The Alpha King's Hunt

Chapter 31

Gabriel

I'd missed the announcement breakfast/lunch.

It was more of a brunch as most of the pack, including myself and Sophia, had been awake for a good part of the evening and early morning. But unlike everyone else I hadn't bothered with sleep.

The shower with Valarie had taken it out of me in more ways than one.

She tired me out physically more than any of the other women I'd been with, even though the sex wasn't that demanding. It's not like we had entire nights together to go at it more than once, to really put our all into it. Actually my trysts with her had been some of the more rushed ones I'd had. And without a doubt the most satisfying.

I should have been able to sleep after having her up against the wall like that. Balancing on a wet surface while holding up another person – a female who wasn't petite, and took advantage of her position to pull and tug at me – was exhausting.
But it was our fast and furious fight after that had kept me up throughout the rest of the morning.
Her words, spit so bitterly even as she'd been glistening fresh out of the shower, had buried themselves deep.

This whole time I'd been coming to the realization that Valarie saw me. The person I felt I was on the inside, the wolf I felt I was; not this Alpha that everyone bowed to and wouldn't look in the eye. But someone more curious and still playful. More open and clumsy.

At least, that's how I'd thought until she said what she said.

But she couldn't have meant it, could she?

There was no way we'd spent so many nights together in human and wolf form and she hadn't noticed that there was something more there.

My internal argument was interrupted by a very well-placed rustle, and I looked up to see my mother stepping through the hydrangeas with their large, dry blooms.

She, uncharacteristically, wore comfortable looking trousers with her hair let down. I had expected her to look relieved after the final night of the Hunt, but she somehow looked more tired than every.

"Are you okay?" I asked, and she looked surprised for a moment before laughing.

She moved to sit beside me and placed a hand on my knee, sighing.

"That is exactly what I was coming here to ask you," she said pointedly.

"I'm sorry I wasn't at the brunch – I meant to come. Even got dressed for it, but I just –"

Mother shook her head, cutting me off, and patted my knee again. "I explained to everyone there that you had to take care of rumors of a rogue pack at the edge of the territory. Don't worry. No one ever thinks to check the garden for you do they?" She winked.

My mother was the one person it was impossible not to blush in front of. I sighed and tipped my head back, staring at the foggy morning sky.

"We should talk about your upcoming wedding."

I nodded, having known this was coming. There would be a few weeks of planning. And then, although last night was informal, Sophia would be my mate for life. Until one of us or the other petered off.

"You'll be reaching out to her mother, I assume?" I asked, voice stiff.

"Well not quite yet. I want to make sure we have the foundation planned at least. Although Sophia already seems to have a few ideas of her own." She glanced at me with a raised brow and I held my hands up.

"I've barely talked to the woman," I insisted. "Any idea she's gotten have not been from me. Trust me."

We were on the edge of autumn now and the cool breeze made me shiver. I'd have to ask Charles to have the staff get my cold weather clothing ready soon. Probably have a somewhat warmer suit made if Sophia wanted to get married outdoors, which she almost definitely did, being from one of the more traditional packs.