Page 53 of Rise of the Alpha

She shifts her body on the bed so that she’s facing me. “Listen to me, Magnolia Holloway. Blaine is your mate, and I have a sinking suspicion who the others are as well, and it’s not the Alpha heir and Betas of your pack. Plus, your becoming a member of the Stoneridge pack is a win, especially since I just found out over the weekend my family is joining it as well. So, you see, we would all be together.”

“What! Really? Seriously, you’re going to be a part of Blaine’s pack? Holy hell! Do you think Blaine will talk to his father for me?” Suddenly I’m excited about the plan.

“Couldn’t hurt. But I have no doubts about what his answer will be. Give him a call and tell him to get his ass down here with the other two stooges,” she says, her voice sounding as giddy as I feel.

Letting go of her hand, I stand and walk over to the dresser, where my phone is plugged into the charger. Picking it up, I debate on calling or texting him, but with the way my nerves are eating me up, I decide to just text.

I type, erase, type, erase on repeat before I decide on something simple and send it out to him.

ME: I need to talk to you in my room. You can bring Zeke and Jude. They should hear it as well.

BLAINE: I’ll be there in 20 minutes or less, just waiting on Mr. Suave to finally realize he doesn’t need to take 5 hours to do his hair. If he doesn’t hurry up, I’m grabbing him by the tail and dragging his ass out of here.

ME: K

Turning back to Wylla, I let out a deep breath. “They’ll be here in a little bit.”

True to Blaine’s word, they were downstairs in less than twenty minutes, ten to be exact. Jude gives me a sly grin. “How are ya feeling, Maggie?” he asks as he moves stealthily across the room, scooping me up in his arms and swinging me around before burying his face in my neck and beginning to nibble on it. A menacing growl comes from behind us, sending him into laughter that vibrates against my skin before he pulls away. ”Calm your wolf, man.”

“Then stay the fuck off my mate like that.”

“Stop, you two. There’s plenty of our girl to go around and make no mistake when I say our girl, I’m meaning she’s all of ours. Now get your muscle-head caveman thinking out of here. Our girl has something to ask Blaine, and I think he’s going to like it.” Wylla steps in, putting them all in their place.

“You have something to ask me? Is that true, princess?” Blaine turns, looking me in the eyes with so much intensity.

“Yeah, um… I was wondering if you would talk to your father about me joining your pack. I know you think we’re mates, but we don’t know that for sure, so if it turns out we’re not, he may not want me to.” “Stop right there.” He makes it over to me in three large strides, taking my hands in his. “First, Magnolia, I don’t just think, I know you’re my mate. My wolf knows you are. Your wolf screams out to me like no other. So we have nothing to worry about there, but my father would welcome you into our pack even if you weren’t my mate. To be honest, I’ve already been talking to him about it, praying to the Goddess that you would finally decide to do it.” The sincerity in Blaine's voice is so strong, but I need to hear it from his father.

“Really? Is there any way you can ask him, though? I just want to be sure. If he says no, then I’m going to have no choice but to leave school and go somewhere far away from here.”

“The fuck you are. There’s no way you’re leaving me, leaving us. Where you go we go,” Zeke belts out, anger mixed with fear lacing his words. “Blaine, call your dad so she can hear it for herself or we go pack our bags because I know for a fact if she decides to leave, I’m going with her.”

Everybody turns to look at Blaine to see what he’s going to do. Instead of responding to Zeke’s gruff words, he pulls out his phone, placing it on speaker as he dials a number. We hear the phone ring before an older, deep voice rings out into the room.

“Hello, Son. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon.”

“Hey, Dad, I have the guys, Wylla and Magnolia, my mate I told you about, here. Magnolia has voiced her desire to relinquish her bond to her pack and move to ours. She has some concerns that if it were to come out we’re not mated after the blocks on her are removed, that you wouldn’t let her be part of our pack.”

“That’s nonsense. Can she hear me, Son?”

“I can, Sir,” I say meekly. The power radiating from him, even across the phone line, makes me imagine how strong it would be in person.

“Firstly, it’s an honor to meet you, Magnolia. I have no doubt in my son or his wolf when they say you’re their mate. You are welcome in our pack no matter what. We can start the process now. Knowing the history of your pack, I’m afraid once they find out you’re planning to defect to another pack, they’ll come to take you back, potentially locking you away. So I will begin working on a plan for that and let Blaine know. Just know, you are always welcome in the Stoneridge pack. Does that ease your worries?”

“Yes, Sir, it does. Thank you so much.”

Blaine takes him off speakerphone and says a few more things to him in hushed tones.

Wylla walks up to me, lifting her finger and letting it travel along my jawline. “See, told you that you were worrying yourself for no reason.” A heavy knock at the door stops her from saying any more. Being the closest she turns and takes the three steps to the door, opening to see a man dressed in a matching brown shirt and pants with a small package in his hand and an electronic pad.

“I have a delivery for a Magnolia Holloway. Are you her?” he asks, as his eyes travel the length of Wylla’s body, setting off a rage in me that someone else is looking at what's mine.Why the hell did I just think that?

“That’s me,” I call out, stepping forward in apprehension.

He hands the package to me and I take it in my hands. “If you could just sign here for me that you got it.” He never once takes his eyes off of Wylla. Pissed, I snatch the tablet from him, immediately scribbling my name on it, and shove it back at him before slamming the door in his face.

If the looks on their faces weren’t concerned for what was just delivered, I think every single one of the fuckers including Wylla would have died from laughter at my reaction. Ignoring them all, I walk over to the bed and look at the box. There's no return address to give me a clue as to who the hell it’s from. Taking a seat on my bed, I begin to open the box slowly, feeling four sets of eyes burning a hole right through me.

Taking a deep breath, I peel the tape off and open the flaps to find a cell phone with a charger and a note on white stationary paper with the logo of my pack on it. Taking the note out, I set the box to the side as I open and read it.

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