Alpha Wolf - Mate Mine

Chapter 7 ~ Speak of the Devil - Part 1

"HE IS MIIIINE!" Elena growled loudly, imitating Crucifero deep voice, and resulting in a flush of laughs from Rex and Giulia, a snort from Marco and some coughs from herself, since she forced her throat too much in the action of pretending to be Marco's mate. "That's karma!" Marco jeered and poked repeatedly at her sides, making Elena suffocating between more coughs and laughs.

"Sooo.." Giulia chimed in, staring at her brother with anticipation.

Elena was hopping up and down, itching to release some pent up steam. Back in her pack, they could just leave school and run around if their wolves needed it. "I swear, if we don't get moving soon, I'm gonna start doing laps around the hall."

"Pff, yeah, fine!" Marco huffed, rolling his eyes. "When I said 'I heard', I meant I overheard it."

"You mean you were eavesdropping on your mate like a sneaky little spy," Elena suggested with mock accusation.

Marco's mouth twitched into a smile. "Well, a mate's gotta do what a mate's gotta do. And I'm a professional. Not sneaky. That's your farmer lover."

"It wouldn't surprise me if you were hacking his phone too," Giulia put it out there. She raised her arms, joined her hands and bent to the left to stretch, then swung to the right, showing off flexibility that made the rest of them look stiff as sticks.

When Marco didn't deny it, bouncing a little on his heels, Rex shook his head, mouthing "Stalker". He bent down, trying to stretch his legs but only managed to reach past his knees.

"Get to the point!" Elena snorted. "You heard Crucifero talking to someone about the Black Alpha being back?"

"No! I assumed it!" Marco replied while grabbing Rex's shoulder as he caught his ankle, stretching his thigh without toppling over.. "He was repeating the name 'Mirko' and 'Alpha' in the same conversation in a way that they are the same person and in a way that the same person happened to be on the phone with Crucifero himself... probably." He said in an intentionally complicated way to confuse them.

Giulia pursed her lips while Rex clicked his tongue.

"You spied on your mate while he got a call from, 'probably', his Alpha, whose name is, 'probably', Mirko." Rex deduced from the long-winded explanation, while Marco blushed and nodded.

"And by the way he was talking, you think his Alpha is back." Giulia concluded, receiving another nod.

While her friends teased Marco, Elena was lost in her own head, reflecting on the strange shivers running down her spine.

Mirko

Just the name made her feel warm from the inside, while Titilas was purring like a radiator.

A sharp hush fell over the hall, like the expectant quiet following a loud crack of thunder.

A tall guy with hell in the eyes and a cruel smirk prowled into the gym, looking like he was ready to torture them all. His shoulders rolled as he walked, and fingers were slightly curled in, like he was prepared to pounce at any moment.

An aura of malevolent power and domination radiated from this werewolf. It was hard to peg his age—he could've been in his mid-twenties or late thirties. The lines etched in his forehead, a little obscured by a mess of rain-darkened orange hair, and his hooded eyes—a witchy mix of red and orange—didn't make Elena feel comfortable at all.

His smirking face had that unsettling quality where, if you covered his mouth, his eyes looked feral, and if you covered his eyes, his mouth looked mean. Something about him set off alarm bells in Elena's mind, making the hair on her arms stand on end.