My Grumpy Alpha

Eli

I stare at the door like a man possessed.

I finally exhale and can’t even sit.

I should sit.

I should probably run.

Every instinct in me is telling me to go after her, pin her against the wall, take a nice little bite out of that pretty little neck and see what happens.

I’ve never found my mate.

Ever.

I’ve been alive longer than I’d care to ever admit out loud and in all those years all I’ve ever managed to accomplish is making money and knowing that at the end of the day, I’m going to die a virgin because, spoiler alert, I’m not totally human, I’m half.

I’m the weird one people abandoned because I didn’t have true werewolf blood flowing through my veins. Oh God, I’m like the half-blood prince.

I slam my hands against the top of my desk, papers go flying, a pencil nearly wedges itself in my thigh and I feel nothing, because damn, that woman's smell was something.

But I know it’s going to pass, it always does. They smell good, all humans smell fucking good, but the point is, acting on it is only going to lead to disappointment and more betrayal and abandonment, so I’ll dig my giant hands into this desk, I’ll sit and have a sandwich.

That sounds tame, right?

And then I’ll drink some water, cool off… I will absolutely not chase after her like a monster and bite.

Don’t bite.

Do. Not. Bite.

Bite.

Bite.

Bite hard.

Bite deep.

Tear into flesh and claim.

“Son of a bitch.” I will not throw another desk through the window! I take a few calming breaths and inhale through my mouth, which just makes it worse because I didn’t think ahead and now I can taste her.

Chocolate?

Cinnamon?

And something else. I keep sniffing.

“Should I just…” Gabe interrupts. “Leave you to your sniffing the air or do you need water or something? I have liquid IV, don’t worry.”

“I’ll kill you,” I whisper.

“Please don’t; I’m very pretty. I don’t like death and blood just sets me off the way her scent sends you into a series of panic attacks, and how is therapy? Just curious.”

I punch my hand through the desk splintering the wood on both sides.

“That was literally a ten-thousand-dollar desk.” He shakes his head. “And you’ve gone through two in the last year. I truly worry for your therapists sometimes.”

“They”—I feel my fangs growing in my mouth—“should worry about me!”

I’m ready to go full roar when he walks over, hands me a bottle of water, Advil, and pats me on the back. “You’re just dealing with a lot of emotion, anyone would feel that way if they were horny.”

“I’m not horny!” I yell.

“You are. You definitely are. It’s a full moon soon so you’re just… not doing as well as normal, which is totally fine, things are good… great even! The company’s great. Your new secretary is across the street grabbing Subway. What more could you want?”

Her.

I inhale again.

Exhale.

This is not the life I thought I would lead, not even close. When Gabe’s family took me in, I thought, oh great, a roof over my head, shelter.

And then they dropped the bomb.

You aren’t normal.

Literally what my adoptive mom said.

My dad showed me claws.

I’m not gonna lie, it was a true Twilight moment.

And I still haven’t learned to control myself in a human way that makes sense. I feel the rage; I feel the anger. I just want to run my company and yeah, have a sandwich at Subway and not worry about killing a person because I’m too out of control.

It’s gotten worse now that I’m in my late twenties and it keeps getting progressively worse as time goes on.

My dad says it’s because I haven’t found my mate.

Gabe says I’m just an angry person with too much money and not enough ass.

But me?

I think.

I think the problem is me.

Fuck me, did I just quote Taylor Swift?

“Hey.” Gabe snaps his fingers in front of my face. “Go get some more food, chill out for a minute, we have a marketing meeting in an hour. Your new secretary, I swear, is going to do a great job—”

“—On your life?”

“—Sure yeah, but I also have superpowers, so I think I could fight you head-to-head.”

“You’re a shifter.”

“True, but I think if I shifted into a whale, for example, while you were in full wolf mode, I might be able to just suffocate you through my weight alone.”

I smirk.

“Awww, did I make you laugh?”

“I hate you all the time.”

“We’re brothers, you love me.” He slaps a hand on my back so hard I grunt. “Just go with it, okay? You needed a secretary, she was desperate and what do we always say?”

I hang my head.

He cups his ear. “Come on, what do we always say?”

“Help those who can’t help themselves and always give food to hungry people.”

“Exactly,” he whispers. “You started your nonprofits for a reason and you started this marketing firm for a reason too, to help start-ups—which that’s a lot of starts in one sentence, but you get it. You’re a good guy…”

“I know.”

“You’re just horny.”

“Oh God, just leave already. I’m not horny!” I yell when the door opens and one of my board members walks in. “Sorry Jim.”

“This not a good time?” His face is so red I want to crawl under the table for him. His hands shake as he holds out a folder to me.

“No, it’s great, perfect,” I say quickly. “Sorry, just family drama.”

Gabe snorts out a laugh and says under his breath. “And you made it worse.”

“Come right in.” I hold out my hand. “My brother was just leaving.”

“Yes.” Gabe nods and holds up a sticky note. “I’ll just be back with the numbers on that project you asked about. Good day Jim.”

“Gabe.”

His sticky note was blank.