Page 78 of Alpha Chase

“Hey, you made it!” Gray calls, waving me over. Theo and Jax are already occupying their usual seats at the table, while the other three remain vacant. Gray slaps the seat of the empty stool beside him as I approach and flashes me a grin. “It’s about time we had a sixth stool at our table.”

I slide onto it, lifting my chin to Theo and Jax in greeting before swinging my gaze back to Gray. “Is it just us, or are Brock and Reid coming too?”

“They’re always late,” Jax comments, sliding a bottle of beer in my direction. There’s a cluster of full beers in the center of the table, just waiting to be claimed. I like their style.

I’ve gotta admit that I was surprised when Gray invited me to join him and the guys for drinks tonight- not because he hadn’t mentioned it previously, but because I figured he was just trying to be nice at the time and didn’t expect him to actually follow through. I thought about declining his invitation, still a little embarrassed about having a goddamn panic attack on his doorstep the other day, but Vienna was there when his text came in and that girl can bequiteconvincing- especially when she’s grinding on me in her underwear. She said it’d be good for me to hang with the other alphas, and when she sweetened the deal by saying she’d be waiting naked in my bed for me when I returned, how could I say no?

“Who’s always late?” Brock asks, shooting Jax a glare as he rounds the table to take the stool beside him, purposefully knocking a shoulder into him in the process. “I know you’re not talking about me.”

Jax chuckles, unruffled by Brock’s surly attitude. He points the tip of his beer bottle in his direction. “Your punctuality has improved since you met Astrid, I’ll give you that.” He takes a sip, raising his brows.

Brock just shrugs, grunting in response. He combs his fingers through his long hair and ties it back before reaching for one of the full beers sitting in the center of the table, dragging it over to rest in front of him.

“Serena’s had the opposite effect on Reid,” Theo snorts. His eyes drift over my shoulder, lips drawing into a smirk. “Speak of the devil!”

“What’d I miss?” Reid claps me on the shoulder as he sinks down onto the stool beside me, meeting my eyes and arching a brow. “These guys talkin’ shit already?”

I chuckle, shaking my head and lifting my beer to take a swig. I’m learning that these guys are a lot like my own friends- shit talking is one of their main forms of communication.

Theo smiles smugly. “Not talkin’ shit, just tellin’ truths.”

Reid rolls his eyes in response, grabbing a drink for himself. “The truth being…?”

A wicked grin stretches Theo’s lips and I can tell that whatever’s about to come out of them is aimed to push some buttons. “That you’re always late these days because you’re balls deep in Serena.”

The beer in my mouth nearly comes out my nose. I fight to swallow it down, coughing on a laugh as Reid throws Theo a death glare and Jax delivers a hard jab to his friend’s bicep.

“Really, bro?” Gray admonishes, rolling his eyes. “That’s his mate, have a little respect.”

“What?” Theo laughs jovially, looking to the others and gesturing around the table. “Tell me it’s not true.”

“It’s a miracle that mouth of yours hasn’t gotten you killed yet,” Brock mutters, side-eyeing Theo as he raises his bottle to his lips. I get the feeling that those two butt heads a lot.

Reid narrows his eyes on Theo, lifting his own beer. “That’s your one for the night,” he warns, taking a swig. He swallows it down, licking his lips and setting it in front of him again, the picture of composure.

I wonder how he keeps it together all the time. I’ll bet when he does lose his shit, it’s cataclysmic.

“Speaking of mates…” Jax drawls, grinning as he swings his attention to me. “Chase, anything you wanna share?”

I’m mid-sip and I nearly spit it out all over the table. I somehow manage to choke it down with a hard swallow, wiping my mouth on my sleeve and darting an accusatory glance in Gray’s direction as I feel the color drain from my face, heart thumping erratically against my ribs.

“Damn, just jumping right into it, huh?” Reid grimaces, shaking his head. “At least let the guy get a beer down first.”

I wish I could take a page out of Reid’s book and just let it roll off, but my blood begins to boil, my wolf pushing forward in agitation. I came to Gray in confidence, and now he’s running his fucking mouth to these guys about my personal shit?

Gray winces as he turns my way. “It wasn’t me,” he says apologetically, holding up his hands and baring his palms. “But c’mon, you know how close our girls are. Once Fallon found out, it was only a matter of time before the other Lunas knew.”

I drag in a deep breath, fighting to contain my fury. “But… you…” I shake my head, so caught off guard that I’m tripping over my words. “You said you wouldn’t tell Vee. The moon hasn’t even confirmed it yet, and if it does, I don’t know how she’s gonna take it.” I heave a frustrated sigh, pounding the rest of my beer and slamming the empty bottle down onto the table, burying a hand in my hair and tugging.

“Fallon swore the girls to secrecy,” Gray offers, though it does little to assuage my building panic right now. He slides me a fresh beer, his eyes sincere as they lock on mine. “We aren’t gonna tell her, it’s not our place. Though I still thinkyoushould.”

I shake my head adamantly, taking the fresh beer from him and bringing it to my lips, my throat burning from the carbonation as I swallow down a big gulp. “I can’t,” I grind out, clutching the bottle tightly in my fist. “I just got her back. Plus, we don’t know for sure that she’s my…” I shake my head again. “I’m too young to have a mate.”

Brock snorts. “The moon doesn’t exactly let you pick and choose when your mate comes along,” he grumbles, shooting me a sideways glance.

“Tell me about it,” Theo sighs. He furrows his brow, scrubbing a hand over his face. “When Brooke and I found out, it was the worst possible timing.” The other guys wince and nod in agreement as Theo looks to me, lifting his drink. “But hey, you’ll make it work. We did. It just took a shit-ton of groveling on my part.”

“I won’t be groveling,” I mutter, even though that’s exactly what I’ve been doing since Vienna’s car wreck. Shit, am I becoming just as whipped as these fuckers? Maybe I should dial it back.

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