Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Ientered the kitchen, finding all eight of my male packmates there waiting for me.
It was quite ballsy of them to summon me here like this.
Instead of asking what this was about, because I already knew, I simply folded my arms and waited to see how this played out.
Since I was their alpha, they shouldn’t be questioning my choices.
Even if those choices were questionable.
When it came to Laney, I had little control. No one would look me in the eyes.
“Well?” I finally said because Laney was upstairs waiting for me.
Danny cleared his throat and stepped forward. “We’d all like to know what’s going on with the half-breed upstairs.”
“Her name is Laney, and we’re studying,” I replied, trying not to lose my cool and lunge for him. I kept my back to the open doorway so I wouldn’t feel like they were attacking me. My muscles started to shake.
Jacob snorted. “I didn’t realize you were taking anatomy.”
I leveled him with a glare.
“I’m sorry,” Danny said. “I just need clarification because I thought Caleb told us to stay away from her.”
“Things have changed.” Once the enforcers showed up, my dad put a pause on the order until we knew more about the situation. “My dad wants us to keep an eye on her. He’s in communication with the enforcers. They will let us know how to proceed.”
Danny scratched behind his ear. “Let me rephrase this,” he said. “I thought your father, your alpha, ordered you to stay away from her so you don’t form any unintended bonds.”
I sighed. He was right. I was supposed to leave her alone.
My dad was still pissed I’d called things off with Em.
The only reason he wasn’t forcing us back together was because she’d started to form a mating bond with Danny.
Her parents agreed to let it play out. Which meant if I didn’t find a better woman than Em to marry, I’d be screwed.
Right now, we all knew Laney wasn’t a suitable match for me. But I couldn’t help the way I felt.
“You don’t need to worry about me,” I said. “We all know if an alpha gives an order, we have no choice but to obey.” I hoped he’d think my father’s order to me had changed because there was no way I should be able to go against him. The fact that I could meant something.
“Would it be better if she hung out with Adan?” Danny suggested. “They’re just friends with no chance of bonding.”
I knew he meant well, but it irked me that he even cared. “I’m trying to be Laney’s friend,” I said, despising the idea of Adan getting to watch over and protect her. That was my job.
“I hate to have to say this,” Danny said, “but you need to make sure you don’t sleep with her. Just in case.”
I nodded in understanding. The issue was two-fold.
On one hand, I couldn’t afford to get her pregnant since she was a half-breed.
On the other hand, an alpha’s firstborn was the next alpha.
If I got her knocked up, she’d be carrying our pack’s next alpha.
Unfortunately, with her being a half-breed and so weak, my child wouldn’t be strong enough to be an alpha, even if he had the gene.
Chaos would ensue within our pack until a new alpha emerged.
My family had been carrying the alpha line for generations. It couldn’t end because of me.
The other part of this was that I shouldn’t sleep with her because it would make me more attached to than I could afford to be.
Danny placed his hand on my shoulder. “We’re here for you. Whatever you need. Just don’t fuck this up. I have no desire to be the alpha.”
I understood. I did. It was just hard convincing my body to obey my mind.
All my life, I’d lived by following my instincts.
It seemed wrong not to do that now. Everything in me told me Laney was mine.
The need to consume her, be with her, protect her, and have her was overtaking every rational thought.
I shook off Danny’s arm. “I’m going back upstairs. Don’t disturb me again.” I turned and walked away, unable to believe they’d just confronted me like that. I jogged up the stairs and entered my room.
“It’s later than I realized,” Laney said. “I should get going.” She scooted to the edge of my bed.
I didn’t want her to leave. Ever. “Why don’t you stay tonight?” The words slipped out before I thought them through, but I didn’t want her to go. Not now or ever.
She fidgeted with her amethyst ring. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
I went over and sat next to her. “You don’t have to stay as my girlfriend,” I clarified, hoping that would ease her reluctance.
“What?” She tilted her head, looking up at me with those potent blue eyes I could get lost in for days.
I wasn’t explaining myself right. “I want you to stay tonight so I can spend more time with you and keep you safe. I don’t expect us to sleep together.” As much as I might want to.
“Oh.”
Was that disappointment in her voice? Excitement shot through me at the prospect of us sleeping together.
Her soft skin against mine. Her under me as I devoured her.
My muscles started shaking, and a low hum vibrated in my head.
I needed to calm the fuck down. If we did have sex, I’d need to make sure I used a condom so she didn’t get pregnant.
“Please stay,” I said, lacing my fingers with hers. I pushed her hair off her shoulder, exposing her delicate ear. I leaned in, inhaling her scent, running my nose along her smooth neck, brushing my lips just below her ear.
“Okay,” she whispered, sounding breathless.
I chuckled. I’d expected more of a protest from her. She seemed just as eager as me to be together. While I’d much prefer for us to fool around, talk, or play a game, I actually had an exam tomorrow that I needed to study for. “Want to do homework for a bit?”
“That sounds good. Let me text Sarah so she knows I’m not going to be there tonight.” When she withdrew her phone, her eyes went wide. “Shit.”
“Is everything okay?” I asked, getting my backpack and pulling out my binder and laptop.
“I’m sorry. I need to deal with something.
” She lifted her phone to her ear. “Hey, I’m fine,” she said into her phone.
“I was busy studying. I lost track of time.” There was a pause.
“To be honest, I think your requirements are a bit extreme.” She started tapping her hand on her thigh.
“I know, Mom. I’m sorry.” Laney rolled her eyes.
“Because I’m still studying.” She got up and headed into my bathroom.
“Stop tracking me then.” She closed the door, and all I heard was mumbling.
Not wanting to study at my desk, I tossed my laptop and book onto the bed before propping all my pillows up against the headboard. That should work. There was plenty of room for the two of us to study on my bed.
Laney came out of my bathroom. “Do you have a sweatshirt I can wear? And sweatpants?”
The thought of her in my clothes made me hard. “Sure.” I grabbed my smallest sweats and handed them to her. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes. It’s just my mom being my mom.” She went back to the bathroom.
My dad had been looking into Laney’s parents.
Now that I knew Laney’s dad wasn’t her biological father, there was no need to worry about him.
The key to Laney had to be with her mother.
So far, my dad had discovered that Raven owned and worked in a genetics lab.
She lived in a house in Hartford owned by her husband, Noah Lake.
We had no information about where she grew up or went to college since we didn’t have a maiden name that tied to anything.
It was as if she didn’t exist before she married Noah.
My dad’s theory on her changing her name seemed probable.
A few minutes later, Laney came out dressed in my sweats, her hair cascading around her shoulders.
“You’re beautiful,” I said without intending to. The words had just slipped out.
“Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself.” She flashed an adorable smile before reaching up and kissing my cheek.
I closed my eyes, reveling in the feel of her lips on me. Voluntarily.
She picked up her backpack. “Okay, let’s get to work.” She sat on my bed, leaning against the pillows, and pulled out her genetics book.
I sat next to her, keeping a foot of space between us because I actually had to study, and she was quite distracting.
“What are you working on?” she asked, pulling out her laptop and opening it.
“My environmental science class, energy and the environment. I need to finish reading this chapter and prep for the lecture tomorrow. What about you?”
“I have to fill out a family tree, which is a joke.”
I remembered having to do that for the genealogy unit. “Why is it a joke?”
“Because I have nothing to fill out. It’s just my parents and me.” She started typing on her laptop.
“Just because you don’t have any siblings doesn’t mean you don’t have anything to put on there.”
“On my mother’s side, all I have are the first names of my grandparents. That’s it.”
First names, not last names. “Wouldn’t their last name be the same as your mother’s maiden name?” Maybe I could trick Laney into giving me her mom’s real name. That was, if she knew it.
She shrugged. “I have no idea what that is either.”
“Haven’t you seen your birth certificate? Your mother’s maiden name would be on there.”
“I have. It says my mom’s maiden name is Smith, but I know that’s not right.”
“How do you know?” I was trying to keep my questions casual, like a friend would ask, when in reality, I was learning more than my dad had about Laney’s family. This information was vital and would help us discover where Laney came from and how a half-breed existed with no knowledge of our kind.
She sighed. “I used that name on something for school once, and my mom seemed confused. I reminded her that Smith was her maiden name, and she was genuinely confused. When I told her I saw it on my birth certificate, she immediately was like oh, that’s right. She was totally lying.”