn't hear from him, I didn't hear from anyone. I didn't even really know how to get back," I rubbed my forehead and tried to swallow my feelings, the raw emotion bubbling inside me, "I was terrified of coming back and finding he'd moved on..."

"He didn't, Indie, he couldn’t. I know it may look it but ..he was just tryna survive. He wouldn't have gotten through any of those days without Clay stepping in. Normally with mates, they are only apart like that when one rejects the other or ..or if they die. And then the bond is broken but yours, yours Indie, has been there since he first found you. He has been entirely yours from the moment he smelt you. I know you don't have to believe me and I know you're hurting, but don't give up on him.. "

I felt heavy, I'd eaten a lot more pancake and honey than I should have and this talk was weighing on me. I couldn't give up on him if I tried. If I'd have actually driven away last night, I doubt I'd have gone far or for very long. I yawned and nodded. Reggie stood and began piling the plates.

"I let you get back to your rest, I think you might need it. I'll bring you a big bottle of water, cause you gotta hydrate. Outlive your enemies. Can I bring you anything else ?"

"No thank you Reggie, the pancake was amazing."

I watched as he left the room, shooting me one last infectious grin. Our conversation had my heart aching in a new way. Maybe I never should have left.

Rollo;

I was just coming into view of the house, I had started to walk as the day began to brighten and enjoy being outside.

I was also avoiding facing the consequences of what had happened.

I didn't know if Marcus was okay, I didn't know how Kimberley was. Josie could have run to her council seated family and convinced them all to crucify me for all I knew.

And I didn't know what I was going to say to Indie.

I'd done nothing but think about what I could say to make her understand, to forgive me. Nothing was good enough, nothing could justify what I'd been trying to do with Josie.

I stopped and just looked at the building. I listened to the birds sing their morning tune, I could smell pancakes. Good, Reggie was here. I'm sure I've been awful to him lately too, might as well get all my apologies done in one day. I trudged on to the door and slowly creaked it up before sticking my head in.

The pancake smell luring me inside, I heard a conversation halt. They knew I was back.

I made my way towards the kitchen, my head hanging low in shame.

"Marcus," I barely managed to choke out, "I'm so.."

Before I could even finish, I was embraced by him. He held me tight as a few stray tears actually escaped. Next came Kimberley from behind. The pair of them hugged me while I sulked on his shoulder.

"She came back, brah. I can already feel the change in you."

Kimberley hummed in agreement with him, "we knew you'd get better," she pulled away from our sensitive group moment and punched me in the shoulder, "but you ever try and kill my mate again, I will whoop your sorry ass."

I laughed and wiped my face, "I wouldn't have it any other way," I gripped Marcus by the shoulders to get a look at him, he was mostly healed but I saw the faint teeth marks on his neck still, "I'm so sorry. I won't ever be able to repay you for doing that for me."

"It is my duty as Beta, Alpha."

Reggie appeared, clattering plates into the sink. Two plates.

"Reg .."

"Yes, Alpha?"

I wanted to ask about Indie, but I knew that had to wait.

"I know I've not been myself lately, I know there's no excuse. I just want you to know how sorry I am."

"Aaaah, it's okay boss-man. I understand the pains of the heart too, ya know," He threw me a wink and a smile, "besides, we cannot be your most trusted if we don't stand by you in your darkest days. The point is, they're nearly over."

"Nearly," I nodded, "..did she eat much?"

"She had 'er fill, I made sure."

"Good, thank you Reggie."

"If there's one thing I know, it's how to feed people."