The Sensible One (boyxboy) ✓

Chapter Forty Nine

"I was not!" I snapped.

"You were ogling." He snickered.

"Ogling..." I frowned angrily, but upon searching for words to give in reply I found none. Heaven help me ogling was probably the most appropriate word. 

The light banter felt so easy and playful that it settled quietly in the room, an easy silence between us, a comfortable serenity. It struck me then that it would be very strange to figure out how he fitted into my life after we left here. I still wasn't sure how that would work out, but I knew that no matter how rough watching him traipse out dripping from the shower would be reward enough.

"You're the one coming out naked. Dripping wet. You should dry your hair." I accused him. "You always come out with wet hair."

He shrugged. "Hard to dry."

"You'll get ill." I reminded him.

He laughed. "Wolves don't get ill that easily." He grabbed his towel. "But whatever you say my mate."

My stomach flipped for a couple reasons, among them my naked partner using the towel around his him to roughly attack his hair for a minute or two while all of him stood on display and my heart stayed stuck in my throat.

"It's too long..." He grumbled.

I blinked, looking up at him, only to realise he was referring to his hair, but there was a hint of mocking glee in his eyes when he saw me slowly look up to meet his eyes and my face warmed up pretty quickly.

I looked away, then looked back. "It looks great the way it is." I replied quietly.

His eyes flashed to mine, an eyebrow raised.

I raised an eyebrow back at him.

He scoffed slowly, walking over to me buck naked.

My breathing got a little quicker, his scent seemed to reach me faster when he was naked, and there was a slight difference between the way it felt coming from inanimate objects like bedsheets and clothes and him, himself. It caused feelings that felt impossible to manage. 

"Put come clothes on!" I grumbled. "Unhygienic!" I whispered sharply as he sat down beside me with a smirk quickly progressing into a grin on his lips.

"My bed." He rplied.

"My..." I looked around the place, but nothing there belonged to me, so I finally shut up and frowned.

I swallowed, looking up at him, getting a good look, having given in to letting him see me admire him. God knows it wouldn't be the last time I'd sit next to him and simply stare. "How did it go?" I asked suddenly, remembering slowly the events from the night before. "What happened?" I examined him once more. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, then signalled sort of, before I could speak he laughed. "We fought. He beat me. That fucking sucks. But what am I supposed to do, he's more experienced, I wasn't trained as an alpha."

"A what?"

"Oh..." The smile died on his lips. "You know you saw a different colour in my eyes?"

I nodded. "Kind of red..."

He nodded and proceeded to explain that this was a colour prevalent in alphas, not all of them, sometimes visible in betas too. I had a general understanding of the hierarchy of the pack from the book I'd begun reading in his brother's room. I hadn't gotten far and the vast majority of what I read I did not fully understand but with some help of the glossary at the back I did learn some of the basics.

He continued to explain that his father wanted him to step in as the next in charge. I didn't understand why he would want to do that, Lowell struck me as the kind of man that would do spectacularly well at any profession he took up. Being alpha sounded a lot like running an expensive cult.