Alpha Loren

October 15th

The following morning I woke up in Leo's arms. His bare chest was warm and smooth and comfortable and soft and ugh. He's just too beautiful to hate.

"Morning," He said in a husky voice once he realised I had woken.

"How long have you been awake?" I asked rolling over to face him as he gently drew circles on arm with his finger.

"Hours," He said looking up to the ceiling his lovely blue eyes.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I asked.

"Well you looked so peaceful and I'm comfy. Besides, when your sleeping is about the only time you let me be this close to you."

"Correction: I let you be close to me when you're not being a dick and when I'm sleeping I don't know that you are being a dick."

"Ouch," he muttered.

"The truth hurts.”

"I was thinking we should go on a date today but if that's how you feel-"

"A date?" I said sitting up. "Are you for real?"

"Why do you seem so surprised?" He asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"Dates just don't seem very you," I said.

"What do you mean not very me?" he asked.

"You don't strike me as the romantic.”

"There's a lot to me that you don't know about yet," he said kissing my forehead

"Where are we going then?" I asked.

"Well since the weather is getting colder they put the Ice rink up in Kellington and I figured it might be fun,” He said stroking my face.

"Are you kidding?! That would be brilliant! Ice skating?! In Kellington??! My home town?!" I squealed.

He watched my excitement with a smile, "And afterwards I thought we'd go see your friends.”

My eyes widened, "Abi and Charlotte?"

He nodded.

I squealed again and lurched forward to kiss his lips.

He grinned and immediately brought his hands to my waist and kissed me back.

"Omg I can't wait!" I said now kissing him all over his cheeks.

"OMG GURL! ME NEITHER!" He said in a “typical high school girl’ voice.

"Can we go see Connor too?" I asked hopefully.

"Don't push it," He replied his face suddenly straightening and his tone dropping four octaves.

I laughed and put my hands on his chest, leaning in for what I thought was another quick peck. But he responded by cupping my face in his hands and delving deeper into the kiss. I didn't object and let him pull me on top of him as his hands slipped down to my thighs.

He let out a quiet groan as he touched me before he grabbed my hips and flipped us over so that he was on top.

I looked up to the shirtless God above me as he brought two gentle fingers to the v-neck collar of my shirt.

As they slipped underneath I felt shiver travel through me, instantly reminding me of the pleasure he gave me in Blair's car yesterday.

His hand kept travelling further inside my shirt before he kissed me again as I felt him cup my breast.

I put my hand on top of his but my wolf couldn't quite bring herself to let me pull away. She wanted him so bad. Part of me did too but I couldn't let him have me. Not yet.

I scrunched my eyes tight and turned away.

"Hey, hey," he said guiding me back to face him, "Where are you going?"

I tried to sit up but he was still straddling me.

"The bathroom," I said.

He put his thumb on my lips and looked into my eyes before pausing. At long last, he nodded and let me up.

In the early afternoon, we made it to the icerink.

"Shoe size sir?" The young boy behind the counter asked Leo.

"Men's 15." He replied.

"Jesus, you have big feet," I said in astonishment.

"You know what they say about men with big feet,” He whispered with a smirk.

"You're not a man. You're a child.” I said.

"And your shoe size pretty lady?" The man behind the counter asked.

Leo stepped in front of me, "She's a women's five," he said, forcing the boy to look away from me to him.

He nodded, looking slightly nervous at Leo's fierce expression before he went to get our skates. "Fucking humans,” Leo grumbled, "Does he not see this?" he added gesturing to the mark on my neck.

Soon enough, we were getting on the rink.

"Can I just quickly say, Leo. Last time I went Ice skating I had to go to the hospital," I said as I nervously put one foot on the ice.

"What?! Why?!" He said joining me in cautiously stepping onto the rink.

"Long story short I fell over on my head and got a concussion. And that was like two years ago and I haven't done it since,” I explained as I held Leo's hand incredibly tightly.

"Ah well I've never skated," Leo admitted as we scooted along the edge of the rink clinging to the side. Watching him wobble around on the ice made me giggle. The big bad Alpha struggling to stand on his own two feet.

"Well the time I got a concussion I don't really remember but all the other times were amazing,” I said as I almost fell before Leo grabbed my arm and pulled me back next to him. "Thanks," I breathed.

"Right come on. I'm meant to be Alpha of the biggest pack in the world I can't be scared of letting go of the side of a fucking ice rink," He said making me laugh. "Ready?"

"Ha sure," I said slowly releasing my hand from the wall. To start with we slowly inched around whilst other people whooshed past us confidently.

Leo soon picked it up pretty quick so luckily I had him to cling onto.

"How are you so good at this when you have never even done it?!" I asked.

"Must be the Alpha blood,” He said as he did some kind of turn twisting me around with him as I squealed.

We had been on the ice for about half an hour when Leo whisked us over to the side.

"We are doing this again,” He said pulling me in by the waist.

"How about Christmas Eve?" I asked giggling.

"Why not?" He said before leaning in to kiss me. Mid-kiss I felt my feet vanish from underneath me and judging by Leo's alarmed eyes, so had his. Somehow as we both fell, Leo managed to twist us so that he was underneath me so that I landed on him instead of the ice.

"Bloody hell." He groaned as I opened my tightly shut eyes to see I had landed on his steel hard abs and rather than the steel-hard ice.

"What just happened?” I moaned looking at Leo

He just threw his head back and started laughing.

I couldn't help but smile, "Leo! What happened?!”

"Kissing on ice isn't easy," he said, "I fell.”

I rolled my eyes and kissed him again, "Easier when you've already fallen,” I said as I pulled away. As we tried to stand up, I wobbled and grabbed onto him.

"You good?" he asked pausing as I regained my balance.

I nodded but the second I tried to get up again, my feet spread apart, sending me straight back down to the hard ice. Considering my iron hold on Leo, he got the delight of coming down with me. We collapsed into fits of giggles once again. I could hardly breathe through the hysterics which only made getting back up AGAIN even harder.

"Fucking hell,” Leo exclaimed gripping the side for dear life as we finally made it to our feet. "I have to say I prefer dry land.”

"Meh, this is more fun though.”

After we had returned out skates we took a sigh of relief. My body ached from all the falls but we both wore wide smiles on our faces as we walked towards Abi's house, chatting away.

He was telling me stories about his life, mostly featuring Luca and I was nearly in tears laughing. "So we told him that for my 21st birthday we were all getting tattoos of each other's faces on our left ass cheeks. Blair was getting Luca's, I was getting Blair's and Luca was getting mine. Then we told him we 'booked’ an appointment at the tattoo shop at 2 pm on a monday, well knowing that at 2 pm on Monday's Luca goes to a Bob Ross inspired art class. So he had to book his own appointment earlier. So along he went at 12pm on the monday and got his tattoo, thinking Blair and I would be there later. Of course, we never went and now only Luca has the tattoo," he explained.

I let out an abrupt laugh, "Wait, so Luca has a tattoo of your face on his ass?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I've seen it with my own eyes," he said with a nod.

"That is fucking hilarious. Cruel but..." I replied.

"Hey, let's not forget that he willingly agreed to his own tattoo. The only difference is that Blair and I didn't also permanently mark our bodies with each other's faces," he replied.

"True," I said with a shrug, "Luca really is a special breed."

Just then we arrived outside Abi's house.

"Remember," I began, "Be friendly.”

He nodded, "Of course, of course. I can do friendly...sometimes.”

I rang the doorbell and we waited for an answer. We'd texted Abi and Charlotte asking to meet them tonight so a few seconds later, there were squeals from within.

"She's here!" I heard Charlotte shout from behind the door.

"AHHH OPEN IT THEN!" Abi replied. The excitement in their voices made me even more excited than I already was. Shortly after the door flung open. Two sets of eyes: one blue, one brown, both looked at me then then Leo. They then stayed still and stared for a short moment before the owners of the eyes both started jumping up and down on the spot and squealing.

"ELLA!" Charlotte screamed.

"SOME RANDOM GUY !" Abi continued looking at Leo and then giving me knowing glance.

"You found him!" Charlotte said to me before they both pulled all three of us into a hug.

"Yes. Abi, Charlotte, this is Leo. My mate.”

They both squealed and the hug grew tighter and more ecstatic.

"Is this is normal?!" Leo said from way above all of our heads.

"Come in, come in it's freezing out there," Abi said.

"So..." Abi said as she jumped onto the sofa rubbing her hands in glee.

"So..2" I asked.

"Tell all, tell all,” Charlotte asked. "Who are you? How'd you meet? Where've you had our besfriend all week?"

Leo let out a short laugh, "I'm Leonardo,” he said, "We met in the forest and we've been at my place.”

"Well nice to meet you Leonardo. Are you a rogue too?" Charlotte asked.

I gritted my teeth, "Not quite,” I said, "This is actually also Alpha Loren of the Stella pack.”

Abi swallowed and reached for her drink.

I'd told them the stories my father had told me, which explains the intense silence that followed. "Alpha Loren," Charlotte repeated.

"I'll go and get some more drinks,” Abi announced getting up and heading into the kitchen. Charlotte nodded and followed her.

Leo sighed and looked down at me, "Go with them,” he said quietly, "Talk to them and if they aren't happy with me here, I'll go and wait in the car outside until you want picking up.”

I nodded and forced a smile before heading into the kitchen.

"I was glad you found your mate, Ella," Abi said with a sigh, "But no we know who he is, I'm not so sure."

I let out a deep breath and leant on the counter.

"It's not ideal,” I said, "And he's certainly no angel. But he's no threat to us. I'm his mate, he won't hurt me and he knows you're my best friends. He won't touch you either.”

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure about that?"

I paused for nodding, "Yes. I'm sure.”

The looked at each other for a second, "But what about all the terrible things he's done?"

"They are atrocities but what's done is done. All I can do is try and stop him from doing anything else,” I said. "I believe there's good in him. I just haven't found it yet. So please, give him a chance. They nodded.

"Okay, he can stay,” Abi said with a smile, "But if he gets blood on that new white carpet in the lounge, he will be the one to tell my parents.”

I rolled my eyes, "Deal."

"So...?" Charlotte said, "What's he like?"

"A total ass,” I said as I stood on the tippy toes trying to reach the glasses, "But things are getting better. The percentage of time we spend arguing is going down.”

"Well...at least he's cute,” Charlotte said.

My eyes widened as I laughed, "He can hear us, you know? He's a fucking Alpha.”

She snorted as she covered her mouth, "I'm just saying what we're all thinking," she said before nudging me out the way of the glass cupboard, "Let me get them, shortie.”

I heard Leo chuckle to himself from the other room as she easily reached the glasses and got them down.

"Sometimes I wish I could have a mate. Human relationships suck, no matter how much a boy can say they love you, as soon as someone better comes along that's it. Gone. The idea of having someone who you know will never leave you is just so great,” Abi said getting Lemonade out of the fridge.

"If you're talking about when you went out with Brad and then he left you for Witney, he's a dick and she's a bitch,” I said to her.

"Well, can't say I was upset when she got expelled on Monday for sleeping with Mr Winters."

"Mr Winters! Ew! That is so gross!" I said shivering from disgust.

"But to be fair to her though...if I had to sleep with a teacher I would choose him," Charlotte said. "Ewwwww! He's still like 35 and more importantly a teacher!" I said pouring the lemonade.

"Well, Leo can't be that young," Abi whispered.

"He can still hear you and he's 23," I chuckled.

"Oooh someone that can buy alcohol,” Charlotte said with a cheeky grin.

"Yeah, I wouldn't get your hopes up on that one,” I said rolling my eyes. "He's a major parent.” Charlotte frowned before picking up to of the glasses as Abi got the other.

"Sorry, Mr 23-year-old no beer. My parents would absolutely slaughter me," Abi joked, cautiously passing Leo a glass before retreating to the sofa furthest from him.

He smiled, "Don't worry. I'm on a detox after the other night."

He then stood silently, still by the door as I sidled next to him and rested my hand on his back. There was quiet for a few moments before I ushered him towards the other sofa.

"The other night there was a party and somebody got a little wasted..." I muttered as we sat. I rested my hand on Leo's leg as he forced himself to smile.

Abi and Charlotte still eyed him cautiously and I could tell he wasn't used to this kind of interaction. As far as I'd seen, his friends included Luca and Blair. Everybody else purely was just there to work for him and obey his orders, which Luca and Blair had to do too of course.

But now he was sat in a room with two human strangers, having to do the dreaded small talk and forced civility that is always awkward anyway, even if you aren't infamously evil. And he seemed...uncomfortable.

"Which reminds me," he said eventually, "Have either of you seen Logan recently?"

Well, that's small talk over then.

"No. He wasn't in school today," Charlotte said. "Maybe he was sick."

"Hmm, maybe," Leo said.

"..Why?" Charlotte asked as she glanced at me.

"If you do see him pretend you didn't," I said and Leo clenched his jaw.

"Or send Ella's phone a message immediately,” Leo said in a deep tone as he shot me a look. "What?" Abi asked, "Can someone explain.”

"I'm looking for him because he touched up Ella," Leo said, "And he isn't getting away with it." "Which, because Leonardo here is a fucking nutcase, means he wants to kill him," I replied.

Abi and Charlotte stared blankly for a few seconds, their eyes wide.

"Well shit,” Abi said knocking back her lemonade. "Maybe I should get some beer out.”

Just then Leo's phone began to ring.

"It's Blair, give me a second, Ells," he said standing up and heading out.

Charlotte looked at me with wide eyes and mouthed “what the fuck’.

"I know Logan is a dick and shouldn't have touched you but dead?" Abi whispered, "Why does he want him dead?

"Like I said, insane,” I replied, "And I haven't even told him half the shit Logan used to do with me," I added in the lowest whisper I could.

"Ella," Leo said coming back into the room, having finished his call with Blair, "I have something to do."

"Any more details than that?" I asked.

"No," he said bluntly, "But I can’t leave you here alone. Abi, is it alright if my Beta and Gamma come here whilst I'm gone? They're nearby."

Abi opened her mouth and stuttered for a second, "I guess...are they...nice? Should I be inviting them into my home."

She had every reason to be dubious after what she had just learnt about Leo.

"They're fine," I said, "Luca's a laugh and Blair won't be any trouble.”

She nodded and Leo texted Blair.

A few minutes later there was a ring on the doorbell. Leo answered it and a few moments later, there were three giants stood in Abi's front room.

Leo kissed my forehead, "I have to go. See you later," he said.

I nodded before we looked up at the others.

Charlotte was sat picking some floating thing out of her lemonade, Luca was examining his pinky finger whilst Blair and Abi both stood completely motionless staring at each other.

"Blair?" Leo said nudging him, "You're being creepy."

"Alpha what's the likelihood of having a human mate?" Blair asked Leo.

"Rare but not impossible..." Leo said before clocking the connection. "Oh..."

"Wait you guys are..." I began.

"Mates...?"Charlotte said suddenly looking up from her drink.

"Well ain't this beautiful," Luca added taken a swig of someone's lemonade as Blair embraced Abi in his arms and breathed in her scent.

"I'd love to stay and watch but I really gotta go," Leo said as Blair kissed Abi's cheek. "Yeh...Charlotte, Ella, fancy a walk?" Luca asked.

"Yep!"

"Good idea!"

We quickly grabbed our jackets and shoes before hurrying out of the door and shutting it behind us leaving them to...do whatever.

We walked down the street, Luca kicking puddles and spraying us with the dirty road water as he laughed hysterically.

"And Abi was just saying how much she'd want a mate,” I said, "I'm so happy for her."

"And Blair seems like a good guy,” Charlotte said, "I didn't have much time to get to know him before...you know..but I got the vibe."

I smiled, "He is a good guy."

"He will be having sex with her right now,” Luca said, "Just so that you know."

"Luca!" I shouted kicking a puddle at him.

"I'm just saying," he said putting his hands up in surrender.

"So long as she’s happy,” Charlotte said, "And she certainly seemed happy from what I saw..."

"See just as I said: sex,” Luca said.

With that, I launched myself at him and jumped onto his back, "Stop saying sex!" I shouted.

"Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex,” He repeated as Charlotte nearly peed herself laughing.

I eventually fell off his back, leaving him to skip and dance in freedom down the empty street. "What's Leo doing?" I asked suddenly.

Luca stopped performing Michael Jackson's moonwalk and looked at me blankly.

"Just pack stuff,” he said.

I raised my eyebrow.

"I can't say, Ellsibob. Alphas orders," I said, "I already ignored one of his orders and gave you alcohol the other night. I don't dare disobey another.”

I scowled.

"I'll get it out of him later,” I replied.

We walked through the park where Luca had great fun playing on the swings and shoving Charlotte down the wet slide, drying it before he slid down before promptly getting stuck.

My sides ached from laughing by the time we had freed him, swearing and cursing as he rearranged his clothes.

We finally left the park, Luca holding up his middle fingers behind him at the slide, and then went back onto the road.

A few minutes later, Leo's car pulled up beside us.

"Luca walk Charlotte home," he ordered opening the door for me.

"Yes, Sir," Luca said with a salute before linking his arm into Charlotte's and skipping down the street, dragging Charlotte behind him.

"He's in a good mood," Leo said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he's still drunk from the party..." I said as we watched him accidentally launch Charlotte into a bush

I let out an abrupt laugh as Luca dropped to his knees, frantically apologising.

Leo rolled his eyes and started the engine.

"It's so cold tonight,” I said rubbing my hands together, "Where did you go?"

"Don't worry about it," he said with a reassuring smile before he turned up the heating in the car before driving off, leaving Charlotte to fend for herself with Luca.