Page 10 of Her Grumpy Alpha

He nodded, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. “You have a point there. I’m definitely drawn to your sense of adventure and fun. It intrigues me.”

I couldn’t help but reciprocate the flirtation, leaning closer. “And I’ve always been intrigued by your air of mystery, James. You’re not as stoic as you’d like everyone to believe.”

His eyes sparkled as he returned my gaze. “Maybe you’re just good at seeing beneath the surface. Seeing what other people don’t see.”

I nodded, needing to say something else. I probably shouldn’t have done so, but I couldn’t resist. “James,” I began, trying to choose my words carefully, “you’ve always been so serious, but it seems like you’ve gotten even more uptight over the years. Do you ever make time for yourself? For fun? I mean, we had some fun six years ago, but it seemed at the time like it wasn’t something you did often. Now, it seems like it’s something you do even less.”

He paused for a moment, his gaze drifting away, and there was a wistful look in his eyes. It was as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I wondered what had been keeping him so tightly wound.

Finally, he sighed and met my gaze. “Sadie, I wish it were that simple. I’m a community leader, and I have a lot riding on my maintaining a good reputation. Not just for myself, but for the entire town. I have to be the serious, stoic one.”

“A community leader?” Now that I didn’t know. I supposed it made more sense now. He felt like he had to be uptight and no fun because he had people looking up to him. “But James, even community leaders need to unwind, to have some fun. You can’t carry the weight of the world on your shoulders all the time. You have to enjoy your life as well.”

“Yeah… Abe is always telling me the same thing.”

The wistful look in his eyes spoke volumes, but he remained tight-lipped about the extent of his need for relaxation. I could sense that there was more to his story, but perhaps it was something he wasn’t quite ready to share. I decided not to push him any further on the matter, but I couldn’t help but wish he would find a way to let go and enjoy life a little more.

Maybe I could be the one who ended up breaking him from his shell. We might not have made any solid plans to date, but with all the chemistry surging between us, this certainly felt like a date. And I had a feeling that it was going to lead to more.

I hadn’t thought about dating ever since I became a mother. Gregory was my one and only, but perhaps this was a sign for me to break out of my shell a bit as well. My mom certainly thought so. She was always offering to babysit my son so I could go out and have a good time. I just hadn’t had a chance to take her up on that offer yet.

No one had come into my life that I actually wanted to date, until now. How funny that it was the one person I’d left behind in a massive hurry six long years ago.

Near the end of our coffee meeting, James leaned in, his eyes filled with a mix of determination and vulnerability. I sucked in a nervous breath, wondering what he was going to say. “Sadie, would you consider joining me for dinner next weekend? I’d like the chance to spend more time with you. This has been a lot of fun, don’t you think?”

With a warm smile, I replied, “Sure, James. I’d like that. Dinner sounds good. Maybe we should actually exchange numbers this time so we can get in touch with one another.”

James handed me his phone and I typed in my digits with my heart racing at the speed of light. This was something that I thought might happen for a moment in Cancun before we started arguing and having problems, but now, six years later, there I was.”

There was a mixture of relief and excitement in James’ eyes as I gave him his phone back, and I couldn’t help but feel a flutter of anticipation myself. It seemed that, despite our differences, there was something special between us that was worth exploring.

But then as I handed him my phone, his whole body language changed. He was hesitant to give me his phone number, and I couldn’t for the life of me work out why. My blood ran ice cold as I stared at him, waiting for him to relax once more. Was he about to change his mind all over again? Then we really would have another row, no doubt about it.

“Sadie, when I mentioned being a community leader,” he began, his voice tinged with a mixture of apprehension and determination, “I meant something different. Something bigger actually. I meant that I am a wolf pack clan leader.”

I stared at him, my eyes wide with astonishment. The revelation he had just made was nothing short of staggering. I had known James as a charismatic and somewhat enigmatic man, but the idea that he was a leader of a wolf pack clan was beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

I knew about shifters, and I knew that Maple Creek had lots of them, but I never would have guessed that James was one of them.

“You’re a clan leader?” I stammered, my voice filled with surprise. “I had no idea.”

James nodded, a hint of a wry smile on his lips. “It’s not something I usually bring up in casual conversation, but it’s an important part of who I am. My responsibilities to my pack and our clan have always come first. Actually, that’s what I didn’t tell you six years ago when we were in Cancun. I was worried you might judge me at the time because I was having issues with my pack, but I still shouldn’t have treated you badly.”

“Oh!” My eyebrows rose up to my hair. “So, that’s why you called me stupid?”

“I didn’t call you stupid. You took that from my words.”

I nodded slowly. “But you said I wouldn’t understand.”

He cocked his head curiously to one side. “And would you have understood?”

I parted my lips, about to argue back that of course I would have understood, but honesty stopped me at the very last moment. Living in Memphis meant I didn’t have much knowledge or connection with shifters, so I might have freaked out.

But everything was different now, and I did understand a whole lot more.

“Well, I understand now,” I finally replied with a one-shouldered shrug. “And it’s fine. That isn’t something that worries me at all.”

I tried to process this revelation as he finally typed his number into my phone. The man I had known was now unveiling a hidden facet of his life, one that carried a significant weight of leadership and responsibility.

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