Page 9 of The Alpha: Part One
"Hello," one of the alphas says politely. He looks to be my age, sandy blonde hair, not too tall. "My name is Jeremy Dawes. Your name is Desir'ee, right?" He looks to each of my brothers before he touches the back of the chair beside Mateo. "Could I sit and talk with you?"
I look at my brothers, too. I don't want to agree to talk to another alpha. Everything about this feels so wrong. This table is oval in shape, there are six chairs around it, three of which are vacant. The chair next to me is empty, and I watch Jeremy Dawes consider moving around the table to claim that seat. I feel like such a traitor. If I tell this man he can sit with me, it will be a complete betrayal of the twins, of Rafe, and of myself. I feel the sting pricking my eyes, letting me know that I'm going to cry before I throw up.
Mateo gets up and comes around to sit next to me, never dropping his purr. "You can sit in that seat and speak to my sister," Mateo gestures to the seat he just left.
The Jeremy Dawes smiles a friendly enough smile and takes his seat. "Desir'ee? Have you ordered anything yet? This place has an amazing ceviche."
I shake my head and swallow around what feels like broken glass in my throat. "Yes," I sound choked, strained. I swallow, noting how Mister Dawes's eyes watch the movement, and start again. "Yes. My name is Desir'ee. Desir'ee Romero. And, yes, I've already ordered."
"What did you order, Desir'ee Romero?" One of the other alphas slides smoothly into one of the empty seats without asking. He's older than me by several years, but he carries it well. He's actually handsome, but the feel and scent of bad choices ruins it.
"Cake," I respond without smiling. He was rude enough to sit without being invited, so I'm not polite enough to pretend to want his company.
The third, and hopefully last, alpha stands behind the chair next to Lucas. He has beautiful, dark skin, a multitude of long braids, and he smells like raspberry truffles. He grins at me but doesn't touch the chair. "What kind of cake?"
I smile back at him. It's going to be hard to not be friendly with this one. Panic briefly seizes me. What if I end up actually liking him? Oh god. With the twins in the same room?
I swallow again. "Red Velvet."
"Excellent choice," he nods. "Coffee or wine?"
No good. This is no good. I can'tnotsmile back at him. It's infectious. I haven't decided whether or not I find him attractive and likable enough to entertain the idea of furthering this encounter, but I could definitely see myself being friends with him. I fight back the urge to seek out Michael or Benny to see if they've noticed. Of course they'll notice if I actually like one of the alphas. "Pinot noir." I tell him. "Would coffee have been a better choice?"
He tilts his head from side to side, pushing his mouth to the side, then answers. "That's a personal choice. Me, if I were to drink coffee this late in the evening, I would have trouble sleeping. I'm David. May I sit with you while you have your dessert?"
I smile and nod up at him, then shoot a quick look to the alpha who sat down without an invite. "Yes. Thank you for asking. Which pack are you repping? Maybe my brothers will recognize the name."
"Walters. The rest of my pack will be arriving a little later."
"Walters?" The older, unnamed alpha laughs. "The ink hasn't even dried on your pack's registration."
"What does that matter?" I snap, forgetting that I have no business defending a pack I don't know anything about. "They're registered. And he wasn't afraid to tell me his name or his pack's name."
The older alpha raises his eyebrows as he weighs me. "You don't know who I am? Which pack I'm with?"
It takes every ounce of my flickering self-control to stop the wordsI don't care who you arefrom flying out of my mouth. Instead, I purposefully turn away from him and toward Mateo. "Who is this man? Does his pack matter?" If he wants to be rude, I can be petty.
Mateo's lips twitch, but he answers coolly. "This is Elijah Lopez. He is with the Flores pack."
"Well," I sigh. "That explains it, then. What do you do for work, Mister Dawes, David?" I make a point to exclude Elijah Lopez from my inquiry. Not only is he rude, but he's with the Flores pack. I don't care what he does for anything.
"I'm still in school. I'm working toward a legal degree. I want to be a lawyer," Jeremy Dawes answers, looking younger and younger with every word. "The rest of my pack is sitting just over there," he waves at a table of four other guys, all appearing to be no older than he is. "My pack has taken my name." Well now, a lead alpha. Who is still in school.
"When will you finish school?" Lucas asks politely.
"In two years. I realize we're younger than a lot of other packs, but don't hold that against us. We make up for our age in other ways." Then he winks at me, and I can't believe he was ballsy enough to do it in front of my brothers.
Lucas coughs to cover a laugh, and Mateo clears his throat. I would roll my eyes, but two more alphas stalk over and stand behind Alpha Lopez. One of them smiles, one of them smirks, and neither asks to join me. Alpha Lopez gives them a brief introduction. "This is James and Bryant. They're members of my pack." I don't know which one goes with which name. It doesn't matter, I'm not going to be spending any time with them after this interaction. "This lovely specimen is Desir'ee Romero. You already know who her brothers are." He doesn't bother mentioning the other alphas seated at the table.
I don't know what bothers me most, being referred to as a specimen, or his pompous, dismissive attitude.
"What about you, Desir'ee? Do you work? Are you still in school?" David asks.
"Oh. I just finished school, and I have a position at the hospital."
"That's right!" Alpha Lopez interrupts. "You're a baby nurse. Those are long shifts, do you think that will cut into your time too much?"
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean. How would my position cut into my time?"
