Alpha's Angel

Chapter Thirty Eight

"Stay still"

"I am staying still, you're just bad at this"

Althea's hair was wrapped around my hands like wild vines. In theory I was meant to be holding three separate sections, yet it all looked like one big mess to me. I was trying to work out if my right hand should go over or under what I assumed was the middle section.

I growled slightly, my hands getting twisted. I heard her laugh softly to herself, as she was clearly finding this amusing.

"I said hold still" I grumbled as she started laughing more.

We both knew we were trying to distract ourselves from what Althea had said yesterday. It was too much for her to tell me everything at once, and I knew not to press her for it. Everything inside of me wanted to know, and to find a way to wipe all her pain away. But I knew I couldn't. We both needed time.

The more she told me, the more my own truth pressed on my shoulders.

"I can't hold still if you're going to make me laugh"

After much more confused twisting, careful not to pull too hard, I reached something that resembled a plait.

"There." I said tying it off with an elastic, admiring my work.

She jumped off the sofa and plodded over to the mirror to inspect what I had done. "Wow" she pursed her lips, trying to contain a snigger "I love it "

"Woah woah woah" I said with alarm, as she started swinging her head around to see better. "Be careful! Don't break it."

She doubled over laughing, the movement causing the precariously interlaced hairs to fall out around her face. As she stood back up, still chuckling to herself, the rest fell out, completely destroying my hard work.

I looked at her unamused, as she expertly shook out her hair, her fingers working until she had a elegant plait that ran to the curve of her back.

Althea turned slowly, biting her lip as she saw my clearly unhappy expression.  "I told you to be careful" I grumbled

"I'm sorry" she said, trying to hide her sheepish smile. Reaching the sofa, she perched next to me, leaning back against my side. She rolled her eyes slightly as she saw I wasn't taking the direct apology.

"Stop being grumpy" she squished my face as if she could push the sour expression off my face. 

"Make me" I challenged, my hands pulling her so that she was facing me and her body was on top of mine.

She propped herself up on my chest looking down at me.  "You're so cheesy" she said scrunching up her nose.

"I think you're being rude." I knocked her hands out from underneath her, making her fall flat against me. She landed inches from my face, a wispy "umph" leaving her lips as her emerald eyes peered up at me.

I smiled down at her, watching as the look on her face changed from annoyance to something else. For a brief second her eyes flickered down to my lips, then back up to my eyes.

Pushing her chin up with my finger, her lips met mine. I hooked my hands under her knees, moving them so that they were at either side of me, our chests flush against each other.

Her delicate fingers wove their way into my hair, pulling slightly as I bit her lip teasingly. The curves of her body melted underneath my hands as they moved under her shirt.

The heavenly feeling of having her against me, had my wolf pacing in the back of my mind.

Yet with every gentle move that her lips made against mine, a thought kept interrupting this perfect moment.