Page 106 of Alpha Chase

Vienna wets her lips with her tongue as her eyes rake over my bare chest before returning to meet my own. “Surprise me.”

I shamelessly adjust my boner as I round the bed and exit the room, jogging downstairs to the kitchen to hunt for something to feed my little devil. I pull open the fridge and survey the contents, finding my choices are sorely lacking. It’s bound to be restocked before the pack’s here for the full moon run tomorrow, but right now all that’s left is the healthy shit that I usually pass over. I settle on an untouched carton of strawberries, tossing it onto the counter and nudging the refrigerator door closed before hunting through the cabinets for a bowl.

These need to be washed, right?I have a vague memory of my dad washing strawberries before he ate them. I find a glass bowl that looks large enough to contain the fruit, setting it on the counter and dumping the whole carton of strawberries inside. Then I carry it to the sink and turn on the faucet, filling the bowl with water. It starts spilling over, strawberries bobbing out of it and into the sink, and it’s then that I realize I must’ve missed a crucial step in the whole fruit washing process.Why didn’t I pay more attention when my dad did this?I grab the bowl in one hand and clumsily turn it over on top of the other in an attempt to hold the fruit in while the water drains, but of-fucking-course my hand slips, sending all the strawberries scattering into the sink below.Great.

I change course and pull out the little sprayer nozzle on the side of the sink, aiming for each piece of fruit to spray it down. This is exactly why I don’t fuck with fruit- it’s more hassle than it’s worth. I’ll do it for my girl, though. Once I’m satisfied that every strawberry is adequately washed, I scoop the dripping berries out of the sink and pop them back into the bowl, shaking the water off my hands, snatching the bowl from the counter, and bounding back up the stairs.

“The fridge is pretty bare,” I explain as I stride back into the room and slide into bed next to Vienna again, offering her the bowl. “I could order a pizza or something, I think Dino’s over in Stillwater delivers now. Serena’s always going on and on about how good it is…”

“No, this is perfect,” she smiles, plucking a strawberry out of the bowl and bringing it to her lips. She sinks her teeth into the fruit, pink juice dribbling down her chin.

“Fuck, watching you eat that is practically foreplay,” I murmur, reaching down to adjust my dick in my sweatpants for what feels like the hundredth time today.

“Shut up,” she laughs, swiping the juice with her thumb and sucking it off. My eyes darken as I watch her and she rolls her eyes, giving me a playful shove as she reaches for another strawberry. “Knock it off, I need my strength.”

“Yeah you do,” I growl, my eyes locked on her lips as she wraps them around the fruit and bites down.

“Stop,” she admonishes after she swallows it down, though a teasing smirk pulls at her lips that tells me she isn’t exactly against what I’m suggesting.

A growl rumbles in my chest as I pull her into my lap, caging her in my arms and resting my back against the headboard. “I almost lost you, baby. If you don’t think I’m going to fuck you until you forget all about last night- hell, until you forget your own damnname- then you’ve got another thing coming.” I nip the tender flesh of her neck, inhaling her raspberry and rosewater scent deep into my lungs.

She giggles and squirms in my arms until she accepts that I have no designs on letting her go and finally relents, relaxing back against my chest as she continues eating strawberries out of the bowl in her lap.

“Gray wants me to be inducted as Alpha tomorrow night,” I murmur into her hair.

“Really?” She twists around in my lap and meets my eyes over her shoulder. “Are you gonna do it?” she asks, her eyes bright.

I furrow my brow, blowing out a slow breath. “I don’t know…”

That feisty spark ignites in Vienna’s eyes, and she shifts the bowl of fruit off her lap, setting it precariously on the bed beside us and squirming until she’s facing me with her thighs draped over mine. “Why not? You keep saying you’re not ready, but youare, Chase. Why are you so against this?”

“I just…” I sigh, grabbing her wrists and pulling her arms up to loop them around my neck. “You wanna know the truth?”

She sinks her teeth into her lower lip, nodding.

My throat bobs as I swallow hard, mustering up the courage to force the words past my lips that reveal my greatest vulnerability. “Learning how to be Alpha, taking his place… it means he’s really gone.”

“Oh, Chase,” Vienna sighs sadly, cupping my jaw in a hand and forcing my eyes to meet hers. She strokes her thumb across my cheek gently. “I know it’s hard, but you can’t move forward until you accept what happened. His life may have been stolen, but you’ve got so much of your own left to live. And the best way you can honor him is by carrying on his legacy. Picking up where he left off and leading the pack that he died to protect.”

“I know,” I rasp, gritting my teeth as I clutch onto the girl in my arms like a lifeline. I heave a sigh, dropping my head and resting my forehead on her shoulder. “It’d help to have you there by my side.”

“Tomorrow?” she asks, stroking her fingers through my hair absently. “You want me to run with your pack?”

“Not just run with them,” I murmur, lifting my head to gaze into her eyes again. “Help lead them.”

Her brows pinch together in confusion, her lips pursing. “What are you saying, Chase?”

Fuck it, may as well lay it all out there.

“I want you to be my Luna.”

Vienna’s jaw goes slack, her big brown eyes widening. “Chase, I…”

I cut her off before she can continue, the words rushing from my lips. “I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. You’re the only girl I want Vienna. That’s never going to fucking change. I feel like I was half dead before I met you, and you… well, you brought me back to life. You’re brave and strong and you call me on my bullshit when nobody else will, and even though we drive each other crazy half the time, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I know you feel it too, so why not make this thing official? Gray already thinks we’re fated mates, so-”

“Wait, what?” Vienna blurts, pressing a palm to my chest and jerking backwards, her eyes ablaze.

Shit, did I just let that slip?

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