Chapter 18

“I would appreciate a heads-up next time you decide to let a stranger onto pack lands.” Alpha Storm pursed his lips as he informed them, making a point of turning his pointed gaze on the wolf and ignoring the human.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Alpha. Sorry about that. It won’t happen again. I give you my word.” Justas exhaled in relief, his shoulders relaxing as the Alpha appeared to have calmed down now, though the same could not be said about Anastasia who was absolutely fuming, almost certain that she had turned red in the face.

The Alpha hummed in response, evidently satisfied with his response however, Anastasia was nowhere near done.

“Why did the Beta not inform you of this?” She huffed as she moved to the side so Justas was no longer standing between them both, choosing to fight her own battles since it was evident that neither Justas or Raphael were able to stand their ground the Alpha – especially since the latter had barely spoke a word this whole time. However, that was expected as they were both pack wolves and this was simply the dynamics of a pack.

“What did you say?” Alpha Storm asked in a quiet yet equally menacing voice.

“You heard what I said.”

“I’ve decided to let you stay, so don’t push your luck.”

“After the way you’ve treated me, there’s no way that I’m sticking around.” She snarled at him, her lip curling up in a mixture of distaste and pure rage.

“Very well, then.” The Alpha announced in a dark voice. “I’ll see you out myself.” He moved back and held his arm out, gesturing for her to lead the way.

Anastasia rolled her eyes, grabbed her jacket and stormed past him. Once she reached the stairs, she glanced over her shoulder to find that he was following from a safe distance. As she glanced behind him, Raphael and Justas watched her closely, both with a mixture of apologetic and unsure expressions on their faces.

While she wasn’t explicitly mad at them as she understood how things worked at the pack – the Alpha sat on his shiny throne at the top while all the pack members bent over backwards to tend to his every need, want and desire – she knew that she was only annoyed in the moment. After a cup of hot chocolate and some time spent in front of her laptop working on her book, she would make sure to give them both a call to ensure them that everything was fine and she wasn’t mad at them but for now, she needed both time and space to let off some steam.

“Changed your mind?”

“You wish.” She snorted before turning back to face away from him and continue storming out of the den, through the living and finally, out of the pack house.

It was only when she reached her car that Anastasia turned around. Now without Raphael and Justas watching her every move and trying to censor her, she was free to get everything off her chest.

While she may regret this in the morning, in the moment, she didn’t care. All that mattered was that she gave the pompous Alpha Storm a piece of her mind and put him in his place by letting him know exactly what she thought of him; that he was a jackass with a foul attitude and an even fouler mouth.

“You know, Justas and Raphael are always saying so many good things about you. They painted you to be this perfect Alpha who treats the pack with respect and cares for everyone but looking at you right now, I don’t see any of that. You’re really made yourself look like a complete asshole!” She paused to take a breath, her chest moving up and down rapidly with how worked up she had become but still he remained silently, opting to watch her silently instead as if she was both the most interesting and the most annoying person in the world.

“If you continue on with this horrible, foul attitude of yours, you will soon lose the respect of your pack members so for your sake, I hope you can change. And fast.”

“And what makes you think that I care about what you have to say?”

Anastasia huffed. “I don’t care if you care or not. I’ve said my piece and now I’ll be on my way.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.” She answered but then quickly changed her mind. “Why are you so prejudiced against humans anyway?”

“I’m not prejudiced against humans.” Alpha Storm denied as a deep frown settled on his face.

“It sure seems like you are.”

“Well, then I suggest you best be going. You don’t want to run into any creatures on your way home now, do you?”

“Is that a threat?”

The Alpha only hummed in response before he began slipping off his jogging bottoms. She barely had time to recognise what he was doing before she turned her back on him, very quickly realising he wasn’t wearing any underwear.

“What the fuck are you doing?” She screeched loudly, her hands fisted tight around her car keys, unsure of what to do next.

“Making sure you leave.” He followed up his words with the cracking of his bones and when she finally turned around to face him, she was met with a wolf instead of the human that had previously been towering over her, not that the wolf wasn’t big enough to intimidate her with his height, size and general ferocity.

The fact that she could tell her was glaring at her even in wolf form didn’t help matters.

When the wolf howled at her, Anastasia huffed before she turned around again but this time, she slipped into her car and started on the engine. She didn’t waste any time as she peeled out of the parking space and began driving out of the pack, making sure to glance out of the corner of her eyes every few seconds as the Alpha ran alongside her, more than capable of speeding past her car if he wished to but instead, opting to mock her by keeping up; never allowing himself to wonder out of her line of sight.

The longer she stared at him, the more she realised that she had seen this wolf before, him being the very same wolf that had been standing outside her kitchen window that very morning.

A shiver ran down her spine and she couldn’t help but shudder in response, not sure if she should be scared, worried or angry. Gulping in hopes of swallowing the rock in her throat, Anastasia forced herself to stare ahead a she continued driving.

It was only when she was finally off pack lands that she allowed herself to glance back, locking eyes with the Alpha wolf who sat on the borders of the pack, watching her carefully, almost as if he expected her to go back on her word and turn the car around.

She rolled her eyes at the thought and continued driving, eager to get home after the day she had just had.

Anastasia had never met such an infuriating man in her life and if she never saw him again, it would be far too soon.