Page 56 of Alpha Chase

“How the fuck can that be taken out of context?!” I demand, pointing wildly toward the door. “Did he tell you he was planning to challenge me?”

The muscle in Gray’s jaw ticks as he folds his arms over his chest. “No, he was simply pointing out that the pack is restless, and that if you don’t step up, someone else will have to.”

I throw my hands up, gesturing wildly. “And you didn’t think that was pertinent information for me to know?”

“Not in your current state, look at your reaction.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to react?!”

Gray gives a little shake of his head, still as composed as ever. “You need to calm down.” He nods toward the chair across from the desk. “Sit, let’s talk about this.”

“I don’t need a fucking therapy session, I need you to shoot me straight about what the hell Rob told you!” I growl, my wolf so close to the surface that it feels like he’s about to burst through my skin.

“I told him you need to step up.”

I whip around at the sound of Rob’s voice, eyes landing on his large frame standing in the doorway of the office.

“Motherfucker,” I mutter, stomping toward him, getting right up in his face. “My dad fucking trusted you, and this is how you repay him?”

Rob shakes his head, a pained look in his eyes. “Your father was like a brother to me, Chase. I loved him.” His voice breaks and he hangs his head with a sigh, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I miss him every day, and I know you do, too. I know you’re still dealing with losing him, but you’re not the only one. I love you like a son, but something has to give here. The pack is still grieving too and they need a leader now more than ever. He would’ve wanted you to be that leader for them…”

Rob’s words tear through me like a hot knife, twisting up my insides and threatening to rip me apart. My eyes burn, my throat raw with unshed emotion.

I can’t do this. Not now, maybe not ever. Not here, inhisoffice, where he’ll never step foot again. In front of the desk where he’ll never sit again. Everything I’ve been shutting down, every feeling that I’ve turned off for the last two months comes flooding in at once, overwhelming me with a crushing sense of grief and loss that’s almost too much to bear. And the guilt- the fuckingguilt- because this is all my fault. I’m the reason he’s gone.

I swing back and level Gray with a glare, throwing my thumb over my shoulder. “If he wants the pack, the alpha title, he can fucking have it,” I say, my voice so cold and detached that I hardly even recognize it. “I don’t want any of it.”

I turn around and shoulder past Rob, pushing out of the office and storming down the hallway. Distantly, I hear Rob call after me, but it’s drowned out by the thump of my pulse in my ears as I make my way to the foyer. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Vienna’s small frame at the base of the stairs, but I don’t even spare her a glance. I just head straight for the front door, slamming it behind me as I leave the packhouse.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Vienna

Icytwigscrunchundermy feet as I make my way through the forest, the warm glow of a fire near the edge of Norbury’s territory drawing me in like a beacon. I shouldn’t be out here after Chase’s pathetic display of immaturity this morning, but after hearing the pain in his voice coming from that office, seeing the hollow look in his eyes as he stormed out of the packhouse, I guess I’m suddenly feeling sympathy for the devil himself. When I received a worried phone call from Fallon and Gray tonight asking if I’d seen Chase, I realized that I had a pretty good inkling of where he’d run off to and stupidly volunteered to go collect the bastard.

My feet shuffle against the frozen ground as I approach the blaze of the fire in the pit, eyes scanning the bodies slumped in chairs around it. All five of Chase’s boys are here, as well as a handful of other people that I vaguely recognize. The girl resting cozily on his lap, however, is all too familiar.

A twig snaps under my foot and Chase’s eyes meet mine over her shoulder, so cold and distant that I barely even recognize them.

“I thought I might find you here,” I breathe, the warmth of the fire heating my skin through my sherpa jacket and skinny jeans as I step closer.

Chase’s lips pull into a lazy grin and he holds out his arms, spreading his palms wide. “Here I am.”

Stasia’s eyes dart up to mine from her position on Chase’s lap, a vicious sneer coming over her face. “Oh look, it’s Vienna sausage,” she snickers, wriggling her body closer to Chase’s and turning sideways in his lap to drape an arm around his neck.

“Shut the fuck up, Stacey, I don’t have the energy for your bullshit tonight,” I snap, glaring daggers at her. “Get lost.”

Her jaw drops in offense, head whipping around to stare at Chase in disbelief. If she’s expecting him to intervene, this girl is even dumber than I thought. “Are you gonna let her talk to me like that?!”

He just shrugs a shoulder, still wearing that lazy grin. “You heard her.”

Stasia gapes at him. “But… I thought…” Her voice is so strained that I almost feel bad for the girl.

Almost.

I narrow my eyes on her, my wolf pushing forward with the desire to claw that idiotic look off her face. “Beat it, bitch.”

Her jaw’s still hanging open in bewilderment, and when she doesn’t move, I take it upon myself to urge her along. I lunge forward and snatch Stasia by the back of her hoodie, roughly yanking her up from Chase’s lap.

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