Page 152 of The Alpha and His Childhood Sweetheart

The next several days EJ was physically present, but his mind was anywhere but here. He wasn’t sleeping. I was standing just inside the house watching him pace on the beach. He was on the phone again. A throat cleared behind me, the scent told me who it was.

I turned greeting, “Hi, mom.” She pointed at EJ, “What’s going on in that boy's head?” I frowned, “I don’t know. It’s like he’s still upset about Ladybug. I ruined our whole trip. I shouldn’t have said anything.” My mom chuckled, “I’m sure it’s not about that at this point. He would’ve settled like we all did. Give him some space then talk about it later.” She went to bed.

I sighed. I told Rhea, “Again with the space. We gave Alexander space for five years and it bit us in the ass.” I watched my mate helplessly. Rhea sighed, “Brutus said he won’t tell me until it’s solid. They don’t want to upset us for no reason.” I questioned, “Are we not upset now?” Rhea answered, “Not as upset as we could be evidently.” EJ was still pacing so I went to bed.

To my surprise EJ was there when I woke up. He’d actually gotten some sleep. I texted my family that we were sleeping in. I laid as still as I could until he woke up several hours later. We got up, ate a late lunch, and started swimming in the pool.

I was about to tell him to pop us to our room when Dalton yelled there was a phone call for him. UGH! I would get Dalton back the SECOND his mate showed up. Meddling, cockblocking little brother. Rhea growled, “I will think of something SO good for us. We just keep getting so close to WOWZERS then BAM blocked. I’ll accept your stomach being hungry but not our brother. That’s someone I can get back at.”

I smirked, “I’m in. Plot away. Let’s include Haley.” She shrieked, “YES! No one plots better than her. She is a MUST in the plan.” Maybe I’d ask Melanie. Rhea replied, “She’s the worst prank puller of all time.” I laughed, “I know so you know it would be funny.” Rhea conceded, “In some horribly bad way for Dalton. On second thought, yes to Melanie too.

The bond told me EJ was furious. He wanted to relax and nearly felt there. Now, he was agitated again. I waited for him in the pool hoping this would be quick. I could hear him talking. Ilinked Rhea, “Did he just say Alexander brought a girl home?” She answered, “Yes.”

I quickly pushed my feelings down in our bond so he wouldn’t feel my elation. I got out of the pool and looked around. No one was watching me, so I did a cartwheel. Hell, I did two. I could feel it in my toes Angela had figured out her blurry spots. Alexander and Melanie were together.

Rhea linked, “FINALLY! I want to throw a party. We could clue Haley in. She’d put together the most EPIC parade.” I snorted, “After kicking all our asses for not mentioning it before now. We are already in hot water about the headaches.” Rhea snickered, “It will be worth it. This DEMANDS a parade.”

I linked Zoe, “What’s this about a cat fight?” She snorted, “All I know is one girl has beautiful thick black hair, the winner actually. That was all I got before everyone clammed up and locked it all down. I wasn’t here or I’d have the tea, I swear.” I told her, “That’s more than most have. You’ve got the scoop.” She laughed, “I know.” Rhea howled happily in my head. I did another cartwheel for good measure. Angela did it!

I linked her, “I ADORE YOU!” She giggled in reply. EJ was now talking to Wesley trying to get answers. I could feel it in my very soul even though Wesley didn’t know her name, I did. I was right. I gathered myself and walked inside.

I admirably held in my squeal while EJ relayed the conversation to me. Tears filled my eyes as I realized Melanie truly came home. I quickly wiped them away. Rhea linked, “Alexander clearly wants to talk to mate himself about the situation.” I groaned, “Why doesn’t my brother in law like me anymore? I’m so nice to him.” Rhea chuckled.

No, I could contain myself. I could do this. When EJ hung up, I asked what was going on. I even felt I’d pulled off blasé quite well. Rhea linked, “He’s so annoyed he’s not focusing on thebond. That’s why we are getting away with this. Your tone did pull it off though.” I was taking that as pulling it off.

I linked Zoe, “Alexander used an Alpha Command?” She replied, “Yeah, so no one would talk about it. We all think it’s weird but fun. This is what Fairies have done to us wolves. Honestly, I’m loving the distraction from Dana being out at a meeting. Now I feel like Nancy Drew trying to solve a mystery.” I chuckled, “Let me know if you find out more.” She sighed sadly, “I will but I have my doubts.” I did as well. She was working against an Alpha Command.

Why was it a secret though? Rhea theorized, “Probably because Melanie didn’t want anyone to know she came home and didn’t go see her family.” I gasped, “OH MY GOD! I will kick her butt for that later. The points remains she came home, and she’s met Alexander.” Rhea agreed, “I do like that. Let’s focus on those points. Finally, something happy involving her.” No joke.

I cursed the lack of details because only Wesley had been home. That fed into the conspiracy side of my brain. Rhea reasoned, “Mate is the ONLY Conners sibling who has met Melanie. So, even if they had been home, none of them would know it was her.” I warned, “Don’t rain on my conspiracy parade with your valid points. I swear to GOD the actual universe is against me when it involves Melanie.”

I’d just have to make Wesley draw a picture of her. He was skilled at drawing and that would be the final confirmation. Rhea linked, “Based on the hair you know it was her.” I added, “Plus winning the fight, but having her identified would make it better.” Rhea chuckled.

Something pricked in my mind about that, but I was not welcoming a headache. Not right now. Not when something had FINALLY gone right with those two. Rhea linked, “Well, I am VERY proud of your evasive skills right now.” I knew I was only getting away with it because EJ was distracted.

I asked about Alexanders emotions. They made sense to me with my vision of what was going on. I’m sure he was confused about why they weren’t running their happy asses to Red Run or something. Or shouting from the rooftops that they’d met. Of course he was happy he’d finally met her. We discovered Phil was with them.

Rhea linked, “Maybe Melanie’s friend, Tiffany, was Phil’s mate.” I liked that a lot. Tiffany was part of the reason she stayed gone. Tiffany lost her drive to dance and Melanie said she didn’t want to leave her behind in New York.

Throughout the rest of the vacation, EJ was still staying up all night talking to people on the phone. I was watching from the kitchen. It spoke to how distracted he was that he didn’t notice I wasn’t asleep right now.

MaryBeth gasped behind me, “Goddess, you scared me! I came down for a late night snack but since you’re up….” She trailed off then frowned, “EJ is on the phone again? He does NOT know how to vacation. You should hide his phone.” I snorted, “He’d just conjure it away.”

She winced, “I’ll think on that problem. Anyway, you know something Elise Conners. I want to know what that something is. You’re VERY happy about it and I NEED to know.” I laughed, “I suspect something.” MaryBeth snorted, “Your suspicions are practically always right.”

I looked outside, “Did you hear about the fight over Alexander?” MaryBeth nodded, “Yeah, why?” I smirked, “Alexander BROUGHT one of those girls home. The girl who one was described as having beautiful thick black hair.”

MaryBeth fell out of her chair. She jumped up and whispered, “NOOOO!” I nodded, “It HAS to be Mel. That whole thing with Angela when we got here wasn’t a prank. She got Alexander to Mel.” MaryBeth wiped her tears, “I called Julianna and asked what she knew. What she heard was some she wolf broke someother she wolf's spine. She said she heard it wasn’t just one girl fighting the winner, but a group of this girl and her cronies.”

She giggled, “All over Alexander. Julianna said rumor is this she wolf took on ten to fifteen girls all by herself. Of course it was Ladybug! Why didn’t I think of that?! Oh god. She’s really coming home, Elise.” We stood there hugging as tears streamed down our faces. Eventually we parted ways and went to bed.

I got a couple hours of sleep. When I woke up EJ wasn’t there. I found him outside still on the phone. I tried to get him to open up, but he was clammed up. I distracted him with tales about Ashley and her forced vacation.

He felt calculating in the bond. I didn’t know about what, but he wasn’t as upset as he’d been before. I was going to count that as a win. Hopefully, I could write to Ashley about Melanie and Alexander finding each other. That would be big news. Maybe it would inspire Ashley to go after her guy. I wanted her to be happy too. She just needed to give herself permission to find that.

The rest of our vacation days bled together. It went by both too fast and too slow. EJ was sleeping a little more, but not by much. I distracted him as much as I could. Rhea snorted, “We did a DAMN fine job distracting him. In the shower, the closet, and in the pool.” I smirked, “We can never tell my brothers or in laws about the pool one.”

Rhea chuckled, “Uh, uh that’s a no. You are missing a golden opportunity with the pool encounter. You hold onto that then tell them we got freaky in a pool they were swimming laps in. They will shower for hours and that would be hysterical.” I acknowledged, “We’ll just have to keep that in mind then. We do owe them some payback.” Rhea laughed, “That’s the spirit!”

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