Chapter 154: Rhys
“Do you remember that one time in high school when Leon’s dad was soooo mad at him for something I did, and he hid in your room for a week?”
I laughed before taking another swig from the bottle.
“I remember. I was in so much trouble when my mom finally realized that I had been lying to them. Though I have no idea how they didn’t catch on sooner because I literally was stealing food from the dinner table to give to him.”
Heather laughed, taking the bottle back. “They had so much trust in you until that point. Your mom never believed anything we ever said again.”
“Why did he need to hide in my room again?” I asked, my memory was fuzzy, but then again, everything was fuzzy at the moment.
“Because I egged Bella Throth’s house, remember? She had the nerve to ask Leon out on a date, and so I challenged her on the mat, but I had been so angry, I made myself look stupid. Leon took the heat for me when I took things even lower by egging her house. I mean, technically you both were with me... So technically it was all of us.”
“Oh that’s right!” I exclaimed. It felt so good to be lost on this reminiscent journey with Heather. I couldn’t remember the last time we had just hung out like this. I had been so busy in meetings and in requisitions, and just being Alpha King, I had neglected my oldest friend. I honestly couldn’t even tell you the last time I had even had fun with Leon. My life had become all work, and I couldn’t even remember when that happened... “But you can’t actually pull us into that. We didn’t know what you were doing until you pulled the eggs out of your backpack and started throwing them.”
“I wouldn’t have gotten caught if you two had been quieter about it.” She shot back with another swig.
“You’re lucky Leon took the fall for you.” I laughed. “Your dad would have killed you.”
“Oh for sure. He was great back, even back then. He has always been perfect, Leon. Sometimes so much so it was infuriating.”
I smiled at the thought. Yea. He was perfect. He always tried to be anyways. My pack wouldn’t have grown the way it had under my rule, if it wasn’t for Leon.
“Why did you sleep with Caleb?” I asked, hesitantly. I knew it technically wasn’t my business, but I had been dying to know since it came out.
Heather swallowed hard, her eyes filling with tears again. “I honestly don’t really know.” She answered, meeting my gaze. “Leon has done so much good for this pack. For everyone around. Like I said, he’s perfect. But he wasn’t always perfect to me. While he was off securing business deals, making this pack richer, training warriors, and being your right-hand man, I was lonely... I was used to having him whenever I wanted. I was used to us all doing everything together. And Caleb was going through the same thing, shortly after your dad died. You guys had trained to be dual Alphas, and then it was taken from him... I was lonely, and he was lonely, and we were drinking and it just kinda happened. I never met for it to. I tried to tell Leon several times before he had found out, but the right moment never came.”
“How did he find out?” I asked, taking the bottle from her.
“We were in a fight, and I mentioned that I was feeling inferior, and like I could never be good enough, and it came up. I sort of yelled it at him. I never wanted him to find out like that, but I was never on his level of good. I have never seen him so mad before. I know I hurt him. And I made it worse by waiting so long to tell him. We were just starting to work past it when this happened. I thought maybe you had sent him on a secret mission or something. But he always told me about those. When he didn’t come back, my first thought was that he actually left me.”
“What made you realize that he didn’t leave you?” I asked.
“He had had every chance to leave me before. In fact, I, many times, told him to just go, and he had refused. Nothing new had happened, and he has always been good. Better than the two of us in nearly every way. I realized he would never leave like that. He might want to leave me somedays, but he would never leave the kids like that. He would never leave me like that.”
I nodded. I knew exactly what she meant. The three of us had always been a trio. Leon had always been the best of us. He was the better communicator. The better warrior. The better friend. He always listened to us and our dumbass hair-brained schemes and then would find a way to gently talk us out of it. I knew if I ever fell as Alpha, he could take over and would probably be better at it. I sometimes wondered if I should just hand it to him when I felt overwhelmed. I just didn’t think that would be fair to him. He never wanted to be Alpha. Hell, he didn’t even want to be Beta, but he was damn good at it.
“He loves you.” I told her.
“Yea,” A small, sad smile crossed her face. “Yea. He does.”
A knock at the door startled us both.
“Shhh, pretend we’re not here.” Heather whispered.
“Rhys?” A voice called out as the knocking began to get a little bit more incessant.
“Oh!” I called out when I finally recognized the voice. “That’s my mate!”
I stumbled to my feet and pushed at the door. I laughed when I realized I had to turn the knob and pull it instead.
“Mate!” I called out happily when my eyes landed on Grace. Goddess, how much did I drink? There were two of her!
“Rhys, what are you doing?” She startled, looking at me, then past me to Heather before finally landing on the bottle. “Are you drunk?”
“Well, there are two of you standing in front of me, so I’m going to say, yes,” I told her.
I reached out to touch the face of the Grace on my right, but she slapped my hand away.
“We have a meeting with our warrior team right now, and you’re wasted?” She hissed angrily. I had rarely seen Grace mad, but she was cute when she was mad.
“Sorry, Heather, guess our fun is over.” I sighed. “Mate here says there are things to do.”
Heather smiled. “Aren’t there always?”
“Yes.” Grace snapped. “Now, when we go in there, shut up, and let me do the talking. You are to be quiet, am I understood?”
“Yes, Grace,” I leaned in to kiss her cute little nose.
“You can kiss me when you’re sober,” She snapped. “Now. Let’s Gooo.”
Her rejection only turned me on more. Angry Grace was hot. She grabbed my hand and pulled me along the hallway, and angry or happy, drunk or sober, I knew I would follow her anywhere.
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