Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
The Alpha’s Pregnant Bride Chapter 8

Skye

Sensitivity followed me right into the weekend. Managing the field workers and juggling homework while avoiding Oscar's invasive gaze made me feel like I was losing my mind. When Laurencia and Jada suggested a night out, I gave them both a quizzical look- because one, Jada was preggo and two, Laurencia hated bars. "Too much energy," she would complain, and not enough space for her to meditate and chant.

But I must have looked pretty pathetic to make my besties think I needed a drink that badly. Troy had plenty of booze at his house. A drink in the evening helped me sleep, though it hardly reduced the urge to pounce on him. If I wasn't careful about my consumption, I would make a stupid mistake that I would never be able to fix.

Yeah, right. Avoid hot s*x with my match. Because that makes sense, I thought as I leaned against the sticky bar counter. It didn't matter how many times they wiped the wood. Some kind of nasty goo would always end up sticking to it. I'm rubbing myself raw in the shower. I should just get it over with and break the ice. Troy is probably thinking about it too.

Laurencia rubbed my right shoulder while Jada took my hand. I knew they were smiling at me. I could feel it-pity and all.

"I know," I whined over the crummy rock music blaring through the speakers. "I look mournful and stupid."

Jada squeezed my hand. "You look sad."

"Let's do shots," Laurencia suggested. "Vodka always helps."

I cackled while holding up Jada's hand. "Jada can't drink!"

"That's why she's DD!"

Shaking my head broke me out of my funk for a second. It wasn't like Jada was the first pregnant woman to go to a dive bar. And it wasn't like she was unattractive either. Even with a little belly poking out, she drew plenty of longing looks from the men on the other side of the bar.

Behind the counter bounced a petite woman with cotton-candy pink hair, enough piercings to look like she stuck her face in a tackle box, and an outfit that could have put her on the cover of a sexy vintage magazine. She fluttered toward us with a shiny grin and set three drinks on the counter.

"From those guys," she said while hiking a thumb to her right. Three frat boys waved. She looked at Jada and added with a wink, "I made yours a Shirley Temple."

"Bless you, Opal," Jada praised, accepting the drink. She wiggled her fingers flirtatiously at the frat boys. "Adorable, aren't they?"

Opal beamed. "They're here all the time and they tip real well, so..." She shrugged it off. "I almost feel bad for them trying so hard."

I chuckled. "I bet it's entertaining."

"Sure is. No matter how many times my girlfriend visits, they keep hitting on me."

I shook my head. People could be so thick in the head. I didn't understand it. "That actually sounds annoying."

"It's free money, so it's fine." Shouts erupted from the left side of the bar. She sighed, tousled her hair, and then took off with that dashing smile on her face.

If I had to work in the service industry, I'd probably kill somebody. There was no way I wouldn't strangle some jerk saying something weird to me. But this woman seemed to take it in stride as she slid from one creepy customer to another. I had to admit that the tip jar was looking pretty full. Maybe that was what made it matter for her.

It made me think about what made my arrangement matter for me. I sipped the cocktail in front of me-something fruity that those guys thought I drank, I had to guess-and wondered about the financial side of things. I'd never hurt much for money. I always had a job to do on the ranch somewhere. Blake would never turn away his members because of funds. He insisted on us staying together and working together as a unit.

He would want me to do that with Troy, I thought timidly. I started gulping my cocktail. He'd want me to try even if I didn't like it.

That was just the thing-Blake was fully aware of my feelings about this situation. He knew it was weird getting paired with somebody, and getting paired with the alpha of another pack just made it all the worse. How was I supposed to cope when I felt mixed feelings about Troy? I wanted to ride him like a cowgirl while also denying the fact that I felt any kind of care for him.

More alcohol would probably help with that. I waved to Opal and got my classic vodka with cranberry and a wedge of lime. A few sips of that had me laughing and chatting with Jada and Laurencia like nothing was going wrong in my life. Laurencia got us more shots. I got another drink. Things were right as rain.

And then it hit me, that strange wave of grief that came after making a life-altering decision. I'd felt it once back when I began my higher education journey. Being a young twenty-something taking classes with people who were much older, wiser, and far more educated, had made me feel a little bit like a freak.

Emmett saw my intelligence as a huge win. But I liked hiding my intelligence away, tucking it into a box that I could access later whenever I needed it. Men didn't like it when I was smarter than them. My lightning-fast thinking and my ability to channel every perspective in a situation put me in a unique position to advance through various classes to the point of being considered a genius.

With the vodka cran in my hand and my tits practically hanging out, well, that made me feel as normal as they came. And that was probably the funniest part of it all. I didn't need to do these things around Troy. I didn't have to hide my intelligence or dull myself down to avoid him feeling emasculated or whatever men complained about to get a leg up on a woman.

Troy wasn't like that. He wasn't like other men at all. Just the other night he had stopped himself from losing his temper. Most men would have preferred to shit on a shingle and fling it into the atmosphere before controlling their emotions. Alphas were trained in self-control. I knew that much. I learned from watching Blake handle difficult situations. It was the type of control enacted in front of a crowd.

But we hadn't been around anybody. Troy hadn't been performing for a pack. We were totally alone. He could have done anything. My eyes went wide as I pretended to laugh at something that had made Jada laugh. If he could have done anything, then why did he only kiss me? Alright, that was probably enough of that. If I didn't keep drinking, then I would keep thinking. And I was making a mess of myself thinking. Tonight was about letting loose and forgetting about my arranged mate situation. If Jada could find hope and love in her pairing, then the least I could find was friendship.

One could always hope.

Three men approached us from the right. They were the same ones who had sent the drinks. I had to guess they were coming to collect their dues. One of them scanned Jada and paused on her stomach, tapped the one next to him, and then sidled away. But one of them stuck around to stare at me. He was a short, scruffy, brown hair and brown eyes sort of cutie who probably played rugby or something. He had jock vibes written all over him which were only enhanced by the Greek letters hanging from his neck. The kid wasn't older than me. I could tell by his intimidated stare.

Despite his obvious anxiety, he leaned forward to speak to me. "I'm Chase. What's your name?"

"Not interested."

"Aw, come on. I sent you a drink."

I guffawed. "That doesn't mean I owe you anything."

He grumbled something that made me step forward with squared shoulders. We could have been the same height if I wasn't wearing heels. Thank the gods for that.

"Honey, if you don't turn tail and run right this second, I'm going to make you regret it," I warned. "So, turn tail like a good boy and run."

Anger flashed through his expression. "I know a shitty trust fund brat when I see one. You're no different than any other skank-"

"What the f**k did you just call her?" someone boomed from behind the frat boy.

In the chaos of drinks, frat boys, thoughts about my match, and Jada laughing at Laurencia's jokes, I hadn't noticed another guy skirting through the crowd toward us-a guy who I had just recently run into at the college. Oscar grabbed the frat guy's shoulder. "You better apologize to the lady."

"Excuse you?" But when Chase the Frat Guy spun around to face Oscar, he cowered back. Oscar's eyes were ablaze-quite literally. "I mean, yeah. Sorry. I, uh-"

Chase bolted.

Oscar cackled while the guy tucked tail and ran as previously instructed. If only he'd done it when I'd suggested it, then he wouldn't have had to suffer the wrath of a shifter wolf. Oscar finished his full-bellied laugh and tucked his hands into the pockets of his harem pants. Two gold amulets hung from his neck in between the open buttons of his white shirt, capturing the multicolored light that was being passed off as a disco ball. Silver specks glittered in his eyes-he was amused and full of himself. As always. Jada tapped my arm and pointed at Laurencia. "I need to tinkle."

"That's the fifth time in the last hour."

She rubbed her belly with a faint chuckle and disappeared into the sea of people. I turned back to Oscar, who pointed behind me. He was offering a drink. Which I fully needed at this point.

I'll bite for now, I thought as I turned to lean against the bar counter. It's not like he's harmful. His bark is bigger than his bite.

As Oscar waved over the petite ball of energy that was our bartender, I reconsidered a drink. I'd had three vodka crans back-to-back along with some shots and whatever those guys had passed off as a cocktail. Maybe it was time for some water. Though it generally took a lot of alcohol to get a shifter wasted, I didn't want to back myself into a corner with Oscar. He could easily take the drink-buying as panty permission. And that was the last problem I wanted to have.

"Make mine a water," I shouted over the mess. "A double, if you will."

Opal laughed and turned to Oscar. He got himself a light beer, predictably enough, and then lounged next to me with his white button-down shirt hardly buttoned and his arrogance clouding the atmosphere. Nothing could have screamed bohemian any louder than that.Read more at FindNovel.net

At this point, incense would make the entire ensemble work better. I was willing to bet Laurencia had some in her pocket or purse. That girl carried around an entire altar for any circumstance. She was prepared.

"Sorry," Oscar said. "I should have intervened sooner."

"No, it's fine."

His chuckle got swallowed up by the noise nearby. "I used to protect you all the time back in the day."

"Well, that's all in the past, right?"

"I'm just saying, Skye..."

There was the kicker. He was about to drop some fond memory of us eating Oreos on his dorm room bed with a pile of books where the pillows should have been. Some intimacy had been shared between us, but not a whole lot, mostly the stuff that teenagers did at a park designated as a make-out spot. Under the clothes grabbing and rubbing-that was the basic premise of our intimacy.

He picked at a few loose flecks of paint on the counter. "I was thinking, Skye, that maybe we could try to-"

"There you are, my dear."

Every gracious god in the universe must have conspired to send another interruption at just the right time. The hand that slid around my waist and the kiss that accompanied it did way more for me than any gunslinging muscle in the vicinity. And that was because I knew who was attached to the kiss.

I returned the affection without hesitation. "I've been waiting for you all night, my love."

Troy's grin was evident in Oscar's sudden disgusted look. Honestly, Oscar should have known better than to try to take advantage of the situation. After swiping my bottle of water from the counter, I uncapped it and downed it in seconds, feeling a sense of relief and comfort at the fact that Troy didn't let me go the entire time. He wasn't opposed to me chugging drinks-water or otherwise-and he liked that I ate a whole plate of food in seconds. That last bit was evident in the fact that he didn't turn or run off when I was eating. That alone should have been a good indicator of his support. But it was hard to think through the muck in my brain piling up over him being so much older than me. Could Oscar tell my fake boyfriend was older? Or was he just plain old-fashioned jealous? It wasn't like it mattered, because it was really doing the trick. Oscar lifted one brow at Troy, wrinkled his nose, and then turned away.

Hopefully, he would turn away forever.

"Chump," I huffed. "He really thought he could save me."

"Those frat boys sure thought the same."

I chuckled. "You saw that?"

"I've been watching you all night."

Hearing that should have set me off. It should have alerted the authorities in my brain controlling the alarms. Everything should have gone into panic mode with those words hanging in the air, but all I could think to do was stand on my toes and slam my mouth against Troy's so hard that I tipped him off-balance.

He caught the counter to keep us from running into a nearby group. After snogging for a second, I downed the rest of my water and tossed the bottle into the trash can behind the counter. The bartender gave Troy a suspicious look and then cast me a questioning glance. I nodded to say everything was alright. She gave me two thumbs up and wandered off.

Jada and Laurencia chose that moment to return. They looked between Troy and me like we were naked or something.

"Is it my lipstick? Is it smeared?" I wiped my mouth-which probably made it ten times worse now that I thought about it. "Whatever. We should hit the road."

"We should do the same," Jada admitted. She took Laurencia's hand and then extended her free hand to me. "Want to come with us or Troy?"

Damn, she was really doing this, wasn't she? She was giving me the option to back out of whatever Troy had planned. The guy had been watching me from a distance and had blended well into the crowd of party kids. He was clearly up to something. I wanted to know what.

I shook my head and rested my hand on Troy's chest. Strength sat there. A magnificent heartbeat too. "You go on ahead."

Jada grinned. "Goodnight, then. You two be safe."

A few pleasant goodbyes later produced a much quieter scene in the parking lot. My ears throbbed from the sudden silence, yet my body felt perfectly at peace as Troy led me to his car. Echoes of the banter inside followed us between cars and crisp night air. Something about him seemed different tonight, unusually loud. Not in sound but in energy.

His fingers threaded mine. When he paused next to the driver's side door, he pulled me into him, pinned my hand behind my back, and kissed me with a furious tension that screamed his desire. That energy was magnifying, thumping with the bass of his heart, a terrifying inspiration from somewhere deep inside.

It was affection unknown to me-and I wanted more of it.