Finding Evelyn A Home

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Finally, the alpha steps in saying hurriedly, 'Evelyn is needed somewhere else' he says, putting an arm around my shoulders and dragging me away. The grandmas protest, this time dragging the alpha into their tight circle as well, crying out loudly,
'I haven't talked to you in years dear!' Bathilda says, although I swear saw them talking just this morning.
'My my, you've grown so tall my boy!' Arabella comments, sliding her glasses further up her nose.
'She needs to take a break munchkin, look at her pale face' Beth says, peering uncomfortably close into my face.
'You look as dashing as your father when he was your age' Muriel exclaims happily, pinching his reddened cheeks.

We are so in trouble.

Alpha Jackson runs an irritated hand through his hair, tousling his dark locks. He turns to me, wincing apologetically at his inability to save us from Beth and her friends. I grimace back at him discreetly, wishing silently that the grandmas would stop squishing us so close together. It feels uncomfortable, but yet also completely right as the heat emanating from his skin seeps into me, adding to the flush on my cheeks. This is the closest that I have ever been to a man and the thought weighs down on my already beaten heart. I'll never be able to feel like this again, and definitely not with a willing companion.
Not wanting to raise hope that I'll ever have that in my life, I decide to put an end to the grandmas' mischief.

'I best return to my duties.' I say with a finality to my tone.
'Oh don't be a buzzkill Evelyn!' Muriel says, chuckling at her use of 'teenage slang.'
I shake my head at her, trying to hide my chuckles as I stand up quickly and return to wiping down the tables. Jackson seems even further away and I occasionally peek at him every now and then discreetly. But I soon come to a standstill when I see Arabella standing up and hoisting the alpha on his feet.
I wait to see what happens next, my breath stuck in my throat.
Suddenly, Arabella's accomplices proceed to admire his butt, and I almost drop the glass I'm holding as I stare disbelievingly at the commotion. It was only as Bathilda pinches a buttock that I finally put my foot down. Jumping into the air in shock, the alpha tries to unsuccessfully batt away the grandmothers' prowling eyes with gentle swats. That is until he finally decides to cover his butt with both palms instead. If Nancy catches this on camera, it would be gold.
But I come to his aid by striding over and 'accidentally' tripping over a chair leg, spilling water on the alpha. Wet and red faced with his hands still covering his butt, at this moment, he is the epitome of funny and I finally burst into laughter that never seemed to end. Never in my whole entire life have I laughed this hard and I clutch at Beth whose face have now also morphed into laughter.

I hiccup as my laughs slowly fade away, looking up at the alpha with my watery eyes.
'S-sorry alpha' I say apologetically to him, trying to mop up the water with a clean napkin. Every now and then, giggles burst out of my chest and I bite my lip, trying to hold them back.
'Never mind' He says with a mock growl and I find myself dangling off the ground as Jackson lifts me up and exits the dining room with me over his shoulder. In the distance, I can hear a wolf whistle made- most probably by Muriel.
I burrow my face into his shoulder in my embarrassment and the alpha leads us to a quiet spot behind the pack house.
My hands clams up and my heart pounds furiously in my rib cage. Did he bring me here to punish me? I curl myself as small as possible so as to lessen the target areas he can hit. Call it self preservation.
He seems to stiffen as he feels my trembles in his hold of me and he becomes rigid.

'They really messed you up didn't they?' He asks in disgust, releasing me onto the ground.
'It wasn't my choice.' I say quietly, my hands magically losing its earlier trembling.
'I would attack them, but that would mean war.' He says with annoyance, gritting his teeth.
'Why would you attack them?' I ask him in confusion, I am just a maid in the pack. Technically, I'm not even a werewolf because I can't shift anymore. My father made sure of that.
'Because you are worth fighting for.' He says, gripping my forearms securely with his large calloused hands.
'If half the pack even knew of your treatment before, we'd be in war right now.' He continues.
'You are worth much more than what they treated you. You bring us all closer together as a pack and we'd crumble without you. You're the apple to our crumble.' He says gruffly.

'OMG! That was the cutest thing I have ever heard in my WHOLE entire life!!' Nancy breaks our moment with her delighted squeals.
'That was even more cuter than that time where you tried to help that puppy walk again Jackie!! I can't believe this! What was that puppy's name again? I think it was Toby. Anyway, you two are going to be the CUTEST couple in the world!' Nancy's voice has now reached an incredibly high pitch and I cringe away from her, ultimately bringing me closer to her brother.
Flashes of light that I now associate with Nancy irritates my eyes and I turn away from her and into Jackson who tries to hide me using his body.
'Put that away Nancy, Evelyn doesn't like it.' He says irritably, stepping closer to his sister who is now complimenting Jackson on his 'protective' pose around me.
'Aaw Evelyn doesn't like it does she?' She asks him in a baby voice.
'I don't like it either so get rid of it or I will' he snarls out, reaching for her camera. But she merely dances out of his reach, mumbling out words to him that I couldn't hear. All I know is that as her hair swishes playfully into the distance that Jackson had gone bright red under his tanned skin.

'I- I have my training to go oversee.' He stutters gruffly, nodding his head to me.
'Right. Uh I should go do my work.' I say to him, but he seems determined to avoid my eyes.
'Thanks for saving me back there with the water' He says, definitely not meeting my eyes
'Yeah, sorry for that Alpha Jackson- I shouldn't have-'
'Call me Jackson' He says, finally meeting my eyes.

'I- I don't think I should' I say to him, this time being the one to avoid his eyes. I fear that if I get used to calling him by his name that I might start hoping that there could be something between us.
'Why not?' He growls out to me, stepping closer until I'm against the wall with no escape.
'B-because I'm just-'
'Don't ever say that anymore! I forbid you to say anything among those lines on any occasion!'
I simply gape at him in confusion.
'Your status doesn't mean anything you hear me? We are all equals. We all deserve the same respect, the same dignity and we are all worth more than we believe we are worth.'