The Alpha's Warrior Princess

Ch. 13: Sparks

(April’s POV)

About an hour and a half later, we were all still sitting in Uncle Wyatt’s office. Aunt Lilly had joined us but she didn't really say much. But then again, neither had I.

No, I had been mostly quiet during this uber-awkward gathering. I was spending the time just listening to everyone and forming cursory opinions on my new family while avoiding any and all eye contact with Alex. In fact, I barely spoke to him at all. That is except to answer him politely when he spoke to me. Even then, I didn’t look directly at him. It was just too awkward and painful. I still had a dull ache in my chest but it was slowly easing up. I didn't even want to think about what happened earlier right now. Instead, I focused on my new family.

There was Uncle Johnathon, who seemed pretty chill, actually. He had a warm, inviting smile that seemed to light his eyes when he spoke or gazed at his wife, whom anyone could tell he was thoroughly in love with. He was also soft spoken yet I had the feeling he was a no-nonsense type of guy.

He was witty, smart, and jovial. As far as looks went, he wasn’t a bad looking guy. Along with his brown hair and eyes, he had very defined features, like Dad. His broad shoulders tapered down into narrow hips which led into long, muscular legs. He had a strong presence that sort of filled the room yet wasn’t intimidating. It was easy to see he and Dad were siblings, especially when they were standing or sitting close to one another.

Next there was Aunt Annabel. She had blonde hair and green eyes, elegant features that most supermodels would have to pay for, and a dazzling smile. When she let it out, that is.

At first I thought she came off as a bit snobby, a 'high brow' type person like you see in movies. The rich old ladies who think they're too good to be in anyone's presence and when they were those people should be grateful she deemed them worthy. Yeah, that type. But after a short while, I realized she was just a bit straight-laced and a little on the reserved side. The “good girl” type.

You know the type? Never one to break any of the rules, always telling everyone to behave so they didn’t get themselves, or her, in some sort of trouble. Yet it was all done in a harmless way, not like she thought she was above you or anything. Just because she was afraid of stepping a toe out of line. I could easily see my Uncle being the type to have corrupted the poor women over the years. Of course, it was also easy to see that she loved him all the more for it, too.

I begrudgingly liked them both.

Then there was Jacob. Or Jake, as everyone called him. He was a little cutie. I could see my new cousin being quite the ladies' man.

He was charming, witty, and very funny. He was tall and well built, overall good looking. Kinda looked like his Dad but had his Mom's green eyes while having the darker brown hair more like my Dad's. Only when Jake moved his head you could catch the hint of blonde-ish highlights here and there. I found myself laughing more than once at some of his one-liners and witty comebacks even though I tried not to. He seemed like a good guy. I could see why he and Alex were besties.

I liked him as well.

But where do I begin where little 'miss thing' is concerned? Allison seemed out of place with the rest of her family. She had her Mom's blonde hair, her Dad's brown eyes, and under all that make-up I think she might actually be a pretty girl. On the outside.

On the inside, she was spoiled to the point of being rude, self-centered to the point of being obnoxious, and entitled to the point of being absolutely oblivious to other people's feelings. I didn’t like her just for all those reasons alone, but when you added to it the fact that she was literally hanging all over Alex, it made me absolutely want to kill this b*tch. Is skinning someone alive still a crime in this state?

I was actually not a violent type, mind you. Yes, Dad had taught me to fight at a very young age. And yes, I was actually a world champ in my division. But those weren’t things that anyone but my immediate family and a few trainers knew about. At least not that I was aware of.

The reason I bring it up, though, is because when you learn how to turn your body into a lethal weapon that way, you also have to learn how to control it. As a result, I learned long ago how not to let a person get under my skin this way. But Allison seemed to be a pro at getting under a person’s skin.

I could tell even my Mom didn’t like her. And that was going some because Mom got along with everyone. I’ve never actually known Mom to have an unkind word to say about anyone. Everytime Allison opened her mouth, Dad looked like he wanted to put her over his knee and spank her like she was a spoiled toddler in need of a lesson. Which is how she kept acting, so I suppose his feelings were valid.

Of course, she was either completely oblivious to any of this, or she simply didn't care. Every time someone began to speak she would speak right over them.

God forbid that someone tried to tell a story, too. She would absolutely hijack their story to tell one of her own that had absolutely no correlation to the original story being told. 90% of the time her stories were about her and Alex and, of that 90%, probably a good one third were completely inappropriate. Especially with her parents in the d*mn room.

I don't know how many times one of the adults stopped her in mid-story before she could go into the realm of TMI (and yes, I mean Too Much Information. Like wayyyyyyy too much!). Alex was beet red and I couldn't really tell if it was anger or embarrassment or both.

She was just starting another one of her little jubilant jaunts through Alliville and I heard Mom sigh. Dad looked like he had had enough and was on the verge of telling her little butt off. Thankfully, though embarrassingly, my stomach let out a loud growl at that very moment, interrupting her mindless story about her and Alex on some trip to the mall a while back.

Alex looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock and die just to get away from her as she kept hugging his arm like she owned him. Every now and again I would catch her glare at me challengingly but I acted like I didn’t notice and just stared back blankly. Which actually seemed to p*ss her off.

Uncle Wyatt is the one who took the hint my stomach was not so subtly putting out into the universe and his deep voice broke into Allison's drivel as he laughed and said “Seems like we’ve been so caught up in our discussions that we’ve forgotten to have lunch. What do you say we all adjourn to the backyard and grill up some burgers? Maybe take a swim.” I thought that was an awesome idea, and so did my stomach, which replied for me… Loudly.

Everyone let out a little chuckle or giggle at the sound, including me as I sheepishly said “oops”. Everyone laughed. Everyone, that is, except Allison, who just pouted and whined “But I haven’t finished my story yet!”

“You can finish it later, sweetheart. I think we could all use some food right now. Besides, I heard there were cookies around here somewhere that I heard were the best cookies in the world. So I’ve been dying to get my hands on some!” Uncle John responded, making Dad practically bark with laughter, his eyes twinkling with pride.

Seeing my Dad this way made me smile. It felt good to see him so genuinely happy with something having to do with me and that didn’t involve fighting. It felt really good. Though we were still going to have it out about all this stuff which he had just laid in Mom’s and my’s laps today.

(Alex’s POV)

“Thank the goddess” was all I could think when Dad called for lunch.

This had to have been the longest three hours of my life. Wait! What!? I thought, looking at the time on my phone and realizing it's only been an hour and a half. My reaction would normally have had Max chuckling at me but he was still in the back of my mind whining and whimpering because April was completely shutting us out. I felt his pain.

It was killing us both that she wouldn’t even glance our way. And with Allison pawing at me that way, who could blame her? What was crazy was that it hurt, like physically hurt! I had this dull ache in my chest and I couldn't figure out why. All I knew was that her rejection was killing me.

During the gathering, I kept trying to politely push Alli away so she wouldn’t blow up and make a huge scene, but she would just come right back, unfazed and undeterred. I’m not too ashamed to admit to myself that there was a part of me that wanted April to get jealous and tell Allison to keep her mitts off me, claim me as her’s. But she didn’t. She didn’t seem at all bothered by it, and that made the pain in my chest even worse. I had to find a way to make things right with April again. I just didn’t know how.

Everyone was getting to their feet, stretching out kinks in their bodies from sitting for so long, and as they stretched out they started discussing what the plan was for the rest of the day. With Uncle Ty not telling Aunt Crys and April about us being werewolves, there was a huge chunk of time left in the day before they would be heading back home. Who knows when I'll get to see April again after that? I have to at least try to fix things before they leave.

But how? Especially with everyone else around. “Actually, I think we should let the kids go hang out by the pool for a while. Then we can go to the rec-room and shoot a few rounds of darts or something.” Dad suggested, which sounded really good to me. This would give me a chance to talk to April without any of our parents around.

I just sent a silent prayer to the moon goddess that the others would go for it as well. Thankfully, she seemed to not only be listening but to also be on my side because Uncle Ty happily chimed in and said “That’s a great idea! Crystal has always wanted to learn how to throw darts, haven’t you, my love?” “I have?” Aunt Crystal asks, confused, causing Uncle Ty to smirk at her. I think there was some sort of double meaning to that which only Aunt Crys understood because she suddenly blushed wildly and happily agreed by saying “ohhh! Yes! I have!” Everyone laughed, though I noticed I wasn’t the only one who didn’t get the private joke. Her reaction was still funny, though.

“Alex? Would you please show April to a guest room so she can change into her bathing suit?” Yes! I don’t know if Dad had any idea that I wanted to be alone with April or not, but this was perfect! “Sure, Dad... Ready April?” I asked in as casual a tone as I could and smiled at her.

She didn’t even spare me a glance, she just nodded and motioned for me to lead the way. It was all I could do not to sigh at her response as I turned and led the way out of the office toward the stairs. As we walked out, I noticed Alli was fuming mad. Thankfully, she kept her mouth shut for a change, though.

(April’s POV)

I could have kicked Uncle Wyatt for getting Alex to show me to a room so I could change. I don't know what god or goddess I p*ssed off today, but nothing seems to want to go easily for me.

As Alex and I walked toward the stairs I realized he was going to try and corner me in some way. Most likely to “let me down easy” over what had happened earlier. Like, I get it! You don’t want me. The whole "it's not you, it's me" spiel. Like it’s fine, Dude. I’m already over it.

I just didn’t want to actually hear the words fall from his lips.

Was that so wrong? Was I being selfish, or childish? Maybe it would be best if I just let him get it over with. But as we got closer, I just couldn't do it. I didn't want to face that. Not today, at least.

When we got to the room, I braced myself as he finally spoke. “This is your room. It has its own ensuite so you can get a shower after we go swimming if you like.”

He opens the door for me as he is talking and my mouth drops open a bit at the luxury I see before me. He places his hand on the small of my back and as his skin touches mine, I feel those weird a** f*ckin sparks fly though my body again. So I quickly stepped away from his touch.

This room makes my new room, which I thought was huge, look small. It had a huge four-poster bed made of rich mahogany wood with a canopy over it which had sheer white curtains hanging from it that were tied back at each post with a dusty-rose-colored rope that had a thick tassel at the ends of it. When I say the bed itself was huge, I mean it was f*ckin HUGE. You could fit like five people and a labrador retriever in that bad boy! I'm not even kidding, either. A full grown lab, too. A fat one.

Alongside the bed there were matching nightstands with small crystal lamps on them that had off-white lampshades shielding the light. There was a large chest of drawers in the same rich mahogany just next to the right side of the bed and on the opposite wall was a matching bureau with a gorgeous back frame that housed two perfectly oval mirrors and along the edges were small shelves that had little nick nacks on them which added color and warmth to the piece.

To the left side of the bed were two doors, one leading to what I assume is a closet which was closed, the other standing wide open and leading to the aforementioned ensuite. Between the two doors was a lovely vanity table with a short-backed stool with wheels and a soft-looking cushioned seat in deep rose.

The vanity was a creamy off-white with a white, flowery patterned lace overlay. There were multiple, colorful, empty, decorative perfume and lotion bottles neatly on display on one side of the vanity and an ornate onyx brush and comb set sitting neatly on the other side.

The walls were a warm, rose-colored satin wallpaper with a cream border along the top that had red roses adorning it with a golden foil-like, thin strip along its edges. There were also a few pictures depicting my favorite subject in the world. Wolves!

The floors were warm, dark, hard wood with a large dusty rose-colored area rug that covered most of the area, leaving only about a foot of wood showing all the way around.

I was so impressed with the room I nearly forgot Alex was standing there until he quietly asked “do you like it?” and just like that I was back to reality, the spell this room was weaving on me, totally broken.

I shrugged and mumbled back “it works”, which made him frown. I guess he was hoping for me to gush or something. S*cks to be him, though. I turned toward him and noticed he had a key in his hand, so I took it and, without another word, closed the door in his face and locked it. I guess I shocked him because it took him a good ten minutes to finally walk off. I turned and went to change into my bathing suit.