Page 4 of My Possessive Alpha

My wolf longed for its Luna, but as of late, I had no luck finding one, and I was beginning to lose faith in that change.

"Another round," the waitress said as she made her way over, carefully lowering the tray of drinks to our table as she looked at me. Her eyes gleamed as she smiled, moving with deliberate slowness. "This one's on the house."

"It's appreciated. Thanks," I replied, keeping it brief as I felt the others raising their brows.

The waitress lingered for a moment before she pressed another smile and wandered off, straightening out her uniform.

A low whistle came from Ethan as he swooped in and grabbed one of the glasses. "is it cold in here, or was it just that icy response?"

The others chuckled, all grabbing the free drinks.

I scoffed and shook my head, trying to shake off the inevitable teasing.

"Come on, that one was practically dangling in front of you," Ethan added, grin pulled with mischief.

"A missed opportunity," Ezra chirped.

Levi snickered, only adding to the layers of endless backchat I always got from them. "I'm sure she'd be more than happy if you changed your mind."

"You're relentless," I muttered, dismissing them. "Ever stop to think I don't want just anyone?"

The others chuckled to themselves, half paying attention to the game instead, while Levi kept his focus on me with a knowing look.

"Come on, we're only having a little fun," he said, lifting a curious brow, "Not in the mood for hijinks tonight, Rivera?"

I forced out a breath and leaned back in my seat, aware that I wasn't being myself. "Not in particular...my mind is elsewhere at the moment."

Their pestering wasn't out of the ordinary, of course, but the topic of relationships felt touchy to me.

The waitress' flirting was already long forgotten—I was used to people fawning over me just because of how I looked, but it still never sat right with me, even if others would kill for that attention.

Any time a woman made her intentions far too clear, I'd lose immediate interest. If they cared more about my face than what I had to say, there was no question about it.

There was only one girl I knew who didn't make me feel like a walking slab of meat. Who would take the time to ask me about my day or how I was feeling? There was never any forwardness or expectations from her, and even if I hadn't seen her in years, she was still stuck in my memory.

Lydia Finch was my younger sister's best friend, and we had practically grown up together, even if I had never really paid her much mind before.

While she didn't fawn over me like the others, I knew she had a crush on me in that kid-like way. I'd catch her staring occasionally, only to quickly avert her eyes and pretend like I didn't notice. Something was charming in her shy awkwardness when we were young, especially whenever her pulse would speed up whenever I entered the room.

Zoe and Lydia had been so close, but for whatever reason, her parents experienced some strange mutual psychosis together and pulled their family out of the pack. They fell out with my parents, which meant Zoe and Lydia couldn't see each other either. It was so sudden, but apparently, they favored their cult leader of an alpha instead.

It was a shame, given how heartbroken Zoe was about it. I couldn't help but wonder what happened to Lydia; part of me wanted to know what she was up to.

"Maybe we could get your mind off whatever's going on in there?" Ethan suggested, managing to pull his gaze away from the screen long enough to look at me.

"Nah, that's all right. You guys have your fun, but I think I'm going to head out," I murmured, taking a final swig of my beer before standing. "I don't need to bring your night down too."

I received an immediate wave of protest, but I wasn't in the mood to be persuaded into staying.

"It's so early, the night's young!" Jacob said, putting his arms out in exclamation.

Ezra sucked air in through his teeth and shrugged. "You're losing your edge, Rivera."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I mumbled, waving them off. "You'll survive without me for a little while, anyway. Let me know what happens."

Levi gave me a nod. "Sure thing. In seriousness, take care, Sebastian."

I returned the simple gesture, giving them a subtle wave as I received their partings on my way out.

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