Alpha Zander
Chapter 58

S**t, s**t, s**t.

I am in so much trouble. I look between Zander and his father as he’s standing on the sidelines. One would think they are linking, but their eyes are not glazed and they are just staring at each other. Even Beta Jake looks a little uncomfortable, shifting around at their gaze.

Their wolves flicker through, showing a rim of gold in their eyes, dominance radiating from both men. A few of the warriors were curiously watching. Most try to ignore what was happening, but it was hard to ignore two Alphas fighting for dominance.

Neither man has moved from their position. I can see Daniel’s eyes cast down in submission, hands in his pockets, and looking at the grass as if it’s the most exciting thing in the world. Beta Jake is looking between them as I am, slightly confused, but I’m sure he’s more aware of what is going on than me.

I frown in confusion. What did I miss? I know Zander didn’t have the best relationship with his father, but this type of play for dominance and power is a bit over the top for father and son.

I take a deep breath and try to break the tension.

After all, I am his mate, right? This is what I’m here to do be by his side and be there for him. Taking a step forward, I muster up the courage to say something.

“Alpha Wyatt, Beta Jake, it’s a pleasure to see you both again,” I say confidently, giving them a warm smile.

Zander tenses beside me, tightening his grip around my wa!st, not wanting me to move. My comment seems to have snapped Alpha Wyatt out of whatever battle he was in with his son as he looks over at me and gives me a tense smile.

“Ashleigh, likewise, I hope you have had a proactive morning,” his eyes flicker behind me to Derek and then back to Zander with a frustrated look. “When someone contacted me saying the Luna knocked out one of my top warriors, I had to come and see what all the fuss was about.”

S**t, was it really about that or that I, a woman, joined in with training today?

“Derek was just showing some different techniques,” I explain quickly. I didn’t want him punished for what happened. I know Alpha Wyatt only saw the ending, but he might think differently if he had seen the start. I was partly at fault for allowing that to happen, and I will gladly explain exactly what happened. If this is anything like Liverpool, gossip will spread like wildfire.

I hear a gr0an. and turn slightly to see Derek trying to get up. Daniel rushes over to give him some water and helps him sit up. “Easy big fella, We need to get you checked out at the clinic before you do anything else,” he says softly, trying to help him sit up straight.

I approach Daniel and Derek to help them, but once again, I was blocked by my paranoid mate. Zander gives me a hard look saying ‘I don’t think so’ and shakes his head slightly.

It’s because his father is here, Kia explains. Y don’t believe we were allowed to be here in the first place, so tread carefully, please,’ she begs.

“We stopped by the pack house, but no one was there, so I wanted to show Ashleigh around some of the grounds,” Zander grinds out, bringing me closer to him.

Alpha Wyatt nods in confirmation, “We were on our morning checks.”

He is a man of few words. Even in the meeting, I had with Ollie. He wasn’t this tense. I felt sad for Zander. If this was his life growing up …no one to talk to, no father figure to guide him through life … living up to the expectations of being the Alpha’s son and the perfect pact member.

“Anyways, we should get going now,” Zander says, dropping his arm from my wa!st and tugging on my hand, leading me away from the training area back to the parking lot as Alpha Wyatt watches us.

“I don’t understand”, I start to say, trying to unravel the entire interaction we just had.

“Not yet, sweetheart,” Zander shakes his head before opening the passenger door for me to climb in.

We sit in silence as we aimlessly drive around. At least, it seems aimless to me. Maybe he was taking me somewhere, but he hasn’t said anything about where we were going or about what happened earlier. Zander pulls up at a little corner store on the other side of town. I’ve never been out this far out before. I suppose that is to be expected, considering we are still on Charwoods territory.

“Il be back in two minutes,” he grumbles, putting a hand on mine as I go to unbuckle my seatbelt.

I let out a frustrated sigh as he closed the car door and walked into the corner shop.

It was a nice enough area, with a few residential houses lined up along the street. They all seemed to be relatively new and well-kept. Some children were running up and down one of the side streets across the road from where we are parked.

The bell chimes from the corner shop as Zander walks back out. He is followed by an elderly lady who gives him a tight hug and a peck on his cheek. I would normally feel a surge of jealousy and burning in my heart, but considering the action wasn’t of lu.stful nature, I felt none of that. He grinned back at the older woman and waved as he walked toward the car carrying a few plastic bags that seemed to be filled with groceries.

Part of me feels hurt that he won’t to talk to me, but I also know the struggle with his dad runs deeper than I would ever know, so I’ll give him time and hope that he might open up to me.

ZANDER

My father can be a right prick sometimes. No, wait, all the f*****g time. I needed to get her out of this place right now. I know he hates it when I do regular training, but the fact that I openly disobeyed a direct order from him …of course, he is going to be f*****g pissed off.

I know she wants to help Derek, it is in her nature to do that, but with Dad around, there was no f*****g way I am going to risk any more than I already have. “I don’t understand,” she starts saying.

“Not yet, sweetheart,” I say quickly, trying to get her into the car as soon as possible.

I don’t want to unravel my complicated relationship with my father in the middle of a parking lot. This conversation needs to be somewhere private. I know she wants to talk, and I can feel her wanting to speak to me.

Every now and then, she glances over, waiting for me to say something. Maybe I am being a d!ck, but right now, my mind is a mess, and all I can think of is getting her out of there before Dad loses his s**t and scares her completely.

They say he’s a feared Alpha, but honestly, he’s just an a-sshole who doesn’t know how to deal with things correctly. He scares and intimidates people, which is probably why we haven’t had any issues in the last decade. But that doesn’t mean it is the right way of doing things.

I can honestly say that I hate being around the man, and I hate being around the house.

That’s mostly why I was out chasing p***y every night, so I didn’t have to be at home amongst the dullness that should be the life of the pack.

I walk into the corner store and am greeted by May.

She has been like a grandmother figure to me for as long as I can remember. She wouldn’t put up with my s**t and is one of the few people who will ever get away with giving me s**t. Every once in a while, she would let allow me to crash in one of her spare rooms.

I offered her a job a while back to be a part of the packhouse permanently, but she didn’t want to leave her house and corner store that has been passed down through her family for generations. When I went away to Alpha training, it was hard for me to keep in touch with her. I’m just glad I have been able to see her since l got back.

Maybe I should have gone to her with my problems about Grace and Ashleigh, to begin with. She definitely would have slapped some sense into me, but I don’t exactly share that type of information with her.

Part of me had always wondered if she helped me because l was the Alpha’s son. But then I see her with other kids of different ages and I realise she just has a beautiful heart and is sweet-natured. When I was ten years old all she saw was a kid who needed guidance and some direction.

“Are you going to introduce me to your beautiful mate?” she asks, handing me a couple of bags of food that I asked her to gather for me quickly. This woman has always been able to read me like a book. I consider it for a little bit, but I know Ashleigh wants to talk, and introducing her to May right now might complicate things.

“What are you doing tomorrow night? Are you free to come over to the packhouse? I want her to meet a few people then if that’s ok?” I ask as I place the money on the counter.

l always try to give her extra, especially lately since her mate passed away. It’s been harder on her than she is willing to let on, but she holds on, and I’ll forever be grateful for this woman in my life.

“Of course, I’ll be over tomorrow afternoon,” she smiles at me warmly and brings me in for a tight hug. I welcomed it with open arms. It’s like she could sense my frustration.

I make my way back to the car and can see Ashleigh looking back at me with a small smile, possibly even more confused than before. I need to let everything out and give it to her straight, and we couldn’t have a decent relationship if I kept things from her.