Page 3 of The Denver Alpha

Don’t get me wrong, I know I’ve had a charmed life up until now. As the eldest daughter of our pack’s alpha, I grew up with more advantages than most. I’ve always been doted on, well looked after, cherished by my family and my pack. My father’s position granted me a lot of privileges that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. It’s also made me feel like I’ve lived in a fucking bubble for the past nineteen years.

I’m almost out of my teens, but I never really got to be a normal teenager. Everyone in the pack knows who I am, so it’s not like I could get away with anything without it getting back to my father. I couldn’t slip into the local bar with my friends and try to convince the bartender to serve me while underage. I couldn’t sneak out of our well-secured packhouse late at night to run amok with my peers. Hell, I couldn’t even date because my older brother threatened every guy my age in the pack with violence if they so much as glanced my way for more than a fleeting second, and now that he’s taken over for my father as our pack’s alpha, they won’t even hazard a glance.

My charmed life has been more like a gilded cage, which is why I jumped at the opportunity to leave when it presented itself. Back home, I couldn’t explore, I couldn’t be free. Here, the possibilities are endless.

The room Shay leads me to is equally as impressive as the rest of the packhouse, clean and modern with sparse furnishings and neutrally decorated in various shades of grey. I find my suitcases already in there resting beside the door to the walk-in closet and waste no time in exploring the rest of the space, complete with a huge ensuite bathroom featuring a giant soaker tub and marble tiled shower. After rushing around the room to take it all in like an excited little kid, I can’t contain the contented sigh that leaves my lips as I flop backwards on the king-sized bed, the plush white down comforter billowing up around me as I land upon it.

“Okay, it’s official. I’m never leaving.”

Shay laughs, plopping down beside me on the bed and pulling an elbow up underneath her, resting her chin upon her hand. “Maybe you’ll find your mate here, too. Then you won’t have to,” she winks.

“Hmm…” I muse, rolling onto my side to face her. “Alpha Cole, perhaps?” I waggle my eyebrows, licking my lips suggestively.

We hadn’t officially met until today, but the Denver alpha caught my eye months ago at his sister’s Luna ceremony celebration. I noticed him right away that night because Cole Bauer is hardnotto notice. He’s pushing six foot four and dripping in hard-earned muscle, his very presence oozing authority and commanding respect. His prominent jawline, lickable caramel skin, and dark eyes are just the cherry on top of the already delicious man sundae, and meeting him today only confirmed what I already knew- that the man looks even better up close.

“Trust me, you don’t want to go there,” Shay snorts.

“Why’s that?”

“Besides the fact that he’s pushing thirty?”

I roll my eyes, waving her off. “Whatever, older guys are hot. Isn’t Sam in his late twenties?”

“I mean yeah, but…” Shay heaves a sigh, sitting up and leveling me with a stare, her demeanor suddenly shifting from playful to serious. “Cole’s different. He’s not warm and fuzzy like my Sammy. He’s stone cold, the guy’s practically a robot. Not to mention the fact that the females in this pack are rabid over him since he hasn’t claimed a mate. They’re all convinced they’re just one blowjob away from becoming his luna.”

I bark a laugh, pushing up on my elbows and shaking my head at the absurdity of that statement.

“Besides, wouldn’t your brother lose his shit?” Shay points out.

I shrug a shoulder. “What Jax doesn’t know can’t hurt him.”

“What doesn’t Jax know?” Quinn asks, and I glance toward the doorway of the bedroom to see her stepping inside, sliding me a conspiratorial smirk.

“That his sister’s not a little girl anymore,” I reply with an eyeroll, sitting up and waving her over to join us.

Quinn may be my brother’s mate, but the two of us have our own bond and I know I can speak candidly around her. Plus, she has her own overbearing older brother, so she knows firsthand how suffocating a brother’s ‘protectiveness’ can be.

“He’ll have to wake up and realize that someday,” Quinn sighs, plunking down on the edge of the bed. “At least living here will give you a little space. Just don’t give him a reason to haul you back home before you even get the chance,” she warns, pinning me with a knowing stare.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll be on my best behavior until he leaves,” I groan with another exaggerated eyeroll. “Which is when, exactly?”

Quinn clutches a hand to her chest like she’s offended. “Trying to get rid of me already, sis?”

“Never,” I laugh, slinging an arm around her shoulders. “But since you and Jax are a package deal, I’ve gotta make sacrifices. Unless you want to camp out here with me for the rest of the summer?”

“We’ll be out of your hair tomorrow morning,” Quinn sighs, predictably declining my offer in favor of remaining joined at the hip with my brother. “We’re gonna try to hit the road before breakfast.”

My lips slide into a devious grin as I start calculating a mental countdown to my freedom. “Perfect.”

Although Shay gave me the impression that most meals at the packhouse are informal and communal, Alpha Cole set up a stuffy sit-down dinner for us in the dining room, complete with a two-person waitstaff to deliver each course. The whole display is pompous and over-the-top, in my humble opinion, but I grin and bear it, playing the role of a perfect angel to the point of exhaustion.

My cheeks hurt from all the smiles I’ve forced throughout dinner, and I swear my tongue must be bruised from biting it against every sarcastic comment I’ve held back. Cole barely acknowledged my presence from the other end of the table, wrapped up in conversation with Jax and Sam, but I still played my role well for my dear big brother, giggling like an airhead at every joke and playing demure and sweet whenever questions were directed my way. I totally pulled it off- at the expense of my own dignity- because I’m not about to screw this up. I’ll play the game tonight, and I can officially drop the act tomorrow when Jax is long gone.

When all the food has been served and I physically can’t force myself to fake one more laugh or vapid comment, I excuse myself from the table, slipping out onto the terrace for some air. I immediately duck around the corner out of sight, collapsing back against the stone wall and dropping the fake smile from my face at long last. I’ve spent all night holding back and I can’t take it anymore- I throw my head back against the wall and dig the heels of my hands into my eye sockets, releasing a frustrated string of curses into the silent darkness.

“That bad, huh?” comes a voice from somewhere nearby, followed by a low chuckle.

I whip my head sideways in alarm, squinting into the shadows to see a guy with auburn hair and a killer smile step out of them and into the pale light cast from the packhouse windows. He’s taller than me, buff and broad-shouldered.

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