Page 21 of Claiming Her Alpha

“An extra portion for you tonight, then.”

Her mom rushed her up the stairs then returned to the kitchen. Though Kendra loved taking long bath’s—especially with a luxurious, scented bath bomb—she just couldn’t be alone with her thoughts right now. Her wolf was already pacing in the back of her mind, searching for Ryker. Kendra missed him too. She wanted to feel the sparks on her skin again that had erupted each time they’d touched.

She washed herself three times, as if that would help her erase those memories. Not that she ever wanted to forget Ryker. But it was as if she could still feel his touch. It was a bittersweet sensation. She didn’t want to forget him–ever. But she also didn’t want the pain of remembering the little time they had together.

After calming her thoughts, she walked downstairs and sat at the table where everyone else was already waiting for her. Her father’s eyes rested on her for a moment, so she gave him an apologetic smile before reaching for the potatoes.

“So, you and Mike finally broke up? Anthony said you two seemed to have been arguing,” Abigail asked. She was always a little too nosy for Kendra’s taste.

“No.”

“Made up on your hike, huh? Does Lina know? Don’t you think it’s a little obvious what you’re doing?” Kent snarled like the cocky asshole he was.

“I could ask you the same. Who did you disappear with last night? Vella, Anna, Kira? Oh, or was it Layla? She’s old enough for you now, isn’t she?”

“Kendra…” her mom warned, desperately trying to diffuse the situation

“Just wanna know so I can send them all pregnancy tests and condolences for your lousy performance.”

“Fuck you, Kendra!”

“Enough you two!” Her father ended the fight before it could even start. “We were just worried that is all, Kendra. We don’t mind you going out but you seemed like something was bothering you the last few days and you left without warning.”

“I’m sorry, Father. I won’t do it again.”

“That is all we ask.”

Dinner was quiet from then on. Kendra tried not to shoot hateful glares at Kent, while he seemed arrogant as ever that he’d gotten away with his behaviour–as always. Kendra never hid how she felt, and with her wolf in the back of her mind, her feelings were only intensified.

After dinner, she helped her mother clean while her sisters went out and Kent joined their father in the office. Though her mom didn’t say anything Kendra could feel her watching her. Hiding her wolf would be harder than anticipated, but it was something she had to do.

“Kendra, we will be leaving for the Silverliners’ territory a day early.”

Kendra turned to see her father walking up to her from the office. “That’s fine with me, Father.”

“Alpha Raygon invited us to stop by his village on our way there, so we will be having dinner with him and his family.”

If she remembered correctly, Alpha Raygon had three sons–two of which she hadn’t met yet. She turned her attention back to the dishes in her hands in an attempt to hide her distaste about this arranged meeting.

“I’ve written a few letters that need proofreading when you have time.”

“I’ll do them after this.”

Kent wasn’t really into those kinds of things, and her father liked her to look over his notes and official letters here and there. Kent didn’t have an eye for formalities, nor did her mother; though she’d tried in the past.

She set the pan on the rack next to the sink and dried her hands. “Did you hand write them?”

“You’ll be proud–I typed them on the computer.”

She laughed and followed him into the office. “I’m proud of you. I hope you two were civil with each other.”

“We did exchange some words, but no punches were thrown.”

She sat at his desk while he stood behind her and watched as she corrected a few formatting errors, then compared his handwritten notes to the typed ones.

“You know you can talk to us, right? Your mother and I are both here for you.”

She sighed. Part of her wanted to talk, needed to talk about what happened, but she knew she couldn’t “Do you really want to hear about my woman problems and the frustrations of still living with my parents at twenty-five?”

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