Chapter 5

Zelle’s POV

   “I hate you!” I yell his cocky smile tormenting me across the kitchen island. He drives me insane...he can have me falling for him one minute then break my heart the next, then he didn’t even come downstairs for even a minute of my welcome home party, just carrying my belongings in through the back door and disappearing. I dreamt about him last night, as usual, waking up desiring his touch then I meander downstairs for coffee…in my pajama shorts and a tank, my hair looking like a squirrel nested in it overnight (so maybe the last bottle of wine Celeste and I split had been a bit more than we should have drunk) and his cock ass is smirking at me and telling me I’m sexy. I know I look like  something the cat dragged in, he doesn’t have to tease me like that!

    “Zelle, what the fuck did I do to win you’re ire? I’m trying to be fucking honest here.” He looks crestfallen as he stands and walks around the island towards me. I back up a step or two before walking around the other side of the island. He keeps walking towards me and I keep walking away, then we both stop in a deadlock eyeing each other. “Princess, let me into that pretty little head of yours…what are you thinking?”

     “That I hate you and you need to keep your promises”I pout. “You said I wouldn’t need to be with you or even look at you, you act like you want to be with me, then you tell me about this girl…this light who brings you hope, then you don’t even come to my party and you have the nerve to be all up in my dreams then tease me when I wake up! So yeah I hate you, what did you do to me? For two years you have haunted my dreams, did you do some vampire mind fuck thing to me?”

     He laughs “Vampire mind fuck thing? I don’t know what you are talking about.” His eyes glint and his smirk broadens “but tell me about these dreams. So you are dreaming about me?” he licks his lips and my eyes dart to them. “Are they sexy dreams?” He waggles his eyebrows and I try to make a run for it, darting through the opening into the dining area and towards the den, but he catches me and pulls me close. “tell me, kitten. Are they sexy dreams?” He runs his thumb along my jaw and I feel that eclectic zing but I refuse to look at him, clenching my thighs to hide the arousal that I feel at his closeness. I hate what he does to me, how he makes me want him so badly! I suck in a deep breath, my chest heaving as I try not to look in those dark orbs that I could drown in.  “Tell me! “He growls.

    “No” I try but still won’t open my eyes to look at him, my breath hitches as his hand comes to hold my chin between his forefinger and thumb, he turns my face towards his and I make the mistake of opening my eyes.

    “You’re lying, kitten. Don’t lie to me” he says firmly. He uses a commanding tone, but doesn’t put an Alpha command behind it. “You may be the Alpha, kitten, but you will listen to me about that, rest assured!”

    “What’s going on?” Ellie asks Drake with narrowed eyes. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her if you found her! You said she would be Alpha!”

    “And she will be next full moon” he says matter of factly. “I’m not hurting her, just telling our young Alpha that I don’t like being lied to.” he smirks at me letting go of my face. “I'll see you in your dreams, kitten,” he taunts. He grabs his coffee and walks away.

    Ellie pulls me in for a big hug. “He’s not all bad, he’s just a bit rough around the edges. He’s actually a lot more fair than your father and easy on the eyes.” She smiles, turning me to check out his retreating form and those tight jeans that hug his perfect bum. I roll my eyes at her and try to scoff, but it fails, because I just have to turn back and watch him until he fades from view. “Don’t pretend with me. I know you too well! No one would blame you if you found him attractive. most of the she-wolves have been fawning over him, not that he pays any attention to them.” Zeke joins us and Ellie promises to make my favorite breakfast before busying herself in the kitchen. I like that in his redecoration Drake thought to open the kitchen up to the dining area, I always hated that Ellie spent most of her time in that room, away from everyone else. 

    “I saw Drake go into his office on my way here, he seemed to be in a bit of a mood. Do you know what his problem is?” Zeke asks.

    “His problem is that he exists” I pout. “He infuriates me and I think he was designed for it. Like the goddess makes mates, maybe she makes someone designed to drive you insane, too!”

     “What did he do? And don’t say ‘exist’. He can’t help but do that” Zeke shakes his head at me. He has matured a lot in the last couple of years. 

     “I don’t even know where to start,” I sigh. “He just …um…well, there’s that smirk of his and the way he calls me pet names…”

     “Don’t forget his alluring, dark eyes or perfect bum!” Ellie is not really helping but she winks at me. “I think you like him despite yourself and maybe just maybe, he likes you too which is why you drive each other insane.”

     “I think …” I’m not really sure what I think. He infuriates me with his sexy, perfect, tattooed body and his confusing personality. Maybe Ellie is right, but I am never going to admit it if she is. I scrub my hand down my face. “I think I need some air and a run. It has been too long since I have gone on a run on our grounds and never in wolf form.” Having left before my first shift it would be my first time running our grounds as a wolf. I always went on long runs and hikes in human form, but have never really been able to let loose as a wolf.

    “What about breakfast?” Ellie asks, pointing to the oven with her incredible scones cooking in it.

   “I’ll be back for breakfast, I promise, just a short run” I smile and go out the slider, placing my clothes on a lounge chair and shifting for my run. I have never run as a wolf during the day and it is exhilarating, the smells of warm pine and the feel of the sun on my fur are amazing. ‘We should do this more’ my wolf,Sylvie says. ‘Oh, so you are speaking to me, again’ I say. “You finally shifted again. You skipped the last full moon, `` she pouts.’I had to work’ I say. ‘Well, now you are home and we can be Alpha. Then your work is for the pack’ Sylvia reminds me. ‘I don’t know about the pack finances or what father used to finance our pack’ I realize. ‘That is something you may need to talk to the hottie about’ she snickers. I roll my eyes ' I hate him’. ‘Keep telling yourself that but I know the truth’ she says. I have gotten back to the packhouse and see him around the side, smoking a cigarette and looking out over the garden. I admire him from the treeline for a moment before slinking toward the back of the packhouse and shifting back, slipping back into my tank and shorts and joining Zeke for breakfast.

    Drake stayed away the rest of the day until dinner time. I was given The Alpha Suite. Drake had it remodeled, but had left it rather simple and plain. I spent most of the day settling in, moving things I still wanted from my old room, getting rid of things that I didn't want anymore, that sort of thing. I was walking down the long corridor towards the dining hall when I was pulled into a room. The Alpha's office. “Look I don’t know what the fuck I did to piss you off so much. I know I am not perfect, I fuck up a lot. Can we just try to get along?” his eyes were pleading. 

   “I don’t know why you always make me mad. It just seems like whenever I see you you hurt me or anger me or something” I sigh. 

    “I would rather or something” he smirks. “I don’t mean to hurt you or anger you and I am sure I tease you way too much.” His black orbs meet my blue ones and before I know it my lips are on his, hungrily devouring his mouth. I tangle a hand in his brown curls and he wraps his arms around me, pulling each other close as we kiss passionately. He kisses down my neck and I toss my head back with a moan. I feel that fluttering in my core as my arousal scents the air. His growl and the feel of his hardened length against my stomach are surefire signs we are on the same page. 

     A knock on the office door brings us back to reality. “Hey, Drake it’s dinner time and you promise me you’d come out of there” Zeke calls through the door.

     “Just give me a moment” Drake runs a hand through his disheveled locs in an attempt to neaten them up, but his mass of curls just don’t want to be tamed. I take the elastic off of my own hair and run my fingers through, before capturing his curls into a messy bun.

     “Not a word” I whisper, shaking my head but before I can back up he pulls me in for a more tender kiss, releasing me after a moment. He smiles silently as he slips out the door, a moment or two later I follow. 

    Dinner in the packhouse was a solemn time growing up, my father would have our family and the Beta family and a few guards sit at the table together, we were to stay silent, he was the only one that could speak unless he asked you a question, you had to sit properly, use the proper utensils. A far cry for what awaits me when I walk into our now open dining room. I had noticed that instead of one large formal dining table we now had several large farmhouse tables, but I hadn’t thought of why. Zeke motioned me over to the table that he and Drake sat at, looking like an advisor sitting next to his king. “You should be on the other side of Drake, but I want you next to me tonight, sister” he wraps me in a bear hug. My little brother has gotten a lot stronger these last two years. 

     I look around…The kitchen island is set up like a buffet, with trays full of a variety of foods, some on warming plates. The tables are full of werewolves, mostly young unmated wolves and Drake’s elite warriors, they are talking and joking amongst themselves and the atmosphere is generally jovial. As I sit his raspy voice hits me “Welcome to the Alpha table, Alpha Azalea! You will notice both the placement of our table and the fact that we have chairs not benches and no one sits across from us, make it stand out. After dinner, or sometimes during, people often come up and stand opposite us and make reports or pleas . I do what I can to best help the people.” He slides me an open bottle of ale “I thought you might like this kind. It’s from our microbrewery. If you don’t we have other varieties or the ones I have imported. This country needed better beer and ale.” I can hear his smirk but don’t dare look at him, if I look into his eyes I might lose myself.