Page 39 of Marked By the Alphas

I recognized where we were going when we took the next turn. Rose had pointed it out to me on our market run. It was the mall.

I recognized the guard at the mall entrance instantly. She was one of the wolves whose sister ran a market stall at the local market, and I had met her on my last market trip. Her eyes lit up in recognition when she saw me, and she waved at me as I passed. It made me feel so giddy inside, knowing that she had acknowledged me. I couldn’t help but compare life here to whatit was like in Silas’ pack. Where I had come from, everywhere we went, we were treated like literal devils, especially since we were always heavily guarded and most of the people nearby hated to make contact with us. Here, it felt like I had a brand-new life. It felt like I had a home now.

Rhys squeezed my hands as we walked into the mall, and I looked at the scene before me with wide eyes.

“Welcome to the biggest mall in the pack! Where do you want to go first?” Rhys asked excitedly and I could easily tell that this was another of his favorite places.

“You can pick whatever you want. Don’t think too much about anything, and just buy as much as our hands can carry,” Kai encouraged me. My jaw dropped and Rowan tipped my chin up.

“Anything. We mean it,” he said softly, and the butterflies in my tummy fluttered.

“I like dresses,” I said, and he nodded, taking my hands once more to lead me.

“Then we will get you a whole fucking shop’s worth of them,” Kai announced, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I let him pull me into a store, and a woman immediately hurried over.

“Alpha Kai, Alpha Rhys, Alpha Rowan, what a pleasant surprise. I never thought I’d see the day you would grace my dress shop,” she said excitedly.

“Well, you’re in luck. This is our mate, Elara. And she is your customer for today,” Rowan announced and the woman beamed at me, her eyes sparkling as she spoke.

“Hello, Elara. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Sonia, the owner of this store. What kind of dress are you looking to get?” she asked, and I shrugged, taking the hand that she offered to lead me into the store.

Sonia was very helpful, and after I had picked out some dresses, Kai, Rhys, and Rowan decided it would be fun if I modeled each one for them. Their reaction to each dress was always better than the last.

After a while, I concluded the process of buying dresses, and from there, the Alphas dragged me from shop to shop. They bought me everything from shoes, to lingerie, to jewelry, and even though my legs were hurting from all the walking around, I was too excited to complain.

“I think I have more than enough things now,” I said at one point and they all laughed.

“Well, we have a final spot to take you,” Rhys said, and they led me into a device store.

“We noticed you don’t have a phone, and I’m not going to lie, I even judged you a little bit for it because, I mean, who doesn’t have a phone in this day and age?” Rowan said playfully and I laughed along with them.

“Well, I wasn’t allowed to own one, so it’s not exactly my fault,” I responded without thinking and it took a moment of silence to realize what I had said.

Each of the Alphas had a questioning look on their face, and it made my heart sink to the bottom of my stomach at my slip.

“W-well, I mean, you know, I-I never really needed one because I don’t have a lot of people to communicate with,” I stuttered painfully in an attempt to redeem myself.

“Well, you’re in luck. Now you have us to communicate with now and I’m a great texter, so you’ll have fun talking to me,” Rowan said as he pulled me gently into the device store.

“You mean an annoying texter?” Kai responded, and Rowan flipped him off, which made Kai laugh. Although it seemed like my slip-up flew right over Kai’s and Rowan’s heads, I noticed how Rhys remained quiet and how he kept sneaking glances at me.

There was a pained look in his gaze that was strangely familiar, but I couldn’t quite put a finger on it.

Eventually, we finished our shopping spree, and once we were outside there was a car waiting for us. Kai explained that he had asked for it to be brought here so we didn’t have to lug the shopping bags to our next destination.

I watched as they arranged all my shopping bags in the trunk, and it was at that moment, that I felt it. It was a feeling of being watched. I recognized it immediately because it was a part of my training. A shiver climbed up my spine, and I made a quick sweep of the parking lot with my eyes, but nothing seemed to be out of place.

“Are you okay?” Rhys asked, and I turned my attention toward him. The clouds in his expression were gone, and they were back to showing me the softness that I was now getting used to.

I nodded my head quickly, not wanting to ruin the rest of the date with my paranoia. He offered me his hand, pulling the door open for me so I could get in.

The sun began its descent, casting a warm orange glow on the path to our next destination. After driving for a while, we finally arrived at a secluded clearing overlooking a breathtaking vista.

Rowan opened the door for me, and the sight in front of me made me catch my breath and caused a gasp to escape my lips. A picnic basket lay nestled beneath a willow tree, its branches draping the area in a dappled shade. A white linen cloth adorned the ground, and three plush cushions rested upon it.

Rhys gestured toward the spread. “We hope you like it.”

“It’s beautiful,” I confessed, walking toward the picnic while wondering when they had managed to set all of this up.

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