Page 4 of The Denver Alpha

Shit.My stomach bottoms out, my heart pounding against my ribs. “I didn’t realize anyone was out here,” I mutter, straightening and smoothing my hair back with a hand, quickly regaining my composure.

“I won’t tell if you won’t,” he winks, lifting a half burned-out cigarette and tipping his head toward it.

I give him an assessing once-over, concluding that he’s definitely over the legal smoking age. My gaze flits from the glowing orange end of the cigarette to his eyes, narrowing in confusion. “You trying to quit or something?”

“Alpha frowns upon smoking on packhouse grounds.” He brings the cigarette to his lips, inhaling deeply before blowing a plume of smoke out into the air between us.

“You rebel,” I tease.

He shrugs, flicking ash off the end of his cigarette and leaning a shoulder against the stone wall beside us. “Can’t be good all the time.”

“What fun would that be?” I smirk.

His tongue snakes out to wet his lips as his gaze trails down my body, not even attempting to hide the way he’s blatantly checking me out. “So you must be Juliet, huh?”

“I am,” I reply, unflinching under his wandering stare. I cock a brow when his eyes return to mine. “And you are?”

“Tobias.”

“Warrior?”

He nods. “Among other things.”

Our eyes remain locked as we both assess one another, a comfortable silence settling between us as Tobias continues to puff on his cigarette.

“So why the late night venting sesh?” he questions. “Was the dinner that bad?”

“Just tired of playing prim and proper,” I admit, choosing to trust this stranger with my truth. We’re both out here doing something we shouldn’t, so I feel a strange sort of kinship with him.

He furrows his brow in confusion. “Why do you have to do that?”

I blow out a breath, leaning back against the wall again and folding my arms across my chest. “My brother’s a little protective. Gotta be good while he’s here so he’ll actually let me stay.”

“Alpha Jax?”

I nod.

“And when he’s gone?”

My lips curl into a smile. “All bets are off.”

Tobias grins back at me as he tosses his cigarette down, stubbing it out with the toe of his shoe and stooping up to pick up the butt, sliding it into his pocket.

“I look forward to it, Juliet,” he says, his heated gaze dropping down my form once more before he turns away.

The hunger in his eyes ignites something inside of me, making me feel all warm and tingly as I watch him retreat into the shadows. My heart races, my mind spinning. Less than twenty-four hours in, and I’ve already had a guy flirt with me unashamedly, without fear of retribution.

Yeah, I could totally get used to this.

3

No matter what time I go to bed at night, I always wake up at seven a.m. to start my day. I value discipline and routine, and no matter what happens in a given day, each morning is like a reset. I never hit the snooze button when my alarm sounds, even if an extra ten minutes of sleep may seem tempting. It isn’t worth throwing off my whole day. Regardless of how exhausted I am, I haul my ass out of bed at seven on the dot, hit the gym for my daily workout, shower, then head to the kitchen for coffee and breakfast.

The snooze button was more tempting than usual this morning, but I still dragged myself out of bed and went about my routine as normal. By the time I’ve finished my workout and showered, many of the warriors that reside at the packhouse are already crowded in the kitchen for breakfast, their voices carrying down the hall as the scent of fresh coffee beckons me closer.

As always, Sam is seated at our usual table when I stride into the kitchen, a cup of coffee already poured and waiting for me upon it. There are three larger tables across the room that accommodate ten apiece, but this four-seater near the coffee pot is our spot in the mornings. I sink down into the chair across from Sam, eyeing the empty one between us. That was always Astrid’s seat, and the visit from her new friends at the six-pack has me missing her more than usual.

“Morning, Alpha,” Sam greets with a tip of his head, raising his coffee mug to his lips and taking a slow sip from it.

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