She's The Alpha

Chapter 23

When I woke up it was much later than I expected and I instantly tried to toss the blankets off my body so I could go find my beloved mate but instead, a gentle hand grabbed my arm.

"Are you okay?" Sterling asked, brow furrowed.

"I need to go find Grant." I said, trying to tug myself out of his grip.

"Vienna, the search team that's looking for him is miles from here, I talked to my alpha this morning. He said they're in the next state already, you can't go after them." He argued, but when he saw the horror on my face he softened, "I'm sorry, I know you want to help."

"Help?" I sputtered, "I should be leading the damn team! That's my mate out there! What the hell was I thinking spending the night here? He needs me and I'm having a tea party with someone from his old pack."

"Vienna, stop it!" Sterling yelled, catching me off guard. "I mean no disrespect, I think you're a great alpha and you must've been a great mate to him, but you can't keep doing this to yourself. The search team will do all they can and when they find him they will bring him back home to you. Right now, you just need to stay calm and wait for his arrival."

I stared up at Sterling, meeting his brown eyes with a challenging stare of my own, but he didn't look angry or controlling. He just looked concerned and worried.

"Please, Alpha Vienna, just stay here, I'll take good care of you until your mate comes back, I promise."

I sighed, relaxing into his hold slightly, "It's just hard, you know? He's my mate; I'm supposed to take care of him no matter what. I love him and I'm letting other people do all of the work." I explained. "What kind of Alpha am I if I let other people deal with my pack members, especially my mate?"

"You're a good alpha, everyone in this state knows that." Sterling said.

I gave him a questioning look, "I'm a woman, a lot of wolves don't respect me, so how could they think I'm a good alpha?"

Sterling chuckled slightly, "I don't think anyone liked you when you first came into power." He murmured, taking my elbow and guiding me into the kitchen, "I remember it quite well actually, even my pack members were upset that you were ready to take the title. But no one likes change. It's human nature. And you were a lot of change for them."

I rolled my eyes, "People are stubborn and stuck in their ways."

Sterling smiled, "So are you, you didn't back down when most wolves would've. If that's not stubborn I don't know what is. But it doesn't matter now, your pack loves you. I think you have a lot more loyalty from your members than any other pack I've ever seen. Your pack is in much better hands than it was when your father was in power."

I was incredibly touched by his words, so much so that I almost started tearing up. Luckily, he was turned away mixing some ingredients in a bowl.

"What are you making?" I asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Pancakes, I hope that's alright with you." He said.

"Yes, that sounds lovely."

Sterling and I enjoyed a quiet breakfast together where we talked about trivial things. He was very sweet and quite handsome with his brown eyes and blonde hair. I mean, he was no Grant, I knew that much, but I kind of wished he was part of my pack. He was simply a pleasure to have around.

Eventually he told me he needed to leave to go do some training but he invited me to use his home as I pleased in his absence. At first I felt a little odd in his home. I didn't like feeling like I was snooping when I was simply watching the television. It just felt like I was being so invasive just because he wasn't here with me.

But my bladder won over eventually and I had to sneak through his house, looking for his bathroom. The only one I could find was an ensuite in his bedroom and after I had used the washroom I ended up taking my time in his bedroom. Someone's living space could say a whole lot about them. And what I found out about Sterling horrified me.

I saw a picture of him holding a woman, which wasn't that startling. I had already deemed him as single, but I was quite content to think that he had a mate. In fact it made me quite happy to think that he had found someone who made him so happy. But then I saw other things, like a little funeral booklet and cards indicating he had had a loss recently. Part of me told me to just leave, and ignore everything I had seen, but I couldn't stop myself from picking up the little funeral booklet.

My heart dropped. The woman in all of the pictures, his mate, was the one who had passed away.

This was the warrior that Jordan was desperate to set me up with.

I had slept in his house, I had had breakfast at his table. I had talked to him like we were bloody friends!

Furious and panicked, I raced out of Sterling's, hardly giving myself time to put on shoes. He wasn't the kind, gentle man I thought he was, he was only acting like it to get me to reject my own mate. How could he do such a thing when he knew my mate was wandering around in the woods, all by himself? What kind of man was he?

Disgusted, I ran towards the only building in the whole pack territory that I knew I was safe in.

Grant's parent's house.

I could deny it all I wanted but Greg's words had been ebbing at me. Grant never talked about his past. I didn't know a thing about him. And I didn't want to sit around waiting for him like an idiot, I wanted to use my time to get some answers. So when I got to his childhood home I didn't hesitate, I just pounded on the door.

"Alpha Vienna." His father said, dropping his eyes.

"Can I ask you a few questions?" I blurted, already forcing my way into their home.

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