The Human's Alpha

Chapter 12

Liam

After my invigorating conversation with Sam, I head back to the house with newfound purpose and a plan. Even though I know logically that Lily and I can never have a real mate relationship, and I'm not sure I want that anyway, I wouldn't mind us being somewhat closer to friends. I ponder this as my feet hit the pavement back to our house with a steady, rhythmic purpose. I enter the house and head straight to the dining room where Lily is sitting thinking hard over something.

"I want to help." I say as I put my hands on the back of the chair facing directly away from her. She doesn't answer me or even so much as glance my way. I start to get irritated until I realize she still has her ear buds in. I rap my knuckles on the table in front of her, causing her to jump again. She gives me an irritated scowl and pulls out an ear bud.

"What?!" She shouts at me.

Oh this is starting off great.

"I want to help."

"Help with what?" She responds, almost sounding bored.

"With the Halloween party." Her eyebrows shoot up and her fingertips start tapping on the dark wood table. She's wearing a light green sweater that makes her eyes pop and her hair is in a large bun on top of her head. She's so beautiful I'm almost too distracted to hear her response.

"Why?" I sigh and move the chair out to sit across from her.

"Because you've done a lot of great things and have put in an effort and I have not been very supportive of you. I would like to try and change that." She looks at me for a long moment and then responds.

"No." I'm taken back by her response and all she does is start writing things down again.

"What do you mean 'no'?" I ask.

"I'm not letting you help with this party because you feel guilty. You should want to do it out of the goodness of your heart."

"You're right. I'm just not used to these things but I would like to try. Plus, it would be good for the pack to see us doing things together." She scoffs and rolls her eyes at me.

"I'm not going to pretend to try and make you look like less of an ass in front of the pack." I can't help but chuckle at that.

"Of course not. I wouldn't ask you to. Now, what do you need help with?"

"Nothing right now. Just go away for now and I'll find something for you to do." She waves me off with her hand and puts her ear buds back in, effectively ending our conversation so I decide it's best to not push things too hard. I feel pleased with the little bit of progress we've made.

The next few days passed quickly and I was actually excited on the morning of Halloween. I had tried to talk to Lily a few times about how I could help, all she told me was I could set up and she would plan a costume for me. I pushed back the time of the run so more parents could bring their kids and be involved in the party. I spent the morning setting up small games and decorating while Lily was in the kitchen with Amy getting the food ready. She had some fun ideas like hot dogs that look like bloody toes and popcorn balls that look like eyeballs. The kids were going to love it and even though we weren't exactly spending time together, I hoped I was at least earning some credit for my hard work.

As the time of the party neared and my work was complete I went to search out Lily. She was still in the kitchen, delegating last minute tasks.

"Everything's done out there, Lily. What else do you need help with?" She looked at me briefly before looking around.

"I think we're good. Just go put on your costume the kids will be here in a little bit. I laid it on your bed." She answers. The fact that she was anywhere near my bed makes my wolf's ears perk up for the first time in months. I nod and head up the stairs past the cauldrons with dry ice making them look like they're bubbling and the random skeleton pieces laying around.