Alpha Liam (Book Two of the Alpha Trilogy)

What the hell are you doing here?

Liam's POV

It had been two weeks since Arden and I had returned home from her former pack. Two weeks of her settling into the role of the Luna of our pack. She had been doing a lot of work for the schools and the daycares, tending to the children and females in the pack. But I had given her more and more to do around the pack. I wanted her to become familiar with all the aspects of running a well-organized pack such as mine. In the worst case that I would somehow not be around to take care of my duty, Arden would be fully capable of handling these things on her own, with the help of Jay. I just hoped that day wouldn't come.

The shower we'd had at the hotel on our way back home had been a constant thought over the last two weeks. I wished for a sooner repeat of the events, they didn't even have to involve the shower, but I was going to let her decide what and when she wanted it. Arden was supposed to want to come to me for those desires freely, not because she felt forced.

Currently, we were sitting in the dining room, having breakfast. Jay and Macy had joined us. I was happy for my best friend to finally have found his mate. He had gone so long without her, I was already beginning to think that he was destined not to have one. But the same could be said about me. Until I had sensed Arden on her birthday almost five months ago, I had believed I was simply a wolf that had no shifter, that the Moon Goddess had decided I was not deigned worthy of a mate. Up until then, that had been my strongest belief.

As if sensing my inner turmoil at the thoughts circling my head, Arden looked up at me. She and Macy were leaning over Macy's phone, looking at Goddess knows what. Arden's hair was slightly messy, and for once her wild curls weren't to be blamed for that. My own hands had dragged through them earlier, creating this disarray of a beautiful mess. Her skin was slightly flushed, making me wonder what exactly Macy was showing her, but I decided not to ask her. If she wanted to tell me, she would.

Excusing herself, Arden walked around the table, coming to a stop at my side. I moved my chair back, pulling her down onto my lap in a fluid motion. She held back her squeal, hiding her darkly blushed face in my chest. "Liam," she whined, her hands resting beside her head, my heart beat thrumming behind them steadily.

"What's wrong?" I asked, brushing her hair out of her face when she sat up.

"There are people here," she said, trying to stand but I settled my hands onto her hips, keeping her situated on my lap comfortably.

"I don't care if Macy and Jay are seeing this. For all they know, we could be doing something much worse." I smirked down at my mate, watching as her cheeks flushed even redder and she smacked my arm.

Whipped, I heard Jay saying in my head. Shooting him a glare, I dragged Arden closer to me, or at least as close as she could get already being pressed up against me as she was.

Says you, I responded, motioning between him and Macy with my head. Jay only rolled his eyes, standing and taking Arden's abandoned seat next to Macy. His mate didn't so much as glance at him, too focussed on her phone. Jay took it, holding it out of reach, and Macy went to grab it. Holding her chin in his hand, he barely bent down to press a kiss to her lips, before handing her her phone back. Macy didn't blush but allowed him to pull her into his side.

They're cute, Arden said in my head, and I looked down to see her watching our best friends carefully. I am happy that Jay managed to convince Macy to try being mates. It would have been a shame if they had never gotten the chance.

I didn't reply, my response being my hand sliding down her hair again. "What do you want to do today?" I asked, seeing as it was a Sunday, and we didn't have any emergency duties to attend to. Once Arden had arrived, I had made sure that at least one day of the week would be just for her and whatever she wanted to do.