Tyler
“Haley, I was wondering if we could talk?” I ask, walking over to her after speaking to Alpha Sebastian..
“Umm, sure,” she says, looking at Charlotte who winks at her then waves goodbye to both of us.
I wait until she’s gone then turn back to Haley.
“Did you need something, Alpha?”
“Well, after the conversation this evening and seeing how Alpha Sebastian is working with Alpha Christina, I thought it would be good for us to get to know each other. I know we both agreed that we’re nervous, but I can’t imagine it’s going to be easy for you to rx with a strange Alpha touching you in ss. Alpha Sebastian suggested that I start working to build trust with you, so I thought we could take some time and just talk. What do you think?”
“I think that would be good. Do you want to meet here or in one of our rooms?” she asks.
“What would make you morefortable?” I ask her.
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“Maybe one of our rooms where we could have some privacy she asks.
“Perfect. Do you want to go now? I have tea in my room”
“I’ll try some tea,” she says. She has a lovely smile, soft and sweet, and the kindest eyes I think I’ve ever seen.
I lead her to my room and ignore the looks I get from Alphas Liam and Logan when I gesture for her to enter the room ahead of me. Those <b>two </b>are arrogant idiots as far as I’m concerned. My father warned both Tanner and I about those types of Alphas.
“They think we’re going to have sex, don’t they?” she asks softly when we step into my room.
“We can go somewhere else. We don’t have to stay here.” I say to her. already reaching for the door.
“No, it’s okay. We will have sex at some point. right?” she asks, looking up at me with those big doe eyes. I feel like all the air in the room just got sucked out and all I can do is look at her gorgeous eyes. They’re brown, but with enough green and gold in them to make them mesmerizing.
I shake my head trying to focus. I’m not making a very good impression.
“From what <i>I </i>heard tonight, that will be up to you,” I tell her.
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“I won’t do anything that will keep you from passing the ss, Alpha, I
swear.”
“No, no, that’s not what I mean. I just…” I stop, running my fingers through my hair and looking around, realizing that my room <b>is </b><b>a </b>mess.
“Oh, let me clear this off so you have somewhere to sit.” I say, rushing over to the pull my clothes off the couch and yanking the nket up on my bed so it looks somewhat made.
When I stop. I look back and see that she’s watching me. “I think that Alpha Sebastian has the right of it. I’m a nervous wreck about this ss. I’ve never touched a woman I didn’t know before and as an Alpha. I really have no idea if the women I’ve been with were just telling me I was good or if they truly meant it. I want to do well and hopefully that means that you’ll have a great semester as my partner.” I say, smiling at her.
Sheughs and finally steps into the room. sitting on the couch.
“Tea?” I ask her.
“Yes, please. And your room’s not that messy. I’ve seen way worse. The next time you walk past Alpha Logan’s room, peak inside. It looks like a tornado went through there.”
as
I chuckle I get some water and put it in the microwave to heat while I get two mugs and tea bags. “Do you put anything in your tea?” I ask, looking at her over my shoulder.
“No. just in ”
She’s looking around my room and as I wait for the microwave to ping. I look too, wondering what she sees.
“What do you see about me in here?” I ask her, curious.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been looking around.”
“Of course you should. I would be if we’d gone to your room. I think that’s only natural, don’t you?” I say, pulling the hot water out of the microwave and pouring it into the two mugs, handing one to her.
She thanks me then looks around the room while I sit down on the couch beside her.
“You didn’t bring anything personal with you. This room could belong to anyone.” she says.
I set my tea down and go to my suitcase. I haven’t unpacked it, knowing we’ll be at the Academy soon, so I dig through it until I pull out the one thing that I brought with me to remind me of why I’m here. My emotions threaten to bubble up to the surface, but I push them back down before turning and handing the frame to Haley. If she’s going to be vulnerable with me, I feel like I should be with her as well.
She looks at it a moment. I watch her thumb brush over the side of the picture where I’m standing.
<b>和 </b>
“This is you and your brother?” she asks softly, her eyes glistening with tears.
“You heard about him?” I ask, just as softly as I go to sit down beside her again.
She nods. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“That was at his Alpha ceremony a couple of
ears ago ”
“You could almost be twins,” she says.
I chuckle. “We look a lot alike. He was a great man, a great Alpha, and a great brother.”
“Number four on the leaderboard, right?” she asks, handing the picture back to me..
“Yep, he was that good.”
“I think you will be too,” she says, putting her hand on top of mine.
“You don’t know that,” I say, swallowing the lump in my throat and setting the picture aside.
“Well, what I do know is that you’re caring and considerate. If you weren’t, I wouldn’t be here right now. My first impression of you is
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that you want to seed. Maybe you feel like you need to seed for him, but there’s more to it than that. It feels to me like you want to be a great Alpha too, so that your pack doesn’t have to suffer because they lost him. You’re carrying a lot of weight on your shoulders, Alpha Tyler. But I think you’re strong enough to carry it well,” she says.
I don’t know why her words make something that feels tight deep inside me rx, but it does. Because of that, I lift her hand to my mouth and kiss it.
“Thank you for that. Tell me about your family,” I say.
“Oh, well. My story is very different. I’m the disappointment. That’s why I’m here.”
“Disappointment? How? You’re such a sweet, kind person.” I tell her. Who could ever consider her a disappointment?
“If I were an omega, that would probably be fine, but Ie from a family of warriors,” she says, shrugging, “and I’m no warrior. I want to
be a doctor.
She looks down at our hands that are still gently sped together. “Can I tell you a secret?” she whispers as if someone might overhear <ol><li>us. </li></ol>
“Of course. It won’t leave this room,” I say honestly.
She looks up at me. “I don’t really want to be a doctor. I told my
C
parents I did because that’s an eptable alternative to being a warrior.”
I tilt my head and look at her. “What do you want to be?”
“A chef.” she says, and she looks at me like she’s expecting me to condemn her for it.
“Why can’t you be a chef?”
“Cooking is an omega’s job ording to my father,” she says.
“Cooking may be, but ording to Alpha James, your food is a masterpiece,” I say, making her giggle.
“He’s very sweet<i>,</i><i>” </i>she says, and I snort. “What?”
“Tell Alpha Liam that,” I say, sending her into another round of giggles.
We talk for hours about nothing and everything and when I finally realize howte it is, I send her off to bed, walking her to her door.
She turns and looks up at me. “I had a great time tonight<i>,</i><i>” </i>she says softly. The rest of the train is quiet, letting me know just howte I kept her up.
“I did too. Tonight is the first time I’veughed in a long time,<i>” </i><i>I </i>te
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her truthfully.
She smiles at that, and my eyes are drawn to her lips. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt the desperate need to kiss someone that I feel right now.
“May I kiss you?” The question is out before I even realize I’ve said it.
She smiles and nods. I lean forward, cupping her face in my hand before pressing my lips against hers. She leans into me, her hands. against my chest as I slowly deepen the kiss.
Before I lose control, I pull back. “Sleep well, Haley.”
“You too, Alpha.”
“Call my, Tyler, please Haley. We’re going to get to know each other very well this semester and you calling me Alpha doesn’t seem appropriate.”
“Good night, Tyler.
I step away from her and wait for her to walk inside before going back to my room, my heart feeling lighter than it has in a long time