Page 102 of Alpha Reid

Jax furrows his brow in confusion. “Where’s who?”

“Chase.”

“Uhh, not here yet…” Jax mumbles, pushing back his dark blonde hair with a hand and glancing around.

“What’s going on, bro?” Theo asks tentatively. He arches a brow at me as he shrugs off his leather jacket, tossing it aside.

I frown and look past the others, still trying to see if I can spot Chase on the field. “I need to talk to him.” My wolf is pushing forward, agitated, egging me on to find Chase and give him a piece of my mind.

“What about?” Gray questions, narrowing his eyes. “Because you look like you’re ready to take the kid’s head off. Do I need to remind you that he buried his father yesterday?”

“No,” I snap, turning my gaze on Gray. He looks a bit taken aback and I know my wolf is showing.Damnit.

This isn’t like me. I’m usually calm and composed, even when someone does something to piss me off. Especially then, because that’s when I need to keep a cool head the most. When it comes to my mate, though, I struggle to keep my emotional reactions in check. It’s probably because my wolf is so damn protective of her. It’s a recipe for a short fuse.

Brock folds his arms across his chest, studying me. “What’d he do?”

It’s a good question that I don’t have a specific answer to. Serena hasn’t been herself since the funeral, she’s just been…sad. When she didn’t want to come up to the complex for training this morning, I knew something was really off. I asked again what happened that day, and she finally told me that it had something to do with Chase popping off on her. Though she didn’t tell me exactly what he said, I spent my entire drive to the complex stewing about it, and by the time I arrived here I was ready to swing first and ask questions later.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say quickly with a shake of my head. “It’s between me and Chase.”

“Reid…” Gray warns, and I shoot him another glare. But he’s right.Fuck.

I lace my fingers and crack my knuckles in front of me, squeezing my eyes closed and letting my head drop back with a sigh. He’s right, I need to get my damn wolf under control and handle this like a mature adult. I draw a few deep breaths, calming my inner animal and shoving him to the background.

“There he is,” Theo points out, looking toward the gate. I follow his gaze to see Chase stepping through, blowing smoke from his mouth and flicking the end of a joint onto the ground, grinding it under his shoe.

I waste no time in making my way across the field, approaching Chase right as he looks up from the ground, running a hand through his hair absently. He looks like crap, but I suppose that’s the norm for him these days.

“What’s up?” he asks when he sees me, aloof as ever and stinking of weed and whiskey.

I fold my arms across my chest, jaw clenched and lips set in a tight line. “Listen, I get that you’re angry at the world right now, but you shouldn’t be taking it out on the people who care about you the most.”

Chase’s brows draw together in confusion. “Wha…”

“I know you’re going through a lot,” I continue, cutting him off, “but if you take it out on my mate again, we’re going to have a problem.”

His expression shifts to one of recognition, almost like I can see the lightbulb going off in his head. Chase nods slowly, shoving his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie and staring down at the ground. “I didn’t mean to take it out on her,” he mumbles.

As pissed off as I am, I suddenly can’t help but feel bad for the guy. I didn’t expect him to admit fault, so I’m left without a response, just standing there watching him.

Chase shuffles his weight, lifting his head and bringing his gaze back up to meet mine. “Did she tell you what I said?”

“Not specifically,” I mutter, jaw ticking from the effort I’m expending to keep my wolf at bay. “But she hasn’t been herself the past couple days.”

“Well I don’t think it was just me,” Chase grumbles. He reaches up to yank his hood over his head, darting his gaze away.

I furrow my brow. “What does that mean?”

Chase shrugs. “Just… being at the funeral. I don’t know.” He shakes his head. “Forget it.”

He goes to push past me, but I reach out and grab his arm to stop him. His reaction is immediate- he shrugs my hand off, whipping around to face me, wild eyes teeming with metallic gold. It looks like his wolf is ready to charge forward and take a bite out of me, and my own wolf surges to the surface in response.

The last thing either of us need is for our wolves to break free and go head-to-head right here on the practice field this morning, so with great effort, I shove my own down and decide to just let it go. I take a step back, letting Chase pass and watching after him as he stalks onto the practice field. I think a hard workout will do both of us some good this morning.

What he said nags in the back of my mind the whole time, though. ‘Just being at the funeral’. I don’t know why it never occurred to me that the funeral for Chase’s father may have dredged up some of Serena’s demons, given the manner of her own father’s demise. And her mother. And her brothers.Fuck, how did I not think of that? Is Chase really more perceptive about my own mate than I am? That thought really makes me want to let my wolf at him.

Squad leadership sticks around to have a meeting after practice, and even though it’s important for us to discuss how we’re going to field and lead the squad going forward, I’m distracted the whole time. I feel guilty for not connecting the dots sooner and offering Serena support. She’s strong as hell, so she’s been putting on a tough front for the past couple days, but I knew something was wrong and didn’t do anything about it other than work myself up to confront Chase. I should’ve done better.

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