The Alpha

Chapter Twenty-Six

Theo

"What are you wearing?" I eye Josephine suspiciously, and she laughs at me when she comes out of the bathroom. The only reason I'm allowing this damn dinner is because my father won't leave until he meet her. I said I didn't want to see him again until my pack's safe but I guess he just doesn't listen.

"A dress, genius." She turns side to side in the mirror, looking herself over. My wolf wants to jump her here and now but she was very adamant earlier about not going any farther, so I restrain myself.

"Go change." I order and she raises and eyebrow at me, turning away from the mirror. My eyes move from the short length at the bottom to the no straps at the top and I frown. She's looks nice, too nice. My father has already seen her without clothes on so the more modest she is, the better I'll feel.

"Excuse me?" She asks, putting her hands on her hips. Oh no. I know that stance. That's like woman code for getting ready to fight.

"Go change." I repeat and she growls lightly at me. She's adorable. Does she really think she's going to get her way by being intimidating? "I don't care if you wear a giant trash bag over you, Josephine, I just want you to be covered up completely. There's no need to dress nice for him."

"He's your father, Theo." She reminds and I purse my lips.

Why does she have to be so difficult? She doesn't know what he's done in his life; killing packs for no good reason, making me Alpha to avoid having to deal with his consequences, forcing me to attack other packs in order to defend my own because of the things he's done, therefor giving me this cruel reputation. She has no clue. Yet she sits here arguing with me because she wants to look pretty for him.

"I'm not going to repeat it again, Josephine." I growl and she huffs out an angered breath before marching back into her closet. I wait patiently until she comes back out, looking much more clothed.

"I'm eating dinner with one of your parents in jeans and a sweater." She snaps, combing her hair with her fingers. "Happy?"

"Very." I frown, reaching for her hand and pulling her tight to my body. She sighs in defeat and rests her head on my chest. "He's a bad man, baby. I really don't care what he thinks about you."

"But I care." She whispers and I kiss the top of her head.

How did I get so lucky?

Josephine

I fidget in my seat and Theo puts a calming hand on my leg. My eyes flicker between him and his hand before resting back on my glass of water. This suspense is killing me. When is Theo's father going to show up?

"Theodore!" A male voice booms as a man enters the dining room. "Your beta Jason needs to learn manners." I stand up and fix my sweater with a smile. Theo wraps an arm around my waist and chuckles softly at my nervousness.

"You're cute." Theo whispers in my ear, ignoring his father's comment about Jason, and I swat his hand off my waist. Nope. We're not doing whatever that is in front of his father.

"Mr. Lupine." I greet the man with a smile and Theo rewraps his arm around my waist. He's impossible, I swear.

"It's Henry to you, love. And what a pleasure it is seeing you again." He grins at me and I inwardly cringe. He reminds me of George. That's a bad thing. Theo picks up on my discomfort and sits me down in my chair before doing so himself. Henry takes his seat across from us and watches me with a predatory grin.

"So when are you leaving?" Theo asks his father bluntly and I hold back my laugh. He's the worst at small talk.

"Right after this, actually." Henry responds, not taking his eyes off of me. When I met him in the woods, I don't remember him being this creepy. What is even happening right now?

"That's great." Theo gives him a bitter smile and I sigh. He at least needs to pretend he doesn't hate his father. This would all be a lot less awkward.

"Theodore, I don't appreciate your tone." Henry snaps and I flinch. For a retired Alpha, he still has the Alpha part down. "You can't possibly be mad at me for something I didn't do myself." Whoa. Wait. Hold up. I'm really confused now.

"You killed their Alpha." Theo snaps and I glance at him. What's going on? "They were gearing up to attack us and you just retired and gave me the job to clean up your mess. We had no choice but to defend ourselves because of you and women and children were slaughtered."

I can feel Theo's rage practically radiating off of him. Are they talking about the terrorization I saw when I firsts met Theo? Why? And whoa, did Theo just practically say it's his father's fault? Because that would mean he didn't slaughter those children in front of their mothers. That would mean he's not as heartless as I thought. This changes everything.

"You ordered for that to happen, not me." Henry says, almost bored.

"Only because you left me no choice!" Theo yells. Yep. It's official. Theo just lost his control. I rest a hand on his arm gently and he growls lightly. I turn to Henry with a frown.

"I think it would be best if you left, sir." I say as kindly as I can and he scoffs at me. "You've obviously upset him so you just need to leave."

"Excuse me?" He growls and I cringe but stand strong. Theo watches me intently, as if trying to snap back to reality and remain calm. It's amazing what a mate can do.

"Please." I say and Theo growls again. In my head, I plead with him to reign his temper in.

Henry frowns and thinks for a second before standing up and leaving without a word.