Page 110 of Alpha Theo

I smile contentedly in the dark, breathing in my girl’s sweet scent, holding her warm body in my arms. “Okay.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Theo

“I don’t wanna go to this damn meeting,” I grumble, steering onto the road that leads to the six-pack territory.

“You have to,” Brooke murmurs against my knuckles. She’s got her fingers intertwined with mine, holding our hands together up by her face. She keeps pressing little kisses to the back of my hand with her plush lips, sparks sizzing on my skin. I fucking love it.

“I’d rather go back with you, help you unpack.” I cast her a sideways glance, waggling my eyebrows suggestively.

She rolls her eyes, dropping my hand and giving me a playful little shove. I fake a swerve, the tires of the Jeep squealing a little- or was that my girl in the passenger seat? Either way, I laugh as she throws her hands on the ceiling to brace herself, then folds her arms across her chest, pouting.

“C’mon,” I sigh, reaching over to set my hand on Brooke’s thigh. “Help me come up with an excuse to ditch this meeting.”

She slides her own hand under mine, lacing our fingers together again. “Nope, you’ve gotta go.” Her hair swishes around her face as she snaps her head sideways to look over at me. Then she drops her voice low, impersonating mine. “Sorry kid.”

I let out a laugh- fuck, she’s funny. And gorgeous. And smart. And how the hell did I get so lucky, again?

“Why are you dreading this meeting so much anyways?” Brooke asks, giving my hand a little squeeze.

I heave a sigh. “Council meetings are the fucking worst, babe. It’s just a bunch of old men, stuck in their ways, arguing with us young bucks about what’s best for the pack.”

Admittedly, I haven’t attended a ton of these meetings since I’m not technically on the council for the six-pack yet, but every one I have has been exhausting. The council is made up of the alphas from each pack and their betas, but when they come together to deal with security issues, I have the joy of attending since I help run the squad.

“It can’t be that bad,” Brooke sighs. “I mean, Gray and Reid are on the council, and Brock will be taking his dad’s seat soon…”

“Next moon,” I mutter.

Brock’s dad, Alpha Rowe, is stepping down to allow him to take over the Riverton pack as Alpha. Meaning Jax and I are the last two of our group waiting to take control of our packs- unless you count Chase, Alpha Vaughn’s son, but the kid’s only seventeen; he’s not even part of the squad yet.

“I bet you’ll be next,” Brooke says encouragingly, giving my hand another squeeze. “So you’d better get used to these council meetings!”

I chuckle wryly. “Yeah, maybe.”

If only Brooke knew how much of an asshole my dad is about the transition of power. And now, to add insult to injury, Cory’s on the council as his beta- because somehow, he’s mature enough to help lead the pack even though he’s years younger than me.

Yeah, I’m bitter.

“Just imagine when it’s all of you on the council,” Brooke chirps.

“If it was all of us, we wouldn’t even have to have this meeting,” I say. “We’d all agree to align with Denver, do what needs to be done.”

She purses her lips. “You think they’ll push back?”

I grunt. “Definitely.”

“Well…” Brooke pauses, considering. “Make sure you speak up, tell them what it was like when everything went down in Denver. How scary it was.”

“And sound like a total pussy?” I scoff.

“You weren’t scared?”

I press my lips together in a tight line. “At first, yeah.”

In the beginning, I was fucking terrified- not of the shadow pack itself, but because Brooke was there. I was more afraid for her safety than anything else.

I turn onto the road to Goldenleaf, glancing over at Brooke. “You want me to drop you off at the complex, or do you wanna ride with me to the packhouse?” I ask.

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