Alpha Ever After (Midnight Liaisons Book 5) (11 page)

I
’m
in an extra foul mood when I get home, even more so when I see a truck in the driveway. Visitors, and judging from the ‘Baby on Board’ sticker in the window, it’s Alice and Jackson. They’re the alphas of a neighboring pack and nice folks. They’re raising the baby of the last alpha - Alice’s dead brother - and went immediately to a mated relationship the moment they met. Now they partner running the Savage pack.

To say I’m jealous would be an understatement. I’m gnawingly, insanely jealous of Jackson. Not because he has Alice, but because he’s got everything I want - a family, an adoring mate, and a pack firmly under his control.

My pack? They’re a bunch of chuckleheads. My mate? She doesn’t want to acknowledge I exist.

I enter the house and throw my keys down on the cluttered table in the foyer and head into the kitchen. The scent of fried chicken wafts through the house, and I suspect everyone will be there. Sure enough, I enter and see my pack - Gracie, Owen, Wyatt, Buck and Tony - all sitting around the table, digging into buckets of chicken. Alice bounces baby Eddie on her hip and nearby, Jackson has his legs under the sink, fixing the faucet.

“I see I missed dinner,” I say as Tony snatches the last piece of chicken out of the bucket and takes a huge bite out of it with a guilty look in my direction.

Alice smacks the back of Tony’s head. “That was shitty of you.”

He hunches his shoulders and looks appropriately guilty. “Sorry.” Then he takes another bite of food.

Alice gives me an exasperated look and moves to my side. “I’m sorry they ate everything. I didn’t realize we didn’t bring enough. You want me to run out and get some more?”

I shake my head and take the baby from her arms. He’s the cutest little bastard, even if I’m pretty sure he hates me. “Not hungry. So you guys bought dinner?”

She nods, watching Eddie’s expression as she passes the baby to me. “Gracie said the disposal was clogged so we figured we’d stop by and say hi. And we thought we’d bring some food.”

They’re too damn nice. I want to tell her to stop feeding my mooching pack, but before I can, baby Eddie immediately sprouts fur and bares tiny fangs at me. Happens every time I pick the kid up.

“Dammit,” Alice says, and takes him from my arms. “At some point, he’s going to stop challenging you.”

“Nah, he won’t,” I say, amused. I ruffle the toddler’s hair and head into the kitchen to grab a beer. “That one’s gonna be an alpha through and through.” I open the fridge and there’s no beer. My teeth grit and I look over at Buck.

He’s sipping on the last bottle, deliberately avoiding eye contact.

There are days I really hate being the fucking alpha, because it means I’m responsible for these fools. I slam the fridge shut. That’s fine. It gives me an excuse to go back out.

Jackson slides out from under the sink, flips the disposal, and then gives Gracie a thumbs up. “All fixed, kiddo.”

My sister gives him a slinky little smile. I could have fixed the disposal, but man-crazy Gracie probably just wanted to ogle Jackson or his assistant. Alice wisely keeps her pack - full of teenagers, and a lot of them female - away from my idiots.

“Good. I hate to push everyone out the door, but I need to head back out, and I’m taking Gracie with me.” I nod at my sister.

“You are?” Gracie straightens. “Sweet.”

“That’s all right,” Alice says, stroking Eddie’s cheek as his fur retracts. The baby’s too young to have control over his instincts, so Alice has to cart him everywhere instead of placing him in daycare. “We need to stop by one of the rent houses anyhow. The tenants just moved out and it’s a mess.”

“You need it painted?” I ask.

“Outside and in,” she agrees.

I point at my boys. “You four paint it. Two outside and two in.”

“What?” Wyatt scowls. “We have plans tonight.”

“Now you don’t,” I say, raising a brow at him. Is he challenging me?

Wyatt sighs and gives me a sulky, childish look at odds with his age. “Fine.”

“You guys were happy to eat Alice’s food. Now you can go paint Alice’s house.” I gesture at the female alpha and she gives me a pleased look. She knows as well as I do that a busy pack is a pack that stays out of trouble. “Isn’t that nice of Alice?”

“Thanks, Alice,” Tony says sarcastically.

She calmly heads back over to him and whaps him on the back of the head again.

Jackson just grins, wiping his hands with a rag. “Well, we appreciate the help. Can always use a few extra hands with the kids in school right now.”

“Anytime you need them, you just ask.”

“That hardly seems fair,” whines Buck.

I turn my stern gaze on him. I’m younger than all of them except for Gracie, but I’m the one in charge. “You got a job I don’t know about suddenly?”

Buck lowers his eyes. None of them are employed, except Gracie, and she misses so much work it’s a miracle she hasn’t been fired.

“That’s what I thought. Pack keeps you fed. Pack puts a roof over your head. So while you get taken care of by the pack, you take care of pack business. Understand?” I let my gaze roam over all of them.

Gracie squirms in her chair, but they’re silent. Silence is agreement. That works.

“Go on, now,” I say. “Alice and Jackson will show you what’s to be done.” I pull a wad of twenties out of my pocket and hand it to Alice as I pass by. “And if they work late, pizza for dinner is on me.”

She grins her thanks. Baby Eddie sprouts new hair and snarls at me.

A few minutes later, the pack has shuffled out the door, bitching and arguing like brothers. Buck and Tony elbow each other, and Owen and Wyatt are fighting over the keys to the shared pack truck. Same shit, different day. I wish they’d grow up.

Gracie still sits at the table, stirring a spork in a tub of mashed potatoes. “So how come I’m staying behind? Am I in trouble? Because whatever it is, I didn’t do it.” She tilts her head. “Actually, no, I probably did.”

“You’re coming with me.” I search the back of the fridge, find a water bottle that’s been pushed so far to the back that it’s practically an ice cube, and pull it out.

“Where are we going?”

“Midnight Liaisons.”

“The dating agency? Why?”

Because I got a glimpse of Savannah’s phone and saw that the guy would meet her there. And I want to see whose ass I have to kick. “We’re going to keep an eye on Savannah.”

“You mean we’re going to stalk her,” Gracie says, and licks her spork absently.

“I mean keep an eye on her.”

“Stalk.”

I growl at my sister.

With the laziest of movements, Gracie shows me her neck, indicating that she’s giving in on the argument. “You know I’m right, though,” she adds. “Just calling it like it is.”

“When I want your opinion—“

“You’ll beat it out of me? Just like Uncle Levi?”

That stops me cold. I stare down at my sister. She’s high spirited, a flirt, and can be a huge pain in the ass…but she’s always loyal to the pack. That she’s chiding me tells me that I’m not acting rational. “You know I wouldn’t do that.”

Her impish smile returns. “Just admit that you wanna stalk her.”

I swear I’m going to cheerfully strangle her one of these days.

* * *

W
e park
across the street from the dating agency, just because I don’t wanna be too obvious. It’s located in a benign strip mall close to downtown, and there’s a sandwich shop and a game store that share the building with them. Consequently, cars are always pulling into the parking lot. I grip the steering wheel hard at each one, staring down every man that gets out of a car. Which one is the one encroaching on my territory?

My sister wiggles her bare feet on the dashboard of my truck and sighs with boredom after a half hour of this. “Can I just go in and ask about her?”

“No.” I don’t want her to know I’m checking up on her. She already hates me. The thought’s like a knife in my gut. I love that woman more than anything, and she can hardly stand to look at me.

“So we’re just going to sit out here and glare at everyone that dares to want a sandwich?”

“I should have sent you with the others.”

“Nah. You like my company. And here’s a thought. Why not try apologizing to her?”

I look over at my sister, eyes narrowed. “Apologize for what?”

“Uh, hello. Knocking her up?”

I scowl. “I’m not sorry about that.”

“Gee, I can’t imagine why she’d be irritated with you.” Gracie wiggles her big toes. “I’m just saying. You want to get somewhere with her? Grovel.”

I snort. Like I’m taking advice from her. I—

Gracie leans forward and her feet go to the floor. “You think that’s him?”

I scan the parking lot. There’s a man heading directly for the dating agency door instead of the sandwich shop. He just got out of a light blue sedan with Oregon plates. I size him up as he enters the agency and disappears from sight. Kinda nondescript looking. Balding. Not athletic.

That’s the guy she wants?

“Duuuude,” Gracie breathes. “He’s fucking old. You think he’s rich?”

“Savannah wouldn’t care about that.” But my hand tightens on the steering wheel. Savannah’s got two babies in her stomach now. Maybe she
is
thinking about money.

“I’d care about that,” Gracie says, and it doesn’t make me feel any better.

“I have money,” I tell my sister, but it sounds sullen when I say it, and I feel like an idiot.

“You do,” Gracie agrees, peering through the windshield. “It’s just
you
that she doesn’t want anything to do with.”

Definitely should have left my sister at home. My entire body tenses when the door to the agency opens and Savannah steps out. Opening her own door? I growl low in my throat. I’d never let that happen. But she’s smiling, brushing a lock of her long hair out of her face as the man in the sweater - a fucking sweater! - steps out behind her, keys in hand. He looks less pleased. Two enormous men trail behind them, dressed in t-shirts and sweatpants. As I watch, they all get into the boring blue sedan.

“Who the fuck are they?” I snarl. My hands clench on the wheel. Did they get Savannah bodyguards? Does she need protection? From fucking who? I’ll destroy anyone that tries to touch one hair on her head. I’ll—

“Down, boy,” Gracie says, patting my arm. “You’re going to break that.”

I release the steering wheel, ignoring the grooves I’ve made in the leather. I inhale deeply, trying to calm down. Breathe. Breathe.

“She was with those two guys at the grocery store the other day,” Gracie says. “Bought them candy bars and slapped their hands when they tried to take candy from a baby. No shit, they
literally
tried to take candy from a baby. It was the funniest thing I’d ever seen.” She grins. “I think they’re special clients or something. When I saw her, she seemed more annoyed with them than anything else.”

I remember my sister telling me about the weird guys at the store with Savannah, and I relax a little. Maybe they’re not bodyguards then, but clients that need special attention. I couldn’t smell them because we’re downwind, so I don’t know what animal they are, but it makes sense. That would explain why they follow her around.

“What’d they smell like?”

She shrugs. “Cats? Cookies? I don’t know. You know the grocery store fucks up scents.”

It does.

And I’m a little smug at the thought of them going on the date with Savannah and the sweater guy. Because he hadn’t looked pleased at the thought of going on a date with those two tagging along.

Good.

The coffee-and-sandwich shop we have our ‘date’ at is right next to a fast food place with a Playland. I watch as Eoghan happily flings kids up a climbing net so they can slide, and I’m pretty sure Galen is in the ball crawl somewhere. They’re so delighted to play with the kids.

I so wish I was there. I take a bite out of my cream cheese danish and try to pay attention to Craig’s conversation about his job.

“I hate to say this, Savannah, but should you be eating that?”

I stop mid chew and look over at the man.

Craig nudges the plate with my pastry away from me. “Those things are loaded with corn syrup and starches. Do you think that’s healthy for the baby?”

This again? I want to take another obstinate bite out of the danish, but it’s a little stale. I put it aside and sip my decaf green tea, since Craig has already disapproved of pregnant ladies drinking caffeine. I wonder how he’s going to feel when a pregnant lady whoops his ass for being annoying.

If he notices my bad mood, he doesn’t say anything. He’s having an alfalfa salad and water, and I’m guessing he’s disappointed that I went the junk food route. As he nudges my uneaten danish aside, he leans forward. “You want to see something awesome?”

Uh oh. “I don’t know, do I?” I smile politely, but I’m secretly hoping it’s not a picture of his dick. I don’t think I can handle that much ‘awesome’ in my life.

He pulls out his phone, taps something on the screen, and then holds it out to me. “What do you think? I put a bid in on this today.”

I peer at his phone. It’s a real estate listing for a house. That’s not surprising, considering that he’s just moved to the area. It looks like a nice one, located in a small, elite suburb in North Fort Worth. The yard is tiny, but the interior of the house is stunning - marble floors, custom brick fireplace, the works. “Wow, this is really nice. Congratulations, Craig.”