Alpha Nicholas
Chapter 9 –

Alpha Nicholas

I ran. I saw my mate and I ran. I ran from her, and now I'm currently hiding in my office. I'm a coward and a bastard. What kind of Alpha am I? What kind of man and an Alpha, at that meets his mate and runs? And if that wasn't bad enough, she saw me, and I'm pretty sure she knew who I was. "She did. Her wolf sensed us. She knew we were their mates and you fucking ran!" This is the first time Storm has spoken to me since it happened almost 30 minutes ago. He is furious with me and I get it and I don't blame him for being mad. "I'm sorry Storm, I am. But I can't... I just can't." Before he can reply, my office door flies open as pissed-looking Will and Shane stomp in. "What the fuck is going on? Is something wrong?" I was about to chew him a new ass for just storming in here, but I quickly realize that he's not only pissed but concerned, both of them are.

I knock back the rest of the top-notch whiskey that I've been nursing this whole time and enjoy the burn as it slides down my throat. I don't drink often, as an alpha, I always have to be on alert, and as much as my brothers are more than capable of running things, I prefer to be on hand at all times. "Well? Is there trouble that we need to be made aware of?" He goes to head for the door, I assume to try and work it out.

"She's here." He turns back around to look at me from my office door with a look of deep confusion. "She's here... What does..." I sit still and watch as realization washes over his face. "Your mate is here, isn't she?" I let out a loud sigh and nod. "Holy fuck!" Will grunts from his seat in front of my desk. "Yeah, you could say that."

"What are you going to do?" He asks looking honestly torn. As much as he works hard to understand what I want, I know that he wants to replace his mate more than anything and can't quite grasp how I feel.

"Boys, what on earth is going on in here?" My mom's voice drags all of our attention to the office door where she is standing. She looks pissed and that's not good. My mom is a beautiful woman inside and out, but fuck, she's the devil's sister when she needs to be. "Elder Stone said he was talking to you, and then you just rudely ended it and walked off. He hadn't even finished talking to you. Since when do you treat elders that way?"

Fuck, she's right I did, but in my defense, smelling the smell of my... of her well, it knocked me through a loop and I couldn't think of anything else other than getting away. Of course, Storm didn't let that happen. No, he dragged our asses off until we saw her, and only then could I get back control and get us away from there.

"Am I talking to myself?" Hearing my mother's sharp tone quickly has me snapping out of my brain fog." Sorry, ma. Elder Stone was right. I was rude, and I will make sure to apologize." She lets out a huge huff, forcing me to look her way, and hell, does she look pissed. "Is that it? You're hauled up in your office after being rude to an Elder when you should be outside with your guests and that's all you say?"

I know she wants more of an explanation, but what can I say? If I tell her that my mate is here, then it will open up a whole can of worms that I don't want to deal with. I can't. No, I need to try and keep this from her for as long as possible, or at the very least until after everyone has gone home tomorrow. As it stands now, I don't technically know who my mate is or what pack she is here with so, there's no information I can give my mom. I don't even know her name.

My heart tugs a little at that realization, but I push it down while ignoring Storm's growl of disagreement. "Don't do this, Nick." I hate that this is hurting him, but since the shitstorm with Lottie's mom, he knows where I stand on this subject. I've always made my feelings perfectly known and as much as he hated the idea and my decision, he came to accept it, or so I thought.

"Thinking about not accepting our mate and smelling her scent... Seeing her face... It's different, and you know it is. We both know this has affected you. It may not be in a big way, but you felt it... you feel it." I instantly feel pissed. Not at the storm, no, I'm pissed at the fact that he's right. Just because I don't want my mate, doesn't mean I don't feel, and if I'm being honest with myself, the moment that I realized that the smell was that of my mate, my heart instantly started pounding and all I wanted to do was replace her and worship her with all I have, give her all I have. And that right there, those feelings are exactly why I had to walk away because I can't do that again... I won't.

And so, the moment that I spotted her, I ran with my tail between my legs and didn't look back. "Like you didn't take in every single thing about her!" Strom huffs. Of course, I did. She may have only been in my sight for a few seconds, but I remember every single detail about her.

Her long blonde air that stopped just above her ass, her perfect face. I couldn't make out what color her eyes were and that irritated me, but what thing I did notice was how her dress hung rather loosely like it wasn't made for her body, like it was the wrong size or maybe someone else, it was strange but none of my business. But most of all... most of all I noticed how she looked like a goddam angel with her angelic face and white dress "Fuck sake!" I grunt hearing my mother calling me so irritated that I once again zonned off into my little world.

"Let's go replace Elder stone." I soften my tone for my mother's sake, but inside I feel irritated and pissed. I know that it's going to take all of my strength to remain calm tonight and to be the alpha I need to be. Thankfully, this isn't the first ball that I haven't wanted to be at, so I have plenty of experience with faking a smile and charming my guests.

Fortunately, she lets it drop, but I know that she'll be back to questioning me soon. I give my brothers a nod of appreciation as we leave grateful that they didn't tell my mother what's going on.

The moment I step back outside, I'm greeted by pack members from the various packs that are attending here tonight, but I struggle to really take in what they say and barely manage to answer when I need to. Thankfully, Shane is by my side and speaks up when it's needed and saves my ass in the process, reminding me of why I'm grateful that he's my brother and beta.

After several handshakes and pointless chats, I see Elder Stone over the other side of the makeshift dance floor and head in his direction. I've never made it a habit to be rude to anyone unless it is called for and certainly not an Elder, and I know that if I told him the truth, that my mate's smell caught my attention and I went to replace her, then he would let me off. If anything, he would have loved hearing the news and told me not to worry, but I can't tell him that, so instead I run through possibilities in my head all while hoping that he will be ok with me.

As I approach his back, that smell once again hits my nose as tingles run through my body. My mate is here, and somewhere close by. As I go to step around him, I hear a small gasp and turn just in time to see my mate looking my way from where she stands just a few feet away. Fuck! If I wasn't sure if she had seen me before, then I was sure now. She looks straight at me, our eyes lock and my heart starts pounding so hard I swear I'm heading for a heart attack. At that moment, I couldn't tell you if she was alone or not, because it's only my mate that my eyes zone in on and I fucking hate it.

"Go to her, you idiot!" Storm growls, trying to force himself to the front of my head while he tries to take control, but thankfully, I manage to stop him just about and quickly turn away from my mate and force my attention onto Elder Stone. I hear a whimper and I know it comes from my mate, but I don't do anything, even as the noise alone physically hurts my heart, I ignore it and start my apology to the elder that I was disrespectful to instead of going to the one person to who I was meant to give my all. Her... Her I let run while Storm goes mental in my head. Fuck!