Page 99 of Alpha Reid

“I will, Ma,” I laugh, rolling my eyes. As if Serena doesn’t already have me by the balls. I’d lasso the moon for that girl.

As soon as I’ve closed the front door of the packhouse behind my parents, I turn back to Serena, lunging toward her and scooping my arms around her, lifting her in the air. She giggles, wrapping her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck as I carry her toward the stairs.

“I’ve been waiting all night to get you alone,” I murmur into her ear, nipping the lobe.

“Oh yeah?” she challenges, her voice breathy and seductive. She tosses her hair back, her eyes meeting mine and glimmering with the silver of her wolf. “What are you gonna do to me, Alpha?”

I start carrying her up the stairs, taking them two at a time. “Whatever I want to, Luna,” I growl out, the heat of her core against my crotch making my dick harder with every step. “I can’t wait to get you out of that dress… but you can leave the boots on.” `

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Serena

After my family was killed, there were no funerals to attend. I never saw their bodies lying in coffins or heard anecdotal stories of memories from friends who came to pay their respects. When my parents and brothers were murdered by the shadow pack, they were just…gone. Instantly forgotten by the ones who took their lives, their bodies disposed of like trash.

I was made to believe that I was the only one left to remember them. In those first few hopeless days, I felt like I was drowning in my grief. It was almost too much to bear, and I found myself wishing that I’d died, too. The days in that cell bled together into weeks and I lost pieces of myself with each one that passed. Then they brought my sister to me, and everything changed.

Knowing that Olivia was alive, that some of my pack had survived the attack- that was all I needed to find the will to keep going. To survive. Even when I felt desperate, hopeless, I dug deep and found strength I didn’t know I had. I started to heal. I learned how to trust again. I let myself be happy. I found love.

I’m not sure what it’ll take for Chase to dig deep and find his strength. Right now, he looks like he’s drowning. People are filtering in and out of the packhouse, paying their respects to his father’s life, and he’s just slumped over in a chair in the corner of the room, staring blankly out a window. The nightmare with the shadow pack may be over, but Chase’s is just beginning.

At least he put on a suit for the occasion. His white dress shirt is wrinkled underneath and the knot on his black tie is loose and hanging down off his collar, but the fact that he managed a suit has to count for something. His hair’s a mess, sticking out in all directions from the way he keeps tugging at it, and I’m not sure if his bloodshot eyes are the biproduct of his grief or the weed he keeps sneaking off to smoke. The dark circles underneath them tell me that he still hasn’t been sleeping.

His high school friends are never far- right now they’re flanking him like they’re his bodyguards, which is laughable considering he’s bigger than the rest of them. I wish I could go talk to him without his goon squad crowding us, but it doesn’t seem like they’ll be leaving his side anytime soon. Not that it looks like Chase wants to talk to anyone right now. The guy couldn’t be putting off stronger ‘fuck off’ vibes if he tried.

“Poor baby Alpha,” Fallon sighs, coming up beside me and setting her hand on my shoulder as she joins me in gazing Chase’s way. “Have you talked to him?”

“Not yet.” I frown, turning to Fallon. She’s flanked by the usual suspects- Brooke, Quinn, and Astrid- all of them with varying degrees of gloominess in their expressions. “I tried to the other day, but he doesn’t seem ready to talk about it.”

“He looks awful,” Brooke mumbles, stealing a glance in his direction. “I can’t imagine.”

Fallon throws her hands on her hips, still watching Chase’s display of despondency in the corner. “Hopefully Gray can get through to him. He told me he was going to try to mentor Chase since they suddenly have so much in common.”

I look his way again and Chase’s eyes flicker to meet mine for a moment, then away just as quickly. I suddenly feel guilty for standing here and spectating his grief. Probably the last thing he needs.

“I think he just needs time,” I say, sidestepping to position myself between Chase and the other girls to block their view. “Isn’t that what they say? Time heals all wounds?”

“Something like that,” Quinn says sadly. She glances over at her brother and I follow her gaze to see Theo standing near the other alphas across the room, his head bowed and his lips set in a frown. I almost forgot that Theo and Quinn are unfortunate members of the dead parents club, too.

“I’d hoped this would end differently,” Astrid says, staring wistfully toward Theo and the others. I’m learning that she often makes ominous comments like that, being a seer. Naturally, it piques our interest, and we all look to her expectantly as we wait for her to elaborate.

“I had a vision of this day a long time ago, but never saw who was in the coffin,” she murmurs, turning back to us. “I could tell it was someone important, but not who.”

Fallon shakes her head. “That’s fucked.”

“Completely,” Quinn agrees. “Have you guys been up there yet?” she asks, nodding toward the the open casket at the front of the room.

All of us mumble in the negative.

“Should we go now?” Brooke questions, and the other girls nod, making moves to head in that direction- but suddenly my feet feel like lead weights, glued to the floor.

“Serena, you coming?” Fallon asks, glancing back at me over her shoulder.

I shake my head quickly, my mouth running dry. “Nah, you guys go ahead,” I mutter, squeezing the words past the tightness in my throat. “I’m going to try to talk to Chase.”

Fallon gives me a nod, turning away to follow the other girls as I take a step backwards and lean a shoulder into the wall, trying to get my shit together. What the hell is wrong with me? Why does the mere thought of going up there and looking into that coffin make me feel like I can’t breathe?

I take a few deep breaths, steadying myself against the wall until I regain my composure. Once I do, I look toward Chase again. To my surprise, not only has his goon squad moved on to raid the spread of refreshments in the kitchen, but he’s looking back, watching me. Guess this is my opening.

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