The Code of The Alpha

Chapter Thirty - Let the Panties Hit the Floor

Norah came and picked me up just after I had finished lunch.

Luca had wandered over to the apartment above the garage to get some work done after his shower and I hadn't seen him since.

I met her at the door, walking with her back out to her car.

"Oh my God, your neck," she said gasping, stopping in the middle of the driveway to push my hair away from my shoulder so she could see the mark better.

"It doesn't hurt," I told her quickly, knowing that the bruising made it look pretty gruesome.

I knew this because Fallon had a similar reaction that morning when I had gone to the fields to train with my hair in a ponytail; although she had thought I had been attacked by something.

"Damn," Norah whispered, followed by a laugh. "I didn't notice it last night."

She wouldn't have, I thought. I had covered the mark with my hair after we had gotten home from the cabin and Bates saw it. I would wear it proudly after it had healed, but for now I didn't want anyone to see it.

"Wait," Norah said suddenly, "does that mean you guys... you know?"

I shook my head as we resumed our walk to her car.

"No, we haven't," I sighed.

Her eyebrows furrowed.

"So Luca just marked you?"

I shrugged.

"I mean, we were doing other things..."

"Like what?" She pressed.

"I'm not answering that. He's your brother," I said, laughing.

"Oh," she said, the realization hitting her. "Never mind. Yeah, I don't want to know."

We laughed as we got into her car and began to drive off to another side of the pack.

"So," she said, "this woman's name is Cristina. She keeps quite a few kids full-time. Some of them get dropped off everyday whenever their parents go to work, but others stay with her. Her mate passed away a few years ago before they were able to have any children, so I'm guessing she started taking in foster kids so she could start a family on her own."

"So she hasn't met anyone else? She raises all those kids by herself?" I asked in awe and disbelief.

She nodded.

"Yeah, which is why my mom started sending us over to help her out. But with me passing my nursing boards and starting at the clinic and the twins still being in high school, we just weren't able to go over consistently. Hanna still goes after school sometimes because she doesn't do too much extracurricular activities. Mom will go over when she has time, but she stays pretty busy with work."

"What does your mom do?"

"She's a chemist for my dad's pharmaceutical company," she answered. "She actually worked with Cristina. That's how they met."

I nodded, impressed.

"But I did tell my mom that you have a background in the school system and she definitely thought you would be a good fit working with Cristina," she continued.

"I'm happy to help," I said. "But I'm not letting her pay me."

"Well, she'll certainly try to," Norah warned.

I just shook my head.

"There's no way I'm taking money from her. If anything, she should be getting paid," I said incredulously.