The Alpha's Contract: A Baby For Christmas.

Just A Drink

[Nick’s POV]

I sit patiently, ignoring the gazes of the women who mill about me, searching for the perfect outfits for whatever it was that they would be attending. Even when they didn’t say it, I knew what they were thinking; their thoughts were so f*****g loud that they were damn near deafening, and I can’t help but curse this f*****g ability that was always haunting me.

Since young, I've been able to hear others' thoughts like my own. When it first appeared, I thought I was going crazy because I knew the voices I was hearing in my head weren't my own or that of my wolf, but since I was so young, I couldn't quite place them.

For a while, I kept my secret close to me, not telling anyone out of fear of being sent to a mental institute or worse. However, when they became too loud for me to handle, I revealed what I was hearing to my parents. They started treating me differently, making my biggest fear a reality.

I became a pariah to our pack and even lost my right to become alpha, leaving the position to my little brother, who didn't hesitate to mock me and remind me day in and day out that he was now better than me.

Everyone avoided me, treating me like a freak and ostracizing me. And when it was all starting to become too much, my angel appeared.

She was pure and innocent, and her thoughts were the only ones I wasn't able to hear. She became my reprieve because when I was with her, I almost felt normal. Almost.

Not only was she as pure as an angel, but she also looked like one as well with her golden eyes, porcelain skin, and flowing brown hair. And when her plump lips twitched into a smile, she shone so brightly that she could compete with even the sun.

To say that she saved me was an understatement, but when I realized I was beginning to fall in love with her, word of a prophecy changed everything.

Sighing, I try to shake off the anger and frustration I’m feeling as the curtain to the changing room in front of me opens and my angel walks out dressed in a sparkling white dress that fits her form perfectly. She looks lovely, but then again, she always looked lovely, but tonight, she was dazzling.

“Well?” She asks me as I stare on silently. “What do you think?”

“I think,” I say, slowly rising from my seat and moving forward, then reaching around her while she tenses in front of me. “You would look perfect in anything that you were to pick.”

As I speak, I push the tag of the dress beneath the fabric so it is no longer hanging out for the world to see.

“But the real question is,” I say now, stepping back and taking in my angel’s lovely flushed cheeks. “What do you think?”

Growing quiet, I wait as she considers what I’ve said, and when she continues to not speak, I can’t help but wonder if I was a little too forward and scared her.

Take it down a notch, Nick. I hiss as my wolf begins to whine with desire and need. She just escaped her wedding with your little brother.

Instantly, anger flares through me as I remember the look on my angel’s face as she escaped that damned venue. What the hell happened? What did she see? And who the f**k was I going to kill for making her look that devastated and lonely?

“If you don’t like it.” I say now, pushing aside all my frustrating feelings. “I can pick out a few more for you to try.”

“No!” My angel gasps, her eyes widening as she realizes that she has been just staring. “No, this one is fine. Honestly, anything but that dress is fine.”

As she speaks, her expression falls, and her beautiful golden eyes fill with pain that makes me want to storm to that f*****g church and beat the s**t out of everyone, but I don’t act on my feelings. Instead, I move forward and gently brush some dark brown hair that has fallen loose behind her shoulder.

“Then shall we get this one?” I husk, causing a small shiver to rush through my angel as her cheeks flush.

“Yes,” she breathes, her voice quaking. “This one will work.”

“You heard the lady,” I announce, taking a step back and turning my gaze to the store clerk who is watching from behind a rack of dresses. “We’ll take this one.”

Turning my gaze back to my angel, I pull out my wallet and present my credit card to the clerk while she just watches in disbelief.

“If you keep staring like that, I’m going to think you fell in love with me.” I point out, causing her eyes to widen and her head to quickly shake.

“No!” She says. “It isn’t that. It’s…” Growing quiet, she tries to find the right words for whatever it is she is feeling, and when she does, she gives me a look of apology. “It’s just that it’s still hard to wrap my head around the fact that you’re standing here in front of me. Especially after that time, ya know?”

“Well, you should get used to it, because I’m here, and I don’t intend to disappear again.”

Finished speaking, I hold out a hand and wait as my angel shifts her lovely gaze down to it, trying to figure out what I’m thinking.

“Are you going to take it?” I ask when she continues to not move. “Or are you waiting for me to make the first move?”

Growing quiet, I wait as she continues to stare at me, and when she finally nods and wraps her small hand around mine, I know that she isn’t going to attempt to run from me.

“Let’s have a drink, shall we?” I ask, giving her a gentle tug toward me. “And then you can unload everything that happened back there on me.”

For a moment, my angel doesn’t speak, and by how tense she is, I fear that she may actually attempt to flee, but after another pause, she slowly begins to deflate and finally gives a small nod that sends a wave of relief through me.

“Just one drink,” she says as I start to lead her toward the cash register where our clerk waits to give me my receipt and card. “After that, I really should go home.”

“Just one drink,” I confirm, but bypass the going home thing since I was more than aware of what she had to endure back in Azure Moon with her stepmother and Joelle. “Or three. However many you want, Angel, they’re all on me.”