The Cursed Alpha

Brother

FREY POV

The next morning, the Giovenni pack and my own started cleaning up the party from last night. Zane seemed surprised that the other pack was cleaning as well, but honestly, it was the neutral zone. Everyone took care of it. If the part was in our lands, they wouldn't care enough to clean up. They probably would have left last night.

My pack let them do most of the work, since we had another one of these tomorrow, and a few days after that. Compared to other packs, my pack had a small number of alliances, but it was still a lot. Because of the tradition of having one party per ally, we werewolves tend not to celebrate too much, but when we do, we go all out. Cleaning the neutral zone's pack house took all day.

By dusk, everything was done. The Giovenni pack was leaving, and my pack was starting to set up for tomorrow's party. Kathy had been cooking all day. I knew I should've been helping my pack, but I found that I didn't want to move too much. It was probably because of Zane.

All day he had kept his arm around my waist, or at the very least, his hand was on my lower back. It sent tingles through my skin, and his scent assaulted my senses. I could tell Chris had been irritated at first, but after he saw me beaming up at Zane and actually laughing with my mate, Chris had warmed up a little and smiled at me. I needed to talk to him. And now was probably going to be the only private time we would have for the next few weeks.

I told Zane that I needed to talk to Chris, and he lets me go. One day I think they're going to be good friends. Most mates do befriend their other half's family.

"Want to go for a run?" I ask Chris as soon as I walk over to him. He nods and we shed our shirts. I smile up at Chris. We haven't been this close and informal in a long time. I see Chris thinking the same thing, and he starts feeling light blue.

"Let's go," he says. We shift and dart into the woods.

For a while the two of us just frolic around and our wolves have fun together. Rumble was a large, shaggy wolf that reminded me of my brother in many ways. Both were stoic and gruff unless you got to know them. If you were close to them, they were the sweetest and most caring beings in the world. They were both large and strong, and they both loved me. And since I had met Zane, I had started loving them back.

"We're going to shift back now," I said, and Chris nodded and followed suit. We both sat down wearing our backup clothes. I break the silence by shifting close to Chris and resting my head on his strong shoulder, taking in his comforting scent. He immediately hung his arm over my shoulder. I took a minute to soak in the safe atmosphere my brother omitted. I hadn't sat like this in years.

"I love you, Chris," I said finally. He swallowed. I saw his Adam's apple bob. His voice was choked when he responded,

"You know I love you forever, Freysie."

"Don't call me that," I said automatically. Chris chuckled, and we sat in silence for another moment.

"It's good to know that that rogue is good for something," Chris said finally. I felt the familiar burn of anger ignite inside of me, and Yaps just barely held it at bay.

"He's not just a rogue," my voice was snappier than would have normally been acceptable, but Chris understood me. He knew I was still getting used to emotions again. "He's my mate. I love him. And...he's finally starting to accept me. I'm happy. Aren't you happy for me?" I question, looking up into my brother's brown eyes. He sighed,

"I'm happy that you're happy, but please, be careful. He's accepted you, of course he has. Any guy claiming to be straight would fall for you. But just 'cause he's accepted and started to care for you doesn't mean he's ready to be your mate,"

"What?" I'm confused. Zane's come a long way. He's calling me Frey, not 'Alpha.' He talks to me, even starts conversations with me. He laughs when he thinks I said something funny, and he doesn't even shy from touching me. What's wrong?

"There's no way he can love you if he doesn't love himself. He's still part wolf, Freysie. And for some reason or another, he hates it. Just... when he pushes you away because he cant accept himself, don't cry over him, alright?"

Yaps starts growling when she remembers how awfully Zane's treated B-G in the past, and honestly, I'm a bit angry about that as well. How the hell could someone treat their wolf that way?! It blew my mind, and I couldn't understand.

"Hey now," Chris blew on my nose. I scrunched my face. He knew it itched my skin when he did that. I pout at him. I heard it shows that you don't appreciate something. Chris just laughs. "Calm down a bit, huh? He's still your mate. You still love him. Give him a nudge in the right direction and I'm sure he'll come around eventually,"

"You really think so?"

"If anyone can do it, you can," Chris laughs, "You have always been the most stubborn person in the world. If you have a challenge in mind, there's no way anyone's going to get in your way. Especially not your puny mate."

"You haven't heard his wolf's name, though," I all but sigh. Chris gags and sits up.

"Alright, enough guy talk, time to just... chill."

And that's what we do. And I'm the happiest I've ever been.