Chapter 17 Nathan
Nathan
I walked into Stock Creek Elementary with two coffees in one hand, my steps slow and deliberate.
Every muscle in my body tensed, the wolf within me clawing at my insides, urging me to close the distance between Rissa and me.
I shook my head, trying to dismiss it as a routine check on the pack's newest teacher.
"Morning, Nathan. What brings you here? Elle okay?" The front office receptionist greeted me with a smile.
"Yep, I’m just stopping by to see Rissa," I replied, lifting the coffees as though they were some kind of peace offering.
She waved me through with a knowing smile.
I made my way to her classroom, finding her through the window.
She sat there, surrounded by a semi-circle of tiny chairs, each occupied by a Pre-K child hanging on to her every word.
She was reading to them, animated and radiant, a beacon in the small, colorful room.
I paused, caught by the scene before me, with tightness gripping my chest. There she was, a natural nurturer, yet fate had cruelly snatched away the chance of her ever being a mother.
She caught sight of me, her expression shifting from the warmth of storytelling to a guarded curiosity. The bond tugged at my insides, a silent acknowledgment of the change.
"Mr. Gallagher, is everything all right?" she called out, closing the book with a gentle thud. “Kids, you can have five minutes at your favorite station, okay?” The children took off around the room, cheering as Rissa walked over and leaned against the doorway to her classroom.
"Thought you might need a pick-me-up." I lifted the coffees toward her like a truce flag between us.
She didn't move from the doorway, arms crossed. "You don't even drink coffee."
"Maybe I just enjoy the spectacle of seeing you off-balance," I replied, closing the distance so that only a few steps separated us. She exhaled in mild frustration and snatched one of the cups from my hand.
"Is this supposed to sway me somehow?" she asked, skepticism lacing her words.
I took a deliberate gulp from my cup, hiding a grin behind the rim. "It's Mountain Dew." I opened it and showed her the glaringly yellow liquid.
Her brow furrowed as she peered into the cup. "Out of a coffee cup?"
"Looks more professional." I shrugged it off, watching her reaction closely.
She let out a sigh that seemed to carry all her patience away. A tiny smile followed. "You're impossible."
"Go on a date with me," I suggested, cutting through the usual dance of words we found ourselves in.
"Absolutely not," she retorted instantly, sticking her nose in the air.
"You're scared," I said accusingly, the silence between us stretching until it almost hummed with tension.
"I'm not scared," she countered, but neither of us moved.
Time ticked by before she finally released a sharp breath. "Fine. But this stays between us. Gavin doesn't need to know."
"Agreed. For now," I said, a smirk playing on my lips.
The whole way out to the truck and the entire drive home, I had a stupid grin plastered on my face. Rissa finally agreed to go out with me, even if she insisted on keeping it secret. Her hesitance only made me want her more.
Stepping through the door of my house, the grin tugged at the corners of my mouth.
The weight of the day faded, replaced by a sense of accomplishment.
I discarded my jacket and headed straight for my kitchen table, where stacks of pack paperwork awaited.
I’d brought it home from the pack house last night.
For a solid hour, I sorted through documents, scribbled notes, and updated files.
It was mundane but necessary; keeping the pack running smoothly was my job as alpha.
The rustle of papers and scratch of pen against the desk filled the quiet space until an unexpected clatter from outside drew my attention.
Pushing back from the desk, I walked over to the window and looked out.
Krystal was there, holding the door for Tavi to get into the car.
I stepped outside just in time to hear Krystal call over to Elle, who was coming up the front steps with her backpack slung over her shoulder.
Krystal had picked the kids up today, with Tavi going with her, so she wasn’t alone.
The kids often rode the bus home, but with all that was going on, I preferred one of us take them and pick them up.
"Last chance, Elle! Are you coming?" Krystal called brightly at my daughter’s back. “Monster trucks only come around once a year, and I know how much you used to love to go.”
"Um, ew." Elle's response was immediate, her nose wrinkling in distaste.
I stepped out onto the porch and gave Elle a stern look. "Elle," I warned, letting a touch of authority seep into my tone.
She let out a heavy, theatrical sigh and mustered a forced smile as she turned and faced Krystal. "Sorry. No, but thank you for asking me." There was no hiding the sarcasm that tinged her words before she pushed herself off the step and stormed past me into the house; her mood clearly soured.
Tavi watched her go, a chuckle escaping her. "Teenagers, man."
I couldn't help but shake my head. "You have no idea." With Elle's antics and the pack's endless needs, it felt like I was juggling more than I could handle. But today, I had won a small victory with Rissa, and that kept the smirk on my face a little longer.
I glanced up as Marcus and Kendrick pulled into the drive, their casual clothes doing little to mask the calculated survey of the street.
I knew that look well; it was the same one I carried every time I stepped outside the safety of our territory.
Their presence was reassuring, a solid reminder that I wasn't carrying all the weight alone.
"Hey, Nathan," Marcus grunted with a nod, his stance relaxed despite the alertness I knew simmered underneath.
"Afternoon," Kendrick added, his lips twitching in what could almost pass for a smile on any other man.
"Thanks for doing this," I said, clapping each of them briefly on the shoulder. "It means a lot."
"Of course," Kendrick replied, while Marcus just nodded again, his agreement silent but understood.
Krystal looked up at me, strands of hair escaping the ponytail framing her face. "We'll be back late, but I'll have my phone on me."
"Keep an eye on her," I said, directing my words to Marcus and Kendrick rather than to Krystal, though she caught the caution in my tone and made a crazy face at me.
"Will do, boss," Marcus said, a rare flicker of humor touching his stern features.
As their car pulled away from the curb, I turned back inside and picked up the book I'd been meaning to read for months, its cover creased from where I'd picked it up and put it down too many times to count.
Settling onto the couch, I flipped open the first page.
But the words might as well have been written in gibberish for all the attention I could muster.
Rissa's face kept ghosting across my vision, her quick wit and the flash of surprise when she'd seen me at the school unspooling through my mind.
"Focus, Nathan," I muttered, trying to shake the image of her and concentrate on the printed lines before me. But it was no use; Rissa had gotten under my skin, and no amount of reading would change that fact tonight.
I was still trying an hour later. The book in my hands might as well have been a decoy, the printed words fading into nothing.
But then a shriek cut through the stillness of the house, sharp and urgent.
I was on my feet before my mind could catch up, adrenaline spiking through me like a jolt of electricity.
"Elle?" My shout echoed back at me as I took the stairs two at a time, the protective instincts ingrained within me flaring to life. I burst into her doorway, scanning for any sign of danger.
"Go away!" Her cry came from behind her bathroom door, tight with fear.
"What happened?" I rapped on the wood, terrified at what might’ve happened. Did she fall? Was someone in there with her?
"Dad, I swear to God, if you open this door, I will murder you." The threat halted me in my tracks. Not hurt then, not physically anyway.
"Sweetheart, talk to me." I waited, each second stretching out longer than the last.
A muffled groan seeped through the barrier between us, and I shifted, feeling suddenly out of place. "Is this, a, uh, a girl problem?"
"Yes, okay? Geez!"
Oh, thank goodness. No immediate danger, but what now?
I stood outside the door, a forty-year-old single alpha dad, clueless about how to help his teenage daughter with the one thing he couldn't fix with strength or vigilance.
I hovered, the silence hanging heavy in the air.
"Elle, I can go to the store or something.
Do you need chocolate or something to drink?
" I was as out of my depth as when I’d first held her as a baby, knowing I was responsible for this little life but not quite sure how to manage it.
"Go. Away!" The sharpness was back in her tone, but I could hear the undercurrent of embarrassment.
"Okay, okay, I'm not going anywhere near the door," I assured her, raising my hands even though she couldn't see me. "Just tell me what to do. Do you need anything?"
There was a long pause, and I could almost picture her in there, wrestling with the situation just as much as I was out here. "Just. Call. Krystal." Elle's response came through the door, the words tight with frustration.
"Krystal's at the monster trucks," I replied, my grimace evident even though she couldn't see me. There was a pause, and then her voice came again, softer this time, almost defeated. "Call Rissa."
"Wait. What?" Okay, that one caught me off guard.
"Just do it, Dad. What is wrong with you?"
With a sigh, I dialed the number, the call connecting quicker than my racing thoughts. "So, I have a situation…"