The Possessive Alpha
Chapter 39

ELLE POV

Theo was supposed to meet me this morning to tell me about his night with Damon, Matt, and Andrew, but he was a no-show; in fact, they all were. I tried calling, texting, and mindlinking him with no response. When school ends, I am beyond pissed; something happened last night that’s the only explanation for Theo not talking to me all day.

The slow build of anger and annoyance skyrocketed when I saw Theo across the field laughing at whatever Victor was telling him. Not thinking, I beeline for him, my anger evident to the other students as they part like the Red Sea. I swear he gulps subtly in fear when he sees me barreling toward him. Even Victor beside him looks terrified as he slowly tries to inch himself away from my intended target, not wanting to get caught in the crosshairs.

“What the hell, Theo?” I yell, throwing my hands in the air, “you couldn’t call me back?” The guilty look on his face and how he keeps shifting his eyes to look behind, desperately pleading for someone to save him from this. “Say something! Now!” I practically screech, a sense of authority blanketing everyone around me. I see the nervous glances the students give one another, frozen in their spots, unsure of what to do. My anger is so strong you could practically taste it in the air, leaving a spicy taste on the tongue.

“Look, Elle, I am sorry, but…” Theo stumbles over his words, “I was up all night and didn’t get to sleep until late this morning.” I can tell he wants to say more to me but doesn’t want to talk about it here because of the ears listening to every word we say.

“Seriously, you couldn’t call me or let me know?” I asked, glaring at him while I crossed my arms over my chest. “I skipped three classes waiting on you,” I grumble, my anger hasn’t receded, and I can feel the stares of my classmates, but I don’t care.

“Enough!” comes the deep rumble of Damon’s voice from behind me, and I can not help my body’s involuntary reaction. My hairs stand on end, and a slight shiver runs down my spine. “Everybody go do fifteen laps!” But no one makes a move watching closely to see what happens between us. The nosy bastards. “Did I stutter? Go! NOW!” He yells, but I can feel his eyes drilling holes into the back of my head. Setting down my water bottle, I start running, with the rest of the students scurrying away from their pissed-off

Alpha.

“Elle,” I hear Damon call out, and I slow down but refuse to turn and look at him, not after the other morning. My heart still stings from the rejection, which I don’t understand. It’s not like he is my mate who rejected me, but it still didn’t stop me from crying myself to sleep the last few nights. I have always felt attracted to Damon, but something has drastically changed between us since he came home, and trying to figure it out by myself is becoming difficult. I found myself outside his door, half asleep like my body had taken over.

“What, Damon?” I ask, my back still facing him, too angry at his refusal to tell me what he knows. Still pissed that he views me as some weak damsel who needs him to protect me. I can hear the growl from his chest, warning me to keep my disrespect in check.

“Look at me,” He demands, and I slowly turn on my heel. I’ll face him, but I refuse to look in his face. It doesn’t take long for him to figure out what I am doing because he takes the five steps to close the distance between us, the electricity so fierce it’s tangible. Every fiber in my body is begging me to reach out and touch him, but instead, I clench my fists at my sides, grabbing the fabric there.

“Elle,” he whispers as his hand tries to grab my chin. I flinch away from him, but my eyes find his anyways. “Please. Try to understand.”

“I don’t understand,” I respond, “that’s the problem, Damon. Nothing is making sense anymore, from my life, my past, and lastly, the reason I can’t stay away from a man who isn’t my mate. You’re the only person I know who understands.” I finally look him in the eyes, and I can tell he is struggling with the same issues, so why won’t he just let me in? As I stare at him, he finally places his hand along my cheek, sending the flames and tingles to lick my skin where we connect. It takes everything in me not to relieve the sigh I am holding.

I close my eyes, relishing the feeling for as long as possible, knowing it’ll be short-lived once I open them. When I finally find the courage to look at Damon again, I find his eyes have shifted to Slade’s black eyes, full of caged desire, “You’re not a damsel in distress. Damon is doing what he thinks is right,” he tells me.

“And what do you think?” I ask him, curious to know if he agrees with Damon. Slade has always been honest with me, and he has always been transparent with his intentions. It’s Damon who struggles.

“I think he is scared,” He says as he looks into my eyes, rubbing his thumb along my cheek. “He doesn’t know anything. As soon as Damon knows more, he will tell you. He doesn’t want to tell you what he knows until he has answers for the millions of questions you will have.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, Slade,” I retort, raising my eyebrow, expecting him to answer my question, but I can tell by the look in his eyes that he won’t answer the question, and he confirms that a minute later.

“I know,” he says as he places the softest k**s on my forehead before Damon’s bright cerulean irises stare back at me.

“What did Slade tell you?” Damon asks, his hand still on my cheek, and once I realize he is, I take a small step away from him, fighting against every instinct in my body to stay right where I am.

“That is between him and me,” I say, holding his gaze, refusing to let him see the pain this is physically causing me, to put space between us when my body only wants to be in his arms. I don’t know when it changed. All I know is that I am exhausted from fighting it. “You have your secrets, and I have mine. I’ll do what you ask, Damon, and let you find answers. But I was hoping you could give me the same respect and space. Please don’t bother me for a few days,” I finish, turning around and running into the forest line before the dam breaks and the floodgates open.

I need to focus on something more productive than crying over Damon…again. After a few minutes, I quickly catch up with the rest of the pack as they run the forest trail and slow my pace next to Theo, who gives me a questioning look, but I shake my head and put all of my attention into training and beating the s**t out of someone for the next two hours.

ALPHA CHARLES POV

Standing at the window in my office, rattling the ice cubes in my scotch glass, I watch as the pups run off into the woods for laps, but Damon calls Elle back. I watch as the two interact with each other, the way their wolves keep pushing them together, but their humans fight it. The problem is I need their humans to stop fighting it.

I hear a light tap on the door, but I already know my Beta and Gamma are outside. I start pouring drinks for both of them, knowing they’d appreciate the gesture, “Come in.” I say. Within seconds I hear the creaking sound of the door opening. Soon both men are standing at the window, watching as Damon and Elle have their private moment on the field. I hated telling him to stay away from her, but I needed to push him, so the most important part of the plan could be accomplished.

“I’ll be shocked if those two don’t end up mates,” Toby mutters as he takes a sip of his scotch, “They remind me so much of you and Olivia before you found out.” He chuckles as he recalls the memories of Olivia’s and I’s relationship in the very beginning. From the minute I looked into the blue eyes that now reside in our son, the attraction was instantaneous. My whole body buzzed with an electricity no other woman inspired.

As Toby chuckles, recalling past memories, the presence of Jake’s eyes on me is noticeable as my Gamma continues talking about Elle and Damon’s similarities to my relationship with Olivia. Finally, meeting my Beta’s gaze and based on the twinkle in his eyes I think he suspects, who or what Elle is.

“They do, don’t they?” Jake adds, “I remember you jumping all in and suddenly having second guesses, but despite all those, you couldn’t stay away from her. You didn’t want to be near her but couldn’t stop stalking her. I have watched Damon struggle with those feeling for years; even when he was “dating” Melanie, he was battling them. Sorry, Toby,”

“Don’t apologize to me,” He mumbles, shrugging his shoulders, “we tried to warn her after Elle moved to the pack, but it was useless. It’s fine now; she happily mated and loves her life as a Luna.”

“Good, I am glad,” I say, tapping my drink glass against his.

“Sam just linked, and she needs me at home,” Toby says, draining his glass before setting it back down and exiting the office. Andrew and I stare at the field, watching Elle run into the woods to join the other students during their exercises.

“How long have you known?” I ask him, not needing to elaborate because we know each other well enough not to need to.

“I have suspected for years,” He says, his eyes focused on Damon angrily punching a tree with his bare hands. “But whenever I think of her pack or any other useful information that could confirm my suspicions, my mind becomes groggy and cannot seem to focus. on any particular details.” I cannot help the smile on my lips when Jake admits this. Knowing that Jake, a powerful Beta, cannot fight against the spell placed upon them years ago gives me confidence things will work according to plans. I think we made the right decision letting Slade pick what to do when it came to that spell. Had we not agreed, she could have been repeatedly marked /raped or dead. At least this way, he always gets to be near her, and she doesn’t risk being abused.