Page 17 of Claimed By the Alpha Pack

Griff can lie to himself all he wants, but I will be the one laughing when she has him wrapped around her finger in a month. For now, I’ll bide my time and try to prevent any train wrecks.

Chapter 12

Ethan

-Take what you want- Post Malone~

Barrett takes Grace back to the table they were at and return to the snacks that were brought out earlier. Whatever Barrett said just made her giggle. She still has dimples in her cheeks like I remembered. Her eyes keep darting over towards the table that the bitches of the valley are cackling about people in the bar. Roxy, being her usual asshole self, still is running her mouth, talking shit about Grace and Barrett. The twitch in the corner of my mate’s eye is the only warning I have that she’s about to pop off. I watch her hands flex as she grips at the edge of the table, holding on, trying not to lose her temper.

Part of me, I am damn proud of the woman that she has become. If she had a wolf, her eyes would be glowing as the rage simmers under the surface. The taunting not only of Grace but of Barrett is getting to be too much. Just as I get ready to get up to end it, Griff raises his hand and stops me.

“I want to see what she does.” His tone is mostly a growl. His wolf obviously doesn’t agree with his human counterpart.

Grace finally has enough and gets up from the table, almost slamming her chair into the table behind her. The sound of wood hitting wood silences the entire bar. My heart seizes in my chest as she closes the distance between her and Roxy. Their discussion is getting more heated and louder, to the point the area clears around them. Griff gives me the go ahead and I move in quickly. Without a second thought, I scoop my mate up just before she swings at Roxy.

“Go home Roxy!” For once I use my Alpha given gift on someone and she cowers before me.

Grace, on the other hand, relaxes in my arms. My heart pounds hard in my chest to the point I believe it will burst. Setting her back on her feet, I guide her to the bar where I was sitting, and she follows willingly. I’m hoping she feels the pull like I do, otherwise I may lose what’s left of my mind.

“Thank you for back there.” A brilliant blush rises in her cheeks as she glances up at me from under a magenta veil. She motions back at the table she abandoned with a dismissive wave of her hand.

“Anytime Darling. Roxy thinks every man belongs to her in this little community.” The gravely tone to my voice makes Grace visibly shiver. When she looks up at me again, her pupils are blown and I can smell the pheromones coming off of her. Her body knows she’s mine. I just have to wait for her mind to catch up. She’s leaning towards me, her body slowly angling towards me, unconsciously.

She shakes her head, trying to refocus, then orders a Long Island Iced Tea. She sighs almost inaudibly, then laughs. “I know this is going to sound weird. And you’ve probably heard it a million times.” Biting her bottom lip, she pauses, looking anywhere other than at me.

Reaching out slowly as to not spook her, my index finger caresses the underside of her jaw to direct her gaze to me. “I promise Darling I won’t bite unless you ask me nicely.” I try to be suave and crack a joke. The bite part was an honest offer of forever veiled in humor to warm her up to the idea.

Her drink arrives before her and she sips at it, then runs her finger around the rim before looking up at me again. “I feel like I know you.” Innocent blown doe’s eyes look up at me. Eyes as blue as a summer sky search mine, seeking what I feel like are the answers to the universe.

Nodding briefly. “A long time ago Darling, my father the Mayor and your grandfather were best friends.” Gripping my drink, I slam back a healthy gulp of liquid courage before continuing on. “We were much younger back then. I think my brothers and I were eleven, and you were around five.” Tilting my head, I study her reaction when I mention the ages. She mimics me and tilts her head to the right, then stares down at her drink.

“That makes sense why my memory of everyone is fuzzy. For the longest time, I thought I imagined this place.” Shrugging her shoulders, she returns to her drink. There are a ton of things we need to catch our mate up on. She seems lost in her thoughts as she stares down at the ice cubes in her drink. I wish I could blurt everything out to her, right here, right now. But, for the sake of my brothers, I can’t take the chance of scaring her off now.

“If it’s okay with you, I would like to reintroduce you to my family. No pressure.” I smile and show a bit of teeth. Not too much because I don’t want to look like a creepy stalker.

She looks up again and nods slowly and beams. “I would like that very much.”

Fenrir must be smiling on me today because our mate wants to meet everyone and get to know them. I couldn’t ask for a better boon to be granted today. Killing off my drink, I give my brothers a nod, letting them know it’s all good.

Raising my hand, I signal my brothers and our Omega to join us. “Joe, we’re making this a private party in the back.” He nods and sends one of the Betas to set up the private space in the back for us. We wait several minutes for the Beta to re-emerge from the back party room in the bar. When he comes back, he gives us a double thumbs up, then disappears into the kitchen.

Standing up, I move beside Grace and offer her my hand and I wait to see if she will trust me enough to follow. She glances around, seeing Barrett and Conrad and Andrea and now Griffin closing in. “I have a feeling I’m gonna need a refill for this,” Gracie says wiggling her glass and Joe laughs, already expecting the order. He has an entire tray of our parties drinks all ready.

Over the years, I have faced death many times in my line of work. Having my mate with her little hand in mine trusting me, not knowing what I am. Is far more dangerous than any criminal I have ever hunted. Hell, I’d feel safer skinny dipping in a vat of honey near a Kodiak right now. This little hundred and eighty pound female can make or destroy my world in seconds. We enter the private party room, and Grace moves away from me. This can either be very good or terrible. For once, I can honestly say I know what fear is. My chest tightens as she steps away and studies the room. All the worst-case scenarios flood my mind emotionally, preparing myself for disaster and or rejection. I’d rather prepare for the worst and when the best happens, I’ll be overjoyed.

My thoughts are flying around a million miles a minute as I think about every negative thing that can happen. Pondering answers to questions that haven’t left her lips yet. I’m the hunter, the killer in the family, the one who executes the fugitives and the trespassers on pack lands. I have the pressure from my siblings that they believe I will be the one to fuck everything up for the four of us. I see the way they are glancing between me and Grace, and for whatever reason, she’s not scared of me. Turning my gaze back to my mate and watch her body language.

Grace is tall for a woman somewhere between five foot eight or nine. She’s not thin, nor is she thick, either. I would say she’s a delightful blend of athletic and soft. Her beauty to me is derived from how she treats everyone. She’s gentle and sweet with Barrett and like a sister to Andrea from what Barrett told me. With all that she’s been through, her kindness hasn’t been destroyed. Yet she’s a bit of a firecracker with how her temper explodes after a while. I give her credit. She tolerated Roxy’s shit longer than I would have. The way she’s standing, she’s not radiating any stress or anxiety, there’s no acidity to her sugar cookie scent. Everything I can perceive, she seems alright and not stressed at the moment.

“You’re staring,” her words snap me out of my examination of her.

“I’m sorry.” I stumble over my apology and the fact I said sorry wasn’t lost on my brothers. Several eyebrows arch up in shock at hearing me apologize.

“It’s okay.” She stops walking shortly after we enter the party room and studies the interior. I watch as her eyes dart around the room, looking for exits from which there are three.

“Barrett, open both doors to the outside. Grace is uneasy and looking for ways out. I think she feels trapped.” He complies, and I watch the tension drain from her shoulders.

Soon as the doors are open, she walks further away and positions herself halfway between the door to the bar and the one that leads outside. “Why is she uneasy? She knows me and Andrea?” Barrett mentions as he moves around the perimeter of the room, opening all the doors except the one to the bar.

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