Chapter 4

Amber

I shriek in surprise when the door to my room swings open behind me. I turn around in shock, staring at Alex, who stands there like a statue. His mouth is agape, and although I’m naked, all I can focus on is his gaze as it travels along my body. I can’t even hide from his eyes. The nearest towel is across the room on my bed, and my skin prickles with anticipation when he doesn’t turn away. 

“W-what are you staring at?!” I try to yell, but it comes out as a pathetic cry.

Alex quickly raises his hands in surrender. “Whoa! Don’t worry, I’m not missing anything spectacular here. You don’t even have any curves!”

My face reddens, and I feel a wave of anger course through me. How dare he make such crude remarks about my body! I might not be the curviest model out there, but I’ve spent a lot of work keeping myself thin! But of course, I don’t dare to say that to Alex. I’m too shy around him, and my heart races as Alex steps closer to me and begins to laugh.

“Hey,” he says between chuckles “Calm down now. No need for drama.” He puts a hand on my shoulder before bending his tall body at an awkward angle so that our foreheads almost touch. “I’m sure you can find some area where you look better than others.” 

His breath smells like apples—a scent that, up until this moment, I found charming—but now it just fills me with rage instead of comfort. And it’s all because of what he said before about my body lacking curves! So even though I’m afraid of Alex, with fear rushing through every vein in my body, I slowly raise both hands onto his chest while maintaining eye contact with him. 

He lifts an eyebrow when I fix him firmly with an outraged glare, but I don’t care about his expression. I push away at his chest as fiercely as possible with two hands and hiss,” G-get out!”

Alex blinks in surprise, head bent by the neck to look down at me questioningly, and my skin burns brighter. The bastard probably didn’t feel me pushing him, which is embarrassing. My future husband seems lost on what to do, and I growl louder. “G-get out of my room!” 

No reaction. 

My bottom lip trembles, and I whisper, “Please?”

He steps back, realizing I’m serious because of how near I am to cry. Sadly, he doesn’t leave the room and instead glances around my room before sighing. 

“You’re upset.”

“No shit!” I exclaim, unable to keep my tears at bay. “You just insulted me, and now you’re standing here, refusing to leave my room! Do you even r-realize how disrespectful you’re being right now?”

“You’re calling me disrespectful?” 

“Y-yeah!”

“Why?” he tilts his head sideways, appearing more curious than insulted by my words. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Y-you said I have no curves...” I look down so that he won’t see the red color on my face. Even my hands slip down from his muscular chest, which, by the way, is equipped with pectoral muscles larger than my breasts. It’s fucking embarrassing...

“But you don’t?” Alex blurts out. “How is it being disrespectful if I’m pointing out the truth?”

Seriously? How thick-headed is this guy? 

I glare up at Alex, but he doesn’t even seem to understand that I’m mad. He just keeps studying my face with that questioning look on his own, and I growl. 

“You’re such a...” I don’t dare to call him an idiot, so I shyly mumble, “Pain in the butt..”

Alex snorts. “Is that the best curse you got?”

“Ape.”

“Really?” he challenges with a smirk. “Didn’t the werewolves teach you how to cuss?”

I narrow my eyes at him, but I have a feeling I look as imposing as a kitten. “Neanderthal.”

He ducks his head to hide a smile. “That’s a little bit better.”

Just a little?

“Idiot...” I mutter, walking away from him to grab the towel. I don’t want him to keep looking at my non-existent curves. 

But even though I’m clearly irritated with him, Alex is smiling—what a strange guy. 

He tilts his head. “Ah, she is getting better with the insults.”

“Little shit.”

That insult makes him laugh out loud. “Okay, that one is just ironic and will earn you some payback.”

“P-payback?!”

His eyes gleam dangerously. “That’s right.”

I gasp. “Y-you wouldn’t dare!”

“I would.”

He takes an imposing step closer, and I scream when he lifts me off the ground as if I’m weightless. “No! Stupid slimehead!” I wriggle in his strong arms and kick empty air with my legs. I have no idea how the towel manages to stay on. It’s a bloody miracle. “Don’t hurt me! Put me down, now!”

“Hurt you?” Alex questions and flips me onto my back so I’m carried bridal-style by his arms. It’s an embarrassing position, especially considering he is like five years younger than me. I feel ridiculous being treated this way by someone who is just turning eighteen, and I blush deeply. The freaking towel looks like a wedding dress!

With my whole face burning, I mumble. “I don’t want to get hurt...”

He chuckles above me and walks over to the bed, sitting down without letting me go. His chest becomes my pillow, and his radiant smile turns into my sky as he peers down at me. 

“I wasn’t planning on hurting you,” he murmurs in amusement, looking way too proud of himself. “I was just trying to make a point since you called me ‘little shit’ earlier.”

I silently study his face. “So you’re not going to teach me a lesson by hurting me?” I stare up at him challengingly, expecting the worst since Lycans are supposedly very aggressive creatures. 

“What?” Alex furrows his eyebrows. “No. Of course not. I would never do anything to hurt you.”

My eyes widen, and my heart flutters warmly in response to his soft voice. “Really?”

“Uh, yeah?” he blinks down at me. “You’re way too important for that.”

“Important?” I ask in a hopeful tone. I like the idea of being important to him.

“Uh-huh, I must marry you to keep my position as the Alpha King.”

Ah...so that’s why. 

My mood changes again, and I pout at the giant idiot. He probably won’t let me down, and I already know that my strength can’t match his, but maybe if I ask him nicely, he will listen to me. Here goes nothing... 

“Put me down, Alex...”

“No.”

“W-what?”

His expression turns oddly serious, and he shifts me around so I sit on his lap, practically straddling him with my nose almost brushing against his. The proximity to Alex is overwhelming, and he smirks knowingly as if he knows how his pretty face and muscles affect me. “Are you enjoying this, Amber?” 

I blush. “No... I’m not enjoying this and want you to p-put me down...”

“Not gonna happen,” he stifles a laugh when I look at him in shock. He even has the nerve to lean closer, his white teeth showing as he widens his grin. He is annoyingly handsome. “I’m not letting you down until you and I have made friends.”

“F-friends?” So arrogant! And yet...so beautiful. I’m confused!

“That’s right,” Alex leans in to whisper in my ear, his hot breath sending shivers up my spine. For a moment, I think he might kiss me. “I can’t be enemies with my future wife now, can I?”

I shudder, and Alex breathes a laugh close to my ear, then he presses his lips to it, whispering, “You’re scared shitless of me, aren’t you?”

“W-what?” I feign shock because I don’t want to ever admit to Alex that I find him terrifying. I’m his senior and shouldn’t be afraid of this...boy. “I-I’m not afraid of you.”

“Then why are you shaking in my lap? And why are your eyes refusing to meet mine?” His eyes narrow in amusement as he looks down over my body to my legs which are now pressed firmly against his thighs. He seems to find our size different entertaining. “You’re scared.”

“I’m not...”

Alex’s grin turns into something devilish. “Really? You’re shaking and looking like you want to get away from me—that confirms that I’m scaring you. A regular girl would want to get as close to me as possible.” 

I feel a surge of panic at his smug tone, but I can’t make myself speak or move. Tears are prickling behind my eyes. I expect Alex to tease me for it, but he looks uncomfortable instead and sighs. 

“Shit, am I really that scary?” he asks. 

I nod. 

He sighs. “Damn it,” those sky-blue eyes of his comes closer as he almost presses his nose against mine. We are directly staring at each other now, face-to-face. 

My tongue darts out to wet my lips. “Do you have to sit so close to me?”

A sliver of a smile curls his lips. “Sorry,” he leans back a little, and his face softens. “I’m not trying to be scary, I promise. And quite frankly, I’m a little bit too dumb to understand what I’m doing wrong. So, help me out, would you? What should I do to stop frightening you so much?”

I swallow thickly, thinking this through for one minute before finding the answer. “Stop being a giant Lycan.” 

He chuckles. “Easier said than done. I can’t change my identity, Amber. Try again. What else can I do that is actually achievable?”

“Stop picking me up without permission.”

“Really?” a frown forms on his face. “But it’s so much fun, and you look super cute sitting in my lap!” he gestures at me. “Look, you’re itsy-bitsy and adorable! How could I not want to pick you up at all times?”

It’s weird, but I actually find Alex cute at that moment. He is a grown-ass man, yet I can’t resist him when his lower lip is jutting out far from his face. 

I sigh. “Fine. You can...uhm, p-pick me up if you want to...” I stutter, feeling really stupid as I say those words. I hesitantly look at Alex, whose lips form a happy smile that is soft and calm, and utterly sexy. It’s a total change from his grin and my heart races. 

“Good,” Alex says, still smiling as he reaches out his hand to brush some hair away from my face. “You would look really cute if you wore my jersey.”

I squirm on top of his lap, shy and embarrassed all at the same time. “You play sports?” 

“Lycanball,” he replies, laughing. “It’s like football, but more violent... Do you want to come and watch me play sometime? I attend a supernatural college.” He blinks as if realizing something. “Have you graduated?”

I shake my head. “No, I’m a senior since I started studying late. I’m doing my last year studying otherwordly communication, but I will transfer to your college within a week. And I’m studying this because, umm... I hope it will help me speak with many different creatures as the new Luna of the Lycanrock pack.”

I feel silly admitting that, but Alex doesn’t laugh. 

“That’s admirable,” he grins. “Oh, and if we have any of the same classes, maybe you could help me? I’m sort of failing in everything because I’m not taking it very seriously.”

I arch an eyebrow. “W-why aren’t you taking it very seriously?”

“Because I’m the Alpha King,” he deadpans. “College is just for partying and tackling weaker Lycans into the dirt,” his expression changes into a grimace. “But my coach has threatened to bench me because I’m failing in every single subject, so...maybe I do need to study.”

Alex looks at me with hopeful eyes, and I avert my gaze, face burning from the offer I’m about to make. “How about I become your tutor, and you keep the bullies away at college?”

“Bullies?” Alex snorts. “No one is going to bully you at your new college.”

“Really?” I’m surprised. “Because that’s usually how it goes when you’re an Omega like me.”

He smiles at me. “But you’re not an Omega anymore. You’re my future wife, remember?” his eyes twinkle. “That means you will be treated as a Luna.”

My heart skips a beat as realization dawns on me: my life really has changed in more ways than one. Perhaps marrying Alex is the do-over I’ve been waiting for?