Page 45 of Unexpected Alpha's Claim

“Fuck yes,” I mutter, turning to look at Helena. “I knew about her ex, obviously but, I didn’t know anything about the baggage,” I confessed.

She exhaled a long sigh and lowered her eyes. “I know.”

I stared at her while she remained focused on the boulder between us. Her fingers traced along it once again and I had to wonder if there wasn’t any significance to that. Was she drawing some magical rune or casting a spell?

“You know?” I prodded when she didn’t continue after a few minutes.

“Yeah,” she said, not looking up or stopping her fingers. “I discovered this truth about your kind the hard way.”

She stopped talking again. I wanted to push her to finish the story, to tell her tale and leave me alone, but the smarter part of me won out and I waited. Letting her tell it in her own time. Her shoulders were slumped and there was a slackness to her face that I’d never seen before. The self-assured certainty that she normally projected was gone and for the first time I saw her as vulnerable.

“I was in love with your grandpa,” she said at last.

“I know,” I said.

She nodded, pursing her lips, then took a deep breath and held it.

“What you don’t know is that he never loved me.” Her fingers stopped but she continued to glare at the rock. Knowing how powerful she was I was a little surprised it didn’t break into a thousand pieces. “About three years after our breakup, he met your grandma. For a while, I thought I should try to win him back. Take him away from her and lay my claim. But then I saw them in the market of Shandaken together and I realized it would be hopeless. He was so much warmer with her than he ever had been with me. He smiled at her, they held hands… they even kissed in public. And you have to realize that such displays were strongly frowned upon in the nineteen forties.”

The sadness in her voice was echoed in every line of her body. She looked sunken, if we were in a fight I would have known Ihad her right where I wanted her, ready to give up. Her sadness echoed in my chest and I took a step closer.

“You must have had a lonely life,” I said.

“No, not quite,” she said, shaking her head and the hint of a smile forming on her face. “I got married twice. My first husband died in a plane crash. The second one fled when he discovered I was a witch. Humans are afraid of witchcraft, too. After my divorce, I decided not to get married again, but whenever I wanted some male company, I went out and found it.”

I chuckled as she raised her head and met my eyes. She laughed too and the weight of the conversation lightened. I shook my head.

“Well, that’s one way to do it,” I said, which made her laugh more.

“It is,” she agreed.

“But back to Monica,” I said. “You’re saying I should be more open and to slow down? Did I get you right?”

“Yes, you did,” she answered with a reassuring nod. “Trust her. Don’t expect her to wake up someday and tell you ‘I’m ready to be your mate.’ There will be signs, though, and you’re smart. I trust you’ll see them.”

She ended with a smile then bent and grabbed a rock. She looked it over carefully then threw it across the lake. I moved to her side as we both counted the skips. Nine.

“Hah!” I barked.

“You win, first born,” she said. “You are the Alpha you were always meant to be.”

“Thanks, Helena,” I said, smiling down at her.

“You’re welcome,” she said. “I hope this is the last time you need my advice.”

She turned and strode off towards the woods, probably preparing some spell to teleport herself to wherever she was going to go next.

I went back to my bike and started it up. The roar of the engine was music to my ears and the rumbling of it between my legs was like a homecoming. As I left Lake Paxton, I felt clearer. Helena had provided the help I had needed.

I had to admit that she was becoming more than a friendly figure. She had earned my trust, but this surpassed even the boundaries of trust. She was turning into a friend. An ally. Someone I could rely on. Not only for pack matters, but for everyday issues as well. It had taken her a long time to come into my life, but she had had her reasons for that. I had to respect them and thank fate for bringing her here when I needed her the most.

29

MONICA

All right, this time I’ll get it right.

I pulled the last match out of the box, glared at the unlit logs that I’d carefully placed, and swiped the wooden match on the striker. The match flickered to life with a sizzle, and I moved it to the kindling that I had put in the exact place I thought it was supposed to be. A breeze came down the chimney and the match flickered then went out.

---