Page 121 of Alpha Theo

He wraps his arms around my body, hooking his chin over my shoulder. “I’ll text you later?” he murmurs in my ear, nipping at the lobe.

“Yeah,” I giggle, wriggling to turn around in his arms. I loop mine around his neck and he grabs my chin with a hand, bringing my face to his to plant a kiss on my lips. I lift up on my tiptoes, lips parting to return his kiss eagerly, pressing my chest against his hard body.

I love kissing him. I wish we could just stay in this room, shirk our responsibilities, and hide out from the world for a little while longer.

Theo pulls back, dropping a kiss on my forehead before he lets me go. Then he heads for the door, glancing over his shoulder to toss me a wink before he opens it to leave. “Later, kid.”

I laugh, rolling my eyes as he pulls the door open and exits my room. As soon as he’s gone, I feel the loss of his presence acutely, like the tether of the mate bond is strained when we’re not together.

I cursed the mate bond at first, but now? I’m ready to throw up my hands and thank fate for Theo.

I sit down on my bed to pull on and lace my running shoes, then grab my toiletry bag and make my way to the locker room to brush my teeth before I head out. I’m in the middle of brushing my teeth when the door swings open, Sutton striding into the locker room and taking the sink beside me. I’ve never spoken to the girl, so I’m unprepared when she suddenly turns to me, flashing a smile.

“Hey, you’re Theo’s latest fling, right?” she asks, tossing her glossy dark hair over her shoulder. Even in the morning, she’s all put together- her outfit is on point, her makeup is perfect. Her tone is friendly, yet her words are provocative.

Before I have a chance to answer, Sutton continues. “I saw you guys at the bar last night,” she says coolly, spinning to face the mirror and turning on the faucet. “And you reek of him today.”

I spit toothpaste into the sink, dipping my toothbrush under the water to rinse it.Who does this girl think she is?I don’t dignify her with a response, I just stick my toothbrush back in my mouth and continue brushing.

“He’s amazing, isn’t he?” Sutton sighs, pulling out her own toothbrush and squeezing a glob of toothpaste onto the bristles. Her eyes flutter to the ceiling dreamily. “That body…”

“What’s your problem?” I snap, my toothbrush still in my mouth as I turn to shoot her a glare.

Sutton whips around to face me, eyes wide. “What? I’m just trying to have a little girl talk, that’s all.”

I scowl, leaning forward to spit into the sink again. “No,” I say, wiping at my mouth with an arm. “You just want me to know that you’ve been with Theo.”

“I mean at this point who hasn’t?” she laughs, still playing it friendly, like we’re girlfriends. She dips her toothbrush under the faucet, then starts brushing her teeth.

I want to tear this girl’s face off. I might try, too, if the rational side of me wasn’t working overtime to rein in my wolf. Sutton is a trained fighter on the squad; I’d be no match for her physically.

My stomach is in knots. I feel like I’m going to be sick. If I puke, I know where I’m aiming it.

Sutton spits into the sink, straightening to flash me another smile in the mirror. “Enjoy it while it lasts,” she chirps. “I know I did.”

I shove my toothbrush back in my toiletry bag, zipping it closed. “Go fuck yourself,” I mutter, turning on a heel to leave the locker room.

All of those queasy, uncertain thoughts that I had in the beginning come bubbling back up to the surface as I trudge through the hallways of the complex back to my dorm room. I don’t hold Theo’s past against him because he can’t change it- but Sutton’s not-so-subtle reminder that he’s been with so many beautiful women makes me feel horribly inadequate, like I’m an imposter. Have I been living in a fantasy world these past few weeks? Is it going to last? Can it last?

I drop my bag off in my dorm room and leave the complex, taking off into the forest for my run. My belly is still all tangled up, my thoughts scrambled and irrational. After about a mile, it all becomes too much- there’s only one way to truly escape.

I dip off of the path and strip, calling my wolf forward. She obliges quickly, skin tingling with my shift as my bones snap and rearrange. The moment I’m on four paws, I take off into the brush, surging through the forest. I run farther away from the squad complex- from my thoughts, my fears, my problems. Almost like I’m running from myself.

CHAPTER FORTY

Theo

I don’t know why I bother going home to Summervale. I’m trying to get more involved with my pack by going to visit once a week, but it always ends in me bickering with my old man and getting stressed out by the tension between us that never seems to dissipate. I stay the night, but the visit’s anything but productive.

I make it back to the complex the next morning in time to run drills with the squad, which helps relieve some of the stress I carried back with me. After they’re over, I hang back with the guys while the rest of the squad files back into the complex to grab lunch. I’ve got some serious road rash on my left forearm from when Gray dropped me during our last drill, and I rub at it as I approach Jax and Brock, wincing a little.

“Gray got you good, huh?” Brock chuckles, eyeing my arm.

“Yeah,” I mutter. “Got the jump on me.”

It wasn’t the first time, either- I kept making sloppy mistakes while we were running drills. I’m not sure if I’m out of practice since I’ve been spending so much time with the IT unit lately, or if I’m just mentally exhausted from my visit home. Either way, my body has taken a beating today.

“You’re not distracted, are you?” Jax teases, delivering a playful jab to my bicep.

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