Rival Alphas

Chapter Thirteen

SPICER GRAY

Mirabel Redford.

My mate.

My undoing.

My sin.

Maybe… Just maybe… My redemption.

She is a lot of things yet I can’t go to her room and hold her, assure her everything will be okay. I hate it when I don’t know what I want. Exhaling, I place my head on the wall. My eyes shut. They flutter open when I hear footfalls. I recognize them immediately. Meghan’s.

I hide far away so Meghan won’t notice me. Although she has no alpha blood and I hate to say this, Meghan excels in almost everything. She fights well. She solves issues between two wolves amicably. She is…

“Oh, poor f*****g Spicer. Are you confused?” My wolf chirps. “Focus, silly.”

Wolf is right, I hear the door lock and then close. I saunter to the door. With my ear glued lightly on the door, I listen as Meghan shoots question after question at her. I swear this is my wolf’s undoing, no way in hell will you ever find me standing outside a window or a door, eavesdropping like some teenagers.

Yes, mother, I remember your lesson, “eavesdropping is bad.”

She doesn’t answer and for a split second, I wonder if I should trust the moon goddess in this. If I should believe in the mate bullshit. The fact that the moon goddess makes you only one person for you:

A mate to build a home with.

A mate to protect and feel safe with when together.

A mate to rule alongside me.

A mate to…

Nevermind.

Should I go around mating she-wolves who don’t talk too much?

I feel a tap, making me jump. “Easy there.” It is dad. He smirks, “why so jumpy, son? Have you been a bad boy?”

“Dad. First. Ew. Second ew!”

Dad laughs at me. I shake my head and leave.

I return. I have to or my wolf would kill me alive. I hear her screaming she is not a rogue. And when dad asks her who she is, she introduces her name. My breath hitches. I see flashes in front of me. I rub my forehead and push the memories far to the back of my head.

She is either stupid, confused or doesn’t know the difference between lies and truths. One minute she isn’t a rogue and the other, she has been one for the past few weeks. Please, tell me she is just tired.

My wolf scoffs, “go ask her, imbecile. Of course, she is exhausted. Didn’t you notice how restless she was? Our wolf isn’t stupid. If only, she is brave.”

As I listen to her speak with dad, I find myself taking a step backward. I can’t stay here.

In my bedroom, my wolf complains about how I ruined our name at first glance. I should have been a gentleman and perhaps we would have had a perfect story to tell, ‘our pups.’ His words. “First impressions matter. And you Spicer Gray rolled ours in a pit of mud and mad.” My wolf says.

I rise, I am agitated. I return again and dad introduces me, funny, she tells dad I hit her. I say nothing and only gape at her. It hurts a little bit she doesn’t stare at me as every other she-wolf does.

Dad sends me food and I bring her a sandwich. She doesn’t eat though. She asks if she can stay. I hold my breath. Will dad accept a stranger?

An involuntary growl escapes my throat when dad tells her she will undergo a ritual. “Go train or something,” Dad says and I am glad about his dismissal. That growl there is my wolf’s.

As I walk away from the door, I hear dad tell her something about me getting it a lot from other wolves. I don’t dwell on it. When it comes to dad, if we are not speaking about serious matters, I never push for him to explain his words.

Most of the time I feel like he is speaking in tongues.

*

I wake up feeling groggy. I didn’t sleep. How could I when my wolf kept ruining my slumber with all his yelling, “go check on her.”

My schedule is easy; I have the training, then shower and finish with pack business.

I meet Meghan halfway to the training room. Mostly for alpha’s family and beta’s family. She tells me, “someone woke from the wrong side of the bed.”

I pull on my gloves. We start the training and for the first time since I started training with Meghan, she keeps winning. She pulls me up after my fifth fall and asks, “are you losing your mojo? This is good for me.”

We spar and I still lose. Two hours later, Meghan has beaten my ass up. I am delighted there is no one here. I stand whispering, “I am done.” This is the same time Mirabel enters the training and Meghan kicks me on the knees. I see my ass on the ground but luckily, Meghan saves me.

I groan and from the corner of my eyes, I swear I see Mirabel narrowing her eyes at me. Wait, am I dreaming?

Meghan pushes me up, she grabs my shoulders, “Spicer, are you sure you are okay?” She quizzes. I step back. Before I answer, Beta Flynn, Meghan’s dad calls for Mirabel. She offers us a tiny wave and walks away. I notice a slight limp, and I can’t help but worry. Will she be okay?

The arrows the warriors shot at her contained wolfbane and some other toxic herbs. I am sure if it was a mere wolf or omega, they wouldn’t have survived.

“Here I thought you wanted to be an omega.” My wolf mocks. “And whose idea was it to use wolfbane against rogues?”

I roll my eyes and exit.

I shower and dress up. I head to the office and find Beta Flynn, dad’s beta, and Meghan’s dad waiting for me. Yeah, I think this is why Meghan thinks this is one of the reasons she thinks my beta.

We discuss the pack’s business, and I am surprised, Beta Flynn doesn’t ask me why I brought a stranger into the pack without asking him or dad first. He leaves and returns, “your father is calling for you.”

“Thanks, Beta Flynn.”

Dad is swirling around in his alpha’s chair. I smile, and a memory flashes through my mind.

He asks me to sit.

“Son, do we have a problem?” He asks.

“About?”

“Mirabel Redford. I just had an official meeting with her and I am allowing her to stay indefinitely. I don’t doubt her even for a second my son.” Dad rubs his hands together. He finishes, “because you carried her in your arms.”

Oh, come on.

“It is the first time you have shown care to someone else.” Dad pauses, “why are you getting angry? Do you want me to send her away?”

Hearing that, my eyes change into my wolf’s. Dad jumps to his feet, “son, Spicer. Look at me. Inhale. Exhale. What is wrong?”

“I am fine. Let go.”

Dad tells me he will announce it to the rest of the pack in the evening and I leave before he asks me what has gotten into me. I must take care of my emotions. My wolf must not control me. He must not show up anytime he hears anyone speaking bad things about her.

I bump into her outside the door. Her hair is in a messy ponytail. She smells of roses and honey. My wolf asks me to hug her. “You are staring.” It reminds me. Mirabel points behind me. I push past her slightly and practically ran off. f**k! f**k!

Throughout the day, I fight the urge to follow her heavenly scent. My wolf is on the roll, telling me I should apologize for treating her badly. She is golden and should be treated with respect.

In the evening, dad calls for a pack meeting. He tells everyone about her and half of them are not happy. It is rare for dad… Hell. For any alpha of any pack to welcome anyone.

“So, what if she is the alpha’s daughter?” “Doesn’t she have her pack?”

All along, Mirabel stares in front as if she is deaf. Dad stares at Beta Flynn. He rises and dismisses everyone. They walk out of the meeting hall speaking of her.

In the morning, the pack is still talking. When someone calls her a pariah, I control myself from smacking her.

I arrive at the training room one hour earlier and start my training. Ten minutes into it, I can’t do it. I try meditating and the same thing happens. My wolf isn’t keeping quiet. I head out and run on the training field.

In less than twenty minutes, I am out of breath. My wolf laughs at me, “I am not the only one who has lost it. Uh?”

I return to the training room and wait for Meghan. As much as I would rather not spend any minute with her, she is a perfect partner when it comes to training.

Meghan arrives with her. I am surprised since everyone knows Meghan never trains with anyone unless it is me. Mirabel falls severally. And I can’t help but wonder if she is doing it on purpose or if she wants to be on Meghan’s good side.

My wolf calls for hers non-stop, and when he doesn’t get a reply, it asks me worriedly, “doesn’t she have a wolf? Doesn’t she know we are her mate?”

Mirabel Redford, are you pretending not to know we are mates or are you indeed that stupid?