Alpha

Chapter 3

"What!" I gasped, not realizing until now why my wolf had been so happy earlier.

"Oh I'm so glad you two found each other," my mom said happily.

"Thank you luna," Clayton said, a huge smile on his face.

"Why don't you two go on a walk? You obviously have a lot to talk about," my mom said, and I wanted to say no because I didn't want to be left alone with a man I barely knew, but Clayton was my mate and I would have to be alone with him at one point or another.

Clayton nodded and reached his hand out to me, so I grabbed it and let him lead me out of the house and towards the woods.

The woods brought back terrible memories of when I was kidnapped and I really didn't want to be back in them right now.

"Can we go somewhere else instead of the woods?" I asked quietly, looking down at my feet.

"Of course. We can do whatever you want to do," Clayton said softly, turning around so we were going more towards the pack center.

We walked in silence for a little bit, just enjoying each other's company. I felt safe with Clayton, but I barely knew him. It might have been the mate bond or the tiny actions he's shown towards me that are so caring.

"Wanna play twenty questions?" He asks.

"Sure," I smiled.

"When's your birthday?"

"June 15," I answered. "How old are you?"

"Twenty two. What's your favorite animal?"

"An elephant. What's yours?"

"A wolf," he laughed.

I don't know how long we walked for. We stopped at a newer cafe for lung and then went on to do some fun things. We talked the entire time, getting to know each other and what not. We only actually went up because it was getting dark out.

"Clay, am I going to have to go back to your pack with you?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to force you to come any time soon. You haven't seen your family in seven years, I'm assuming that you're going to want to stick around here for a while," he said.

"I hope you're okay with that," I said, looking down.

"Hey," he said softly, gently pushing up my chin with his fingers so I was looking in his eyes. "I'm okay with whatever you decide to do. You've been through a lot and I wish that I could've killed who did it to you, but I can't. I'm not going to force you to do anything that you don't want to do," he said.

"Thank you," I whispered. He pressed his lips to my forehead, pulling me in for a hug. I wrapped my arms around his lower back and snuggled my head into chest, inhaling his woodsy scent.

"Let's head back now, I'm sure your mom has already made dinner," Clay said, pulling away but keeping me close to him.

"Probably," I laughed. We walked in silence the rest of the way home, just enjoying each other's company.

We walked in the front door and were immediately greeted by my mom. "You guys are just in time for dinner," she smiled, leading us into the dining room. All of my siblings and their families were there.

Clay and I sat down between Preston and my mom, where the last two spots were open.

There was a plate of lasagna in front of both of us, and we quickly dug in. I had missed my moms lasagna. There were a ton of family recipes that she had inherited from her mom, and they were the best. My grandma had loved to bake from what I heard. I never met her, as she died when both my parents were seventeen. All of my grandparents did, actually.