My Jealous Ex-Wolf

Stress

"How was your day babe?"

I smiled over at him, "I thought 2 o' clock would never roll around, other than that I guess it wasn't too bad."

He nodded, "I'm glad to hear it, and our little problem?"

I knew he was asking if I had talked to Jace.
"Taken care of." I said with relief as I reached for his hand.

I laced my fingers with his and he simply brought the back of hand to his mouth, I smiled contently as I felt the light brush of his lips form a perfect chaste kiss.

"And what about your day?" I asked.

"Productive."

As we pulled into the same restaurant that Ryan had brought me to I couldn't help but wonder just what Dean had done today.

He came around and opened my door for me before giving me his hand to help me out of his car.

"Thank you." I smiled as I looked up into his handsome face.

For the first time I really looked at him today, and instead of my usual rugged handsome mate, I found that his appearance seemed tired.

I reached up and placed my hand along his cheek, "hey, are you alright...you seem tired."

He reached up and touched my hand before kissing my palm, "I'm fine babe, I'll explain inside." He smiled in an almost exhausted fashion.

He kept hold of my hand and carefully led me inside the eatery. We were seated quickly and knowing what I already wanted to eat I didn't bother looking at the menu.

"You okay?" He asked me.

"Oh, I'm fine...just don't need a menu."

"So you're ready to order then?" He asked with a yawn at the end of his sentence. "My apologizes" he smirked as he wiped at his now watery eyes.

"Hey, why don't we get the food to go...we can go back to my parents place" I offered, "I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you came over for a nap."

He chuckled, "no, but thanks for the offer." Then he looked at me a little more seriously before speaking again, "we can definitely get the food to go, but instead how about we go over to my place?"

Suddenly a jumble of nerves crashed down on me.

Sure I was more than use to being around him, I'm quite use to his constant need to touch me (as I craved his touch as well), but I was really scared to meet his mom...I mean I'm his mate and all but that doesn't mean she HAS to like me.

I finally nodded my agreement, and we placed our order to go.

"I guess while we wait on our food I can fill you in." He smirked once again. "Anyways, after I dropped you off last night, I had to go by the pack house. I know you talked to Jace today so I'm sure you're already aware that his grandparents aren't doing too good."

I felt like shit knowing I hadn't even thought to inquire about his grandparents well being, "it didn't exactly come up." I confessed.

"Well his grandmother needed surgery and then a few days later his grandfather got really sick, he's been suffering from extreme seizures...needless to say Alpha Richard is more than a little concerned for his parents' well being, he wants to go and be by their side in their time of need...that of course means Ryan and I are having to step up a little more."

I could feel that there was more he was needing to say so I remained silent.

With a heavy sigh he finally let everything out. "Alpha Richard is going to announce that he is stepping down on Sunday and that Ryan will be the new Alpha from here on out...Ryan's going to be officially naming me as his Beta in front of the entire pack, that means I have the rest of today and tomorrow to really think about if I want to take on this responsibility."

I never really thought too much about it, I've just always known every pack has an Alpha, Luna, and Beta...but I wasn't quite sure of there definitive roles now.

"Wait, okay I have so many questions...I know this isn't exactly a question, but I didn't even know you could turn down the role of Beta."

He chuckled handsomely, "yes, even more so since I'm not blood related to Ryan I can turn down the position and he'd just have to pick someone else."

"Okay then, but do you want to be Beta?"

At this he shrugged his shoulders and our food arrived, he collected the bag and then we left once more.

"The biggest part for me is, Ryan's the closest thing I've ever had to a sibling." He said in a small sort of rant as he drove. "I love this pack and would do anything to make sure both this pack and my brother stay safe...BUT I don't know if I'm ready to swear myself to the other parts of it."

"Like what?"

"Like running the entire pack and being responsible for every single person if Ryan isn't around to lead the pack, so if he decides to go out of town for a weekend trip and shit goes down then I'm the one who has to call the shots...If people die it'd be on me, and then there's also Jace."

The sound of his name made me worry.

"Why are you worried about Jace?" I asked. "...also where are we going?"

"I'm not worried about Jace per say, more concerned with the fact that for years many people, like Jace himself, assumed he would be Beta and therefore sort of already do as he says even though technically he doesn't have any actual authority so to speak...and we're going to my place."

I looked ahead down the road, I knew the Giles' house wasn't too far away from their lumberyard, but instead of heading toward the outskirts of town like I was expecting, we were actually driving into town.

As we pulled up to an apartment complex it suddenly dawned on me...Dean doesn't live with his parents, he has his own apartment and for the first time ever we would be one hundred percent truly alone and unbothered unlike the cabin or his office.

I followed him up some stairs that led to the second story and soon he opened the door to his place.

"It isn't fancy or anything, but it's mine" he smiled fully "make yourself at home."