Adored by the Alpha

Chapter 21

It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would- I mean, I had other things to worry about. My heart hammered unevenly in my chest.

"Don't worry," he whispered as we came closer and closer to the front door, his thumb rubbing back and forth on my hand. It was... oddly comforting. I grimaced at the thought.

We reached the front door, and before Allen even had a chance to knock, it was opened, a very happy and welcoming Claudia coming into view. She smiled and basically dragged us in, wrapping her arms around Allen's shoulders- the height difference making it look a little funny. "Hi there Ally," she whispered, stretching on her tiptoes, before letting go of him and turning to me.

Her smile grew wider, and she carefully wrapped her arms around my shoulders. Her embrace was weirdly familiar- and comfortable. "Hi, Paige, it's so nice to see you. How have you been?" she let go of me and wiped some hair away from my face with her palm, her eyes scanning over me.

I couldn't help but smile. She reminded me so much of my own mom. "I've been fine, thank you,"

She placed her hand on my shoulder, and leaned slightly closer to my face, and then whispered, "Is he treating you nice?"

My smile fell just a little. "Yeah,"

Her's on the other hand, widened."Good, otherwise I'd mount his ass to the ceiling," she glared over her shoulder, and Allen stood up just a little straighter.

Allen's father appeared out of what seemed to be thin air, a friendly but cautious smile on his lip. He offered meh is hand, keeping his distance, and I took it. "Hey there, Paige, it's nice to see you again," his shoulders fell down a bit, and he took a step back.

"Uh, thanks," I whispered, hiding my hands behind my back. Even when smiling politely, I couldn't help but finding him slightly intimidating.

Allen gestured to the doorway on the right, and I followed him silently. It looked like a living room- white couches and matching armchairs placed gracefully around a large, unlit fireplace- larger than the one in my room. In the closest chair, a girl with dark, slightly wavy hair was sitting cross-legged with a phone in her hand, not even looking up from it- strangely comforting.

On the couch closest to said chair, two girls were pressed against each other, their eyes focused intensely on the computer screen in front of them- they were sharing a pair of earbuds. They were at the left end of the couch- at the right end, a boy with a curly mane of brown hair was reading a book- Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. I couldn't help but smile.

My eyes moved at the sound of movement. For the first time, I saw a familiar face- Lila, the only one of Allen's siblings I'd met so far. She dumped her phone on the coffee table placed in the middle with a cheerful smile. "Hey there, Paige,"

My heart stopped in my chest as everyone turned their eyes to me. The horrifying thought of being the main attraction in the room made me kind of nauseous.

To my surprise, Lila walked up to me, and more (carefully than the last time) wrapped her arms around my shoulders and gave me a quick squeeze before she took two steps bags, Allen sending her evil eyes.

"I'm sorry about last time, I really thought that Al was fucking with us when he told us how scared shitless you were- my mistake," she shrugged and smiled. She was comfortably casual and yet still... not scary, but something like that. She made me wary.

"Lila, your language, think about Austin,"

The boy with the brown curls and matching eyes rolled them. "Mom, I already know the word fuck. Jeez, I'm not 4," he shook his head, the curls shaking along, and looked down at the book- he was almost finished.