Page 53 of Cruel Alpha

“Julia’s a bad influence on you,” I grumbled as I lifted the first forkful to my mouth. In truth, I couldn’t be more grateful that Alyssa and Julia got along so well: they’d both been lonely growing up, and while Alyssa’s popularity, especially among the Lapine women, was growing day by day, it was good for them to have each other.

I could feel her amusement through the bond and couldn’t help amplifying it with my own. She had been right about this, and if she wanted to hold it over me for the rest of our lives, she was welcome to. I had a healthy Pack, despite the recent conflict, and a healthy family, and none of it would have been possible without her.

“It actually got me thinking,” I ventured, “about the twins.”

“You are not letting them run around the quarry to work off steam,” Alyssa said immediately. “Tempting as that may be.”

I huffed a laugh: it was certainly tempting, but I wasn’t any more willing to let them loose amongst the rubble than she was.

“No, I mean—I know they’re still young, but as it stands, Jack isn’t exactly a budding Alpha,” I started. Alyssa’s face began to darken, and I moved on quickly before she got the wrong idea. “He’s sweet and shy, and I’m not about to try and make him into something he’s not,” I continued, “but I’m not going to be around forever.”

I felt a pang through the bond—Alyssa didn’t like when I talked about dying—and I reached for her hand over the table. She squeezed my hand, looking pensive.

“You think the Pack will accept an Alpha like that?” she asked, and I shook my head.

“No, I don’t. I don’t think Jack would want that, either. I was actually wondering if they’d accept Emmy.”

Alyssa’s eyebrows shot up: that was not what she’d been expecting me to say. Even a few months ago, I would have been just as shocked by the suggestion, but the more I saw the females mucking in and proving themselves at the quarry, the more I watched my daughter tackle every problem head-on while her brother watched in awe, the more certain I’d become.

I hadn’t thought Alyssa would object to the idea in principle, but I knew she’d worry about what it might mean for Emmy. Sure enough, my mate’s eyebrows knitted together in a frown as she considered it.

“Right now,” she said, “there’s no way, but in twenty years? Thirty? We’d have a hell of a job on our hands, but I think we could do it.”

She was right; itwouldbe a hell of a job, but it was one we were equal to. I wasn’t planning on dying any time soon: with any luck, I’d make it to the age where I chose to step down as Alpha, and I’d be there to help her find her feet, too.

“We can give her and the Pack as much time as they need,” I promised. Alyssa bit her bottom lip, nervous but excited, and she squeezed my hand again.

“You’d really do that?” she breathed, as if I was telling her I could move the moon itself. “You’d make Lapine the first island to have a female Alpha?”

“I would.”

Alyssa’s eyes flashed, and then she was out of her seat and leaning across the table to press a long, lush kiss to my lips. Dinner forgotten, I dropped my fork in favor of threading my fingers through her hair. It had been a long day, and I’d missed her for every second of it.

“So, me being progressive really gets you going, huh?” I said when we finally parted for breath, and she smiled.

“Mhmm.”

Then, it was my turn to rise from the table, scooping her up into my arms.

“The dishes—” she started half-heartedly, but I kissed her silent.

“I’ll get them tomorrow before I go.”

Fresh out of protestations, Alyssa let me carry her upstairs to our bedroom.Ourbedroom. Since Alyssa had moved in, my sparse white room had become a riot of color, with knitted blankets strewn over the bed and photographs on every wall. I tossed her down onto the bed, grinning at her mock-offended squeak. I dropped to my knees, pulling her ass to the edge of the bed so I could push her skirt up to reveal the soft plumpness of her thighs. I scattered kisses across the sensitive skin on their insides before I looked up at her.

“I know we cut dinner short,” I said, low and graveled, “but I’m still pretty hungry.”

Alyssa gasped as I licked a long line over the cotton of her panties, savoring the salt and musk scent of her arousal. As I pulled the material to the side, Alyssa froze.

“Stop,” she whispered. “I hear something.”

Sure enough, there were soft footsteps padding down the hallway, and she’d only just pulled her skirt back into place when a little knock came on the door. I opened it to find both twins standing in the corridor, a little sleep-rumpled. Jack’s eyes were red and watery, and he clutched Emmy’s hand.

“Jack had a nigh’mare,” Emmy said, rubbing her eyes with a fit little fist.

It wasn’t a rare occurrence. Jack, Emmy, and Alyssa all had nightmares about the night of their flight from Arbor, and I didn’t blame any of them for it. Crouching down, I took both of them into my arms and brought them over to their mother.

“My poor little guy,” she said, taking Jack from me. “What did you dream about?”

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