Blue Collar Alpha

Fixing the Lights

Jack

I feel dejected as I watch the gorgeous woman walk away from me. Ajax is in my head, crying like a baby as I stare. Isaac bumps me from behind, breaking my trance.

“Did you just say that chick is your mate?” He grins at me. He just laughed while I introduced myself to her.

“That chick is the Alpha’s daughter, Priscilla,” Gamma Hal chimes in.

I take a deep breath, “She is my mate,” I mumble.

“I got that,” the gamma laughs.

Isaac shoves me into the elevator, and I look at the ground of the grand machine. It probably cost more than our whole packhouse. The doors open, and Hal leads us down a long hall, and a woman greets us with blonde hair and blue eyes like Priscilla, who appears a bit older.

“Luna,” Gamma Hal speaks to the woman, “This is the electrician that Alpha Eddie hired.”

The Luna smiles brightly at me, “You must be Jack,” she holds a slender hand out to me.

I lightly shake it, “Yes, Luna,” I respond. My head is still a mess after meeting my mate, only to have her walk away like I was nothing. “I-I am Ja-Jack,” I mutter.

“I am Luna Louise Livingston, but you can call me Louise,” She maintains her warm smile. “I never knew your father, but Eddie speaks of him often.”

I shift uncomfortably, “That’s great.”

“Anyways, let me show you what I want you to work on,” She steers Isaac and me down the hallway to a study with several tall bookcases filled with a book. Several sconces are hanging off the walls with wires everywhere and holes in the plaster. “As you can see, the last electrician I hired left a mess. I want to redecorate this room with new fixtures, and they left unsightly holes. Can you hang up the lights and patch the holes?” She asks.

I nod at Isaac, who begins to inspect the lights. I follow behind him and take down some measurements. Concentrating is hard as my wolf is still throwing a fit over Priscilla. ‘She doesn’t want us, Ajax,’ I grumble at us.

He whimpers and keeps pacing.

I shake my head, “Is this all?”

“Well, we are doing other renovations,” Louise mentions.

I had seen workers in the hallways working on several projects. “And you need lights there?”

“We already have lights, but I wanted to change them,” Louise explains.

“Isaac, you start here,” I tell my gamma. “I’ll follow Luna Louise to see what else they need to be done.”

Isaac smirks at me, “Right-o,” He grins.

I shake my head and follow Louise out of the room. She points out where she wants new lights. I take notes and look at what is lying on the floor. “I believe I can install those.”

Louise claps her hands, “Wonderful. Eddie did say you were good.”

The scent of jasmine makes Ajax goes nuts as I turn to see Priscilla walking toward us. I smile as she stares at Louise, trying to ignore my presence.

“Mom, why can’t Jasper come over?” Priscilla demands.

Ajax whimpers in my head as I try not to eavesdrop.

“Dearest, can’t you see that Mommy is busy?” Louise says in a child-like tone.

Priscilla glares at me with her arms folded. I wish I could take her into my arms and make her mine, but I just stare past her. “I see you are talking to some loser electrician,” She sneers. “But I want Jasper to come over,” She says while flipping her blonde hair.

“Your father is away from the pack, Priscilla. You’ll have to talk to him when he gets home,” Louise explains to her daughter.

Priscilla lets out a shrill scream and stomps away. I stare at her walking away and forgetting where I am.

“Jack,” Louise calls to me. “Jack,” She repeats and waves her hand in my face. “Hello?”

I look at her, lost for words for a moment, “I-I,” I mumble.

“My daughter is very beautiful, I realize, but I need you to concentrate,” She grumbles.

I nod, “I-I am fine,” I sigh and look where Priscilla has gone. Her scent lingers in the hall, and it takes all my strength not to follow her. “I’ll get started,” I mumble and look at my notes before returning to where Isaac is working.

He looks at me with a grin, “So, the alpha’s daughter.”

I breathe deeply, “Yeah,” I mumble as Ajax hums happily in my head.

“She's gorgeous,” Isaac snickers.

“And she hates me,” I mutter.

“Why do you say that?” Isaac asks with a more serious tone.

“Look at her, Isaac. Look at me. What was the goddess thinking?” I shake my head as I try to push my sulking wolf back. “Let's just work, okay.”

Isaac says nothing else as we get to work. It takes a few hours to fix the sconces and wire them correctly before we patch the holes in the walls. As we look over the lights in the hallway, Caleb walks up to us with a lovely woman and child at his side.

“Hey, Jack,” Caleb greets me.

“Caleb,” I reply to him.

“How is it going?” He looks up and down the hall.

“I’m not sure what your mother really wants here,” I chuckle.

“Yeah, Mom is crazy about s**t like this,” He laughs. He gestures to the woman, “This is my mate Kayla and our son, Oscar.”

I nod at Kayla, “Pleased to meet you. I am Jack.”

“Caleb told me about you,” Kayla responds while shifting Oscar on her hip. “Your Dads were friends. How wild is that?”

“Pretty wild,” I snort. Jasmine wafts down the hall as Priscilla walks by us. She is now wearing a short black dress and has her hair in a tight braid. She eyes me but says nothing.

“Where are you going, Priscilla?” Caleb growls.

“Out,” She mumbles and grins at Oscar, who coos at her. “Hey, Chubbs,” she greets the pup.

“Where?” Caleb demands.

“None of your business,” Priscilla rolls her eyes.

“You can’t leave the pack,” Caleb mentions. “Dad’s orders.”

“What?!” Priscilla screams. Her blue eyes darken as I sense her anger rising.

‘Her name is Sapphire,’ Ajax speaks up suddenly.

“Huh?” I say out loud, eliciting a look from Caleb. I shake my head and look away from him.

‘Sapphire is the name of her wolf,’ Ajax says dreamily.

I sigh, ‘That’s great. We’ll never see her, I’m afraid.’

“Why can’t I go out?!” Priscilla’s shrill protest brings me out of my thoughts.

“There have been rogue problems all over the place,” Caleb explains.

Priscilla scoffs and looks at me, “What are you staring at?”

“My mate,” I respond, causing Caleb’s eyes to bug out of his head.

“You are not my mate,” Priscilla screams and storms away from us.

“Seriously?” Caleb scoffs. “My sister is your mate?”

I nod sadly, “Yeah.”

“I am so sorry, man,” Caleb laughs. “You know if you reject her, I would not be angry with you.”

“Yeah, she is awful,” Kayla blurts out, causing Ajax to growl.

“Kayla,” Caleb admonishes his mate.

“What?” Kayla shrugs. “You say it all of the time.”

Caleb takes in a sharp breath, “You are so right, babe.” He turns to me, “Anyways, seriously, if you reject my sister, I won’t be mad.”

‘We are not rejecting her,’ Ajax snarls.

I ignore him, “I don’t know what I am going to do yet,” I sigh.

“Jack,” Louise’s voice echoes down the hall. She smiles at Caleb before looking at me, “How is it going?”

“We got the study done. I am looking over the lights out here,” I explain.

“Is there a problem?” She gestures.

“I am not entirely sure what you want to be done. The workers aren’t sure either,” I point to the other contractors.

“I want the lights strung down the hall,” She scoffs. “How hard is that to figure out?”

“Like hung on the wall like Christmas lights?” I ask with confusion.

Louise rolls her eyes looking just like her daughter, “God, why can’t I get competent help?”

“Mom, to be fair, everyone is confused about what you want,” Caleb speaks up.

“Hush, Caleb,” She waves him off. She walks down the hall and points, “I want the lights there and there,” She explains in a condescending tone. “You said you could do it.”

I look at where she pointed and then at the lights. “I can do it, but it’s going to take a day or so to install.”

“Fine,” Louise sighs.

“I have to make measurements,” I pull my measuring tape from my belt.

“Do whatever you need to do,” She snorts and looks at Kayla. “Why does he need me to do his job?”

Kayla shrugs, “It’s a mystery, Mom.”

Louise reaches for Oscar, “Let’s go hang out with Glammy,” She coos at the happy pup. Kayla and Louise walk down the hall.

“Don’t let my Mom get to you,” Caleb pats my back.

“She’s not the one getting to me,” I grumble as I start to make my measurements.

“Oh, right,” Caleb shakes his head. “I’m sorry you got stuck with my sister.”

“Is she really so bad?” I wonder out loud.

“She has her moments where she isn’t a complete-“ He trails off.

“b***h?” Isaac offers, and I growl at him. “What?” Isaac shrugs.

“I didn’t want to say that, but yeah,” Caleb laughs. “She really loves my son.”

“That’s something,” I smile slightly.

“But seriously, man,” Caleb starts again. “I wouldn’t be-“

“I know,” I snarl. “You wouldn’t be mad if I rejected her.”

“Reject who?” Edward Livingston’s voice booms behind me, and I jump. He lets out a booming laugh, “Hey, calm down, son,” He pats me on the back.

I smile nervously at him, “I didn’t expect you to just walk up behind us.”

“Oh,” Ed laughs. “I have been called the Stealth Alpha before.”

“Really?” I snort.

“No,” Ed laughs. “So, how is my mate’s crazy project going?”

“We are trying to figure out exactly what she wants here,” I gesture to the hall lights.

“Oh,” Ed nods. “I’ll show you.” He pulls me down the hall and can clarify what his mate wants to be done. “I will pay you for the labor and materials it will take.”

I look up and down the hall, “Well, now that you have clarified what she wants, I can see it won’t take long at all. I may have to come back tomorrow.”

“Take all of the time you need,” Ed grins. “I like seeing you. Do you want to stay for dinner?” He offers.

‘Say yes,’ Ajax yells.

I shake my head, “No, sir.” I respond even though my instincts are telling me to stay.

“That’s a shame,” Ed frowns. “My chef is one of the best there is.”

“I’ll finish doing the measurements, and then we’ll be out of your hair,” I tell him and nod at Isaac.

“You don’t have to rush, Jack,” Ed sighs. “Anyways, who were you going to reject?”

“Huh?” I pause. I forgot that Caleb was still standing a few feet away, silently listening to my conversation with his father.

“I heard you saying something about rejecting someone when I walked up. Did you meet your mate?” Ed grins. “And you want to reject her.”

I sigh sadly and look at the ground. “I don’t want to reject her, sir.”

‘We are not rejecting her,’ Ajax snarls.

“But I don’t think she wants anything to do with me,” I say, still looking at the ground.

“How do you know that?” Ed asks.

The scent of jasmine makes me look down the hall. Priscilla is sauntering towards us in all of her glory. She has changed clothes again and is wearing a soft pink dress with a bit of shimmer. Her hair is once again hanging down to her shoulders. I swear she almost smiles as she nears us.

“What are you still doing here?” She asks me, and I look away from her. “Daddy.”

“What is it, Priscilla?” Ed scoffs. “Have you met Jack?” Ed gestures to me. “His father and I were good friends.”

Priscilla looks at her nails and shrugs, “Why couldn't Jasper come over?” She ignores me, devastating Ajax.

“Sweetie, it’s complicated,” Ed responds.

“Daddy,” Priscilla whines.

“Priscilla,” Ed growls. “I am talking to Jack.” She gives me a side-eyed glance before walking away from us. Ed lets out a chuckle, “Kids.”

My eyes linger on my mate as she walks away. Ajax whines mournfully.

“Jack?” Ed’s voice interrupts my thoughts. “Jack,” He whistles and waves his hand in front of my face. “Are you staring at my daughter?”

I shake my head and look at Ed, “I have to get going, Ed.”

“Stay,” Ed pleads.

“If he wants to go, Dad,” Caleb finally speaks up.

“Want to have a quick drink?” Ed pushes.

I look at Isaac, “No, we should be going. Do you have all of the tools?” I ask.

“I’ll go grab them,” Isaac responds and heads towards the study. I start to follow him.

“Jack,” Ed grabs my shoulder. “Don’t reject your mate until you know for sure you have to,” He advises.

“Dad,” Caleb interjects.

“I’m talking to Jack, son,” Ed snorts.

Priscilla’s scent tells me she is walking towards us again.

“What is it now, Priscilla?” Ed huffs.

“Can I go out to the club with Cora and Paisley?” She asks while avoiding eye contact with me.

“No, Priscilla, you may not leave the territory,” Ed snarls.

“But-“

“No means no,” Ed glares at his daughter.

She glances at me, “Why is he still here?”

“He is my friend,” Caleb blurts out.

“I want him here,” Ed answers her.

I smile at Priscilla, “That is a stunning dress on you.”

“I am beautiful, so of course, it is,” She smirks.

“I’ve noticed,” I smirk back. I look at Ed, “You know Ed, I think I’ll take you up on the dinner.”

“Wonderful,” Ed claps his hand.

I watch as Priscilla walks away again, swaying her hips seductively.

“You seem to have an eye for my daughter,” Ed nudges me.

I glance at Caleb, who nods, “Well, sir, there is no other way to say this, but your daughter is my mate.”

Ed narrows his eyes at me, “Come again?”

“Your daughter is my mate,” I say with great effort. Ed is silent as I feel like my world is about to crash down.

“That is-“ Ed glances at Caleb and then back at me. “Wonderful!” He declares.