Vince stared at me. “Yeah, but I’m the Alpha.”
I tilted my head. “I think you forget sometimes that my mom is also an Alpha.” I raised my shoulders again. “I learned a long time ago not to question her.”
Vince gave a quick nod and grabbed a few things. Brandon, on the other hand, came over to talk to me. He leaned on the counter and gave his best charming smile. “Hey Amy.”
I furrowed my brows. What was he trying to do here? “Uh, hi Brandon.”
“How are you?” He stared into my eyes, but I could see him flexing the arm he was leaning on. I had to do a slow blink to cover my eye roll.
“I’m great. How are you?” I politely smiled and looked over to Vince, who was staring at us, like a stalker. When his eyes met mine, he went back to shopping.
“I’m great now that I see you.”
I nearly gagged. I nodded along. “Oh really? Did you have something you wanted me to tell Shannon? Or did you like…lose your phone and need me to tell her so she doesn’t freak out or something?” I played stupid.
“What? No! I just wanted to see you.” Brandon straightened and sent a weird look to his father. Who, by the way, was once again staring.
“Why?” I leaned down over the counter and rested my head in my hands.
“Why what?” Brandon tried to recover.
“Why did you want to see me?” I sat back up as he tried to lean close. “We aren’t friends, barely even acquaintances. I think we have barely said a few words to each other, and most of those were about or because of Shannon. You know, my stepsister, the girl you are still dating.” I smirked at him as he did his best to recover.
“That’s only because…” He trailed off and looked to his dad. I watched as Alpha Vince mind-linked him and he turned back and smiled. “It’s because you were so beautiful. I was intimidated. I talked to Shannon about you, and she swore you would become interested in me if we pretended to date.” He leaned back over the counter. “It was all just a ploy to get your attention.”
I leaned back on the counter and I watched as his smile got bigger, more confident. I leaned in really close to his face and when I was a hair’s breath away from his lips; I looked him in the eye. “Well, it was hard not to pay attention when you and Shannon hooked up for hours in the room next to mine.” He jerked back and his smile dropped. But mine got bigger. “You seem to have good stamina, but come on, did you really believe that was really how she sounds? It was right out of a movie. A bad one.” I pushed back off the counter. I turned to Vince and back to Brandon. “If you really wanted to catch my attention,sleeping with my stepsister was probably the worst way to do it. I want a mate who waited for me, just like I did for them.” This time around, I was sticking to my morals. In my last life, I looked past it. And look where that got me. “Now, is there anything I can help you with in the store?”
Vince walked up to the counter with a few things. “Now, now, Brandon might have gone about talking to you in the wrong way, but he only had good intentions.” He put everything on the counter.
“Yeah. I heard what his intentions were through the wall most nights.” I snorted my laugh. “I can appreciate the effort. Really, I can. But I have a rule. I don’t date someone a friend or family member has dated.” I met Brandon’s eyes. “I sure as heck won’t sleep with the same man.”
I watched as he deflated. “What? You can’t be serious…” He looked at his dad. I could see the disbelief on both their faces.
“What are you saying here, Amy?” Vince tapped a finger on the countertop. “That you would only be with a virgin man?” His laugh was annoying. “If that is a requirement, I think you will be alone for your entire life.” Brandon chuckled.
I nodded. “I mean it’s possible.”
Vince straightened. “You can’t be serious.”
“Why not? Are virgin male wolves that elusive?” They both stared at me like I had lost my mind. “What?”
“When a male wolf enters shifting age, their aggression and hormones go haywire. The only known way to stop them from killing others in the pack is to ensure they have a partner to take their excess energy on.” Vince widened his stance like he was teaching me something, but he wasn’t.
I nodded along. “Yeah. I remember learning that in school. I was so blown away I brought it up to my father the following summer. He said he was punishing a wolf coming into his shifting time, his second Gamma now, but back then, justanother wolf. I pointed out that it wasn’t fair. His hormones were so out of whack and he had no one to take his anger out on.” Vince nodded. “But my dad froze.”
“Why?”
“He then explained that it was a lie. Older male wolves told the next generation that it was normal and even expected that male wolves would have a harder time controlling their wolves. And that it should be expected that men would sleep around because they did that themselves.” I met Vince’s eyes. “And all the following generations built this whole lie so that their sons, and their sons, wouldn’t be judged the same way female wolves were if they lost their virginity before mating. They wanted an excuse so that men could do whatever they wanted and it could be blamed on hormones.”
“That’s not true. Males do have a bigger surge of aggression.” Vince sounded disgusted at my father.
“True. But aggression can be channeled in a million different ways. My father’s pack uses warrior training for all the wolves coming of age.” I lifted a shoulder. “Each pack has their own way, I guess.”
I pulled his stuff towards me. But Vince slammed his hand down on the counter and growled. “Are you talking down about our pack? MY pack?”
“No Alpha Vince, just pointing out that there are ways other than sex to work out our aggression. Each pack has their way. If I grew up just here, I would follow your way without question.” I looked down. “I would probably feel exactly as you do. That men need their release to be safe.” Brandon looked confused. “But I wasn’t just raised here. I have seen other ways that work. So I guess that gave me unrealistic expectations from my mate. My father trained through his aggression.”
“He also cheated on your mother.” Vince tossed out. “He betrayed her and left her vulnerable.”
