Page 22 of Alpha's Baby Girl
Two years ago, I’d met Fenrys at the college noticeboard. We hadn’t spoken but I’d told Anya my suspicions but never quite worked up the nerve to approach him. He’d always been surrounded by his best friend, Conall, who Anya liked, or some girl who hung off his arm. It had made me jealous, but that was why I kept my distance. Just because he was my suspected mate didn’t mean I had a claim over him.
“How was Sloane’s class?” Anya asked.
I scoffed. “Boring. We have to do research into a bigger conglomerate and see how it might be different from a small-town business like we have. We have to choose an actual business here and then one in, like, Atlanta, to do a case study.”
“Yikes,” she hissed. “Are you ready for the game?”
“Oh, for sure.” I rolled my eyes. “A screaming crowd, you fawning over Conall—”
“And you giving heart-eyes to Fenrys,” she teased. “Oh,Fenrys, my alpha, ohalpha.” She moaned the last few words, making me cringe and shove her, laughing.
“Shut up! You’re so embarrassing.” But we were both curled over laughing until we were hurried along by what felt like the whole student body all making their way to the sports field outside. The only relationship I was happy to ever have with the outdoor department of the college was the mandatory track year I’d done last year. That had been enough, as much as I’d loved it. As Anya and I parted ways at the fire exit leading to the pitch and bleachers, she hugged me briefly.
“What are you so afraid of, Lia?” she asked me softly. I had a lot of fears, actually. I’d heard that the feeling of being rejected was excruciating. I’d never even had a boyfriend before, let alone a mate.
But as I found a seat on the bleachers and watched the cheerleading squad start their routine as the seats filled up with a cheering crowd, I asked myself the same questions I had asked since meeting Fenrys two years ago. What was I avoiding, and would I do it forever?
Would I always risk this chance of giving myself to my mate for fear of rejection?
How long was I prepared to avoid him? We graduated soon. While Silverlake Valley wasn’t large, I didn’t know when I’d be in such close proximity to him again. Why was I wasting this time? He could say yes. He could say he’d felt the exact same things as me.
My heart pounded nervously as hope rose in my chest. I wanted to give myself a chance. I know he had noticed me. The shy business major and the quarterback sounded like a dream in one of Anya’s books she was always reading. But as my eyes found Fenrys as he ran onto the pitch, his shock of black hair soft for now, his shoulders bulked up from his sports gear, I wondered: why not?
Silverlake Valley, in their orange clashed with the Oak Hill’s blue uniform as the two teams huddled together at the center of the pitch. I imagined myself the mate of the quarterback, attending all of his games, perhaps even joining Anya’s cheer team. I thought about attending the council events at his side as he was the mayor’s son.
It was a happy fantasy as I watched him play, never needing to be switched for another player. He carried his team fearlessly, his face completely changing in the game, boyish and handsome, serious, as he called to various other teammates. There was something different about him than there usually was. I hadn’t seen him around the campus lately. While his helmet hid most of his face when he took it off during half-time, there was an exhaustion to him that he never usually had in these games. His black hair clung to his skin, sweat glistening on his skin. He didn’t even muster a smile when Conall clapped him on the back after they came back on the pitch for the second half of the match.
Fenrys hauled the ball over the goal marks in the final minute, and the crowd went wild. I was swept up in the energy of it, clapping and cheering as loud as I could.
For a second, I could swear his eyes found me, narrowed for a minute, and then he looked away. His teammates scooped him up, roaring their victory. The cheerleaders went wild, and Anya, clearly taking her own advice, rushed over to Conall. In a moment of surprise, he swept her up and twirled her around. That image was what gave me hope.
Then Fenrys was hoisted up by his team and he rose above them, his head tipped back, his eyes closing. A tired smile pulled his mouth so gorgeously. He pressed two fingers to his lips and lifted them skyward. Tears had shined in his eyes, and his lips moved with words that we were all too far away to hear.
Whatever was making Fenrys’s gaze vacant as the team left the pitch in a rain of triumph, I would help. I could support him. I was his mate; I knew I was. I just had to figure out the right time to do it.
A week passed by, and all Anya had talked about was Conall. The two were dating now. She wasn’t a shifter but he was, and I didn’t know how that would work if he would one day mate with another wolf shifter, but she didn’t seem to mind. Bolstered, by her confidence and ability to get what she wanted, I did the same.
It was near the noticeboard where we’d first met one morning. It wasn’t unusual for him to hang around with a few boys in his pack, with Conall there. Even Anya hung out with them now. Soon, I would, too.
I orchestrated it all. Ducking my head, I smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, holding textbooks to my chest. I dropped my phone right in front of Fenrys and pretended to be surprised. I wanted to mirror that first day we’d met, thinking it romantic.
Fenrys made a surprised noise and spun to me. I hovered, waiting for him to pick it up, the way he had that first day. But he only peered down at me as if we were strangers.
“Sorry,” I said, giggling. “I’m clumsy, I guess.”
“It’s okay,” he’d answered shortly before turning back to his pack. But I stood there. Conall cleared his throat at Fenrys, brows raising as he nodded in my direction. Fenrys turned back to me.
“Are you okay?” he asked in a way that clearly meantcan I help you?
“Well…” I trailed off, trying to focus on my confidence. “Won’t you pick it up for me?” I gestured to my phone. My romantic moment was feeling a lot more foolish now. “Surely you remember the day we met? You picked up my phone after I dropped it. Our hands… Touched.” I looked past him, to the pack, who were shifting and averting their gaze. Fenrys’s eyes were wide. “Didn’t you know that day, too?”
“Know what?” Had his voice always sounded so flat?
“That we’re mates,” I said, emphasis onmates. “Will you be my mate, Fenrys? My boyfriend and my alpha?”
A moment of silence had settled and only then had my discomfort made me so, so aware of how people were slowing down to watch it all unfold. Anya’s face was stricken, her hands tight on Conall’s arm, where he held her. I panicked, looking at Fenrys, waiting for him to sayyes, for him to assure me that I wasn’t making a fool of myself. The silence was broken by a bark of laughter.
My cheeks burned when I saw it was him laughing.At me.
