The Alpha's Unknown Son

CHAPTER 6

Rose

The hot water cascades down my back and relaxes my tense muscles. I wash all the stress and anger yesterday's events caused me down the drain.
I hear the door open and little footsteps enter. I wipe away the steam on the shower door, and I see Will enter. I watch in amusement as the door slams shut and he looks at me in horror. He quickly grabs my clean clothes and runs out of the room.
"William , you better get back here!" I scream and grab my towel to chase after him. His little body disappears around the corner and down the stairs. I tighten the towel around me as I run down the stairs.
I make it to the kitchen but come to a stop a I see the scene before me. Nick's family's, along with Marcus and Will, wear matching grins directed towards me.
"What's the matter, Mommy?" Will says as he rocks back and forth on his heels.
"William, just because it's your birthday, doesn't mean you can be a little devil," I say reaching behind him and grabbing my clothes.
"I have no clue what your talking about, Mommy."
I roll my eyes at him and look up when I hear a low growl come from Nick. His eyes are changing back and forth, and I know he is trying to gain control of his wolf. I grab Will and put him in front of me, shielding some of my body.
"Nice tat, Rose," Noah says, pointing to the tattoo on my collar bone. It's the letters W.R.R and the date March 21, William's birthday.
"Thanks! Well, now since you all have seen me half-naked, I'm going to go get ready for this little monster's party," I say, lightly pinching Will's nose. He swats my hand away and pushes me out of the room. I chuckle and rush up the stairs to my room.
I quickly change into my clothes and run a comb through my hair. I skip on doing my makeup and grab my Vans and Will's present before leaving the room.
The party is in full swing when I arrive. Party streamers are hanging along with Handy Manny-themed decorations. There's a wolf piñata in the corner with a bat and a blind fold behind it. The food table is on the right corner and I head towards it.
"Mom!" Will screams, running towards me at full force. I don't reach my arms out fast enough and we both tumble to the floor. He bursts out in a fit of giggles as I blink away the grogginess in my vision. He gets up and offers me a hand, thinking he'll be able to pull me up. I take his hand but do most of the work standing up.
"Mommy, look at my party. It's so amazing, and look at all the presents I got!"
I look to the present table, seeing it clearly full with some of the presents placed on the ground.
"Yeah, baby, it's a lot. You'll have to thank a lot of people!"
He nods, a huge smile on his face.
"I bet I can beat you to the food table," I say, a smirk on my face.
He nods and starts counting to three. When he hits two, I take off running, leaving him behind, shocked.
"No fair. You got a head start!" he complains as he chases after me.
"You're the next alpha, so show me what you got!" I look back to see him smirking and then he picks up his speed. The pack watches in amusement as he tries to catch up to me but fails. I slow down my running and look back to see him gaining on me. He grins at me and runs up to me, tackling my legs.
"Caught you!"
"Man, your so fast!"
He lets go of my legs.
"Mommy, you wanna go jump on the bouncy house?"
"Baby, those things aren't made for adults. Why don't you go play with the other kids?"
He frowns but nods. I pull him into a hug.
"Happy Birthday, William. I love you!" I whisper in his ear.
"Thanks, Mommy. I love you too. You're the best mom in the world!"
"The best? Are you sure?" I ask, grinning at him.
"Yep!"
I smile at him and tell him to go play. He winks over his shoulder before literally jumping into the bouncy house. I shake my head and walk over to the present table. I look at all the gifts, a little shocked at how many there really are. I take out the little present I had in my pocket and set it with the others. I glance around the backyard again and make my way over to where Marcus and Jake are sitting.
"So I think you already won over the pack members' hearts; you don't have to worry about them being mad at you." Marcus says as I sit down.
"Oh, I'm so glad!" I say sarcastically, making him chuckle.
Jake stares at his mate lovingly with a smile on his face.
"So, when did you two find out your mates? Cause when I left, only one of you were into men." Marcus grins as Jake rolls his eyes.
"Well, obviously on my eighteenth birthday. And at first, I thought Jake was going to reject me, so I stayed away from him as best as I could, but it actually made me run into him. And once our eyes met, it was all history from there."
I nod my head and watch as the two peck lips before smiling at me.
"So, you literally ran into each other and just fell in love right there?"
They both nod.
"Wow! So romantic. Wish mine was that good," I say as I take a piece of cheese from Jakes' plate.
A throat clears, and I look up to see Nick standing beside me.
"Man, you made me drop my cheese!" I exclaim, picking up the cheese cube.
"Sorry, can I talk to you real fast?"
"Why not? What can go wrong?" I say, getting up from my chair and throwing away the dirty cheese.
"Actually, he could take you to the woods and kill you, or—" Marcus is stopped by Jake with his hand.
"Please ignore him as usual, Alpha," Jake says.
I just smile and nod towards the house. We both make our way there with most of the pack members giving us wary looks. Some of the men wiggle their eyebrows at Nick. I stop to say something to them, but Nick puts his hand on my lower back and push me forward.
"They're not worth it," he says. We keep walking into the house until we make it to the kitchen that's, thankfully, empty.
"I wanted to talk about yesterday. I know you're mad at me for not telling you who told the pack. I don't want drama in my pack, and I definitely don't want to cause you any drama. I hope you can see that."
"I was mad, yeah, but I understand why you did it. Thank you, Nick. I guess you kept me from having to fight someone ... so yeah."
"You're welcome." He laughs, the sound making me smile. He was about to say something, but he is cut off by a scream.
"Mommy, where are you?" Will screams. I take off into the backyard, searching for my son. He's sitting in the grass, tears rolling down his face. The pack members surround him. I push through the crowd, not caring about the people I'm hitting. I finally get to him and take him into my arms. He wraps his body around me and sobs into my shoulder.
Nick's growl erupts through the backyard, making everyone scurry away from us. He comes up behind us, searching William with his eyes for injuries.
"William, what's the matter?" I ask, rubbing circles on Wills back.
"That girl bumped into me really hard. I hit my head on the ground. I tried to get up but she pushed me down again!" He sobs as he points to somebody in the crowd. Everybody turns to who he is pointing to, and we all look at a nervous-looking Amber.
A growl escapes from both me and Nick, making everybody bow their heads and bare their necks to us, submitting fully.
Amber's face pales, and she grips her mate's hand tighter.
Nick growls, a growl so vicious it makes even the strongest of warriors flinch back. He gets up and makes his way to Amber. Her mate stands in front of her, but there is fear in his eyes. He starts rambling, apologizing on behalf of Amber.
"Move," Nick orders, his voice much deeper than before. Nikolai is definitely in charge, and though I'm pissed too, I fear for Amber and her mate.
"Alpha, I'm sorry. Please don't hurt her. I don't know what got into her, but I promise she didn't mean it." Her mate stumbles out the words. I give William to Jake and tell him to take him inside. I don't want him to see what his dad is about to do. I make my way over to Nick, standing close enough to him where I can see what's going on, but not close enough to get hit.
"I'll give you one last chance before I force you to move away from her."
Her mate still remains in front of her, his fear basically rolling off of him. Nick growls, and faster than I can blink, he grabs Amber's mate and throws him out of the way. Amber stands there, her face pale, only showing fear. Before Nick can touch her though, her mate shifts into his wolf. He lunges at Nick who doesn't think twice about shifting. The two start going at it as we all just stand and watch. From the corner of my eye, I see Amber trying to run away. Before she can get anywhere, I grab her by her shirt and throw her to the ground. She tries to get up multiple times, but I keep pushing her to the ground.
"Leave me alone!" she yells.
This time I let her get up.
"Leave you alone? You messed with my son. I don't think so." In a fast motion, I swing on her, knocking her back to the ground. She gets up and pose in a fighting stance. I throw a punch again, knocking her back to the ground. This time, she stays down as she clutches her face in pain.
A whimper causes me to look at Amber's mate. Nick has him by the throat in his wolf form, seconds away from snapping his neck. I rush over to him, taking cautious steps as I get closer.
"Nikolai, let him go."
"He disobeyed my orders!" he growls in our mindlink as he tightens his hold. I take a step closer to him, bringing my hand to his back. His body visibly relaxes, and he drops Amber's mate to the ground. His body is still tensed up, but as I look at his face, I see him trying to get his control back.
"Mommy? Daddy?" We both look towards the house to see William standing there, a worried look on his face.
"Sorry, sis. He's just fast."
I shake my head and motion for William to come to me. He runs to us and launches into my arms. Nick stands above us, in human form and his eyes back to normal.
"Are you okay, baby?" I ask Will who gives me a nod.
"So, how about we open the presents then?" I ask and watch his head bop up and down. I chuckle and take his hand in mine and make our way to the present table. Everybody comes out of their state of shock and follow us.
I hand Will his first present and he rips it open. He gives the people that bought it for him a hug and a 'thank you' before going on to the next one.
The next half hour is spent with wrapping paper being torn off and almost all the pack members receiving hugs.
"Uh, my gift was kinda too big to wrap, so ... " Nick says, going around the gift table and coming back with a kiddie car.
"Ahhhh!" We all cover our ears as Will screams. He runs to his car and inspects every inch of it.
"Thank you so much, Daddy!" he says, hugging Nick's legs tightly.
"You're welcome, Will. I hope you like it."
"I do, Daddy. Mommy, look at what daddy got me!"
"I see, baby. It's a nice gift."
He nods and picks up the last gift on the table. It is mine. It's in a tiny box, so it doesn't take him long to open it. Inside is a necklace with dog tags on it.
"It was your Gramp's. He gave it to me for my birthday with his and my dad's tags on it. This one has you and your dad's on it also."
He smiles at me and launches himself at me.
"Thanks, Mommy. I'll wear it forever!" I smile at him. I take the necklace and put it around his neck.
"What do the tags say?"
"It has your birth date and how much you weighed and how tall you were when you were born."
Will nods and holds the tags in his hand.
He tells everybody a last 'thank you' before disappearing to go play.
"How did you get my dog tag?" Nick asks as we both pick up the wrapping and tissue papers.
"I asked your mom for it yesterday."
He nods and goes to throw away something the same time I do. We both collide with each other, sending sparks all over my body. Aurora is going crazy in my head, and I'm left in a daze as I stare at Nick's green eyes.
"Rose ..." he whispers as he moves to touch me.
I snap out of whatever trance I was in and push him off. I throw away the empty gift bag and walk towards the house. I ignore Nick calling my name and proceed to the bathroom.
I lock myself in the closest bathroom and take in deep breaths. I can still feel the sparks and tingles all over my body. My hands are slightly shaking, and I feel a headache coming on.
"Just admit it, Rose. You're attracted to him, and you want him back," Aurora comes from the back of my mind.
"Shut up. It's just the mate bond."
"Yeah? Then why are you all hot and bothered right now?"
I stay quiet which makes her snort.
"No answer? Admitting is the first step!"
I roll my eyes and push her to the back of my mind.
I take a few more deep breaths and freshen up before walking back out. Just as I step out, Marcus shoves me back in.
"What the heck?"
He covers my mouth with his hand, shushing me up.
"Girl, you need to control your arousal because Nick is going crazy searching this house for you."
I stare wide-eyed at him.
"But I'm not aroused." I try to defend myself even though I know I am.
"Yeah, sure your not. Look, Nick's hot and all, so I can tell why you would be, but your whole 'lets pretend we hate Nick when we actually love him' act is about to go crumbling down if you don't mask your scent," Marcus says, grabbing some perfume out of the cup board and drenching me in it. I wave my hands in the air and start choking.
"Okay, first, I don't love Nick, and second, it's all Aurora's fault; she can't keep herself together."
He rolls his eyes, making me growl at him.
"Whatever you say. Let's just try to stay as far away from him as possible."
I nod and move past him. I unlock the door and step out.
As I step out, I'm met with dark green eyes filled with nothing but lust. Nick takes a step towards me, but Marcus steps in front of me, blocking me from his view.
"Hey, Alpha. What's up?"
"Marcus, MOVE. NOW." Nick growls out.
"Well, you see, I could do that, but, um, uh ... Rose, make a run for it." He whispers the last part to me. I slowly back away from the two and start to run towards the backyard. I make it about halfway before I'm pinned to the wall.
"Little mate." I can tell its Nikolai again by the way his voice got deeper. His arm traps both of mine above my head as the other carresses my cheek.
"Nikolai, please let me go." I try to wiggle out of his grip, but it's useless.
"I won't ever let you go again, Rose. You're my mate."
"Ex mate. You didn't want me."
He growls and stuffs his face into my neck, inhaling my scent.
"That was Nick. I would NEVER let you go." He looks into my eyes as he speaks. As he stares at me, his grip on my hands loosens. I take this as my chance to get out of his grip. I rip my hands from his grip and push him away, making a run for it. The party is still going on with everybody clueless as to what just happened between us.
I feel a presence behind me and turn around to see Nick staring at me. His eyes are back to their normal color, meaning he already has full control of himself. He moves closer and leans down to whisper in my ear.
"What Nikolai said was true, Rosealine. I won't ever let you go again." His words make a shiver run down my back. He looks at me with determination in his eyes. He then walks away.
Marcus stands in the doorway, smirking.
"Don't say anything, Marcus."
He grins and walks to me, patting me on the shoulder.
"Oh, I won't, Rose, but are you cold. I could have sworn I saw you shiver."
I hit him on his arm and he chuckles.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
Why couldn't Nick become ugly over the years? Curse those green eyes.