Alpha Erased (Alpha Girl 9)

Anything that led to Tessa dying was no-go for me. It was frustrating. I wanted to fix this now, but I couldn’t. This was going to take time.

I’d waited this long. A little more waiting wouldn’t kill me, but losing her would, whether we were True Mates or not. “So, we stay the course.”

“We stay the course.” She let out a little breath. I didn’t know her well enough to know if she was relieved, but she seemed to relax a little into the couch.

“What are we feeding her?” Chris asked. “Because we gotta be prepared. We’ve got some time to shop, or we can pick stuff up. But if we’re doing that, we need to give them time to fill a party-sized order.”

“No. I told Tessa I would cook. I’m not starting out lying to her.”

“Then, we’ll cook. We only picked up essentials yesterday, so we’ll need to grab a few more things from the store, depending on what you want to make. Where are the keys to your rental? Let’s go.”

We planned our menu on the way to the store and then filled up two carts as we shopped. I could see Chris’s face as we checked out. Even he thought all that food was overkill, but he hadn’t really seen her yet. He didn’t know. He couldn’t understand my fear that I could lose her over something this easy to fix.

We got back to the apartment and immediately started putting everything together.

By the time we were done, even I agreed that we had way too much food. Appetizers like pigs in a blanket, cheese platter, cured meats, and jalapeño poppers. Platters of chicken and steak fajitas, and brisket—which we picked up from a barbecue place down the road. Fruit salad, macaroni and cheese, grilled veggies, avocado salad. Sourdough rolls, cornbread, and rosemary focaccia. Plus, arepas stuffed with cheese. And then we’d bought two dozen assorted cupcakes from a local bakery.

It was everything and anything that Tessa might want to eat. The whole dining room table was covered. Chris, Cosette, and I stood shoulder to shoulder and stared down at the spread.

“Goddamn, we’re good.” Chris rubbed his hands together. “This is a feast.”

“Too many meats.” Cosette scrunched her nose up as she stared down at the table. “It’s…too much.”

Chris scoffed. “That’s not even a thing.”

“Werewolves.” Cosette shook her head and went to the couch. “What time is it?”

“Five-thirty.”

“She could be here any minute.” Cosette sounded alarmed. “You need to change.”

I looked down at what I was wearing. “I should?”

“You’re wearing running shorts and a T-shirt. Who do you think you’re seducing in that?” She waved her hand up and down at me as if I were wearing something severely offensive.

I opened my mouth for a second then looked down again and back at her. “I guess no one, since I’m changing now.”

“Good talk.”

Chris had his hands full with that one, but she was right. I went into my room and stared for a minute at the clothes that I’d brought. I hadn’t packed much. Just the basics. I’d wanted to get here as quickly as possible, but now I was regretting that.

I grabbed a pair of black jeans and a black long-sleeved T-shirt with Above & Beyond printed in big white letters. I pushed the sleeves up to my elbows and looked in the mirror. My eyes were amber, and I took a slow breaths until they toned down to their human light brown.

I wasn’t going to scare her. I was going to show her that I cared. Because fuck. I cared. I cared a lot. I wasn’t sure how feeding her was going to prove it or if she’d even come over.

Nothing in life was ever certain. I learned that young, and I did my best to live in the moment. But in this particular moment, I was having a hard time staying present. I was running through all the possibilities of what could go wrong.

I never used to do that. That was something Tessa did. Realizing that made me laugh. I sat on the bed and rested my elbows on my knees.

Don’t fuck this up.

There was a knock on my bedroom door.

I cleared my throat. “Come in.”

Chris opened it and leaned against the door frame. “She just got home. She’s in her apartment.”

I stood and shoved my hands into my pockets to stop myself from running to her door. “Okay.”