Page 3 of His Temporary Alpha Mate
That doctor was the only reason I got to go to a human school. She got the authorities involved, suspecting, rightly, neglect. My parents had too manymouths to feed and not enough talent or connections for a high-paying job. My parents frequently left my siblings and me to our own devices while they scraped a living. I got to stay with my parents, though not without conditions. The first being I attended school regularly, and we had random visits from social services.
The authorities didn’t have that much power over our gaze as the council was supposed to monitor all shifter packs, clans, sleuths, troops, or whatever the collective noun was for the gathered shifters. Politics tied their hands. They did their best for me and my siblings, and thanks to them, things got better.
School had been a lifesaver for me. I’d already taught myself to read, but school was where I learned I was great with numbers, giving me, and my siblings, a way out of poverty.
As soon as I could get some work, I was doing all I could to improve things at home. My talents with numbers soon earned me more than what my parents were bringing in. They had wanted me to quit school to work full time, but I’d reasoned that an education would boost my earning power. Rather than let me go out of state to college, I went to the closest one. We even moved so I could stay at home instead ofin the dorms.
Our entire gaze had moved, being absorbed into a larger pack. Unfortunately, for me anyway, that was the start of some really hard times.
“Dalton?” the witch asked impatiently, signaling they had been trying to get my attention for a while.
“Everything okay?” Chase raised an eyebrow at my unusual lack of focus.
“Sorry, I just…”
“Hey, it’s alright. Maybe you shouldn’t go into the office tomorrow.” Chase’s brows were drawn together in concern.
“No, I’ll be fine. Honestly. I just get tired easily.” The worst thing about recovering so far was being unable to visit people because even just a week ago, walking to my front door made me tired. While I was improving daily, progress felt slow.
Chase and the witch had a stare down before the witch sighed. “If you have to go back to work, light duties only. No heavy lifting and finish earlier than usual. Do not skip meals. You need the calories to regain muscle tone.”
“Pft.” I waved that idea away. “I work in the office. I won’t be lifting anything aside from the phone. Even then, I avoid that as much as possible.” I put plenty of sass into my words.
I caught Chase laughing.
Apparently sick of my shit, the witch said, “whatever,” and packed up to leave. They muttered something to Chase as he walked them to the door, seeing them out of my house.
Priscilla deigned to leave her perch to curl up in my lap. “A nap sounds good, doesn’t it?” I sat petting her quietly for a few minutes before wondering if Chase was coming back.
“Dal, I’m going to head back to the mansion, check on things there. You need anything?” Chase asked from the doorway as I was drifting off. His words snapped me awake.
His concern was touching. “What was the nurse saying?”
The flush that rose on his cheeks was charming. “He, uh, asked me out on a date.”
“A date?”
He gave a humorless chuckle. “No. He told me he was DTF. I’m not interested.”
“I’m going to regret asking, but DTF?” I didn’t get out much, okay?
“Down to fuck.” He grimaced. I understood why.
“Ah. You’re not interested?” I asked, curious. Sometimes Chase was an enigma despite how open he first appearedto be.
He ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair. “Sometimes it’s hard to remember who I’ve told this to—“
I cut him off. “Chase, you don’t have to tell me, okay?”
We shared a smile. I loved all the Sweetwaters, some more than others. Chase was precious to me.
“Since I admitted it to myself… When Dakota gave me a label for it, I’ve just found it easier to be true to who I am. Not forcing it anymore. I’m done pretending.”
Chase looked in need of reassurance. I didn’t want to push for more. What he had admitted to clicked into place for me enough that he didn’t have to say it out loud. He wasn’t interested in the witch. Or anyone, probably.
“Good. That’s really good. We have to take this as a restart, don’t we? Getting sick changed things, even if we don’t want to admit it.”
“Yeah, plus, he was too aggressive for me. I didn’t like how he spoke to you.” A frown was back on his face.
