Page 2 of Alpha Talk

I sent a howl emoji and then a line of them. What could I say? I was freaking happy! Even if all the old anxieties tried creeping back into my head.

SILAS:OMW!

SILAS:WAIT!

SILAS:Does Micah know? Do I need to not be on my way?

ME:Micah is at work for a few more hours. He has a private group today and I don’t want to interrupt that. I only took the test on my own because I was sure it was my imagination that the hashbrowns made me not want to eat. You know, wishful thinking and all of that. But I guess it wasn’t my brain.

SILAS:Nope. Your nose did that. Potatoes always smell like poison when I’m pregnant apparently. Fried potatoes are the worst, though. I hate those weeks. Though, it’s been a while since I had those weeks. Our house is going to be emptier than yours when your pup comes along.

ME: Are you over the break? Ready for more?

SILAS: Not sure. Sort of digging the childfree life. Though, we’re not childfree. I don’t care if people are but it sounds weird to call us that. We’re parents. We still have people to worry about even if they’re not toddlers or teens. I guess we’re empty deners for now. Well, not you anymore. Micah filled up your den.

I sent him a line of laughing wolf emojis and headed into the kitchen to see what might not set my stomach off while I waited for him to get here. I spent almost fifteen minutes sniffing everything in the kitchen before I realized I was craving jerky. Micah and I didn’t eat it often. We hadn’t eaten it often since the days we traveled from the west coast out here to negotiate with Brone after his nephew Roger was killed for being a dangerous creep. We ate too much of it on that trip for it to be appetizingagain. We still went through phases though. Mostly when one of our kids was really into it. So, despite them all being grown now, we still kept some on hand just in case. I tore into a bag of deer jerky and wandered onto the porch to wait for Silas.

He pulled up a few minutes later, with a to-go bag of burgers from one of the newer restaurants. They smelled just on this side of okay, but I was grateful he’d skipped the fries. Besides, I’d try anything once and after this stage of pregnancy passed – the everything is probably poison stage – I’d be ravenous if I didn’t get enough to eat in this phase.

Chapter Two

Micah

“Sidney still isn’t sleeping with me,” Coil grunted when it was his turn to speak.

He met his true-mate three months before. Sidney was a few years older than him and focused on his medical degree. He had acknowledged their meeting but would do nothing to consummate it. At least, not in the ways that Coil felt he was entitled to. His doctor had referred him to Alpha Talk. Apparently, he went off at Sidney about not ‘giving him what he was due’ at an appointment and the doctor about tossed him out of the window. Seeing that the doctor was Clyde, Coil was lucky he didn’t end up splattered on the road. Not all of the alphas in our group were would-be predators in the making. Most of them were normal people like anyone else dealing with hard times or an unfair world.

“Coil?” Raziel cocked his eyebrow.

“Yeah?”

“How much would you pay me to solve your problem?” Raziel asked and I almost stepped in to stop the conversation.

“Wait!”my wolf yipped into my thoughts.

“Why? What’s your idea?”

“It’s not an idea, it’s a promise, pal. If you don’t shut your crow damned muzzle about Sidney not sleeping with you, I’m going to cut your balls off. You’re crossing lines that aren’t cool, dude. None of us are going to sit here and pat you on the back and say he’s some sort of horrible monster.”

“You don’t get it!” Coil snapped. “He’s mine!”

“And I’m sorry for him for that,” Raziel said. “I haven’t met the guy but I’m sure he deserves better.”

“Thought this was a supportive group?” Coil huffed in my direction.

“We are,” I said. “If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn’t let Raziel castrate you for talking about your frustrations but I would intervene if I thought you’d push the issue in the wrong way with Sidney.”

“He’d totally let me castrate you,” Raziel laughed.

I sniffed the air but nothing was given away. I knew that. In fact, it was my fault. I insisted that everyone wear pheromone blocker spray to the meetings to stop any possible fights. I wasn’t sure why Raziel was here. He was a wolf-elf by his own admission. He talked about society here and there. He wasn’t referred to us by anyone but he started showing up a few weeks after Coil did. We were open to any alpha who wanted to sit in and talk but sometimes I wondered what Raziel hid.

“Probably,” another guy nodded.

“Okay. Let’s stop the castration talk,” I glanced at the clock and stood up. We had another forty-five minutes of group left but figured it was time to send the rest of them for a run while I talked to Coil one on one. Raziel was wrong. I wouldn’t let him castrate him. I’d do whatever it took to stop Coil from turning into a monster myself.

“What’s this?” Coil asked once the others had left. “I’m being kept after class? Like a school kid?”

“No, not like a school kid, Coil,” I shook my head. “You’re not a kid. You’re a university student and an adult. Being an adult sucks. Sometimes it means making hard choices but respecting your mate’s boundaries shouldn’t be one of them.”

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