But that’s not the only transgression I’ve ever made in my life.
I’ve been making them for years, hoping that they would be swept under the rug and forgotten. Rissa clearly hasn’t forgotten about any of it.
***
Ten Years Ago
“Yo, man!” Connor pounds a fist on my shoulder when he approaches me. “I thought you weren’t gonna make it for graduation night!”
I chuckle dryly under my breath, rolling my eyes at my best friend. “You think my parents would let me miss this?”I nod toward the spot on the bleachers where my parents are sitting.
Connor follows my gaze, then sighs when he turns back to me.
“They still giving you shit about bootcamp?”
I shrug diffidently as I say, “I was born to be an alpha, Con. They won’t let me rest unless I make it through the trials and get chosen. Elias McGruff has already set the bar high.”
Conner snickers. “Just so you know, the competition is tough this year.”
I raise a speculative brow at my best friend. “Just ‘cause Thane and Dawson—”
Connor cuts me off by clicking his tongue. “It’s not them you should be worried about, Brooks. I’m talking about me,” he says as he wiggles his brows suggestively.
It earns him a playful punch to his ribs as I chuckle bemusedly. In two days, we’re going to join the Alpha training camp together after graduating from the local high school tonight. I have every reason to be picked as one of Alpha Elias’s subordinate alphas, since my father was an alpha until five years ago.
The next generation of leaders of this pack will be picked through the trials in Alpha Camp, and since I’m my parents’ only child, I have to live up to my father’s legacy. I’ve grown up knowing that this is a pivotal moment in my life, and I don’t plan on disappointing them.
“You'd better watch what you say to me, Con,” I lightheartedly warn Connor with a coy grin. “If I become sub-alpha, you’ll be my beta, remember?”
“Not if I become alpha before you,” Connor snorts, and though he’s only teasing, my eyes land on someone across the field who makes his statement ring somewhat true if I’m not careful.
A distraction, in the form of the most ethereal creature I’ve ever seen. My heart skips a beat when she turns her head, a bubbly smile lighting up her emerald eyes as she giggles with her group of friends.
She sticks out from the crowd, and it’s hard not to notice her with her sprightly golden-brown curls framing her face, magnifying her lusciously plump lips. Her bronzed flesh appears carved in the Moon Goddess’s image, along with her slim waist that tapers out into perfect curves.
Rissa Rudolph…
I shouldn’t find her as irresistible as I do, but I can’t help myself, my body reacting with rising heat flowing out to the most unthinkable places, where I shouldn’t be feeling awareness at her approaching footsteps.
Receiving my wolf three moons ago hasn’t made it easier to ignore her presence, especially when I’m forced to attend some classes with her.
As if searching for an escape, my eyes flicker to my parents in the bleachers, and I’m reminded of the duties and the responsibilities I shoulder as their son. I can’t become distracted during this time, especially not by a lowly omega.
Omega Rissa Rudolph’s inferior status in the pack feels like a crime, or perhaps it’s how irresistible I find her that’s the real misdeed, especially since she’s an orphaned she-wolf and I’m vying for the sub-Alpha position. Her family was weak, and so is she. There’s no reason for a future alpha to be drooling over her presence as if my inner wolf craves to be near her.
Frowning in irritation, the thought of her lowly status drives me as I march forward, approaching the group of young she-wolves who notice me and begin staring with star-struck eyes. Their gaze is a reminder that I’m a promising, prominent figure in the pack, and I have every right to do what I’ve been doing best for the better part of this year.
“Ladies…” I address the she-wolves, purposely avoiding meeting Rissa’s eyes, even though my inner wolf is raging within as if purring her name. “Congratulations to you all. I’ve heard everyone has passed the final exam.”
There’s a chorus of sheepish giggles that I allow to pass before finally setting eyes on Rissa.
“Though not all of you deserved it,” I remark just as Connor joins me in front of the group.
“Who didn’t deserve it, Brooks?” Connor asks right on cue, and I chuckle as I pointedly stare at Rissa with a raised brow.
“This little, unimportant Omega, of course,” I snicker as Rissa frowns at me. It’s not the first time she’s faced my bullying antics, but it still seems to come as a surprise every time.
She has no idea what she does to me, but she’s become the target of my disdain ever since I discovered how much my inner wolf craves her closeness. I need to push her away, deny my inner wolf’s foolishness, and keep my eyes on the ultimate prize.
