Page 35 of Christopher

He sat on the edge of the couch, ready to bolt, even though he didn’t think he’d have a reason to. Chris rolled his eyes and pulled him back, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to slide him closer. Drake squeaked, then berated himself for making such a sound in front of the alpha.

“I’ve been curious about you for a while,” the alpha mate said as he sat down.

Drake glanced at the alpha, his eyes widening when he saw that the man was getting drinks ready. It wasn’t his job.

“I have been, too,” the alpha said as he handed his mate a glass of soda. “Chris, what can I give you?”

“A soda is fine.”

The alpha nodded. “Drake?”

Drake gaped. “A glass of water will be perfect, Alpha.”

The alpha winced. “Please call me by my name. I realize I’m the alpha, but I’ve never subscribed to calling alphas by their title. I don’t believe it shows respect, just tradition.”

Drake licked his lips and told himself not to mess this up. He couldn’t afford to. “Gal. A glass of water will be fine, thank you.”

Gal gave Drake a gentle smile and went to pour the drinks.

Drake couldn’t look away. His old pack hadn’t been a bad place to grow up, but there had always been a wide separation between the alpha and the people he considered to be on his level and everyone else. He hadn’t been treated quite like royalty, but people had to defer to him and call him by his title. It was what Drake was used to and what he’d grown up with, and it felt odd to have a man in Gal’s position ask him to use his name.

“Here you go,” Gal said as he handed Drake a glass of water.

He’d put ice in it, and Drake took a sip, grateful. His throat was parched.

“We talked with Dennis, Taylor, and Jacob,” Gal said as he sat down next to his mate.

Drake groaned. “You shouldn’t believe anything they said.”

For some reason that made the alpha laugh. “That’s pretty much what I expected. They only had good things to say about you, though. It’s clear they love you and that you’re a dear friend to them.”

Drake was glad to hear that. He always questioned his relationships, especially considering why his exes had dumped him. He never wanted to be too much, be it in romantic relationships or in friendships. Over the years, his friends had met the real him, and they loved him the way he was, but it was always a gamble with new people, especially new people who mattered so much. Gal could make or break Drake’s future in Green Hill. If he decided he didn’t want Drake around, Drake would be forced to leave.

“They’re dear friends to me, too,” he admitted. “They welcomed me when I didn’t know anyone here, and I don’t know what I’d do without them.”

“They mentioned that they told you that you could become a pride member in the past, but you refused.”

Drake stared down at his glass of water. He felt Chris’s arm squeeze around him, and he leaned against his side, needing the support. From everything he knew about Gal and the impression he had of him today, he didn’t think Gal would hold anything against him, but he couldn’t be a hundred percent sure.

He couldn’t be a hundred percent sure of anything in life, though. Chris could decide to dump him tomorrow. Hell, one of them could end up under a bus at any time. No matter how scared Drake was, he felt he owed it to himself and to Chris to take a leap of trust.

“I wasn’t sure it was what I wanted,” he admitted. “I left my birth pack before moving to Green Hill. I can’t say that things were bad there, but they weren’t good, either. The way the pack is led means that everyone bows down to the alpha. He can decide what we do for a living, and he can even influence whowe marry. He can’t do anything about mates, of course, but any other relationship? He tries to shape them.”

Gal grimaced. “That doesn’t sound fun.”

“It’s not. My parents were mates. My mother died when I was born, and my father was forced to remarry. Well, it’s more that he was strongly pushed into the marriage, but I doubt good things would have happened if he’d refused. He wouldn’t have been killed or anything like that, but it would’ve had consequences, especially because the alpha chose one of his cousins as my father’s wife. My father and his new wife had more children, which was what the alpha wanted. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that even though the alpha wasn’t abusive or violent, he still used and manipulated us. We went along with what he ordered because we were afraid that if we didn’t, he’d kick us out.” Drake snorted. “Which I guess he kind of did.”

“I thought you’d left your pack,” Chris said.

Drake put down his glass of water on the coffee table and linked his fingers together. “It’s more that I left before I could get kicked out. The alpha talked to my father. He wanted me to marry one of the women in his family, I think a niece or something. I never really looked into it because I didn’t care. I wasn’t about to marry a woman I barely knew. I wouldn’t have even if I wasn’t gay, but telling the alpha all of that didn’t work. It was my duty to marry the woman my alpha chose for me. I decided to leave before I could be forced into it. I don’t know what he would have done if I just said no to his face, but I wasn’t about to stick around and find out.”

“So you had bad experiences with packs,” Gal said.

“I don’t know if I’d call it bad, but it certainly wasn’t a walk in the park. I left, and I told myself that I didn’t need a pack to survive.” Drake smiled. “I was right. Ididn’tneed a pack, and I’ve been thriving without one.”

“So that’s why you never wanted to become a pride member before, no matter how many times Dennis and the others asked you,” Liam said.

“I didn’t want to risk it, even though from everything I’d heard, you two are good leaders. I just felt it wasn’t worth it, especially since it wasn’t a requirement for staying in town. You even allowed me inside the house to visit my friends.”

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