Filed To Story: Alpha's Regret: His Wrongful Rejection
“We can go into town now if we take someone with us. There are no rules against drinking coffee.”
“Coffee? What, are you going on a date with a human?” He wrinkles his nose.
“No. A male from Salt Mountain.”
“What’s his name?”
“Lenox.”
He snorts. “That’s a douchebag’s name.”
“Lucan’s a douchebag’s name.” It’s not the best comeback, but comebacks aren’t exactly my forte.
“Who’s going with you?”
“Annie and Kennedy.”
“So this douchebag hillbilly has a date with three of our unmated females? That’s bullshit.”
“Hey, don’t hate the player, man. Hate the game.” I grin, and despite the grimness still lingering from that strange interaction out back, it comes easy.
Darragh Ryan is just a fact of my life. Like allergies. Or lactose intolerance. I’m going to live my life despite him.
One day soon, I’m going to take a package of meat off of him, say thanks, and not think about him at all the next minute.
I ladle the seasoned vegetables onto a pan, set it on the counter next to the oven, and scrub down my work area. When Old Noreen sends Lucan into the pantry to get a jar for her from a high shelf, I stow his abandoned pile of mangled beets in the fridge for smoothies.
I don’t have anything else I have to do tonight. I could eat if I want. I don’t have to serve anymore. These days, males like Lucan who are on Killian’s shitlist get to do a lot of the jobs that used to be Una’s and ours.
I believe Gael is serving my tables tonight. He probably tapped out too soon in the ring, or “whined like a bitch,” or something like that. No one will miss me if I skip dinner, so instead of heading back inside after I smash the beets down with the rest of the food scraps, I slip off for home.
Our new place near Una and Killian’s is a lot less homey than our cabin that blew up. It’s a little more bachelor pad, for lack of a better term. Our chore rotation lasted for about a week without Una to organize it, and it’s a good thing that Killian relaxed the rules because as soon as she wasn’t there to remind us, we immediately stopped hiding the gaming systems and the liquor.
The cabin is dark when I get there which means Annie must have been the last one to leave for dinner service. She’s the one who’s good about turning lights off when she leaves, and pre-rinsing the dishes, and stuff. I don’t bother turning on a lamp. I’m in the mood to be alone and under the radar.
I strip in my bedroom and streak down the hallway to run the bath. Annie did my nails earlier today, so I have classic red fingers and toes. I was thinking about putting my hair in an updo tomorrow, but if there’s even one percent humidity, it’ll look like a Truffula tree from Dr. Suess. Besides, Lenox says he can’t wait to play with my curls. They’re pretty much irresistible to everyone.
Even Darragh wound one around his finger that night when—
I squash the memory. Stomp it flat. Kick it into a corner. Slam and bolt the door behind it. Still, my stomach cramps. I sink back in the hot water until the steam heats my chin and focus on my breath.
Why did he have to show up today of all days? Just when I’m taking this big step?
The past is over. I’m not going back to thinking there’s something wrong with me, and perversely daydreaming about him showing up and begging my forgiveness. And I’m not going back to being angry all the time.
Life is good now, and tomorrow I’m going on the first date of my life. It’s a weird thing for a shifter to do, but Lenox is into human culture like I am. He loves music and TV shows and comic books.
No one in Quarry Pack likes comics, so I hadn’t read one until he passed a manila envelope full to Fallon at a fight. Fallon made me give him a jar of Old Noreen’s moonshine before he’d hand it over, but it was worth it. I loved the art.
For a long time after the thing with Darragh, I lost interest in the things I used to get excited about. I got skittish. I didn’t want to shift, and I’d only do it for full moon runs, which you’re pretty much required to do unless you’ve got wasting sickness. I could only get my wolf to come out if Kennedy was right there.
But these past few months, things have turned around. I’m sleeping better, and I’m not just going through the motions.
It’s nice being excited about things again. Even if Lenox turns out to be a dud, it feels good to look forward to things. To like things again.
After the water cools, I drain the tub and fill it again to shave. I go over each leg twice, ankle to butt cheek. I even slosh onto my stomach and crane my neck to make sure I got everything behind my knees. After scrubbing myself dry with a terry cloth towel, I rub baby oil all over my skin and dab lavender on my pulse points. I want to get a good night’s sleep so that I don’t have red eyes tomorrow.
Kennedy and Annie are back from dinner and hanging in the common room by the time I’m done in the bathroom. I say goodnight and head for bed. I have trouble falling and staying asleep normally, so tonight, I’m gonna give myself lots of time to stare at the ceiling, and hopefully, I’ll drift off from boredom by one or two at the latest.
I’m nowhere near sleep when there’s a gentle rapping at my door.
“Mari?” Annie’s soft voice calls out. “You’ve got a visitor.”
All my relaxing is undone in an instant. Is it Darragh? It can’t be. Not twice in one day.
“Who is it?” I ask, but Annie must’ve already walked away.
I fight the urge to hide under the covers like a pup and shrug on my robe. My stomach is a knot.
As I make my way down the hall, I hear Kennedy chatting away and take a breath. It’s not Darragh. She wouldn’t be that open with any male.
I smell baby before I see our company. Una’s come by. She’s got Raff in his baby carrier. He’s curled up like a shrimp, conked out, his little fist balling her shirt, his bald head nestled in her cleavage. My heart goes mushy.
Una greets me with a smile and cocks her head toward the door. I follow her out to the porch. She never drops by this late just to chat. Killian wouldn’t let her.
I hope this is about candles, but from the careful kindness in her expression, I bet it isn’t. Shit. Was Annie right? Did she find out from Liam that we’re borrowing the truck? She can’t bust us for that, not after all the years that she snuck off pack territory to the farmers’ market, and it was against the rules then.
She leans back against the railing, facing me, smoothing her palm over her sleeping baby’s butt, her weight on her good leg.
“Want a chair?” I ask, making to go back inside.
“No, I’m good. If I sit, he’ll wake up. He’s got something against me taking a rest.” She smiles. It’s strange seeing her so happy. She’s changed since she mated to Killian, and it’s a good thing.
“So like his daddy, eh?” Killian’s notorious for running the males into the ground.
Una chuckles, dropping a kiss to the top of his head, pausing a beat to sniff. New dams are so weird.
“We had a visitor after dinner,” she says, changing the subject. Or rather, probably getting around to the reason she dropped by.
“Yeah?”
“Darragh Ryan.”
“Yeah?” I don’t let my face show a thing. I don’t know how much Una knows about Darragh and me. Sometimes I think Killian must have told her everything by now, but she’s never brought it up. She’s not one to poke her nose into anyone’s business, though.
“He wanted to talk to Killian. He won’t ever come inside, of course, so Killian had to go out to the porch.”
I hum, polite yet uninterested, but my stupid heartrate speeds up.
Una waits for a second like she’s giving me the opportunity to speak, but when I say nothing, she goes on. “I wasn’t eavesdropping, but the window was open.” Most people would be lying, but there’s no doubt she’s telling the truth. “Darragh was saying he brought you a kill? A pheasant?”
“Yeah.”
She waits again. I keep my mouth shut.
Her eyes warm, and she begins to idly rub Raff’s rump again. “Darragh said there’s buckshot in the bird.”
This can’t be why she came over so late. “We’ll keep an eye out. No worries.”
“I know.” She cups Raff’s little head and strokes him with the lightest touch. His mouth works like he’s dreaming of milk. “He was…on edge.”
I shrug.
“He said he’d talked to you.”
I nod, folding my arms.
As she idly traces Raff’s tiny ear, she gives me a soft smile. “You can always come to me, you know? Even though I’m busy all the time with this little guy and getting the online store set up and the plans for the warehouse—” She stops for a breath, her smile turning wry. “I’ve always got the time. If you want to talk about it. Or not talk about it. Either way. I’m just over there.” She nods in the direction of her cabin. The lights are blazing.
“I can’t believe Killian let you walk over here in the dark.”
She snorts, scans the shadows, and nods at the trees in our side yard. I can just make out the huge silver wolf, sitting under an elm, grooming his coat as he keeps an eye on Una and the pup.
I can’t help but smile. The biggest wolf in the five packs, if what they say about Rosie Collins is an exaggeration, and he’s completely tamed.