I Stopped Chasing My Alpha

Grant watched me in the mirror for a few seconds, then laughed.

“You went to White Bay by yourself?”

“Yeah.”

“Come on, Lena. You're kidding.”

I put the cap back on my lipstick. I couldn't blame him for not believing me.

Back at the academy, I'd send him pictures of two outfits before going anywhere and let him choose. I'd even asked him whether I should study herbal medicine, as though he knew what I wanted better than I did.

Later, whenever he went out on patrol and came home a little late, I'd watch the clock and wait for a message. Sometimes I'd call before he'd even made it back to his car.

“If it bothered you that much, you should've told me,” he said. “I know I haven't spent much time with you lately. Once things settle down, I'll take you to White Bay.”

A foolish part of me still wanted to believe him. But I'd heard that promise so many times before, and every time, I'd ended up disappointed.

He leaned in to kiss me. I turned my face away without making a fuss.

“I just put my lipstick on.”

Grant paused. I reached for my garnet necklace, and he spoke again.

“Wear the silver-colored one.” He picked up the thin silver-colored chain beside it. “The garnet's a little much with that dress.”

“I like this one.” I fastened the necklace and checked it in the mirror.

Being turned down twice seemed to throw him. After a long pause, he asked, “What's gotten into you today?”

I smiled and cut him off.

“Didn't you tell me I should start making my own decisions?”

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but in the end, he just promised to pick me up that evening.

After dinner with my friends, Grant still hadn't arrived.

I waited another twenty minutes at the restaurant. I was about to call a cab when his familiar black car pulled up.

I opened the passenger door and found Tessa, Grant's childhood sweetheart, already sitting there.

“Lena, I'm so sorry.” She lifted a shopping bag. “I asked Grant to help me pick out a present for my mom. I had no idea it was your anniversary.”

“Don't get the wrong idea,” Grant said. “I was already in the area. I ran into Tessa and went with her.”

“I've got a meeting tonight, so I'll drop you off at home first.”

When I didn't move, he added, “Tessa gets carsick. Mind letting her sit up front?”

He watched me nervously, as if he expected me to start an argument right there.

I said nothing. I shut the passenger door and got into the back.

Grant glanced at me in surprise.

On the way home, he and Tessa talked about patrols, laughing every now and then.

I sat in the back, fighting my own nausea, with no way into their conversation.

Grant took the next bend too fast, and Tessa spilled her iced coffee all over her jeans.

She opened the glove box to look for tissues, rummaging through my things without asking.

She didn't find any tissues. Instead, she pulled out a little stuffed rabbit that fit in her palm.

“Oh, this is adorable.” She squeezed one of its ears. “Grant, where did you get it?”

I'd made that rabbit for Grant when he became Alpha. I'd spent three nights sewing it from a photo of the rabbit he'd had as a boy, right down to its mismatched ears—one longer than the other.

A while ago, he'd told me he'd lost it. I'd called every inn he'd stayed at, trying to track it down. When I couldn't find it, I'd been upset for days.

And all this time, it had been in his glove box.

Grant barely glanced over.

“If you like it, keep it.”

I froze. It felt like something had pierced straight through my chest.

“Grant!” I blurted out.

He turned to me with that familiar, weary look.

“Lena, don't be so petty. If you want one, I'll buy you another this weekend.”

He looked at me like I was a spoiled child.

I stared at the face I'd once loved so much, and something I'd been holding on to finally let go.

Fine. He could give it to whoever he wanted.

When I didn't argue, Tessa happily tucked the rabbit into her bag.

“Wait,” Grant said suddenly.

Tessa looked up. “What?”

Grant checked the rearview mirror. When he saw that I wasn't reacting at all, he hesitated.

“Nothing.”

For the rest of the drive, he kept glancing at me in the mirror, a slight frown on his face.

I leaned against the window, closed my eyes, and stayed quiet.

He was clearly wondering why I wasn't making a scene.

But I'd already decided I didn't want him anymore. Why would I fight over a stuffed rabbit?