Page 36 of The Alpha: Part One
“Come on,” Ben cajoles. “What else are you going to do?”
Seth sighs. “Not have a panic attack that she has to handle, for one. And for two, not put my ass where it doesn’t belong.”
“It’s not your ass we’re trying to put–”
I elbow Ben before he can finish that thought.
“Look,” I say, “Desie isn’t doing so great with us gone. We were hoping it would be better for her to be at her brother’s place, but I think it might be worse. Us marking her doesn’t help things. She needs to be home where everything smells right.”
He doesn’t immediately respond and Ben picks up where I left off. “We’re probably going to be out here for at least two weeks. Mateo will always make sure she’s okay, but she isn’t the priority at his house right now. Nobody’s mad about it, it’s just how it is. It might be a little better for her if we hadn’t marked her, but we did, and she’s really feeling it. She likes you. She knows we like you. We trust you to look after her until we get back. Imagine how distressed she’s going to be by the time we get back. If she’s at the house it won’t be as bad.”
After a few beats Seth sighs and I know we’ve got him.
“Fine. I’ll go get her and bring her home. Call her and let her know I’ll be there in a couple hours to pick her up. We can go back to get her car when she needs it, but it’s going to be better for me to pick her up. I don’t want her going into the house before I see that it’s safe. I do have a meeting with Minos this weekend, though. She’ll either have to go with me or stay with her brother until I come back to get her.”
She’ll love that. He’s going to drop her off with a babysitter while he goes to work. That’s going to be really fun for him.
“What do you even do all day, anyway, man? Just follow Alpha Minos?” Ben asks.
Seth sighs. “Pretty much. Go with him to places, sit in on meetings, visit places he suggests. Real fun stuff.”
Chapter nineteen
Desie
I started gathering up my things before I ever hung up the phone with Michael. He said Seth was going to be here in a couple of hours and I’ve been sitting on the porch with my bag and my bundle of blankets for forty-five minutes. Amber peeks out every few minutes to check on me, and Mateo has texted me no less than eighty times asking if I’m sure I want to go back to the twins’ house with Seth. I’m tired of arguing with him about Seth. Yes, Seth is a stranger when you compare him to the people I’ve known all my life, but he doesn’tfeellike a stranger.
Either way, I’m leaving this house. I had no idea it was going to be this hard to be without them. I don’t know how people do this. It’s only been a few days and I already feel like I’m dying. And I love Amber and my brothers, but their house smells…not awful, but not right. I can’t be here.
Seth’s truck pulls into the driveway and I’m up and walking toward it before he gets it in park. He doesn’t say anything, he just gets my bundle from the porch and shoves it into the backseat of the cab before he helps me into the passenger side. He waves toward the window Amber’s looking out of and we leave.
“Are you hungry?” he asks after a few minutes.
“Not really. Thank you for coming to get me.”
He glances over at me, “of course. I didn’t know Michael and Ben had to be away. I don’t know that I’ll be much help myself; but being at your own home will help. Talia has to do that sometimes when Nathan and Trent go away for longer periods of time. She likes to be in their rooms and usually sleeps in their beds if she needs to.”
Seth doesn’t talk about his home life back East very often. I don’t understand the dynamic, not exactly. Most of the time it seems like Talia is his sister, maybe. I know he doesn’t have any siblings, so maybe they just grew up together. I have no idea how big the pack is. I don’t want to make him feel uncomfortable, but I’m so curious. “I’ve heard you mention Nathan, Trent, and Kaleb, but sometimes it sounds like there’s more than just them.”
He’s quiet for a long moment, but he does answer my non-question. “There are nine in their pack, including Talia. Kaleb, Nathan, Trent, Corso, Alex, Reid, Devon, Jasper, and Talia. They’ve done so much for me. I wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t helped me. Especially Talia and Kaleb.”
He’s said that much before, but if he’s going to talk, so am I. “How long have you known them?”
The corner of his mouth turns up just a little. “I’ve known most of them since I was a kid, or I’ve known of them. I wasn’t really on their radar before a few years ago. I’ve known Talia longer than the others.” His smile falters when he says that.
I want to ask so many questions, but I’m not going to. Instead, I ask about one of the other names he listed. “Corso?”
His smile comes back stronger than before. “Zaphir.”
Is he serious? “As in the alcohol?”
“The one and only. He’s the best man I’ve ever known.”
I close my mouth and digest that little tidbit. Corso Zaphir is one of those people who you think of in a very abstract way. You know he exists, but he isn’t a real person, just someone you read articles about. “You live with Corso Zaphir?”
“Not in the same house,” Seth laughs. “I have my own space. But, yes. He’s like an older brother. I don’t know what we’d do without him. I could introduce you if you want.”
As appealing as the idea of embarrassing myself in front of Corso freaking Zaphir is, I’ll have to pass. “No, that’s alright. It’s just wild that you’re close with someone so famous.”
