The Alpha (The Pack 3)

“What did Anna say about me?” He asked instead, completely ignoring my words.

“I don’t remember saying she said anything,” I countered, smiling sweetly.

“You implied she did,” he retorted, his fingers slipping under an old photo I’d stuck in the edge of the mirror. He tugged on it until it came loose. “That’s your mom?” He tapped the picture where I’d folded it over her face, using that edge to hold the picture in. I nodded, walking to the bed and sitting down with my legs folded underneath me. “You look like your

Dad,” he offered, studying the picture. It was a couple years old and the last one I had of the four of us together.

“Yeah, I know,” I answered, tilting my head back to look at him as he brought the picture over to me. “Why are you poking through my stuff?”

“To understand you,” he answered simply, crouching down so I didn’t have to crane my neck. “You’ve managed to form friendships…relationships with quite a few of the Navarre Pack. You have a way with shifters and humans alike,” he straightened and turned away after dropping the picture in my lap. “Dom’s a lucky guy.”

“I know,” I replied, not hiding my questioning gaze from him. “I consider myself equally lucky, but what does this have to do with anything?” I lifted my hands and the picture fell onto the quilt.

“You make him better,” Trent answered. “Stronger. The sign of a true mate. You complement him.” He moved around the room restlessly, picking up things and setting them down almost immediately. “I want that.”

“With Anna,” I stated.

“With Anna,” he echoed, nodding slowly. “But I’m not sure I make her better,” he ducked his head, gazing at me through lowered eyelashes. “I’m afraid….I frighten her.”

“So?” I shrugged and his shocked gaze flew to mine. “A little fear is good for us. It means we’re alive, Trent. Shakes things up.” I reached for the picture, smoothing the crease that cut my mother’s face in half. “And I think Anna is starting to see the benefit of change.”

“What do you mean?” Trent’s gaze was full of fragile hope and I sucked in a breath.

“You really do love her,” I breathed and his gaze dropped. “I didn’t really think you loved her. I wondered if it was a game or you just were trying to stir things up.”

“No, I care very much for Anna,” he corrected, as he wandered toward the window, his gaze focused inward. “I felt the pull the first time I laid eyes on her. I’d heard it spoken of, seen it a little through Dom’s eyes with you, but to actually feel the burn –” He stopped, more serious than I’d ever seen as he slipped the sucker from his mouth and twirled it between his fingers. “It changed me,” he paused, correcting himself. “She changed me. Just as you’ve changed Dom.”

“I didn’t change anybody,” I denied, lifting my hands in my innocence and he grinned, the old Trent coming back.

“Oh, yes, you did,” Trent replied, “Dom was a regular ass before you.”

“Again, not much has changed,” I responded with a cheeky grin and he laughed. He sobered quickly with my next words though. “Seriously though. Don’t give up with Anna. She sees you and she likes what she sees.” I chewed my bottom lip as I considered if I should say the next part.

“Spill it before you make yourself bleed and Dom comes after me for it,” Trent muttered, the sucker poking against one side of his cheek.

A sigh gusted out of me and I set the photo Trent had brought me on the nightstand. “You change her perception of herself and that’s a good thing. You see her as she is, completely separate from the Pack, and I don’t think she’s ever had that.”

Trent’s forehead wrinkled at my words and I wasn’t sure if I was explaining it properly.

“She liked your kiss,” I stated baldly, figuring that would seal the deal and when a familiar cocky grin formed I knew I’d said enough. “Now, you didn’t hear that from me,” I said, shaking my finger as I glared at him. “If even a whisper gets back to her we had this conversation I’ll get Dom to string you up by your ball sack.”

Trent flinched reflexively, cupping his hands over his groin protectively. “You’re a hard woman, Jess Carter.” He gave a sudden brilliant smile. “A true Alpha’s mate.”

I squinted at him for a second, wondering if I’d heard him correctly. That was the second time in as many hours I’d heard that and I was starting to wonder.

“Jess, are you sure these steaks are done?’ Dad shouted. “They look bloody to me.” I threw my hands up as I hurried from the room, shouting, “Yes, don’t touch them.”

Chapter Four

Dom

The forest floor blurred under my paws as I ran, the soft thuds a soothing cadence that helped ease the turmoil inside of me. My stride faltered when the flashing image of Dylan running straight at Jess came to me once again. I forced it away, knowing I needed a clear head for the council meeting.