Alpha, Not

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Avery

"He's back again today," Beth teased me as our new regular customer walked through the door. She snickered at how he kept glancing over at me as I served each of the customers standing in line ahead of him. He's come in every day for the last week.

His name is Pete - he introduced himself the first time he came in here; I'm glad I remembered it, because it would have been extremely embarrassing if I forgot. He's the office manager at the advertising agency up the road from the diner. He works with Sandra and Tanya, two women who work there and have been customers here for longer than I've worked here - and I've been working here for 7 years.

Unfortunately, he's always come in around the lunch rush, so we've never had much of a conversation yet. Beth is certain that he's coming in to see me; although I'm not so sure about that. It's true that we seemed to have had a moment the first time he came in, but that was the only time. When he orders, he looks me directly in the eyes and always has this jaw droppingly gorgeous smile on his lips.

Pete is tall and muscular, the complete opposite of me. His perfectly fitted suit doesn't hide anything; his muscles strain against the white shirt beneath the perfectly fitted jacket. His tailored pants cover a tight derrière and long, muscular legs. I think I'm in love... well, maybe, lust at the least. Every time he comes in, I thank the stars that I'm wearing an apron that hides the tent that forms in my own pants. Even so, I can feel my face heating up as he steps up to the counter to place his order; he orders a different item for lunch each time. A lot of our regular customers order the same thing every day, whichever is their favorite.

Today was no different, he ordered a BLT sandwich and a bowl of Beth's soup of the day; today it's pasta e fagioli, or pasta and beans. Out of all the soups Beth makes, that one is probably my favorite. Once his order was ready, he paid and sat at the small table by the window where he had a clear view of the counter; it's the table he usually chooses. I could feel his eyes on me and whenever I looked up and caught his eye, I felt a shiver of delight run through me. He is so hot. It would be nice if Beth were right, and he were interested in me. A man can dream, right?

He ate slowly today, as other customers came and went, he sat quietly, taking his time to enjoy his meal. When the lunch rush finally ended, Beth and I had a chance to catch our breath. Pete stood up and walked over to the counter, his eyes focused on my face as I turned bright red. Beth chuckled lightly at my embarrassment and excused herself, heading back into the kitchen and leaving us alone in the diner.

"It looks like you finally get a chance to take a break." He's deep voice breaks the silence in the now empty diner.

"Yeah," I agreed, nodding my head like one of those cheesy bobble-headed figures on someone's dashboard. 'Oh god,' I groaned to myself, forcing myself to stop shaking my head, turning even more red than I already was. Thankfully he didn't seem to notice, or comment on it if he did.

"Today was busier than usual." I managed to squeak out, further embarrassing myself by the crack in my voice. Why do I feel like a schoolgirl facing my crush for the first time?

"I've been meaning to talk to you, but you're always so busy when I come in for lunch." Pete explains. "So, I decided to wait until it slowed down today. I hope that's okay?"

"Sure, that's not a problem." I reply. Most of our lunch customers order their food to go, so there are always free tables.

"I'm Pete Danver," he says. "I know I said it once before, but we didn't have a chance to talk."

"I admit, Avery," he continues, showing he remembered my name. "I'm interested in getting to know you better. Would you like to join me for dinner tonight? There's a restaurant not too far from here that I've heard has good food. Heavenly Roasters, I think it's called."

"Okay," I answer, my head bobbing on my shoulders again, I must look really ridiculous to him.

A huge smile lights up his face at my response and we exchange numbers and decide on a time to meet at the restaurant. That way if it's awkward we can separate there and neither one of us will be stuck having to rely on the other. At least the busses are convenient for the area since I don't own a car.

After he left, Beth came out and told me that I should never discount her intuition. She was right about his interest and we both cheered about the date tonight.

---

As it turned out, dinner was really good, and we sat at our table talking for a long time after we finished our meals. Pete was actually a great conversationalist and one of the more interesting men I've ever met.

When we left the restaurant, Pete stood with me at the bus stop until my bus arrived and I climbed on, and he watched as the bus moved away. He had offered to drive me home, but I declined his offer. I went to sleep that night thinking about how nice it was to meet someone so kind and sweet for a change. I always seem to attract men who were trouble, causing a never-ending stream of problems in my life. I dreamed of finally meeting someone I could see myself being with for a long time to come. Pete seems different from the usual type I end up dating.

---

Pete

Tonight will be Avery and I's 3rd date. I wanted to do something different so I asked my friend Teagan about some nice places around the pack's lands that were not too far out of the way that would be good to take a date. He suggested a picnic at a spot on a hill not far out of town where there was a good view of the town's lights at night.

I drove us as far as we could go in my truck and then we hiked a short distance through the trees to the top of a ridge and the view was as good as Teagan had told me it was. We spread out a blanket and took a basket I had brought that was filled with sandwiches, chips some drinks and cookies for dessert. We sat together and talked as we ate until dusk fell, and the lights of the town began coming on. The sparkling town below really did become breathtaking as full darkness settled over everything. It was like a shining jewel nestled within the surrounding darkness.

As we sat gazing down at the town off in the distance, we talked about some of the things we hoped to achieve in our lives. Avery had initially intended to attend college and get a degree in nursing, following in his mother's footsteps. Once she died though, his college plans were set aside because he became too depressed. He eventually lost his academic achievement scholarship because of it and couldn't afford to attend without it. I was impressed that he had been the valedictorian of his high school class. That was even more surprising given the bullying he told me that he had endured through high school.

His plans had since changed when James and Beth, the diner's owners had convinced him that he should take over the diner when they retired. He did love working there; aside from the occasional troublesome customer it was a good place to work, and he had grown to love working there.

I talked about my job, working at the advertising agency and how it gave me a chance to connect with other people in a way I had never dreamed of before. You had to learn how people thought and felt about things in order for an ad to be effective. If people couldn't relate to the ad, then they weren't likely to remember it and it wouldn't convince them to spend their money. Let's be honest, that is the only purpose of an advertisement; to get people to part with their money and buy something - whether they need it or not.

I avoided talking about too much of my former life before coming to the North Winds pack. First, I was ashamed of what I had done, and second, anything I told him would lead to discussions about werewolves, and that was not a conversation I was ready to have yet. As much as I might like Avery, there were things that he wouldn't be told about unless and until our relationship reached a deeper level. Not to mention I would need Alpha Andrew's permission to tell him about us.

When the evening began to get chilly, we hiked back to the truck, and I drove him to his apartment. We sat in the truck talking for several more hours until he started yawning. Neither of us had realized how long we'd been sitting there talking. At least it was a Friday and neither of us had to get up early the next morning. He exited the vehicle and we said our goodnights, then I watched him enter his building before I drove myself back to the pack house. I had training with Teagan later and it would be easier if I stayed at the pack house rather than my apartment; I could sleep in longer that way too.