“I’m fine, Margo,” he said blandly. I moved around him; his answer didn’t satisfy me.
“What’s wrong? You were so tense in there, and then you just got up and left.” He looked down like a little boy and avoided eye contact with me.
“I just miss it, I guess,” he confessed.
“Miss what?”
“Being an Alpha.” I nodded my head understandingly. “I love what I do now, but I just miss being in charge of a pack. This used to be mine. I knew everybody in my pack, I kept them safe, they trusted me. The Alpha blood inside of me just likes to oversee people.”
“Theo, you’re in charge of all the other Alphas,” I pointed out, reaching my right up to cup his cheek. “That’s the most important thing. You keep everyone else safe.”
“Most Alpha’s can take care of themselves. I’m needed for a few days, and then they’re back on their own. I know it’s silly, I just miss it sometimes,” he smiled fondly, the gesture not fully reaching his eyes.
I stepped closer. “It’s not silly at all.”
“Do you want to go home?” He asked, hand reaching out to rest on my waist.
“Sure, do we have to drive, though?” I asked hesitantly.
“No,” Theo drawled, confused.
“I thought maybe we could run back, you know, shift.” I gulped and looking down at our feet.
“You want to run back?” he asked unbelievingly. “Because you’ll lose this race, little one.”
My head snapped up. He was laughing silently, smirking.
“I may be new, but I’m still faster than you.” He took my challenge, and we walked outside to the front of the house. He let go of my hand and bent down in a sprinting pose. I followed him and waited cautiously for him to move. He shifted in half a second and took off into the woods.
It took me a moment longer to shift and start running. Being on four feet instead of two still felt strange, like my body was off-center. I didn’t let that stop me though and trailed after Theo’s large wolf.
He wasn’t running as fast as he could, obviously waiting for me to catch up. I scoffed, he thought I needed a head start?
As I gained on him, I bit the end of his tail playfully. He whined and skidded in the dirt, trying to fight back. I outmaneuvered him and ran ahead.
He growled and ran next to me, brushing his fur against mine. I waited for him to push me out of the way, but he stayed next to me.
We stopped in front of the house, panting, leaning against each other. After we shifted, we went inside the house, not bothering to cover ourselves from each other.
“What did your brother mean when he said you were going to ask Albia to step in?” I asked insecurely. We had moved up to lay in our bed on top of the covers.
“I was hoping you’d forget about that,” he evaded, jokingly. When I didn’t laugh, he let out a deep breath and put his hand over his face. “I never thought I would meet you, Margo. Dorian’s pack was my last stop, and I’d pretty much given up hope before that. It was just an idea, really.”
“But why Albia?” I couldn’t hide the jealousy in my tone.
“Because she was a nice girl, and I knew we got along. I mean, she’s pretty, but I wasn’t attracted to her,” he offered. His thumb gently moved across the skin on my hip, little circles, soothing me.
“I get it,” I said even though I didn’t. For most of my life, I thought I would end up alone. A small part of me thought I would eventually be with Caddy, but I knew he would meet his mate, and I would be left behind.
He turned on his side, resting his forehead on mine. His eyes still held a sad glint from earlier, but he hid it well.
“I know you said you missed being in charge of something earlier,” I muttered, gazing up at him through my lashes. He smiled a little. I offered him my wrists slyly. “I’ll let you be in charge of me for a little while.”
He laughed loudly, boomingly, and threw his head back. When he came back to look at me, he noticed I was serious. His happy exterior quickly melted into groaning seduction.
“You really want me to be in charge of this little body of yours?” he asked, voice heavy. His left hand trailed down the curve of my stomach and hips, drawing little shapes on the beginning curve of my backside.
“Yes. Only if you reciprocate the favor later,” I smirked. He tried not to chuckle but leaned in and kissed me nonetheless.
✽✽✽
When Theo finally released me, I wrapped myself up in a sheet and waddled down the steps for a glass of water. I held the sheet up to my skin, but it was so large I kept tripping on the ends of it.
“Be careful,” I head Theo yell as I made a loud thud from missing a step.
“Thanks,” I said sarcastically. I made it down to the sink and filled up one glass of water and drank it all in one large swoop.
Theo’s office phone started ringing loudly as I set the glass down.
“Can you get that? I’m in the bathroom?” his loud voice came from upstairs. I nodded before I realized he couldn’t see me.
I slumped down into the large office chair and reached over his desk for the phone.
“Hello, this is Margo,” I answered.
“Margo?” a woman’s voice said, surprised. “It’s Joella.”
“Hi,” I said confused. “Is everything okay? Not that I wouldn’t like to talk to you, but I’m sure you need to talk to Theo, I’ll go get him.” I rambled on.
“No, actually, you’re the person I wanted to talk to,” she paused, and I waited for her to continue. “I just can’t get that woman out of my mind. That Saskia, something just sits
