An Alpha's Alpha

Linger

Cassidy sat on the old staircase, her hair hanging like a curtain around her face, her head sat in her hands. Murmurs of conversation filled Jake's living room, sadness lingering above them like heavy cloud. As though acting as a gatekeeper, Cassidy kept one eye on the living room and one eye on Jake's bedroom, the door slightly ajar.

She was tired, her body aching and her mind exhausted. She and Liam had dragged Jake's body up the stairs and left him to rest on his bed. She'd hated leaving his side when he was in a weakened state - even if it was her fault, but Liam had promised to watch over him. Unsurprisingly, having her there when Jake woke up, had seemed like a bad idea.

So instead Cassidy had made her way downstairs just as the pack members began filling the house. At first, they'd eyed her with caution, hatred lingering in some of their glares, but when Doc entered all attention switched to him. He sat on the sofa, female wolves either side of him. Elenor was keeping her distance, Cassidy noticed, her eyes red and swollen. Empathy flashed through Cassidy, she may not like Elenor but she felt her pain. Their eyes met briefly, and something that looked a lot like guilt filtered across Elenor's face. Before Cassidy could see more, the she-wolf turned away and hurriedly left the room.

At first, Cassidy had tried to integrate with the pack, keen to let them know that she understood what they were going through, but the whispers of it being her fault proved too much. So instead she'd made her way to the staircase and hadn't moved since.

A thump from above let her know that Jake was awake - well, technically her wolf had perked up 15 seconds beforehand which had alerted her. The fact that her wolf knew he was awake before she did, worried her. She'd stopped Jake from mating with her, but it would seem that their wolves were linked either way.

An angry voice, Jake's, was chased by Liam's insistent whisper. The room slowly stilled, ears straining to hear the alpha and his beta. Cassidy's heart pounded in her chest, fear and anticipation creeping up her skin.

Her eyes locked on the bedroom door, her breathing becoming shorter. She briefly wondered if she should have positioned herself nearer to the front door, considering what she'd done to Jake, she was likely to need an escape route any second and somehow she didn't think his pack would let her leave easily.

In the end though, she needn't have worried. As he slowly made his way down the stairs, her eyes searched him from head to toe, double checking he was OK. When she reached his face, she'd expected to have those dazzling eyes watching her, but instead, he kept his attention on his pack. He didn't spare her a glance as walked down past her and into the room.

Liam followed behind him, offering her a small shrug at her questioning gaze. Annoyance pitted in her stomach and her cheeks flushed, she was hurt, embarrassed even, that he hadn't bothered to acknowledge her. Anger would have been better than apathy. OK, so she'd tranq'd him, but he had been pursuing her like a dog in heat.

His pack all turned towards him, and as she watched from her perch on the stairs, she saw a side to him she hadn't witnessed before. As he spoke to his pack, described their sadness and loss and promised to find the culprit, Cassidy was awed at his ability to lead. She'd always struggled, despite having been taught from a young age how to rule a pack, but here he was, inspiring his wolves in their saddest moment. She'd never seen the leader in him before, she'd never seen the loyal pack before either. They hung on his every word, their sadness lessened by their alpha's promise to avenge their loss. Even Doc looked caught up in his words, his tears still tracing the wrinkle lines on his face.

Despite the situation, she almost wanted to smile. All this time she'd thought Jake to be some country, laid back alpha, more mechanic than politician. She could sense the troubled past in him, the same way he could in her, maybe that was why they were drawn to each other, but here he was, doing what she never could; keeping his pack safe.

Maybe that was why he ignored her as he walked downstairs - he'd realised that the real danger was her and always had been - that his pack were right.

Maybe Darcy's death was a step too far, hell maybe finally getting a couple of hours sleep had made him see her for who she was; made him realise what a mistake he'd been making. He nearly tried to mate with her for goodness sake, what had he been thinking?  Whatever the reason, clearly Jake had had enough, which meant that she was in danger again, and so was her pack.

Her wolf grew angsty, not happy at the idea of Jake hating them, but Cassidy was convinced it was true. In fact, now that she looked at him she could sense the anger waves radiating from him. At first, she thought it was all pain, but her wolf could see it now too. His wolf was angry, waiting to pounce, just looking for an excuse.

As Jake's speech drew to a close, he instructed the pack to head home and get some rest, informing them all that they'd hold a funeral tomorrow for Darcy. She didn't move as the wolves filed out. She wasn't sure why, but it had a lot to do with the fact that she felt as though Jake was watching her, even though he didn't spare her a glance.

Even as he hugged his pack members, she could feel his attention on her, as though he had his wolf's eyes in the back of his head. Her heart rate picked up, hammering in her chest. She'd be having a heart attack at this rate. In the back of her mind, she reminded herself that she could leave - he was busy talking with Liam and some of the other wolves now, she could possibly make it to the door before he realised.

Her arm flinched, as though preparing to move, and just like that, his attention snapped to her. His eyes flashed wolf. In response, her own wolf launched itself against its cage, eager for control. The world faded into black and white as her wolf eyes took hold. Jake's stare didn't falter from her, in fact, she was 70% sure he was still talking to the wolves around him, but his eyes didn't blink, just watched her - as though daring her to move.

Slowly, Cassidy regained control of her wolf and calmed down, taking deep breaths until her vision turned back to colour. In response, Jake's eyes followed suit. Liam lingered at the doorway, the other wolves gone, he spared a glance between them both, before sighing dejectedly and heading outside, slamming the door closed behind him.

And then it was just them, Cassidy and Jake, glaring at each other from opposite ends of the room.