The Alpha's Warrior Princess

Ch. 4: Home Sweet Home? (Pt 2)

(Alex’s POV)

I was really bummed. The guys and I were gonna head into town today and catch a movie, then head over to the mall and see if we could pick up some pretty new playthings. Instead, I’m stuck helping Uncle Ty move into his new house today.

Uncle Tyler has been my Dad’s best friend from birth, literally. They were born only three days apart and since their Dad’s were besties… Well, you get the drift.

I am kind of curious about Uncle Ty’s mate and only child, though. I think her name is Amelia, or Amanda, or something. Uncle Ty was our pack’s Beta until he met his mate, Crystal, and decided to give up his position and go live in the human world with her. From what I gather, his human wife doesn’t know he’s a werewolf, which I don’t get. I’d never be able to deny what I am for some chic, mate bond or not.

As a result, I’d never met his mate or his daughter. The fact that he’s never brought her around probably means the poor girl is pretty homely. I told my wolf with a smirk. His response was to mentally scoff at me, but he didn’t say anything otherwise. Which was a-okay with me. He’s been acting all weird today. Antsy. Pacing back 'n forth in my mind. To the degree where I was getting a headache.

Each time I try to ask him why he growls back, I don’t know, okay? I’m just… I don’t know! At first I tried to be sympathetic. But now it was just annoying me.

Dad turned our SUV down a quiet street and I inwardly sighed knowing we, meaning my wolf and I, were going to have to be polite now. I was just about to lay my head against the window to steel myself a moment when I noticed this girl standing by a vintage car. “Wow! A girl who has good taste in cars. Maybe all hope isn’t lost today after all?” I thought as my gaze shifted back to the girl who was leaning against the Impala like she absolutely hated to move away from it. Not that I blamed her. It was an awesome car.

All I could see was her profile, though. But geez, she had a nice body! She was tiny and slender in build. She was wearing a baggy t-shirt and some faded skinny jeans. It looked like she was trying to hide her curves but I could tell they were there and I was just itching to explore them.

My eyes went back up her body to try and catch even a small glimpse of her face, but no luck. Though I was now close enough to get a good look at her hair. It was this deep, rich brown that was so dark it was nearly as black as my own and it had these deep, auburn-red highlights that made yah' just wanna push your hands through it’s silky length. It was long and lush, and pulled back into a tight ponytail at the top of her head which fell all the way to the middle of her slender back. It was so rich in color it made one wonder if it was natural or from a bottle. I certainly knew one way to find out.

Goddess, I hope she’s pretty. I was getting all stiff just looking at her. Stiff enough that I started to shift in my seat uncomfortably and I hadn’t even seen her properly yet!

Dad parked the car in the driveway behind the moving van and got out. Which made me fleetingly wonder why Amada, or whatever, was out by the curb. I stayed behind a minute to get myself under control. But while I did that, I reached up and pulled the visor down, then used the little mirror there to watch as Dad approached the girl. Of course, I realized at this point that this had to be Uncle Tyler’s daughter. I still couldn’t get a good look at her face because my Dad was in the way at that point, but my werewolf hearing allowed me to clearly hear their conversation.

“You must be April” I heard my Dad say as he walked toward her, extending his hand to her as she replied “I am, indeed. If you’re looking for my Dad, he’s inside.” Wow, her voice! She had the voice of an angel. I know that sounds corny but it’s the Goddess' honest truth. 'Okay, now I just have to see her face! There has to be some major flaw with this girl somewhere. I bet her nose is like freakin huge or something!' I thought as I reached for the door handle while Max, my wolf, broke into a fit of hysterics at my inner thoughts. I’m glad I amused you, mutt! I said, annoyed at him for laughing at me like that.

“I’m Wyatt, Wyatt Moon. I’m not sure if you remember me, but it’s such a pleasure to meet you again, young lady. I’ve heard so much about you.” I heard my Dad saying as I opened the door to get out and gently closed the door behind me. I’m laughing because you’re such an i***t! Haven't you figured it out yet? Max asks and I frown a second, my back still to the others. Figured what out yet? I asked as I turned and started over toward them. As I do, I catch her peeking around my Dad at me. She seemed curious and for a split second I could swear she froze when her eyes connected with mine.

Her eyes were absolutely breathtaking, too. They were a deep, sparkling blue. They were also big, like a doll’s but not in that creepy “Chucky” doll kind of way; round, like a child's; and innocent. Along the top lid her eyes were framed by thick lashes that brushed her cheeks when she blinked and the fine lashes along the bottom lid almost brushed her skin as well. And they were the same rich brown as her hair, they even had hints of deep red highlights telling me her hair color was, indeed, natural. She had matching brows that lined the ridge of her eyes perfectly. A thin, clean line that seemed natural, delicate even.

She had a rounded, heart-shaped face that only added to her sweet and innocent look, a tiny nose (d*mn it), and the most perfectly shaped lips I’ve ever seen. And believe me, I’ve not only seen many, I’ve seen them up close and personal. I’ve done extensive research on the study of the female oral structure. I could do a college thesis on the subject. So when I say they were perfect, I’m not kidding! All I wanted to do at that moment was reach out and run my thumb along her bottom lip just to see if it was as soft as it looked. That thought made Max snicker in my mind, so I pushed him to the back and shut him out. Laugh at that, Mutt!

As I walked toward them, I noticed her eyes were taking me all in. “That’s it, baby. Get a good look.” I thought confidently and started to smirk, but my smirk never even got to fully form because her eyes came right back to mine and there wasn’t a trace of emotion in them. “Well f**k! That’s NEVER happened before!” I thought and had to fight off the frown I felt coming on. Instead, I plastered a warm smile on my face and extended my hand toward her in greeting. I watched her carefully and I did notice that something was running through that pretty little head of hers. But it looked like confusion to me and it was such a quick glimpse I wasn’t sure if I even saw it right.

I was sure of the flash of anger I saw there, though. It was like she hated me for no apparent reason and that caught me wayyyyyyy off guard. I actually almost retracted my hand before thinking to myself, “Your a d*mned alpha wolf, for crying out loud. You gonna let this little bit of a thing scare you off?” The resounding answer in my mind? A big, fat 'H*LL NO!' I wasn’t about to give my wolf yet another reason to laugh at me! F**k that!

As I got close enough, she lifted her chin with a jerk and said “hey”, so I reached in further to shake her hand but she left me hanging. SHE. LEFT. ME. HANGING! Is this b*tch crazy?!

NOW I know why Uncle Ty never brought her around!

I was still seething silently, though my smile was still in place, when Dad said “April? This is my son, Alexander. Alex, this is Tyler’s daughter, April”, “Pleasure.” I said simply in response as my father was saying “you two will be going to school together this fall.”

To my surprise, she looked up at my Dad and her smile widened a little at his obvious enthusiasm at the thought that his son and his best friend's daughter would hopefully also become friends. I felt bad but I didn’t have the heart to tell my Dad that that was probably not gonna happen. Before Dad could say anything more, I cleared my throat, causing her to lift her gaze to mine. Those eyes instantly melted my anger away and I smiled a bit as I looked pointedly down at my hand. To my surprise, she smirked at me and I had to fight the urge to pull her against my chest and kiss the living daylights out of her. I don’t know what was going through her mind at that moment, but I didn’t care. She was letting me touch her. That was enough.

Her skin was so soft I felt like I could just cuddle against her for the rest of my life. Assuming, that is, that the rest of her was just as soft as her small hand. I also couldn’t help but marvel at the way her small hand fit perfectly in my much larger, rougher hand.

My musings didn’t last long, though, because she jerked her hand away like I had bitten her or something. Dad caught it too, so it wasn’t just me this time. I knew this because he instantly said, “April? You alright?” His voice showed concern, which made me glad he spoke up first because I’m pretty sure my own voice would have shown my hurt at her reaction to my touch. “What the h*ll is wrong with me today?! First Max, now me. Maybe I need to see the pack doctor when I get back.” I thought to myself as April was answering my Dad’s question. “I’m fine. I just sprained my wrist a little this morning while moving boxes. It’s better now but I guess I twisted my hand the wrong way and got a gentle reminder to be more careful.”

I wasn’t sure, but that didn’t seem like the truth to me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t call her on it without pissing my Dad off, so I let it slide and just watched her a bit. She was flushed, like something had her all flustered. And when she spoke again her words carried a subtle hint of frustration, though Dad didn’t seem to pick up on it. He was just happy to go to talk to Uncle Ty. I could see it in his eyes when she said, “Dad’s inside, in his office. Door’s open, so you can just go on in. His office is the first door on your left.”

Dad grinned in response as he said, “Thank you, April! It’s been nice chatting with you. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other more often now that your family is living so close by!” “I’m sure we will.” She said as Dad started for the front door and she turned to pick up the box that was sitting on the trunk of her car. As she reached for it, though, I reached around her and said “Here, let me get that. You rest that wrist of yours.” I could swear I saw her shiver when I spoke, though that might just be wishful thinking on my part. I really didn’t think she liked me. Though, I was planning on changing that.

It was crazy, I know! I could have my pick of girls. As an Alpha, she-wolves, in particular, tended to throw themselves at me. But so did other species, as well. Even humans, like April, could instinctively sense my importance and would vie for my attention. They were mostly after my rank, seeing as being with me came with a lot of perks.

That’s one reason I didn’t really do the whole dating thing. I've had a few girlfriends over the years. In fact, I have one right now, but mostly I just did hook-ups. I had two steadfast rules. One; I never took a virgin to bed. I wanted my mate to be pure when I found her. So I always made sure I wasn’t taking that privilege away from another wolf. I do have some limitations to my hypocrisy, after all. I ain't a total a**hat! Two; I always put rubber armor on my not-so little soldier before sending him into battle. I didn’t want any little me’s running around that I didn’t have with my fated mate. And while it’s a huge rarity for a werewolf to get someone other than their mate pregnant, it does happen from time to time.

I have a buddy who’s elder brother had it happen to him. The girl was a low level Omega and she tried her hardest to get Payton to marry her because she was pregnant with his child. Payton is our Gamma’s oldest son. His younger brother, Justin, is one of my best friends and when I take over the pack he’ll be my Gemma. So Chrissy, the Omega, was using Payton to gain a higher rank, seeing that she would become part of the Gemma family if he married her.

He, however, stood firm on the matter. He took care of the baby, though. Went with Chrissy to all her OB appointments, bought all the furniture for the nursery, started giving her some money to put towards the baby’s needs. He was stepping up, doing the right thing, but it wasn’t enough for her or her family. Finally, about two months before the baby was due, Chrissy’s parents petitioned my Father asking him to step in and force Payton to take full responsibility for his actions. They were shocked when Dad said he wouldn’t interfere.

After that, Chrissy and her Mom went around bad mouthing my Dad. They kept saying if Payton weren’t in the Gemma family, Dad would have made him step up. They kept implying Dad was an unfit Alpha, which just pissed Mom off, something awful. Mom had quite a few run-ins with those two and more than once I nearly threw them in the dungeons for their disrespect.

But Mom would stop me saying, “we aren’t putting a pregnant she-wolf in the dungeons. We’re not heathens!” I saw things a bit differently but I let it go for Mom’s sake. Dad, on the other hand, was a man on a mission at that point.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, Dad had people watching Chrissy and her family day and night. He had also started keeping a record of every penny Payton spent on the baby and had also asked our pack doc to run a paternity test once the baby was born. A week after Chrissy gave birth to her son, Dad hauled the family into his office and had an Omega take care of the baby.

Mom and I were there as well, along with Payton, Justin, and their parents. Dad was very business-like when he laid out what he knew. Firstly, Chrissy was not Payton's fated mate, which made it highly unlikely the baby was his. But even so, he still stepped up and provided for the baby. But that wasn’t good enough for her lying, conniving, a**.

Secondly, per the paternity test results, the baby wasn’t Payton’s at all. It was a f**kin crime to lie about the parentage of one's pup in order to gain rank and/or wealth. Thirdly; all their funds had been frozen in the pack bank and arrangements were being made to reimburse Payton for not just the items he bought but the money he'd given her, his time that was thoroughly wasted by those idiots, and the mental anguish it was causing him over being told he had a son whom he was left to bond with only to now find out wasn’t his at all.

Of course, Dad put it all much nicer than I just did.

Needless to say, the room erupted into shouts and allegations on all sides. But Dad just firmly shut them all down and showed those losers all his documentation. Chrissy, dumba** that she is, tried to throw the file in the fireplace to destroy the evidence but Dad just chuckled, reached into his desk, and pulled out another copy. Then he proceeded to add to their charges listing their utter disrespect of their Alpha family, their entrapment attempt on a ranked officer, destruction of evidence, and withholding parental rights and privileges to the biological father of the baby. He tried to nicely get the father’s name but Chrissy refused, leaving Dad no other choice but then to use his Alpha command on her.

In the end, the family had to pay Payton back for everything, the entire family was put out of the pack and made rogues, and the baby was taken away and given to his rightful father who happened to be a friend of Payton’s. John made Payton little Joey’s godfather and Payton absolutely adores the boy, who is now three years old and just the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen. Until today, that is.

The point is, I know better than to take chances. And I’ve never had to actually work to get a girl. But for this girl? I was seriously contemplating it.

The sound of her voice brought me back to the present as she quietly said, “Thanks. You can just put that at the bottom of the stairs when you go inside.” I smiled at her, l just couldn’t help myself. She was being nice to me and it felt so good I almost wanted to shout out loud. Her little smile made my heart flutter weirdly, but in a good way. As she turned away she muttered a soft “Thanks” again and I practically purred back “No problem”, but I’m pretty sure she didn’t even hear me. She looked lost in thought and I was pretty sure I was the topic of her inner dialog. At least I hope I was.

I quietly turned and took the box inside. As I walked through the open door I could hear our Dads in Uncle Ty’s office. They were laughing together at some funny memory as they reminisced about olden days. So I just sat the box down where April said and headed back outside to get more. As I walked down the drive I was greeted with the amazing sight of April leaning into the back seat of her Impala, her gorgeous a** on full display. I took my time walking up to her and when I got to her, I stood directly behind her so that when she backed out she had to bump against me. It was a d**k move, but hey, I’m a guy. What do you want from me? Only she didn’t back out of the car, she stiffened up, like she knew I was there somehow.

Weird.