“I’ll take water too. Thank you, Alpha.”
He just nodded his head at her and then winked at me again before he turned around to leave us.
“What was that? What did you do to Alpha Riley? He actually smiled and he was flirting with you!” Her eyes widened as if she was really shocked.
I giggled. “I told you, he’s cuddly.”
“He’s smitten with you!”
“You think so?”
She nodded her head. “Amazing, really amazing! I have never seen that Alpha smile. And I wondered why he got along with Darvin when Darvin smiles all the time.”
“Well, he’s changed a lot from the first time I saw him. Did you know his wolf bit me right away when he saw me?”
“What?”
“Look.” I turned around and raised my shirt at the back, just enough for her to see the crescent moon mark that Hunter left on my hipbone area.
“Oh, Goddess! It’s beautiful! He didn’t bite you! He marked you. So he marked you first before the Alpha did?”
“Yes. Riley told me he was furious because they scented me in your territory, and Hunter thought I was avoiding them. Riley actually scented me on you, and he asked you to take him to me, but you dragged him to Trish.”
“Oh, no! So that was it! Well, if your Alpha told me he scented his mate on me, then I would have brought him to you. But he didn’t say anything. He was just like…” She straightened her posture and puffed out her chest before she began speaking in a louder voice, imitating Riley’s. “Who did you spend your day with? Take me to her!”
I couldn’t stop myself from giggling because it was almost the same as what Riley told me, but she was narrating it better.
“I thought Darvin was furious that I went out again, and he had asked Alpha Riley to find out where I went. And of course, I would never take him to you. Otherwise, I’d foil your escape plan. So I took him to Trish instead!”
“At least you made Trish happy that day, for sure.”
“Oh, she was overjoyed, and she kept blabbing about it for days about how he saw and talked to Alpha Riley.” She giggled before she reached for my hand. “By the way, Trish was heartbroken—well, probably for thirty seconds before she moved on and said she was happy you were mated to Alpha Riley.”
I giggled again because that was typical Trish. She had tons of crushes, but she moved on easily when she got tired of fawning over them.
Our laughter was interrupted when an Omega entered the room with a tray in her hands with pastries and juice, and, of course, water, followed by Riley.
“Is it okay if I leave you, ladies? I will just be at the training ground. The Gamma needed some assistance.” He asked as he stopped by the entryway, his hands in his pockets as he stared at me.
I nodded my head as I stood up from my seat and walked to where he was standing. “But you’re not leaving the territory?”
“No.” He smiled as his hand reached for the stray hairs on my face and tucked them behind my ear. “Link me if anything. I have warriors around the packhouse, so you have nothing to worry about security.”
“I’m not worried.” I smiled at him.
I wanted to kiss him, but I didn’t want to make the first move, and besides, Katarina might be looking.
But it had been days since we kissed.
“I am. So make sure you stay inside the house. Or let me know if you plan to go out.” He cupped my face, brushing my cheek with his thumb as his soft gaze locked with mine.
‘I’m not restraining you from going out. I just want to make sure you’re well-protected. I don’t want anybody to take you away from me.’He sent over our mindlink, and I couldn’t stop the smile from gracing my lips.
“Okay. And let me know if you’re going somewhere other than the training grounds.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He chuckled before he leaned in but stopped midway and instead brushed his thumb against the corner of my lips. “I’ll see you later.”
And then he pulled away and turned around.
