Her Alpha Mate 21

"And this is a picture of him when he wouldn't wear his clothes and walked around in his diaper. He was such a stubborn baby," Georgina gushed, pointing to the picture of Zack.

Freya smiled and stared at the chubby baby. He was so cute with his black curls on his head and his lips formed into a little pout. Georgina seemed to love taking pictures of every new thing her children did. There were pictures from the first time Zack sneezed to the first time he went to the bathroom alone. It was a good thing Zack was busy making the rounds in his backpack, otherwise Freya was pretty sure he'd've dragged her out before his mom could show her all those pictures.

The front door opened and closed loudly, prompting Georgina to jump up from the bar stool and hide the album behind some plants. Zack entered the kitchen and raised an eyebrow at the scene before him.

"What, no baby pictures?" he asked casually, walking toward the refrigerator.

Georgina winked at Freya and shook her head innocently, "No, sweetie, I couldn't find the album."

Zack turned and tipped open his can of beer, "Good, the album needs to be burned, and when I find it, I'll."

Freya pursed her lips to stifle a laugh and ran her fingers through her hair, feeling slightly embarrassed when Zack just stared at her.

Georgina cleared her throat and stood up,
"I'm going to go fold the laundry now. Let me know if you need anything."

Freya gave her a friendly smile as Georgina gently patted her on the back and stormed out of the kitchen like she was on fire.

Why do I get the feeling she's trying to get Zack and me alone, Freya thought.

"Do you want to go check out the packing house?"

Freya's head turned back to Zack, who put the opened beer can back in the fridge.

"Uh, sure."

She stood up and froze as she realized she hadn't showered and probably smelled very bad - not exactly the first impression she wanted the members of his pack to have of her.

"Or maybe some other time. Right now I stink," she muttered, slowly sitting back down. Zack frowned and walked over to her, gently grabbing her hand and gracefully pulling her up.

"I don't think you smell bad."

She gave him a apartment look, "You don't count. You're my mate. I could roll around in dirt and garbage for a while and you'd still think I smell good."

"I think you smell good," a new voice interjected. Their heads turned to Xavier, who was grinning broadly. Xavier seemed like a good mix of Georgina and Kennedy, unlike Zack, who looked a lot like Kennedy, and Pearl, who looked a lot like Georgina.

Freya noticed that he didn't have his cane with him, but that was probably because he knew where everything was in his house. Without his cane, however, it was hard to tell that he was blind because his eyes moved as if he were aware of his surroundings. When he was up close, however, the mist in his gray eyes revealed that he wasn't looking around.

Xavier slowly sat down in her old spot and sniffed the air, "You smell like honey snail leaves. Honestly, it's quite refreshing. Some of the she-wolves here like to spray those flowery perfumes."

She laughed softly, "But don't flowery perfumes smell good too?"

"Not if they're swimming in the scent," Zack muttered, "Xavier, I'm going to show Freya the pack house, do you need anything?"

"No, I'm just here to annoy you, but since you're busy, I'll just come back later. But don't christen the Packing House dining table or anything. People still use those."

Her mouth remained open, while Zack seemed unfazed by his brother's words. He simply grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the front door. Once they were outside, he shook his head, "Don't listen to my brother. He loves to fool around. That's one of the reasons he and Chance get along so well."

She smiled, "Where are Chance and Reece?"

"Reece is checking on the warriors in training and Chance is checking on the border patrol."

"And what've you been doing?"

Zack gave her a pointed look, like she'd insulted him or something. "Visited Deltas and asked for the reports on their sectors. I also called the other packs to see if they'd any rogue problems."

"Did they?"

"Nope. The last rogue was spotted in the Moonstone pack."

Just as she opened her mouth to reply something, he pulled her toward a small house, "On second thought, we should stop by my place first."

He unlocked the door, opened it quickly and let her enter. She looked around curiously, but not very surprised.

It looked like a classic bachelor pad, although it was very well designed. The colors matched perfectly.

"Let's go to my room," Zack said, closing the door and locking it carefully. It was as if he didn't want anyone to interrupt their conversation, which she found a bit odd since everyone was pretty busy.

When they finally arrived upstairs in his room, she was amazed. It was very clean and everything seemed to have a specific place.

"Sit down," he nodded, pointing his chin toward his bed.

She sat down and stared at him curiously.
He shook his head and leaned against the wall, "I didn't want anyone to overhear our conversation. My pack doesn't really know much about what's going on here, and I want to keep it that way. The last thing I need is five hundred people asking me for answers."

"Are you going to tell them anytime soon?"

"That depends. If the rogue attacks get more serious, I'll tell them for their safety.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly, "What're we going to do? We don't know where the griffins are or what their plans are. All we know is that they want my blood."

"I was thinking we could torture the nearest rogue into telling us that information. The only problem is that they don't seem to be attacking anymore. Who knows when they'll show up again?"

They were silent for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts, before Zack gave her an indecipherable look, "When's your next heat cycle?"

She counted the days in her head and frowned, "I'd say three to four days."

He cursed softly to himself and scratched at the stubble on his face. She couldn't help but admire how well this rough look suited him, much better than the clean-shaven one he usually wore.

He noticed her staring at him and raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Nothing," she shrugged casually, pretending not to just stare impassively at his chin.

He narrowed his eyes and stalked toward her, whereupon she stiffened.

What's he doing, she thought.

Freya backed away as he came closer, and within seconds found herself lying on her back with Zack leaning over her. She felt butterflies in her stomach as their bodies pressed perfectly together, making her want to squirm, pull him closer, and push him away at the same time. The feeling was almost too intense to bear.

He seemed undeterred by her position and just studied her face. She swallowed and waited for him to say something, not wanting to break the silence with something completely embarrassing.

"I don't like it when you lie to me," he whispered suddenly, his breath tickling her lips. His gray eyes bored into hers as if he was trying to read her mind.

"Who told you I was lying?" she whispered back, looking back and forth between his eyes.

His hard body moved above her, and she bit her lip to stifle a gasp as his hips thrust against hers. She couldn't tell if he was deliberately teasing her or not, because he was busy staring at her lips.

Slowly, Freya released her lower lip and licked it to ease the burning. His chest rumbled with a moan as he watched her.

Honestly, she was a little surprised they'd lasted this long without sharing any kind of intimacy. Mating relationships were designed so that they'd mate the day they met, or even the day after. The attraction that a mated couple had for each other was unmistakable, and she believed that Zack was beginning to come to terms with that fact.

Although he liked to pretend they weren't cuddling or whatever, he couldn't say that anything they did was plutonic. It just wasn't.

He stared at her lips while she stared at his. She knew she wanted to kiss him, and she'd a feeling he felt the same. The only question was who'd go first.

"Freya," Zack whispered hoarsely, and the tone of his voice sent a shiver down her spine.

"Zack," she whispered, running a finger along his jawline.

He suddenly seemed very determined and moved his face very slowly toward her face, as if waiting for her to stop and push him away. Her heart almost stopped when she felt his lips brush hers. Rough breaths escaped her lips as she waited for him to finally press them against hers and end the pain in her abdomen.

His lips touched hers again, and she held onto the neck of his shirt as her toes curled and her lips trembled with the anticipation.

Why is he hesitating, she thought.

She pulled him closer, ready to press her lips to his, when he suddenly stiffened and pulled back, clearing his throat and running a hand over his face in annoyance.

"Someone's trying to cross the pack boundary."