Learn To Love, Alpha

Chapter 11

I think Ryder had been too quick to tell me that Roman never missed a meal because shortly after returning to the pack house, Ryder, Alana, and the third in command, Gamma Jason and myself were seated at the dining room table and Roman was nowhere to be seen.

"Is Roman not coming?" I forced myself to ask.

Alana looked confused and uneasily glanced at Ryder as perhaps it was odd that Roman wasn't here, not that I would know any differently.

Jason, a very quiet guy, considering he is this pack's Gamma, simply shrugged his shoulders. He ran a hand back through his short dirty blonde hair and mumbled in his surprisingly deep voice, "He should be here."

"I'm not sure..." Ryder said slowly, ignoring Jason's comment, "We can start without him though, I'm sure he will join us shortly."

But he didn't.

Before I knew it we were clearing the table and I was invited to watch a movie with the three of them. I didn't want to sit in my room alone for who knows how long, waiting for Roman to get back, so I agreed. Alana made some popcorn for us and we all settled into the movie.

I didn't pay much attention to what was happening however. Every little noise had my senses quickly focused on what it was and my wolf kept making me think that Roman was back but I was always wrong.

When the movie ended, Alana let out a big yawn and said in a very sleepy voice, "Well, I'm not gonna hide it, I fell asleep and missed at least the last half hour of that movie. It doesn't make any sense..."

Ryder threw his head back and groaned, "You fell asleep again?! You are never going to understand it if you keep falling asleep! You always miss the best part!"

Jason chuckles and I giggled as well. I had quickly learned that this was one of Ryder's favorite movies that Alana has never been able to stay awake through. I also learned that while Jason may look very intimidating, being all quiet and all, he was really just shy.

Standing up, Jason says, "See you guys later. Night," and he heads off to his room.

Alana held both of her arms out to her mate and said in a baby voice, "Carry me to bed, my love. It is late and I am tired."

I watched on in adoration as Ryder rolled his eyes but quickly scooped her up and cradled her body to his chest before he looked over at me, "Guess this means bed time for me too. Night, Scarlett. Are you gonna be ok or..." he awkwardly trailed off and I tensed at that and nodded at him.

"Yeah, I'm great. I'll wash up these bowls and just head to bed. I'm pretty tired too," I lied.

"Thanks, see you tomorrow," Ryder said as he turned to leave with an already sleeping Alana in his arms.

I felt a pang of jealousy in my heart as I watched them leave and I proceeded to pick up the two bowls and turn off the TV before heading into the kitchen. The clock read that it was almost 10:30. I started to wash the bowls and put them on the counter to dry over night. I'd put them away in the morning.

My skin suddenly felt kind of tingly and I turned to face the door and see Roman just walking in. He had his dirty shirt wrapped around his neck and he was reaching back to scratch behind his shoulder and my body thrummed at the sight of his bare torso and flexing bicep. I had always been a sucker for that.

When he dropped his arm and lifted his head, he froze on the spot as he saw me. I blushed at his stare and tried to push past the lump caught in my throat to say a quiet, "Hello..."

He cleared his throat and gave me a nod, "Hello," and he continued to the fridge as if nothing was wrong.

Now that he was standing before us, my wolf and I were a wobbling mess and I couldn't stop staring at him. He was gorgeous of course but I was still a bit shy and nervous. We have barely had a real conversation with one another yet but I really wanted to spend time with the wolf that I was fated to be with, even if he kind of scared me. He definitely gave off the scary, intimidating vibe.