Master Alpha
Chapter 9

Lincoln groaned as he continued to toss and turn in his bed. He had been trying to sleep for the last few hours, but his mind refused to allow him rest. He sat up and tossed the blanket from his bare chest and swung his legs over the side of the bed. His white basketball shorts dimmed the soft glow of his tanned skin. He raked a hand through his hair and then rubbed his face harshly. He was exhausted but could not seem to shut off his thoughts.

Lincoln kept remembering the betrayal in Rhea’s eyes, in her voice. She truly thought that he no longer trusted her or viewed her as weak. I never should have admitted fear, he thought. She probably thought that it was a lie. He was surprised that he did admit it to her, but he wanted to prove that it was not doubt behind his concern for her well-being. His worry for her began to infuriate him, it felt like it was trying to blind him. Rhea was completely right, we have too many other issues at hand. I need to let this go, he thought.

Lincoln stood up and exited the room. The house that they were staying in was a small one, with only two bedrooms. Rhea was in the bedroom furthest into the house. Lincoln had insisted on it to further protect her in a village full of Decants. Lincoln heard her gentle breathing as he looked at the door beside his. He had offered his bedroom to Nathan, but Nathan immediately dismissed the idea. Nathan said that he would prefer himself on the couch in harm’s way instead of his Master Alpha. Lincoln turned and walked down the short hallway that led into the living room.

The entire house was pitch black, but Lincoln’s eyes adjusted with ease. There was a large leather couch in the middle of the living room, with the kitchen over to the left. The dining room consisted of a suede recliner instead of a table and chair set. Lincoln noticed that the couch was vacant, and then heard a light clinking noise. His gaze shifted to the kitchen and found Nathan rummaging through the refrigerator. Nathan was bare-chested as well with a pair of black basketball shorts. He withdrew two beer bottles from the refrigerator and nodded toward Lincoln. “Can’t sleep?” Nathan asked as he closed the refrigerator.

“Not so much, no. You?”

“Not so much,” Nathan answered. He crossed the living room an sat on the couch. He offered one of the beers to Lincoln. Lincoln accepted and sat on the couch beside Nathan.

“Thank you, Nate,” Lincoln nodded. He twisted the cap off the bottle and swallowed a large gulp. The chill of the liquid attempted to calm him, but he knew that it would take more than one beer for that effect. Decants and Nantas had to drink a lot of alcohol to begin to float away, which meant that Lincoln had to drink even more than everyone else. Nathan nodded in response and mimicked Lincoln’s motion.

“So,” Nathan spoke after he drank. “What is keeping you awake? How did meeting with Xavier go?”

“It went as to be expected,” Lincoln sighed. “The truce will remain in effect for resources only, not to help each other past that. He expressed that he was only helping us because he does have the resource that we need, and to truce breaks if he refuses the resource and we discover that he actually does have it.”

“Not to mention, a potential war. If his resource could have saved us, and he denied it, he’d have the wrath of both of our kinds on him.”

“Exactly, which is why he complied.”

“You ever think he’ll realize that an alliance would strengthen his people, too? Look at what it’s done for our people.”

“If we rely on Xavier for that hope, then no. But Elias…” Lincoln trailed off. He took another drink of his beer before he continued. “Rhea seemed to have made an impression on him.”

“So she told me,” Nathan nodded. “The man basically called his Alpha a fool for not embracing a merger.”

“And that doesn’t concern you?”

“Why should it? He’s the one that said it,” Nathan shrugged and took another drink. “Either he’s telling the truth, which has earned him some respect from me with his honesty, or he was lying to tell our Nanta what he knew that she would want to hear.”

“I’m not sure it was a lie,” Lincoln said slowly as he finished his beer. Nathan nodded to him and took the empty bottle. Nathan walked over to the refrigerator and withdrew two more beers, setting the empty bottles on the counter. He returned to the couch and gave Lincoln one of the beers. “What makes you believe him?” Nathan asked as he opened his beer.

“Our Nanta intrigues him,” Lincoln replied as he opened his own beer. He paused as he lifted the bottle to his lips. “He was touching her,” he said, then drank.

“Really now?” Nathan asked as he swallowed his drink. “And she let him?”

Lincoln nodded, his jaw clenched. “She said that she understood his curiosity. It does make sense. She was the first Nanta that he had met.”

“By that logic, I should be touching you since you’re the first hybrid that I’ve met,” Nathan joked.

“You think that there was an ulterior motive?”

“No, but you do.”

Lincoln looked at Nathan in surprise. Nathan sighed and took another drink before he continued. “Linc, it’s Rhea. Your overprotectiveness of her makes people fear you more than they already do.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

“You may not see her as weak, but you do see her as something. Yes, she talked to me about that,” Nathan said quickly as Lincoln opened his mouth. “Whether the Heir truly replaces her attractive and his interest in her is more than educational, which I’m sure you’ve thought of, or it is a purely educational attraction, you wouldn’t have appreciated him touching her either way.”

“I don’t trust him, Nate.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit answer, Linc. That’s not what it is at all.”

Lincoln swallowed down another gulp of beer before speaking. “I don’t trust him.”

“Be that as it may, if he reacted like that to me, or to you, for that matter, would it really have bothered you so much?” Nathan asked. Lincoln’s jaw clenched as he stared at his beer bottle. He wanted to say that the Heir touching him, or Nathan, would bother him, that the Heir was an undetermined ally or enemy, but he could not admit that. He knew that him and Nathan would have reacted as Rhea had done, calm and collected, and that it would be just another business encounter. But with Rhea, Heir touching her had triggered more in Lincoln than he had cared to admit. It wasn’t even a sexual touch, he thought bitterly, which elicited a low growl from his wolf. Nathan raised an eyebrow at him but remained silent and took another drink. Lincoln closed his eyes as he inhaled. Her touch relieves me, I don’t want someone else feeling that with her, he thought. I don’t want someone else feeling this about her, or for her. His eyes shot open suddenly.

“Fuck,” Lincoln grumbled.

“About damn time that you figured it out. Shit,” Nathan laughed. “I thought I would die first.”

“You could have said something.”

“Like hell. You wouldn’t have believed me.”

“True,” Lincoln admitted.

“Linc, she needs to go to the hospital alone tomorrow,” Nathan said slowly. “You feel like this with an acquaintance around her. She’s going to be with a friend tomorrow, a male friend.”

“I need to be there.”

“No, you don’t. You actually need to be here. You need to eat and prepare this place for Rhea before the moon. And,” Nathan continued after finishing his beer. “You need to let her breathe.”

“What do you mean?”

“Linc, she already feels like you don’t trust her. Unless you’re going to admit your epiphany to her, that feeling of distrust is just going to grow in her if you chaperone her everywhere.”

“I had always heard that male wolves were protective, but, fuck, man, I can barely concentrate without thinking of her,” Lincoln groaned.

“Well, realizing this the night before the moon doesn’t help,” Nathan said as he stood up “Our wolves are already on edge for the shift, so your wolf’s anxiety is only going to grow.” Nathan grabbed two more beers and returned to the couch. “Which is more reason for you to stay behind tomorrow. An over-protective, anxious wolf should not be around humans on the day of the moon.”

Lincoln nodded and took a drink of his beer. “You’re right, Nate. I can’t put humans in danger, and she needs to believe that I trust her. I do trust her.”

“You’d be a fool to doubt her.”

“Are you calling your Alpha a fool now?”

“Would you rather that I lie to you?”

“Never,” Lincoln grinned.