Page 21 of Alpha Theo

I shake my head, laughing softly. “No, no… it’s not what you think. He’s just filling in as the liaison while the other girl is out on maternity leave. He gets report from us and takes it back to squad leadership.”

Quinn blows out a breath. “Sheesh, I was gonna say!”

We both laugh.

“Well he’s definitely staying for dinner, that’s why Dad had him come in,” Quinn says, laying down again in front of my laptop. “He’s dropping a bomb on him tonight.”

She makes an explosion sound, holding up her hands.

I tilt my head, staring at her questioningly. “What do you mean?”

Quinn just shakes her head. “You’ll see. Dad’s setting a place for you.”

She gets back to work on my code, hazel eyes eagerly scanning each line.

I lean back in my chair, folding my arms and gnawing on my lower lip. I have no idea what ‘bomb’ she’s referencing, but if I know anything about Theo, he’s got a short fuse.

And I’m a little nervous for the explosion.

CHAPTER TEN

Theo

Dad’s acting strange. More chipper than usual. He asks for my help manning the grill and talks my ear off about the happenings with the pack while he flips the steaks. I can’t remember the last time he was this friendly with me, but it has me on edge.

Maybe he’s finally coming around; has accepted me for who I am and is gonna let me lead the pack. A guy can dream, can’t he? I don’t know what else would explain his odd behavior.

Fuck, I’msoready to be Alpha. To finally be in control, be the one calling the shots. I bet I’ll be good at it. I’ve never been great at anything- other than women, of course- but I was literally born to be alpha. If he’s ready to step down, I’m ready to take on the job. I can’t fucking wait.

I help him carry in the steaks and get the table set while Quinn and Brooke wander downstairs, chatting and giggling.

“Brooke!” Dad booms, waving the grill tongs at her. “How’s it going?”

Brooke smiles, strolling toward us. “Hi Alpha Anders! It’s going great, just came to get some help from Quinn on a computer program I’ve created for the squad.”

Damn. She’s never that chipper with me. Maybe she’s into old dudes or something.

Dad grins, setting down the tongs and reaching for the stack of plates. “That’s great! How are things in the IT unit?”

“Good,” Brooke breathes. “Busy, but good. We could use Quinn up there.” She elbows my sister.

“Hey now,” Dad chuckles. “The squad already has one of my kids, they can’t have the other.”

What he really means is they can’t have thegoodone.

“Whatever,” Quinn smirks. “I don’t wanna go up there anyways. At least not yet.”

Dad continues setting the plates around the table, and I suddenly realize that there’s two extra place settings.

“Is someone else coming for dinner?” I ask, eyeing the extra two plates skeptically.

Before Dad can answer my question, there’s a knock at the door. He shouts for whoever it is to come in and moments later, the door opens, Cory and Ellie entering.

Okay, now I’m definitely suspicious. Cory’s the son of our pack’s beta and Ellie is his new mate. They’re unlikely dinner guests to be sure. I don’t know what the hell they’re doing here, but if it has anything to do with how Dad’s been acting, it can’t be good.

I fold my arms across my chest, watching them through narrowed eyes as they make their way over and greet everyone.

Cory’s a few years younger than me, but we’ve always been friendly given our fathers’ close working relationship. Even though I’m skeptical as to what’s going on here tonight, I give him a friendly greeting and introduce myself to his mate. Ellie’s cute as hell- I’m surprised I never noticed her before. Then again, I rarely come back here.

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