Page 100 of Alpha Reid

I wrap my arms around myself, holding onto my elbows and taking a few tentative steps in his direction. My heels clack against the hardwood floor as I walk- this is the first time I’ve worn these black pumps, and they’re rubbing the backs of my heels uncomfortably. As I draw closer, Chase turns away and stares out the window, avoiding eye contact with me until I’m standing over him.

“Hi,” I breathe, mind racing with uncertainty as I search for the right words to say. “How are you?”

Chase’s eyes are dark and stormy as they come to mine. “Shitty.”

“Yeah, I figured,” I sigh, gaze dropping to the floor. “Sorry, that was a stupid thing to ask.”

He doesn’t reply. A silence stretches between us, and for the first time ever with Chase, it’s uncomfortable as hell. Like I suddenly don’t even know him.

I blow out a breath, tucking my hair behind my ears and forcing a smile of encouragement to my lips. “Well, you’ve just gotta get through today, right?” I say, trying my best to fake cheerfulness. “One day at a time, but things will slowly get better. Your pack’s counting on you…”

“I don’t need a lecture,” Chase snaps, cutting me off. He doesn’t even bother to look at me as he says it; he’s gone back to staring out the window.

My brows shoot up. “I’m not lecturing,” I say defensively, taken aback by the callousness in his tone. “Just trying to help a friend.”

“I don’t need your help,” he mutters.

“Chase…” I sigh, but when he turns to look at me again, the coldness in his eyes gives me pause. I’ve seen Chase be a dick to other people, but he’s never been like that with me. Until right now. It’s like he just doesn’t give a damn about anyone or anything anymore.

“You think you’re gonna fix me somehow?” he growls, narrowing his eyes. “News flash, Serena, having a few dead relatives doesn’t make you an expert on how to handle grief. I just watched you almost have a panic attack when your friends tried to get you to go up to the casket with them, so maybe you should work out your own shit instead of acting like you know something about mine.”

My throat tightens, his words piercing my armor like daggers. “Well that’s a cruel thing to say.”

“It’s a cruel fuckin’ world, sweetheart.”

Tears sting behind my eyes as I stand in front of Chase, anger and frustration bringing my wolf forward. The combination of Chase’s words and Vaughn’s body lying a few yards away suddenly has me feeling like I’m suffocating. The walls start to close in, my throat tightening. I can’t breathe. Can’t think straight. I have to get out of here.

My heart thunders in my chest as I spin around, eyes trained on the floor and heels clacking against it as I speed walk toward the exit. I have to get outside where the air isn’t so stifling.

I only make it a few steps before I collide with a hard chest, looking up with wild, wide eyes to see Reid’s clear blue ones peering down at me. His brows draw together in concern, his lips pursing to speak, but before he can I blurt out, “I need some air.”

My desperation must be obvious, because Reid doesn’t waste another second- he tucks me protectively under an arm, leading me straight to the door we came in. The thick crowd in the packhouse seems to part for us and he gets me outside in under a minute, the cold air jolting my system when it hits my face. I greedily suck in a deep breath, springing off of the front stoop and onto the snow-covered lawn, heels be damned. I pace out a few yards, still fighting the tears that are burning my eyes with their threat to spill over.

Reid’s right there with me, stepping into my view and reaching out to cup my cheek in a hand. He looks deeply into my eyes and I’m sure my wolf is showing; I can still feel her pressing forward in nervous agitation.

“You’re upset.”

The deep, velvety baritone of his voice has an instant calming effect on me, and I nod.

“What happened?”

I give a shake of my head. “I don’t…” I stop, caught between not wanting to rehash it and not wanting to shut Reid out. I look up at him pleadingly, pressing a palm to his chest. “Later?”

He nods. “Later’s fine. What do you need right now?”

Ugh, thisman. Just when I think I can’t love him any more than I already do, he reminds me how amazing he is.

“You,” I breathe.

His arms come around me, enveloping me in the warmth and safety of his embrace. I bury my face in his chest, drawing deep breaths as I inhale his scent and feel a wave of calm wash over me, the strength of the mate bond grounding me. “Always you,” I whisper.

I lift my chin, my lips finding their way to his instantly and pressing against them. They pout and twist and move against my own so naturally that it feels like this man was born to kiss me, his arms circling my waist, his tongue softly massaging mine. When he’s kissing me, I forget the rest of the world- I willingly drown in him, losing myself in the sweetest escape. Like so many times before, the intensity of the kiss ratchets up, that familiar fire blazing between us and threatening to burn everything else to ash. My hands grip the lapels of his suit jacket, pulling him closer, as close as I can get him, while his arms tighten around me and squeeze the air from my lungs.

As quickly as we lose ourselves, we’re yanked back to reality, startling at the sound of the packhouse door swinging closed. Reid and I both snap our heads in the direction of the sound to see an older couple making their exit from the packhouse, stepping aside for a small group of people as they approach from the front walk to head in. It seems this place is nearly as busy outside as it is inside right now.

I’m not ready to go back inside. I turn back to Reid, eyes pleading, and he immediately reads my expression.

“Come on,” he growls, slipping an arm over my shoulders and turning me away from the packhouse, toward the Mustang parked on the curb nearby. He reaches into his pocket to click the fob, unlocking the doors, and he doesn’t let me go until we’re right in front of the Mustang, his arm sliding from my shoulders as he heads for the drivers’ side. I quickly make my way around to the passenger side and once we’re both inside the car I turn to look at Reid, chest still rising and falling rapidly with my breaths.

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