Page 44 of Alpha Chase

Our eyes connect and we share a smirk.

Gray sighs, gesturing toward the living room. “Shall we?”

The rest of us mumble in agreement, shuffling into the other room with coffees in hand.

“When more of us lived up at the complex, we used to all go out for beers, shoot the shit. We should start doing that again.” Gray plops down on the couch, looking at me pointedly. “You, too.”

I shrug a shoulder, taking my usual seat as the other guys fill in around me. “Sure.”

This isn’t what I expected. Instead of a lecture, it feels more like an olive branch. Part of me wants to say it’s too little, too late, while the other is tempted to take it, see if I really could belong. At least they’re trying. They caught me in a good mood, considering I finally nailed the girl I’ve been obsessing over, so fuck it, I’ll go with the latter.

“As long as it’s not the tap, I don’t think I can show my face in there for a while after Saturday,” Brock groans, rubbing his temple.

I lift my gaze to him, arching a brow in his direction. Everything that happened on Saturday night after my little run-in with Vienna is hazy, at best. I dipped out shortly after that.

“Brock got a little surly with a few of the guys on the dance floor,” Jax provides, elbowing me with a grin.

“They were dancing too close to my girl,” he grumbles.

“Possessive fucker,” Theo teases.

Reid snorts. “Says the guy who has his girl’s name tattooed across his heart.”

“Hey!” Theo points toward Brock. “I’m not the only one, have you seen Brock’s tat on his ribs lately?”

Jax’s eyes fly wide as his head snaps toward Brock. “You didn’t…”

Brock leans back, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Damn right I did.” He grabs for the hem of his shirt, yanking it up to reveal a tattoo inked on his side. It’s a detailed piece with a forest treeline and a wolf howling to the moon, and sure as shit, running through the middle of it is his mate’s name:Astrid. The forest design and the letter A look a little faded, but the rest of Astrid’s name is a shade darker, like it’s a fresh addition.

“When did you do that?” Jax asks, leaning forward and squinting his eyes to study the ink.

Brock shrugs as he drops his shirt back down. “Few weeks ago. She already owns me, so I thought I might as well make it official.”

“You guys are fuckin’ saps,” I chuckle, taking another sip of my coffee. It’s finally cooled down enough to not sear the shit out of my tongue.

“Just you wait,” Gray quips, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

I roll my eyes, shaking my head. “Would you ever do that?” I ask him, throwing a thumb over my shoulder toward Theo and Brock.

Gray shrugs. “Honestly? I’m not sure if there’s anything I wouldn’t do for Fallon.”

He gets this look in his eyes when he says it, a shimmer of his wolf showing in his irises. The other guys all grunt and nod in agreement, so damn pussy-whipped by their mates that they can’t even deny it. I shake my head, biting back my response since it’s five against one here- that it’ll be a cold day in hell before I let anyone have that much power over me.

“So, uh, what’s gonna happen?” I ask, staring down at the paper cup in my hands and picking at the logo on the side with my thumbnail. “With the tourist, I mean.”

Gray heaves a sigh, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “You picked a real prick to throw hands with. Some rich kid from the east coast. He wanted to press charges, so we wound up comping the whole trip for him and his buddy. Put them up in one of the cabins…”

“So he gets the royal treatment for being a douche, huh?” Theo scoffs, rolling his eyes. He’s got a point- the private cabins available for rent on the outskirts of the lodge run around $900 a night. That asshole is getting some serious perks in return for trying to assault Vienna.

“Guess so,” Gray breathes, stabbing his fingers through his hair. “Could be worse. And they’ll be gone by Sunday.” His eyes flicker to me. “Might wanna avoid the lodge until then.”

I swallow down the last of my coffee, nodding. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

The fact that this guy seems to be getting rewarded for what he did doesn’t sit quite right with me, but it’s a hell of a lot better than him going to the cops. At least his bruises and broken nose will stick around for a while. His ugly, blood-stained face resurfaces in my mind as I remember the satisfying crack of his nose under my fist. “He said something…” I mumble, recalling the one aspect of the whole thing that I just can’t seem to shake; the one that has been nagging in the back of my mind ever since. “Right before I was pulled off of him, he said someone told him to mess with Vienna.”

All five of the guys sit up a little straighter as they look to me, their interest piqued.

“Who?” Reid questions. “His friend?”

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