The next morning, I hammered my fist against the apartment door in block J, waiting impatiently for someone to answer. This block wasn't too shabby and was full of cubs playing in the hallways.
"Alpha Reed." A young girl ran past me as though she might catch a disease from me and I frowned. I had always been close with my pack, every member - old or young. But now they feared me and I hated it.
I wanted respect, definitely. I hated being disrespected but fear was totally different. The fact that people ran from me made my heart ache a little.
The girl was tiptoeing back towards me to pick up a hair clip I assumed she had dropped as she flashed past. She approached me cautiously, as if not to wake a sleeping dragon. "Here you go sweetie." I picked up the clip and handed it to her, making sure to smile brightly.
"Thank you," she mumbled with a small, nervous smile.
"This is pretty." The clip was pink and sprinkled with glitter and a small plastic daisy was glued to one end.
Her smile magnified. "My daddy bought it for me. Its my favourite." She took the clip from my hand and slotted it back into her hair.
"Alpha Reed?" Olivers voice called from behind me and I turned to see him in the doorway with a pair of shorts on and small droplets of water falling from his hair and trailing down his bare chest.
He was reasonably good looking but was nothing compared to Zach. He was slimmer and nowhere near as muscled but he still had a sturdy build and ripped abs. I turned back to the girl. "Bye sweetie."
"Bye!" She waved and threw her arms around my legs before scurrying off, leaving me smiling.
"Sorry, I was in the shower," Oliver explained as I turned back to him.
I waved him off. "Don't worry about it. I'm sorry to bother you but I am spending the day with my friends who I assume are around the same age as you and Liv and wondered if you wanted to join us? You could meet some of the pack and there is a kids club downstairs for Luca if he wanted to meet some of the kids here."
"That sounds great." He grinned. "Let me check with the others?"
I nodded. "Thats fine, we are meeting at mine in about an hour so if you want to come then just meet us there, if not see you soon."
"Thanks Alpha Reed." He grinned.
"God please call me Ella," I begged, always imagining my father as Alpha Reed. "See you."
With that, I made my way back down the stairs and out into the warm sunshine. Today, the sun shone brightly over the valley, simmering through all the clouds so there was a clear blue sky. The warm air brushed over my bare skin as I crossed the village in a pair of white ripped shorts and a black t-shirt. My hair was pinned back in a ponytail and curled loosely.
"Hey beautiful." Zachs voice cut through the peace and quiet of the summer morning. Sundays meant a rest for most of the pack so the only activity were cubs chasing each other through the street or a few people strolling in the summer sun.
"Nice run?" I asked him, trying to keep my gaze focused on his eyes. Not the droplets of sweat on his upper lip or his damp hair or the way his top clung to his glistening skin. A sweaty man had never, ever been a turn on - until Zach anyway.
His scent was raw and masculine and somehow he looked bigger, broader and more muscular while his shadow cast over the grass beside us. "A bit too hot," he admitted and I grinned, walking home alongside him.
"What did I say?" I teased.
"Yeah, yeah you were right," he grumbled, taking my own sweaty palm into his extremely large and soaked hand.
"Ew, get off, you're all sweaty." I cringed, pulling away.
"If I get you all sweaty too we can shower together." He winked.
I laughed. "Nice try, we are meeting everyone today. I am sick of their whining about never seeing me anymore so we are spending the day at the lake."
"So you aren't up for a quickie before we go?" He raised his eyebrows, staring down at me incredulously.
"No," I replied, staring at the glaze on his lips. "Probably not." I changed my answer before leaning in. "Maybe just a really quick quickie." I pressed my lips to his and smiled against him.
He tasted masculine. So damn sexy and masculine. I could've got lost in his taste, melting into his arms while our tongues danced. I didn't even care that we were in the middle of the village while cubs raced around us.
Although, when I could feel his hard member pressing through his shorts into my belly, I knew it was wise to pull away. "You're so damn beautiful," he gasped, smiling down at me.
"So are you." I grinned and retook his hand. We sped back home and found ourselves in the shower extremely quickly while our clothes were scattered throughout the house.
The cold water rained down on us while our own heat intensified and crackled between us. I couldn't get enough of this man and I didn't think I ever would.
A sudden banging on the door pulled us apart. "Hey! You guys are going to be late," Liam yelled from my bedroom.
"We will be out in a minute!" I called back, reconnecting my lips with Zach.
"By the way, I have Ellas fancy blue bra and I am keeping it." He cackled, making Zach snarl into my mouth.
"Liam!" I yelled, needing that back. It was one of my favourites and matched the underwear that was currently draped over the door handle.
"Get out the damn shower!" He called, his voice further away as he left my room and headed back down stairs.
"I messed up your hair." Zach pouted adorably, wrapping a towel around us both and running his fingers through my soaked, tangled locks.
"It would've messed up anyway." I shrugged, placing a kiss on his lips before slipping into my underwear. "Don't suppose you can get my bra back?" I fluttered my eyelashes at him.
"Damn right I will," he grumbled, stepping out of the bathroom as naked as the day he was born to search for his boxers. I had stripped them away somewhere in the bedroom but didn't know where. "I am so glad this house is sound proof. As if him living here wasn't already annoying, if he had heard you moan the way I just did he would be buried six feet under," he grumbled, sliding on his boxers over his semi hard on.
"How are you already ready to go again?" I laughed, grabbing my shorts from the windowsill of the bedroom while combing my fingers through my hair.
"I will always be ready for you." He winked, kissing me passionately before leaving to retrieve my bra.
When he returned with the blue garment hanging from his finger, we dressed each other and he dried my hair which was now more like beach waves than curls. We finished about 5 minutes before everyone was supposed to arrive so helped Liam grab some snacks and drinks.
"You two are seriously insatiable," he huffed, raising an eyebrow and frowning.
I patted his cheek. "Don't steal my bra again Liam... or I will castrate you." I kissed his other cheek lightly before skipping down the hallway to the front door.
"Hey!" Jordan launched herself at me and pulled me into a hug. "I missed you." Her familiar scent made me relax into her comforting arms and forget everything else for a minute.
"I missed you too. I'm sorry I'm such a crappy friend, I have just been busy." I hugged her back with equal amounts of love before we pulled away and grinned at each other.
"Hey guys." Caroline, Mason and Alexia appeared behind her and we all said hi before sitting on our front steps and waiting for the others.
"Why are you both wet?" Lexi nodded towards me and I blushed while Zach smirked beside me.
"Hot shower sex I think." Liam laughed and she joined while I buried my head in my hands.
"Shut up Liam," I growled.
"Oh Zach. Oh Zach I can't wait anymore. I need you," he mimicked, putting on an abnormally high pitched voice. "Oh Ella you're so hot. So hot Ella." This time his voice was extremely low and I struggled to keep my smile at bay while I slapped his face and chest repeatedly.
"Shut up the room is soundproof! You couldn't even hear us!" I reminded him, still slapping at him.
"Well that's how I imagine it went. Am I far off?" He smirked.
Zach raised an amused eyebrow, pulling me away from his brother gently before asking, "you imagine me having sex with my girlfriend? You seriously need to get laid brother."
Liams face dropped and I laughed along with the rest of my friends while we waited for the others to join us.