All Chapters of The Denver Alpha: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

JULIETI’m just putting the finishing touches on my makeup- a sultry smoky eye look with winged liner- when my cell phone begins vibrating on the bathroom counter, the screen lit up with an incoming call. I pop the mascara wand back in the tube and glance down, expecting it to be Kylie calling since we made plans to go out to a club called Hydra tonight after we both interviewed for jobs at Jokers earlier. It’s not her name I see on the screen, though; it’s a number I don’t recognize. I don’t usually answer calls from unknown numbers, but since the first three digits are a Denver area code, I pick it up with a hesitant, “Hello?”“Is this Juliet Anderson?” a male voice asks on the other end of the line. Wherever he is, it’s loud. I can hear the roar of music and voices, clattering glass, and a cacophony of other sounds I can’t quite place.“This is Juliet,” I reply tentatively, not recognizing the voice of the caller.He breathes what sounds almost like a sigh of relief. “Juliet, this

JULIETThe scent of Italian food wafts from the kitchen as I step through the doorway to enter, my stomach immediately responding with a loud grumble in protest. I skipped lunch today in favor of buckling down and getting some of my required reading out of the way before classes start. I’ve only got two weeks left to tackle all of it, and as interesting as I find the material, I’d like to get it done sooner rather than later so I can enjoy the last couple weeks of summer before diving into my studies.And yeah, maybe immersing myself in my textbooks was a distraction tactic, too. If my mind isn’t busy, it starts to wander back to last night and I either start overthinking everything that happened between Cole and me or I get hot and bothered all over again and end up rubbing one out.Seriously.I’ve already gotten myself off twice today thinking about what we did in that office, no shame. It was the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced. Not that I’ve done much to compare it to, but I’m

JULIETIt’s not like me to be nervous, but here I am, heart pounding, palms sweating as I approach Cole’s office in the packhouse. I can’t remember the last time I was ever this jittery. Maybe I shouldn’t have had that third cup of coffee this morning.Things weren’t weird between us after what happened in the office at Jokers, so why should they be now? I mean, that kiss last night was far more chaste than what we did in the office. Except for the fact that we were naked. And the kiss was crazy intense. And things were escalating so quickly that I’m pretty sure he was about to bang me right there before we were interrupted.Yeah, that’s totally grounds for things to be weird between us today.Damnit.Breathe, Jules.I pause just outside of Cole’s office door, drawing in a deep breath and steadying my composure. This is fine. People do this all the time. I can’t go in there like the blushing virgin that I am or he’ll pick up on it right away and I’m betting it’ll spook him. He already

JULIET“Jules, you have to try this one!” Shay gushes, holding up a hanger with a white crochet bikini dangling from it.Ashlyn peeks her head around from the other side of the clothing rack. “Ooh, totally,” she agrees. “I’ll bet a white swimsuit looks amazing against your skintone.”I don’t need to be convinced- the bikini is totally my style. I eagerly grab the hanger from Shay and add it to the growing collection of swimwear already clutched in my hands. I still need to try them all on, but I have a feeling I’m going to be leaving with quite a few of these. The best part about shopping for swimsuits at the end of the season is that they’re all on sale- the boutique we’re at has three full racks of suits that are marked down to bargain prices.I pluck another swimsuit off the rack, holding it out in front of me and tilting my head in consideration as I examine it closer. It’s a classic triangle top in black shimmery fabric with bottoms that tie at the hips to match.“I’m not sure if

JULIET True to his word, Cole somehow made the whole getting arrested thing just go away, like it never happened. He must be really well connected- none of the alphas from the six-pack have that kind of pull with local law enforcement. Then again, we’re so far off the beaten path that the only police activity we get on the fringes of our territory is a random visit from a sheriff at the alliance-owned ski resort or brewery from time to time. I thought for sure that word of my little shoplifting incident would’ve made it back to my brother by now, but it has been nearly forty-eight hours and so far, crickets. He's not the only one I haven’t heard a peep from. Since fooling around with Cole on the ride home, I haven’t seen or heard from him, either. It’s not unusual for the man to be busy- he’s Alpha of the largest pack in the state, after all- but considering how things have been escalating between us lately, the last thing I expected was radio silence. Especially after he had his dic