Page 12 of Unknowingly Adopting the Alpha
“We need to get you home,” he continued, his tone a tad pleading.
“Na ah,” I said, sounding all mature. “I’m going home with my Red, you can do whatever the fuck you want.”
Red seemed to huff with humor at that.
“For God’s sake,” the jerk muttered. “He’s not Red! He’s Jeremy, and I can’t just leave when you’ve just seen my son shift!”
“Red is your son?” I asked, eyeing him with suspicion.
He nodded, a tad exasperated.
“He’s clearly been brought up by his other parent then, for him to be such a decent wolf.” Maybe he was adopted?
“He’s not a wolf!” he snapped, clearly done with me.
I looked at Red, who was very much a wolf, then back at the jerk.
I whispered to the others, hiding my mouth. “Is he okay?”
The jerk threw his hands up in the air and left.
“Finally,” I sighed, closing my fixed front door behind me. “I thought your dad would never leave.”
Red had stayed by my side as we drove back to my place. One of the men who’d come with Red and his jerk of a father, named Oric, had kindly offered to drive me home. Then, as soon as we were here, he and another man helped me fix the door. “You won’t disappear again in the middle of the night, will you?” Iasked, feeling too tired to keep my eyes open for much longer, but if he was a flight risk, I’d rather coffee it up and stay awake.
He shook his head.
“Good. Then it’s bed time,” I declared and walked up the stairs. It had to be past midnight by now, and I was usually in bed around ten.
Red followed me, like the protective shadow he was. It made something inside me flutter with hope that he would stay for real this time. I was kind of ignoring the whole man to wolf thing, for now at least. I felt like I’d met my quota of crazy shit for today, so that would simply be for Tomorrow Me to deal with.
The bathroom seemed less daunting with him in it and, as I brushed my teeth, I decided it might be painting day tomorrow. Back in the bedroom, I stripped down to my boxers and was just pulling the covers to the side, when Red decided this was the perfect time to turn back into a man.
“Nooo,” I whined. “I want wolf cuddles! Not hard muscles and whatever else you got going on.” I gestured to his very naked body.
He blinked. “I, um, I thought we should talk, you know, about everything.”
“Tomorrow,” I stated, getting under the covers and closing my eyes. It took way longer than I’d wanted before the bed dipped. I was glad to find Red was back, his nose sniffed around the bed as he got comfy next to me.
Smiling, I let my fingers brush through his fur. One thing was for certain. I needed Red to stay in my life. He just made everything better.
Chapter Nine
Jeremy
Cass fell asleep almost instantly, and even though I was exhausted myself, I couldn’t quite bring myself to sleep just yet.
My sweet and wonderful Cass had called my dad a jerk. What I’d hoped would be a more joyous meeting, had turned into a rather amusing one. No one had ever called my dad a jerk to his face. No one had dared, simple as that. But my Cass… It had been a real struggle not to laugh when it happened. But I also got Cass’s reaction. He was feeling protective toward me. He didn’t know why yet, but he felt it. It made my chest all warm inside.
The Brown Pack weren't dangerous, per se. We didn’t really know them, but my mind had gone to so many horrible scenarios when we tracked Cass’s scent. A movie night was so far from what I’d imagined that I’d briefly thought I had to have been dreaming the whole thing.
Cass had seen me in my human form for the first time. I did see appreciation in his gaze, but he still didn’t know me well enough to leave with me. I’d been so wound up and desperatethat shifting right then and there had seemed like the best option.
His tears, though! I hadn’t thought much about how my leaving had affected Cass, just that I hoped he would be fine until I returned at night. Seeing him so relieved that Red was okay… had hurt deeper than when I saw Darius kiss Milo.
How the Brown Pack knew that Cass was mine was a mystery, though. They had come into our town and dragged him back to theirs, knowing I would follow. Why were they watching a movie with him? Why had Cass wanted to stay? So many questions I would’ve loved to get answers to, but Cass had said no. I had to respect his feelings on this and hopefully it wasn’t just a denial thing. It would break my heart if he wanted to just sweep me being a shifter under the rug and not address it. I was born this way and couldn’t change who I was. I also couldn’t stay human all the time; I needed to shift. It was like needing to eat and pee; it was about my survival, pure and simple.
The fact that the Brown Pack hadn’t hurt him meant that I could remain calm and not break shit, like their house or their faces. I was a little disappointed I didn’t get to let my anger and worry out on them. I also didn’t want Cass to see me like the wild animal I was sometimes. It was rare that we had to defend ourselves, but my need to bring justice to my mate had been all consuming. I knew if just the slightest bruise could be seen on Cass, I’d end up avenging him, whether he saw it or not.
