Alpha's Stolen Heart

The night in the city

*Ryan POV*

I held my hands steadily on the steering wheel, my fingers tapping to the rhythm of the music. Liam sat in the passenger seat, looking out the window. He had a rather sad expression and seemed to be really far away with his thoughts.

I'd noticed that something had been bothering him, probably for a longer while, but he never said a word.

When he was a child and his father left, he became more and more distant. I could tell him anything that was heavy on my heart, but he didn't. We talked a lot, but honestly, I have no idea what's inside his mind.

Partially I want to be mindful and respect his boundaries, waiting for him to tell me what he feels, but I also want him to know he can tell me anything.

If he told me today that he had a dead body he needed to get rid of, I would simply take my shovel. I'm ready for anything for my friends and he has to know this.

I took a deep breath.

“Hey, Liam. Is everything okay with you?” I asked, glancing at him slightly. He looked at me and blinked a couple of times.

“Yeah, why?” He asked, averting his gaze.

Aha! I knew it.

“You've always been rather timid and closed, and I respect that. You are my friend, I love you the way you are, but I can't help but notice that something seems to worry you.” I looked at him as I stopped at the red light.

“You noticed?” He asked, wary.

“Yeah, I mean… It's quite obvious that you are worried. Are the Gamma duties too much to handle? I can help you if you need.” I said sincerely. Liam shook his head with a small smile.

“No, I manage. It's not about being a Gamma now. It's… something else. Nothing for you to worry about though. I need to handle this myself.” He sighed and relaxed slightly.

“Whatever it is, I'm here. Kurt is as well. We can help with anything.”

“I know, man. Thank you, I really appreciate that.” He smiled.

“When you are ready… Will you tell me what that was?” I asked, one eyebrow raised.

Liam laughed and nodded.

“I promise you will be the first to know. Thank you, Ryan. This means more than you can imagine.” He exhaled and looked at the window again.

We rode behind Trish and Kurt’s car for a while now, still not knowing what they were going to make us do.

“So what do you think they planned for us? Honestly, I'm a little scared.” I chuckled and Liam followed.

“Knowing Trish, it can be literally anything. From flower arrangement lessons to bull riding. Hormonal Trish is even more unpredictable than ever.” He laughed and I groaned.

“That she is.” I sighed. “It's not helping that Kurt is willing to do anything for her. Whatever Trish wants, she gets.”

“But they match each other perfectly, they are one of the best matched couples I saw. Them and Asteria and Alex.” Liam hummed and looked away again.

Huh? He seemed to get sad whenever mates were mentioned around him.

I couldn't help but wonder about my potential mate.

Asteria said she was close. What if I really meet her soon? The Wolf Games are happening in a few months' time. Maybe that's when I met her?

“I wonder if my match will be as good as theirs. I certainly hope so.” I said aloud by accident.

Liam looked at me with an unreadable expression and sighed.

“Yeah, I hope mine too.”

I'm getting something out of him after all.

“Do you want your mate? You never really talk about this.” I asked casually.

“That's… complicated. On the one hand, I want my mate, I really do. From the other… I’m not so sure if I'm ready.” Liam said, and turned back to watching the city.

I'm probably an i***t. I never really thought about Liam’s mate. He never talked about it and I’ve never asked. Meanwhile, it seems to be really eating him up.

And I've talked s**t about how I didn't want my mate to him for years!

I'm most definitely an i***t. But I'm not willing to admit that.

Not yet.

Kurt parked and I quickly followed, stopping my car behind him. I took one last, long look at Liam and put my hand on his arm.

“I'm sure you'll meet someone perfect for you. Someone who will make you happy and fulfilled. I really believe so, you deserve it.”

We detached our seatbelts and stepped out, looking around.

Why in the world are we in front of a community house?

Trish came at us with the force of a hurricane.

A very pregnant, hormonal, unbalanced hurricane.

She jumped on my neck and then, at Liam’s, Kurt quickly joined us with a broad grin, handing us tickets.

I blinked a few times, not understanding the situation just yet.

“You guys are going to absolutely love it!” Trish squealed, her high-pitched vice almost making me deaf.

“Uh huh, I bet. Where are we going?” I asked, trying to read the ticket in the dim street lights.

“A local theatrical group is performing tonight! They are singing and dancing, raising money for charity. Something like a musical, but not quite. We have seen rehearsals and they are really good. I can't wait to see the whole show.” Trish said in one breath, clearly very excited.

I, however, started to be even more miserable than before.

“Don't make a face!” Trish huffed. “It's for charity!”

“Exactly. Also, it's really entertaining. They have quite revealing costumes and…” Kurt started but cut his thought when Trish looked at him, staring daggers.

Liam couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head.

“Don't you disrespect Eve like that! She is extremely talented and you should be honored that she was able to reserve the best spots for us.” Trish folded her arms. Her mate tucked his tail between his legs and pouted.

“I know, I was just trying to sell the idea to those two.” He nodded his head at us. Liam made a face, scoffing and I just sighed.

“Okay, one, there are legit striptease bars around here where we can see sexy women dancing. And two, out of everything this city offers, you chose a musical performance?” I whined, playing with a ticket in my hand.

Trish turned to me with a face I will now see in my nightmares. I stepped back and almost stopped breathing for a second.

I may be an Alpha wolf, but pregnant women scare the living s**t out of me. No shame.

“I wouldn't take you to a go-go bar. Who do you think I am? I, for once, wanted to show you guys some quality art.” Trish said with almost teary eyes and I immediately felt guilty. “We met one of the girls who will perform tonight, in a bar a few weeks ago. It's a live music type of place. And we witnessed a performance by an extremely talented girl, Eve. Her voice, gods, I got chills hearing her sing.”

“True, I've never heard anything like that before.” Kurt nodded, now holding his furious and heartbroken mate. Liam was looking from them to me with amusement.

“How do you know her name? And that she is performing today?” He asked.

“When she finished, she went to a bar. We wanted to thank her, hearing her sing was mesmerizing. Before we reached her, we noticed that a bunch of guys were harassing her, two werebears included.” Trish scoffed with anger.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Don't tell me you went after them?” I chuckled.

“Of course! You thought I would just watch a young, human girl getting harassed? I had every intention of kicking their asses.” She huffed and Kurt looked at her lovingly.

“Luckily she didn't have to. They recognized me and also many pack members were there that night, so the harassers quickly evacuated. Eve was a little shaken but thankful, so she bought me a bear and Trish a soda. We then sat with her in a bar, talking with her and her friend, the bartender.” Kurt continued, looking at the watch.

“She said that the group from this theater is working on a charity show and gave us info about where to see them perform. They did a few small gigs here and there, but tonight it's like a culmination show.” Trish finished, dragging us inside.

To my surprise, almost every single place was taken. Except for four in the first row, with a huge “reservation” sign on them.

I sighed. And here I thought about taking a nap.

I sat in the middle, Liam on my left side and Kurt with Trish on my right. I looked at the three of them and noticed that even my Gamma seemed excited.

I looked at him with a c****d eyebrow.

“What? I like musicals and live performances. I'm not complaining, this is actually interesting.” He shrugged, reading through a small leaflet.

“This girl, Eve. How come you never talked about her?” I asked Kurt and he shrugged.

“I don’t know, it never came up in a conversation. Besides, why do you care?” He asked, folding his arms.

“It doesn’t. I was just wondering. Besides, Eve is a pretty name, that's all.” I muttered, keeping my voice down as the light started to dim.

The show is about to start.