The Human Alpha

[]=-Chapter 4-=[]

Christian’s POV

The sound of footsteps walking up to my door made me sit up and glance at it. By the sound of them, I guessed it was my father, which was confirmed by his voice coming through the door. “Where the hell were you last night?”

I had just woken up after a few hours of trying to sleep off my hangover, so the frustration I felt was hardly a surprise. I guess that I should just be happy Ethan managed to keep my father off my back for as long as he did, though. This situation would have been even more unbearable if it had happened when I was very hungover.

Crawling out of bed, I reluctantly unlocked my door. Knowing my dad, he would sit outside my door all day until I eventually opened it, and I really couldn’t hide out in my room all day. Hopefully, he won’t decide to scold me a bunch for my reckless decisions.

“Christian!” My mother let out a heavy, relieved breath as I pulled the door open. It seemed as if she didn’t actually expect me to be in my room, which I found odd because it was very clear that my father knew I was there. Then again, he could probably smell me from outside of the door, as well as all of the alcohol that Ethan served me last night.

I could feel both of my parents’ gazes burn into my neck when they caught sight of the hickeys that the man—whose name I still don’t even know—marked me with. Here comes the scolding, I thought.

My father was the first one to speak, which wasn’t surprising considering the look of shock that my mother wore on her face. “Please tell me that you didn’t sleep with some random she-wolf last night.” He held his breath in trepidation.

I honestly couldn’t believe that’s what he was worried about. Not whether or not I was okay, or if there was something wrong, or even wonder if I had found my mate. No! His thoughts went straight to our reputation. The fact that he actually thought I would just start sleeping around with random women in the pack hurt.

“He was most definitely a human.” I avoided eye contact with both of them.

Both of my parents’ sighs of relief, along with my mother muttering the words, “Thank the Goddess,” eased my racing heart. I knew that they would never judge me for being with a guy, but considering I had never actually admitted to them that I liked both women and men, it was a little nerve-wracking to say it.

“And not gay,” I muttered the words that I had heard over and over again in my head since he had said it. He wouldn’t have slept with me if he didn’t have an interest in being with a man, but he clearly wasn’t ready to admit it to anyone, not even himself.

“Oh, honey…” My mother reached out to comfort me, but I stepped back away from her. I was already embarrassed enough as it was, I didn’t need anyone to pity me as well; that would only make me feel worse about the whole situation.

My parents must have misunderstood my movement as an invitation to enter my room, because they both went and sat on my bed, leaving me to stand in front of them. Way to make me feel even more like the center of attention, guys.

“This doesn’t seem like you at all, Christian.” My father tried to make eye contact with me, but I avoided it and instead looked at my sock-clad feet. “Going out, getting drunk, sleeping with a stranger. I mean, did something happen yesterday? What possessed you to do such things?”

I gulped. I couldn’t stand the idea of my father being ashamed of me. He could feel anything towards me but that. I recalled how Ethan convinced me to go out and put the drinks in front of me. I trusted him with my life—he’s my best friend after all—but after how last night went, I’m not sure if I should trust him to know what is best for me.

“Hey, I got your phone fixed Chris-” Ethan cut himself off as he stepped through my doorway and noticed my parents sitting on the edge of my bed. “Oh um, I’ll just…” He pointed over his shoulder and took a step back to leave, but I jumped toward him, grabbing his arm. I wasn’t just going to let him leave me alone with my parents when he was the one who got me into this mess.

“Christian!” My mother’s exclamation had me quickly turning back to look at her. She grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it up, revealing the large black and blue contusion on my left side. I didn’t want to lie to either of my parents, but I couldn’t just tell them the truth about how Ethan was the one who left the bruise on my side. That would make them want to know how it happened and that was one of the few secrets I had that I planned on taking to my grave.

“As I said, he wasn’t gay, just drunk.” I glanced at Ethan, hoping he would back me up a bit.

To my luck, he turned to my parents with a playful gleam in his eyes. “You should have seen the way the guy tossed Christian out the door like yesterday’s trash.” He must have realized how that sounded after he said it because he quickly turned back to me. “No offense.”

“Anyways,” I drew out the word, hoping it would bring their attention away from my s****l life because that really isn’t something I want to discuss with my parents. “Did you guys just come here to learn about my drunken mistakes or was there more of a reason for your visit to my room?”

“Well, we came to tell you last night to give you a bit more notice…” My father gave me a look that I couldn’t quite decipher. “But since you decided to go out and party, we had to wait until now. Alpha Connor of the White Moon pack is throwing a party and has requested the presence of many Alpha families nearby, meaning the three of us, as well as your sisters, will be in attendance.”

I thought for a moment about what my father had said. White Moon was our closest pack, as well as our largest alliance, so it’s not a surprise that they had invited us to attend the event; I was just curious about what it was for. “Is it a party for Kolton’s return to the pack?”

Kolton—the youngest son of Caleb, who is one of my father's best friends and the previous Alpha of the White Moon pack—had just returned home from Alpha training. He isn’t much older than me and is supposed to be taking over the Blood Eclipse pack—a pack that my father and Alpha Caleb have run together for a few decades. The only reason Kolton hasn’t taken over it yet is that after he graduated high school he insisted on going to college, and then after college, it was all about needing to train with some of the best Alphas around the world. You would think that it was just his way of delaying taking over the Alpha position, but he really is just a perfectionist.

My mother was the one to reply, which didn’t come as a surprise when I heard what she had to say. “Partially that, but he also still hasn’t found his Luna yet, hence why there are so many Alpha families being asked to attend the party.” She glanced at my father, a small smile appearing on her face at the mention of mates, while I plastered a fake grin on mine, and pretended like the word didn’t hurt my soul. “He will be moving to the Blood Eclipse pack and taking over the Alpha position tomorrow whether he finds his mate or not, but Caleb is definitely hoping that Kolton will meet her at this event.”

“I’m sure you are hoping the same.” Though she is just a human, like me, my mother is all over the idea of mates. I don’t know if I will ever understand her obsession with everyone needing to find their mates, especially if I don’t ever find my own. It took me a moment to process what she had said, and I froze. “Wait, tomorrow?”

“Yup.” My father’s voice was monotone, and I finally understood why he was so frustrated with my absence last night. “We have to leave in an hour, so you need to get ready.” I wanted to complain about the lack of time to get ready but decided that going to this event would be better than getting reprimanded about last night’s choices, so I kept my mouth shut.

“Take a shower and I’ll send your sister in to help you cover those hickeys before we leave.” I looked at my mother as she finished speaking and pursed my lips. While I hated the idea of anyone else in my family knowing about my regretful night, I knew it would be better than showing up to a party with several love marks on my neck, so I just nodded my head in response to my mother before she and my father left the room.

Both of my hands instantly went up to my face and I rubbed my eyes, groaning a little in frustration. This was the last thing I wanted to have to do today, but I shouldn’t be surprised that my dad would wait until the last minute to tell me. He always says it’s to help prepare me for random events that could happen suddenly when I do become the sole Alpha, but I think he really waits to tell me because he is afraid I will try to hide from my duties if he gives me too much notice. Which, I mean… in this case, he wouldn’t be wrong, so I can’t really blame him much.

“Am I allowed to leave yet?” Ethan’s voice caught my attention. It’s a good thing he spoke when he did because I forgot he was even still standing beside me. If he had waited any longer, I might have accidentally undressed in front of him. “Or am I supposed to listen to you take another shower?” I could see the chuckle he was holding back as he recalled the embarrassing moment from yesterday.

“You know this is all your fault, right?” I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to give him my most stern look, but it was hard. If he weren’t my best friend then I might actually be mad at him, but the sheepish little smile he gave me melted away my hard exterior and I had to look away from him so that he couldn’t see how I felt about him.

“I really was just trying to help you, man.” Ethan sounded almost helpless as he said it, and that made me glance at him again. He took this moment to crack another shot at me though. “Besides, as I said before, I was talking about the chick a few seats further down the bar. You’re the one who approached the man.”

I rolled my eyes at the smirk on his face and started to walk around my bed so I could get to the bathroom. “Yeah, yeah, you can leave now.” I had my back to him but, I could tell he didn’t move right away, so I started to look over my shoulder at him to see why.

“Think fast!” Ethan called out, tossing my phone across the bed to me. I caught it mid-air and looked at the screen, noticing that he must have gotten it repaired for me while I was asleep. That was the kind of friend Ethan was, he would lead you into terrible situations sometimes, but he would be sure to fix whatever came out of the situation broken.

“Thanks, man.” I looked up, but he was already gone. I shrugged before heading off into my bathroom to take a shower. After all, I didn’t have long before my father would be rushing me out the door, and I needed all the time I could to make myself look presentable.