Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Cross
“Where are you going?”
She's standing there dressed in those shorts barely covering her ass, her legs on full display, and the same sweatshirt she was wearing last night with nothing underneath it.
It doesn't matter that she's drenched in my scent, and Parker's, I can see her pebbled nipples moving against the material.
She's not going outside like that, much less on her group hike or group art therapy or group whatever activity I'm sure she's got lined up.
“Away,” she clips and tries to push past me.
I grab her elbow and swing her back around to stand in front of me; and her hands slam onto her hips as she glares at me. “Not like that, you're not.”
Her eyes narrow. “Like what?”
“You're basically naked.”
“You're basically an idiot. Move.” She tries to move around me again but I block her. “Drew. Let me leave. I need to go.”
Parker is watching the whole thing with pure amusement spread all over his face.
I gesture for him to help me handle this situation but he just waves me off with a flick of his fingers.
Fine. She can't go out undressed like that.
I realize that I'm behaving irrationally, but after last night I thought we had an understanding.
I thought we were going to try to make things work.
She's covered in my scent. If another wolf so much as looks at her. ..
I reach out and grip the neck of her sweatshirt before common sense has a chance to stop me and rip it down the front. There. Now she can't leave at all.
Her mouth drops open and she looks down at her exposed torso.
I look at it too with no small amount of appreciation.
The curve of her breasts are perfectly framed by the ruined material and deliciously visible.
Now that I've seen her, touched her, that's all I'm going to be able to think about when I look at her.
And I'm sure that's what everyone else will think about too, so she can't go out naked.
“That was my sweatshirt,” she hisses.
“I'll get you another one,” I say. “One of mine.”
She glares. “My favorite sweatshirt.”
“What is wrong with you?” Parker asks very casually from the couch.
Genie turns her glare on him. “What?”
“Not you.” He rolls his eyes. “You,” he says, looking at me. “Why are you suddenly bothered by old sweatshirts and ratty shorts?”
I grit my teeth. I don't know how it's possible that he doesn't understand. “Because people will look at her.”
He nods, brows high. “They might. That does happen in public places.”
“She can't wear that.”
“Obviously not now that you destroyed it. Tell me, oh mighty Alpha, what is she supposed to wear now that you've ruined her clothes? I'm sure we can find some tape around here and tape it back together.”
I glance down at his bag leaning against the couch.
“Absolutely not,” he says. “You made this mess. I'm not cleaning it up.”
I can't get control of myself. I normally wouldn't care what the woman I'm seeing wears out in public.
I usually enjoy seeing how much other wolves appreciate her beauty because it's mine to enjoy and I want them to know that I am enjoying it.
Even with Parker, I love watching females and males alike watching and appreciating him because he's beautiful and they know he's mine and they can look but never touch.
Fine.
I pull my own shirt off and shove it towards her. “Here. Wear mine.”
She blinks at me. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
Her tongue slides across her teeth. “And you think this will be better?”
I nod.
She smiles. “Alright.”
Parker laughs but doesn't say anything.
Genie pushes the sweatshirt off of her shoulders and down her arms and drops it onto the floor.
Now she actually is mostly naked and my body immediately reacts to the sight of her bare skin.
Then she puts on my shirt and I understand why Parker laughed.
Genie's tits aren't huge, but they aren't small, either.
My shirt comes midway down her thighs, completely covering her shorts, but her breasts push against the material.
Her hard nipples are clearly visible, if I look hard enough, I can even make out the shape of her areola.
“Didn't think that one through, did you?” Parker says, his eyes now trained on her chest like mine are.
At least she will smell even more like me.
“This is ridiculous,” Genie hisses between her teeth.
“I am leaving. I have things to do today. I am going to my room to change, no you cannot go. You,” she points at me, “go back to your room and get your shit together.
I don't know why you're acting like this, but I don't have the patience for it. And you,” she levels a glare on Parker, “shut up.”
Then she steps around me and I let her because I have done just about enough this morning to make myself seem deranged.
“Well, that was fun,” Parker says, leaning his head back against the couch.
I bend down to pick up what's left of the sweatshirt. “Which part?”
He laughs. “The part where you're a crazy person.”
I fold the shirt in half and drop down onto the couch next to him. “You could have helped.”
“You were doing great on your own.”
I cut my eyes at him. “I thought she told you to shut up.”
“I don't have to listen to her,” he says. “She's not my mate.”
“She isn't mine either.” As the words leave my mouth, it's like a bell of understanding rings inside my head. “That's what it was about. She isn't mine. She's just supposed to be. I didn't mark her. She's still unclaimed.”
Parker shrugs. “She's wearing your shirt. That's always been good enough to keep dudes off of me. Women don't care, though. It's like a challenge to the women, but I don't think that's what you have to worry about with Genie.”
No. No it isn't. Damn. My shirt is going to be a green flag for females to challenge her because while she has my attention, she doesn't have my mark.
And for the males? I didn't put my mark on her.
Her wearing my shirt is a beacon for unmated males to stalk her and challenge me to exhaustion.
I should have marked her, but it was too soon. I didn't even… We didn't even –
“Fuck.”
Parker glances at me. “What?”
“I didn't kiss her.”
He laughs again. “You definitely didn't. But you did other things.”
“I should have kissed her.”
“Yep.”
“Have I always been an idiot?”
He nods. “For as long as I've known you.”
“Are you okay with everything? Last night went farther than I thought it would.”
He sighs. “I told you I would be. I need balance and stability. We all do, and by we I mean your pack and hers, all of us. We need our Alpha.” He pauses to drag his fingers through his hair.
“And our Luna. I need you to do what you need to do to bring her home.
I told you I'd be here, and I meant it. I'm not going anywhere.”
We need to get going. Genie isn't the only one who has things on her schedule today.
Neither Parker or I have much, but I don't think we can hang around in this suite all day.
I'm reluctant to leave it, though. It smells like us, the three of us.
All I want to do is go back into the bedroom and roll around in those sheets.
“Do you think she was really into it?” Parker asks, not looking at me.
“I think it was obvious that she was.”
“No,” he says. “Not that. Me. Do you think she just wanted me in the moment, or do you think this is going to be an issue?”
“What issue? I want to see you together. I would have combusted last night if you had jerked off for her. I couldn't stop thinking about licking you off of her tits.”
He stares at me for a beat and then rolls his eyes. “You really are an idiot.”
“Why?” I ask. “I want you and I want her. It makes sense that I'd want you together.”
He laughs, but it's more baffled than humorous. “At what point will you consider what we want?”
“I always consider what you want.”
“Do you think Genie wants me to jerk off on her tits?”
“She did last night.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “That was last night. It isn't the same in the sunlight and you know that. And her wolf would eat my ass up.”
That actually might be a problem if it's true, and I suspect it might be. She wasn't at all interested in Parker coming into the suite at all, let alone the bedroom. “We'll work on it.”
***
There is a note taped to the outside of my door when I go back to grab a new shirt before my Conflict Management class.
Only myself and the other few alphas in this session attend.
It's all simulations. The instructor pulls a conflict scenario from a list and presents the elements and parameters and guides us to solve the issue as we would if we were the alpha in the story.
Every single time it requires pack cooperation, it becomes obvious which alphas are going to be a problem to work with in the future.
Jonathan Baker of Pack Steele is the biggest pain in the ass.
He has a problem with everyone, especially me.
I'm just glad it isn't Thursday. On Thursdays, the future female pack leaders join us for a recap.
They have all been presented with the same scenarios and have come up with their own solutions.
Jonathan isn't any more cooperative with them, but he tends to acquiesce with only two females: Genie and Bella.
After Middle Ground, it makes sense. Genie and Bella are the female heirs to two of the strongest packs, but their leadership traits are completely different.
Bella is all about control, defense, and territory restriction while Genie is more concerned with the well-being of her pack above anything else.
Both are beneficial and necessary, but it depends on the pack and the situation.
I've lost track of the number of times Genie and I came to the same or similar solutions, and I remember Bella's response to every single one of those instances.
Bella wants me. She wants my pack and my pack's resources.
She wants her pups to be my heirs and she acts like Parker doesn't exist. Bella isn't a good match for me, but she keeps trying.
I'm glad she challenged Genie last night because it gave Genie the very public opportunity to put her on her ass.
But Bella cheated, and I won't forget that anytime soon.
I open the note after I shut my door behind me. It's strange that this one was taped on the door instead of waiting for me on my bed like the others.
All alphas must report to the Conclave at sunset for a leadership presentation with current pack alphas in the region. The presentation will run late into the evening. Please plan accordingly.
My father has never once mentioned or attended a leadership presentation at Recovery.
Not once. I don't know if it's invitation only or if the alphas volunteer to attend.
It seems like the kind of thing my father would be interested in.
He has always worked toward the health of all packs in the region.
Maybe this is something new. Either way, this is one of the first things I'm going to ask him about when I get back home; that is, if he isn't here tonight.
I throw on the first semi-clean shirt I find and head back out the door. Parker is in the hall holding his own note.
“What does it say?” I ask, not liking the pinched look on his face.
He hands it to me.
You are invited to join a small group hunt this evening with four of your peers.
Please meet in the smaller courtyard behind the dining hall after dinner.
I give it back to him. “Invited doesn't mean required. You don't have to go.”
“Did you get a note?”
I nod. “I have a leadership presentation tonight with alphas from the region. Was your note on your bed?”
“Taped to the door.”
We exchange a look.
“Where is Genie right now?” he asks.
“I'm not sure. I don't know her schedule.” A fact I intend to change today.
He folds his note and tucks it into his back pocket. “I'm going to run by her room and see if she got a note, too. I'll see you later.”
Every nostril flares when I walk through the door of my class. I didn't change my clothes or shower on purpose. I want everyone at this facility to smell Genie and Parker on me.
“Busy night?” Jonathan sneers as I walk past the table he's slouching behind.
“What do you think?” I ask and sit down.
He doesn't answer, and instead moves on to something more intrusive and irritating.
“What was the point of rejecting her if you were just going to fuck around with her anyway? Or is that the point? Fuck around with her, flaunt her, ruin her for anyone else, and then run off with your boyfriend to fuck up your pack? Like, why put her and everyone else through all that?”
Several reactions slam into me all at once and they all result in anger.
But I can't act on it. If I fight with him outside of Middle Ground, I'll be removed from the program.
I hadn't intended to challenge anyone while I'm here, but he just changed my mind.
I take a deep, calming breath and roll my neck before responding to any of the things he said.
“You have your own problems, Jonathan. Worry about your own pack, and don't talk about Genie at all. She isn't your concern.”
“She isn't yours, either,” he laughs. “You rejected her, and you didn't claim her last night. She's fair game and you know it.”
My wolf leaps to the surface and I have to hold onto my control with both fists to stop myself from shifting. “She's mine.”
“Does she know that?” Jonathan taunts. “You can say she's yours all you want, but she's unclaimed. You didn't mark her. You're not her mate or her Alpha, you're just some guy who stuck his dick in her one night.”
The windows vibrate with my snarl and the only thing that stops me from launching myself at him are the other alphas in the room. They step between us and crowd around me to keep me back.
“Let it go,” someone says in my ear. “This is what he wants. We all know she's yours until she isn't. Ignore him.”
If I stay here in this room, there will be no ignoring him.
I shove away from all of them and stalk out the door.
I'm going to the gym to run this rage out of my system.
I can't afford to do something violent and stupid.
I can't allow myself to be goaded into an altercation.
I need to be here because she is here. I need to prove myself to my pack.
I repeat all of those things with every step I take until my feet are on the treadmill. Normally I would want to run through the grounds, but I don't think the risk of running into someone in my current state is a good idea. So I will run here in safe solitude until I feel like I can breathe again.