Not My Alpha

Chapter 21 ‘Two Stones’

Keira’s POV

Over the next few days, I was cautious not to draw attention to myself, but I kept my ears open for anything. To my surprise I didn’t hear anything about the incident in the woods. The only thing I did hear was a planned pack run. The wolf I saw in the woods was definitely high ranking. Based on their size and speed, I’m guessing at least a Delta, or maybe a particularly large warrior. This pack run could be a ploy to see all of the wolves. Good thing I’m an Omega and can claim that I can’t shift, which will save me from the run. I’m in the middle of making a latte for an order when the bell on the door rings. I turn to see Whitney and a few other girls walk into the cafe. Just perfect.

“Welcome.” I greet them. Just be professional and non-confrontational. They laugh to eachother and don’t respond. Just smile Keira. They walk over to the counter and wait while I finish up a pour over. I hand the drinks to the customer and greet the three women again.

“Hello, what can I get for you?” I ask. Whitney leans forward.

“We all would like a skinny vanilla latte.” Of course that’s what you order.

“Sure thing.” I turn around and start to working on the drinks.

“So you heard about the run. Will you be joining us?” Whitney asks me.

“Oh no, I can’t shift.” The two girls with her start giggling.

“Oh really. That’s too bad. Beta Shepard asked me to join him in the front. It’s a shame you’ll miss all the fun.” Whitney says.

“It’s quite alright. I’m used to it.”

“Useless omega.” One of the girls whispers. Harper wants to punch her in the face. I take a few deep breaths. I finish the first drink and hand it over.

“It can’t be helped.” She passes the drink over to her friend. I finish up making the other two lattes. Whitney practically snatches her from my hand.

“At least you are good for something.” She takes a sip of the coffee. She gives me a glare before they all leave. I take a deep breath and sigh, then grab a coffee pot and fill it up with water.

“She can be unpleasant at times.” A voice says behind me. I spin around and let out a small scream and reactively jump, splashing the water from the pot on my arm and mostly on the floor.

Beta Shepard stands there looking shocked.

“Woah! I’m sorry.. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He says.

I let out a sigh of relief and catch my breath from the scare.

“No it’s okay.” I say setting the pot down on the counter. We look at each other both unsure of what to say. Then Shepard breaks our mutual silence by letting out a small chuckle.

“Wow, you scare easy don’t you? Again I’m sorry.” I chuckle too, releasing the tension in the room.

“Oh, no I’m sorry, I just didn’t hear you come in is all.” I grab a rag and dry off my arm, then I soak up the spilled water on the floor. He makes his way to the front of the counter. I stand up.

“Is she always like that?” He asks me. I’m taken aback by his question, I barely know Whitney. I’ve had like 2 interactions with her.

“Uh, I’m not sure.. I don’t know her very well.”

“Oh.” He replies. I don’t know what to say. So I don’t say anything. He shifts his weight back a forth like he has something to say.

“Well, If I’m being honest, I wanted to see her interaction with you.” He continues

“Why?” I ask.

“Just something Vivian said to me.”

“What did she say?” I ask.

“Don’t worry about it. But I will say that she was right. She’ll be impossible to deal with once I tell her.” He chuckles to himself.

“I know it can be difficult for omegas when we do the pack runs. I hope her insensitivity didn’t upset you.” He says. He seems to really understand his pack and care about them. He’s a good beta, he reminds me of my father.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not bothered by it.” He looks me over for a minute, like he’s trying to solve some mystery.

“Did you want some coffee or anything?” I ask.

“Oh sorry.” He blinks a few times.

“No, I’m ok. But I was wondering what day are you off?” He asks.

“The shop is closed every Sunday.” I tell him.

“Would you be willing to hang out with me and Vivian on Sunday? I know she’d love it.” He asks. Should I really be spending time with him? I need to get out of this. Come on, come up with an excuse.

“She’d love to!” I turn and see Talia.

Why Talia? Why?

“Umm- I mean.” I’m stumbling over my words.

“Come on. For Vivian?” Shepard asks. He’s giving me major puppy dog eyes, it’s kinda cute. Talia walks over and elbows me in the side.

“Girl do it.” She whispers.

“Ok sure.” I finally agree.

“Awesome. I’m going to leave before you’ve had time to change your mind. Meet me at the pack house Sunday at noon.” Then he slips out the door before I’ve had time to protest. I turn to Talia and glare at her.

“What? Like you don’t want to spend time with that hottie. Don’t give me that look.” She says.

“Regardless if he’s hot, I actually don’t want to spend time with him.”

“So you do think he’s hot.” That’s what she heard?

“Talia.” I sigh. She throws her arm over my shoulders.

“Come one, it’s just one day and you get to see Vivian. You like her.”

“True, but I haven’t been to the pack house yet. I don’t even know where it is.” I say.

“Just walk over there after work to get the lay of the land. Pack house is three stories with a red roof. All the other roofs are green.” She explains. I guess I could go take a look.

“Fine. Not much I can do about it now, I’ve already agreed.” Talia claps my back.

“Good. And as a reward, and apology, I’ll man the shop for the rest of the day.” She gives me a big smile.

“Really?” I ask.

“Yup, better hurry and take my offer before I retract it.” She says.

“Fine fine. I’ll take it.” I take a step away from the counter and remove my apron. The place is quiet right now anyways.

“If it gets too busy just call me back alright?” I tell her.

“Go. I’ll be fine.” She says. I head towards the back door. I guess I’ll take a walk up there and get a look around. I head towards the main pack house. The weather is nice and the walk isn’t too long. It’s actually quite a peaceful walk through the trees. I arrive to the main pack lands and see a few buildings. I’m guessing one is where the warriors stay. I look around and see all the buildings have green roofs.

“Can I help you?” I hear a voice. I turn and see a woman probably in her 40’s, with beautiful light brown hair.

“I’m looking for the pack house.” I tell her. She smiles at me.

“It’s right over there. Past that building.” I turn to the left where she is pointing and see the red roof.

“Oh! The red roof. Ok thanks.” I turn to leave.

“What? Aren’t you going there?” She asks.

“No, I’m supposed to meet someone there in a few days. I just wanted to know where I was going. I currently have no business there.” The woman laughs. Did I say something funny?

“You are so formal. How have you never been to the pack house?” She asks.

“I’ve only been in the pack for about a month. I work at the coffee shop in town so I don’t have much of a reason to come up here.”

“Oh, I’ve heard good things about that place. I will need to come check it out. My name is Grace.” She says

“I’m Lily.”

“I could show you around up here. Sooner or later you’ll need to know where things are. The town omegas get called up when we have events.” She seems to know a lot, but I can’t get a read on her ranking. I could just ask her since I’m new. I have a feeling it’s not low.

“Is it ok for you to show me around? I don’t want to cause trouble.” This is the simplest way to acknowledge her higher rank without fully knowing what it truly is. The woman looks me over then smiles at me.

“It will be just fine.” She starts walking and I follow a step behind her. She points out the different living quarters, the training grounds, the main pack house, and the banquet hall.

“So what about your family? Did you come here alone?” She asks. I don’t really want to lie to her, but I can’t tell her the whole truth.

“Do you know of a woman named Samara?” I ask. She stops walking and looks at me.

“Did Samara place you here?” She asks with a serious face.

“Yes she did.” There was silence for a moment.

“That explains a lot.” She starts walking again. I’m not sure what it explains, but she didn’t ask me any more questions about my family. We walk past a group of warriors training, and I see Whitney in the group. Her eyes narrow when she sees me and breaks off from the group. She’s coming towards me, what do I do?

“What are you doing here?” She asks.

“I’m getting to know the main pack area.” I stand my ground. I know I shouldn’t, but it seems nothing I do puts her off.

“Town omegas need to stay in the town. We can’t have worthless omegas up here bothering us.” She says.

“Whitney.” Grace steps in. Whitney’s eyes shift over to Grace and the color drains almost immediately. It’s like she didn’t know Grace was standing next to me the whole time.

“Ms. Grace, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

“Obviously not. You left your formation just to come over here and insult someone. What kind of warrior are you?”

“I-umm-I don’t know.” Whitney struggles with her words. I want to laugh so hard, but I control myself.

“We will review your standing in the pack. This incident will not go unnoticed.” Grace says.

“Now get back to training.” Whitney glares at me and heads back to the group. I’m still trying to hold back my smile.

“She can be such a pain. What did you do to get on her bad side?” She asks me.

“I made friends with Vivian. It’s the only thing I can think of.” I say.

“You made friends with Vivian? Mmhh.”

“What? Why? Was that bad?” I ask.

“It’s nothing. Come on, I’ll show you something.” She leads me into the woods and to a clearing with two headstones. There are yellow flowers in front of each one.

“These are Vivian’s parents. She brings them flowers every day. She’s so much like her father it’s scary. She wants to be treated like an adult, but most people just see a kid. She doesn’t get along with most. I’m glad you’ve become friends with her. But I think Whitney has a problem with you getting close to Shepard.”

“I’m not that close to him. We’ve spoken three times maybe. I’m not trying to get close to anyone.” I tell her.

“I just thought you should know the truth. I have some work I need to do. Are you alright to find your way back?” Grace asks.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“It was nice to meet you Lily. I hope we meet again.” She says before leaving me. I stand there a bit longer looking at the names on the stones. Heather Wood and Blake Wood.

“Are we destined to always meet in the woods?” I look up and see Alpha Theo.