Page 6 of Alpha Theo

“Yeah, I think so,” I breathe.

Theo was right, I could use a night out. Just not withhim.

Connor smiles. “Cool.”

He goes back to eating, while I go back to playing with my food.

Fallon and her friends talk about the drills they ran at practice today while I listen half-heartedly. Sometimes I feel like an outcast among them, a lone wolf. I know they’d never make me feel that way intentionally, but I just have very little interest in all the sporty stuff they’re into.

My wolf perks up as the back of my neck prickles, a strange sensation coming over me like someone’s watching. My skin tingles as my wolf goes straight into paranoid protector mode, making me look around cautiously, on high alert. I scan the tables around ours in the dining hall, searching for the source of my discomfort, but everyone seems to be lost in their own conversations, eating their food.

My eyes continue to skim across the room, stopping, flying back to meet another pair. Intense, hazel eyes staring into mine from under a furrowed brow.Theo’s eyes. My breath catches in my throat and my heartbeat quickens.

Why the heck is Theo watching me from across the dining hall like a creepy stalker?

He holds eye contact for a moment before he looks away, back to his friends at his table.

My sense of unease remains, though. I take my plate in a hand and rise from the bench, throwing a leg over it to climb out. “I’ll catch you guys later,” I say, suddenly feeling the need to flee. When it comes to the fight or flight instinct, mine is decidedly flight.

“Whaaat?” Fallon whines in objection, peering up at me from the bench.

“I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on,” I reply flippantly. “So I can go out tomorrow.”

“Fine,” Fallon sighs, spinning back around, her ponytail flying. She’s lucky it didn’t land in my plate.

I drop my plate in the wash bin and head out of the dining hall, making a beeline for the squad dorms. I don’t lose that icky, prickly feeling until I’m tucked safely in my room.

I pull out my laptop, flop down on my bed, and lose myself in lines of code.

CHAPTER FOUR

Theo

I don’t know why Brooke Eastwick intrigues me. Call it morbid curiosity.

She’s not my typeat all. Buttoned up so tight, so prim and proper. A good girl. A brainiac. A nerd. She’s gotglasses, for fuck’s sake. In normal society that probably wouldn’t seem like a big deal, but shifters typically have perfect vision; our healing abilities overcome any deterioration of eyesight.

I sort of remember asking my mom about it, once, and her telling me that it was some kind of rare recessive trait that the Eastwick twins’ mom carried. That was a long time ago, though, so I don’t remember exactly. Either way, it’sweird.

If our interaction yesterday is any indication, Brooke clearly wants nothing to do with me- which is strange, because I’mme. Some females throw themselves at me, others play a game of cat and mouse- but the end result is always the same. Even the waitress from the Goldenleaf bar who was obsessed with Gray let me fuck her in the storage room. I bet Fallon would’ve, too, if I’d gotten to her before Gray did.

I’m not sure if I enjoy torturing Brooke or if I’m just trying to pass the time while I’m stuck in the IT hub, but I plant myself at her desk again the next day. She doesn’t even look up at me as I drag a chair over from the conference table, lean back in it, and slap my boots up on her desk.

Today she’s wearing aGreen Dayt-shirt, a pair of ripped up jeans, and the same dingy chuck taylors that she had on yesterday. Her long blonde hair is down, tucked back behind her ears. Black framed glasses perched on her nose; her fingers fly across the computer keyboard. Her nails are painted purple, the polish chipping.

I just watch her for a moment, studying her movements. The curve of her neck, the way she furrows her brow and gnaws on her lip in concentration. Definitely nerdy as hell, but also kind of… endearing?

“Sup, kid?” I ask, shrugging out of my jacket.

Slowly, she turns to look at me, and I watch as her eyes travel down to my biceps as I pull them out of my jacket sleeves, then fly to my abs when my shirt rides up.

“You like what you see?” I waggle my eyebrows.

She scowls, turning away, resuming typing. “Are you going to sit here and bug me all afternoon again?” Brooke asks through gritted teeth.

“Come on, now. I thought you liked my company.” I flash a smile, but she doesn’t even glance my way.

I throw my jacket over the back of my chair, reclining as I study her again. Long, thin fingers glide across the keyboard. Her baggy t-shirt hides her body, but if she’s anything like her twin, I bet it’s bangin’. Her tits are a little small for my taste, but I caught a glimpse of that yoga pant clad ass of hers in the dining hall last night and I wouldn’t mind another peek.

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