Page 85 of Healed in the Alpha's Embrace
Before I could say another word, Ro burst into the room, his youthful energy shifting the atmosphere instantly. “Can I come, too?”
Noah’s demeanor lightened some more as he looked down at Ro. “You just want to ride on my back again, don’t you?” he teased, ruffling his hair.
Ro’s laughter filled the room, a total contradiction to the tension that had settled between us moments before.
With a grin and a flicker of something like relief, Noah nodded. “All right, let’s go, then.”
As the door closed behind them, the silence enveloped me. The excitement of my own news faded to a dull ache, overshadowed by the weight of Noah’s reluctant acceptance of his fate. Alone in the kitchen, I felt hollow.
I sat for a while, thinking about the course and my plans for the future. I read the email carefully to make sure I had all the required documents and resources for the course. With a shaky breath, I responded to the email, confirming my acceptance of the offered place. When I checked the time, I realized Heather would be home from work, so I called her.
“Oh my God, Zoey, that’s great! Well done,” Heather gushed. “And you can do it all remotely? So you won’t have to travel for classes?”
I heard the front door opening, followed by Noah and Ro’s excited chatter as they came in from their run.
“Yeah, it’s all online. It feels strange thinking about it now. Ro and I will be doing our homework together.” I laughed at the thought of the two of us sitting side by side at the kitchen table, poring over textbooks.
“We should go out and celebrate,” Heather said.
“Do you think Sam can watch Ro?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” Heather said. “He told me this morning that the part they’ve been waiting on for the remote-control car was delivered yesterday.”
“I’m happy to watch him,” Noah said as he entered the kitchen.
Damn shifter hearing.
I hesitated for a moment, my gaze flitting between Ro and Noah.Noah, steady and reassuring. Ro, excitable, dancing on the balls of his feet, his hands pressed together out in front of him, dramatically pleading.
“Please, Mom, pretty please!”
“If you’re sure...” I said.
“Go have fun,” Noah said with a smile.
Ro let out a triumphant cheer and high-fived Noah.
Well, as Sam was fond of saying, “Argue once out of courtesy, twice out of stupidity.”
“Okay,” I said, finally letting go of the worry knotting in my gut. “Thank you.”
After I gotready at Heather’s, we sat in her living room, catching up over a bottle of wine before we went out. I did my best to ignore the fact that I had a couple of guards outside. I was grateful, of course, but it felt so weird.
“Noah should have let Dad babysit so he could celebrate with us,” Heather said.
I twirled the glass, watching the ruby liquid swirl. “I don’t think he’d have come out, anyway. He’s a bit out of sorts today. His dad asked him to come in to talk today—something to do with Noah taking over as alpha. When I finally got him to open up, he told me about his brother. It’s so sad. I’m not sure Noah wants to be alpha, but when I tried to talk to him more about it, he insisted it would be fine.”
Heather sighed. “I was afraid this would happen.”
“What do you mean? Afraid of what?” I asked.
“Nate was obsessed with becoming alpha. Noah and Nate were both schooled on pack law together, but Noah never wanted the title. He was more into sports. Things outside the pack.”
“Really?” My surprise was genuine. Noah hadn’t mentioned any of this before.
“I’d heard Dad talking about it with some of his friends. Alpha Christian barely noticed anything Noah did unless it was pack business. When he started boxing, the alpha didn’t show up to a single match. Even after Noah made a name for himself, Alpha Christian was never interested, not even when the match was close to town. Thankfully, his mother and brother went to support him.”
I frowned. “That’s terrible.”
