Chapter 4 | It's A Pleasure

Riley

Harry and Todd keep me occupied and distracted as we pull up to the bowling alley. They rush inside, pumped up and overly animated. I smile as I watch them and then check out our surroundings.

I’ve always been ultra wary of my surroundings, always watching others to make sure nothing can take me by surprise.

Harry and Todd know that I’m still sad, and they’re having a hard time adjusting to my mood. Normally, I try to hide my sadness from them, but this is all-consuming, and I can’t worry about how it’s affecting them when, at times, it’s hard to breathe knowing my mate rejected me.

We walk to the counter to grab our shoes, and Harry gasps then hisses, “Taylor’s here.”

I glance in the direction that Todd is looking as Harry attempts to hide between the two of us. I smirk. That’s adorable; he’s got a crush.

We get our shoes and walk to our lane, the whole time Harry glancing back to try and see where this Taylor girl could be. I pull my hair up as I mentally make a game plan on how to embarrass my brother.

The plan is finally hatching when someone bumps into me, making me stumble backward. 

I’m about to embarrass myself by falling on my ass because there’s no way I’m going to catch myself in this position. Then strong arms appear out of thin air and catch me. I look up in surprise, seeing the strong jaw of the man who caught me.

My mouth feels dry as he lifts me up as if I weigh nothing, and he chuckles as he tells me, “You’ve got to be more careful.”

His natural charisma and looks leave me awestruck. He’s probably around my age; his dark brown hair has that perfect ‘just rolled out of bed’ look, his warm brown eyes flash to black, and I stumble out of his arms as I realize that he’s a werewolf. I gulp and say, “Uh, thanks for catching me.”

His smile looks like a model’s as he tells me, “Not a problem. I’m Archer. What’s your name?”

“I’m Ri-” I don’t get a chance to finish my sentence as I hear a loud growl and then Todd’s voice as he yells, “Don’t go near her!”

My head snaps to the side, instantly searching for my brothers. Zane pushes Todd to the floor, moving to stalk towards me when Harry rushes in his path and pushes him back as he yells, “Back the fuck off, Zane!”

One of Zane’s friends grabs Harry by the arms and yanks them behind his back as Zane punches Harry in the face.

A low growl rumbles through my lips as I run over faster than a human could, but I wasn’t thinking about all the precautions I’m supposed to take.

No one lays a hand on my brothers. Especially not the bastard that dared to reject me.

Zane raises his fist again, prepared to do it again, and I push in between the two of them as I yell, “That’s enough!”

His eyes are dark and cold, devoid of any emotion. His wolf is in control. Goddamn Alphas.

I seeth, hatred fueling my blood, “You will not hurt my brothers.”

He growls lowly, just low enough for werewolves to be able to hear, but no human would be able to hear it.

My eyes flicker to our surroundings. The owners of the bowling alley are wolves, and they rush to get all humans out of here. Every human except for me, because they know I’m too deep in this, and fear flashes in their eyes because they think I’m human and I’m blocking a soon-to-be Alpha from doing what he wants to do.

But I know that Zane won’t hurt me. His wolf must be furious with him for rejecting me.

Once the humans have left the premises, the owners attempt to get the wolves out. That’s a harder feat to achieve. This is a small town with only 2 packs present, and everyone wants to know what is going on.

Zane’s eyes slowly lighten, his wolf retreating although it is right under the surface, ready for the moment it is able to come out again.

Archer comes over, his voice low and demanding, “This isn’t the place for this kind of behavior.”

Zane’s eyes narrow at Archer as he remarks, “Archer, you’re back.”

I’ve never seen Archer before, so I’m surprised that the two of them seem familiar with each other. Archer nods slowly, his voice steady, “Let these kids go.”

Archer’s presence is calm yet demanding; meanwhile, Zane is the opposite: he’s erratic and looks like he wants an excuse to blow up and start a fight.

Out of my peripheral, Todd walks towards us, but I hold out my hand as I say, “Stay there, Todd.”

A blonde guy walks over, standing beside Archer as he states, “Zane, these are just kids. You’re scaring them.”

Zane’s eyes flicker behind me, eyes locking on Harry as he states, “Don’t get in my way again.”

Harry’s feet scrape against the floor as he stumbles when he gets let go. He spits out, “Don’t fuck with my sister!”

I snap, “Harry!”

Zane growls louder, and his eyes turn pitch black, and his wolf is ready to attack in response to the insult. I get slammed to the floor, and I look up, seeing Archer on top of me, and in front of him, there was a black wolf now standing in the place where Zane was.

I whimper softly, seeing the massive wolf stalking towards my brother. I’m surprised when the blonde man runs in front of him to protect him and then is joined by another guy with reddish-brown hair. The other guy pushed Harry towards us, and Archer yanks him to the floor to sit beside me, and Todd rushes to my other side. Archer stands up in front of me.

His confidence doesn’t waver as he guards us; the other two men only dodge Zane’s attacks until one gets smacked by his large paw and goes flying across the room.

Zane turns towards us, and I gulp, feeling fearful because there’s nothing that I can do to protect us. I don’t have a wolf yet or my Gemstone abilities.

Suddenly I hear a booming voice, “Zane, shift back now!”

His father strides into the room, his face red as he glares at his son. Zane stands up, fully naked since his clothes were shredded with his shift. His father’s aura is suffocating as his Alpha aura commands the room. He smacks the side of Zane’s head. “You are the next Alpha. What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

His father shakes his head in frustration, and his eyes lock onto mine. He groans loudly, knowing how big of a fuck up this is. He asks, “What do I have to do to keep you quiet, Riley?”

I open my mouth, but his attention isn’t on me anymore; it’s on Archer. One of his eyebrows raises in surprise, and he says, “Well, Mr. Archer, you’ve returned home.”

Archer’s voice is deep and authoritative as he says, “It’s Alpha Archer.”

That explains his confidence when he caught me; he is an Alpha too. Glancing around, I see he and his friends are the only ones in the room who aren’t baring their necks to Zane’s father in submission.

“Riley?” Zane’s dad says my name, wanting to know the price of my silence.

I respond, “You don’t have to do anything. I’ll keep quiet.”

He smirks then pats me on the head as he says, “Good girl.”

My fists clench as I resist the urge to get angry and continue this. How dare he treat me like a dog?

Todd is trembling in fear, and Harry wants to come to my defense; it’s up to me to keep my head. I pat Harry’s arm, hoping it’s enough for him not to initiate anything.

Zane’s dad turns to leave the room, commanding everyone else to follow. Once the group is gone, all that’s left are me and my brothers, Archer and his friends, and the owners. Archer releases a deep breath, then looks to the owners and says, “Charge the damages to my account.”

The owner’s voice is soft as he shakes his head no: “It’s not necessary, Alpha.”

Archer nods, “Yes, it is. You are one of mine, and I will look out for you.”

Archer turns to look at the man with the reddish-brown hair and says, “Brandon, oversee this so they get anything they need.”

Brandon nods in confirmation, and Archer asks, “Do you mind if we still bowl?”

The owner’s mate walks forward with a gracious smile: “Anything you want, sir; we appreciate your business.”

Archer nods with a smile and turns back to my brothers and me as he says, “Well, that was eventful. My name is Archer, and these are my friends Brandon and Caleb. Would you like to join us in a game of bowling?”

Both boys look to me, waiting for me to make the decision, and with a sigh, I shrug. “Mom and Dad did tell us to bowl.”

Their grins are wide, and Todd eagerly asks, “Can I get some sour gummies?”

Before I can answer, Archer says, “Anything you want, it’s on me.”

Without another word, both boys run to the snack area. I look to Archer, “That wasn’t necessary.”

He scoffs, waving his hand dismissively, “With everything you’ve been through, it’s the least I can do.”

I nod slowly as he says, “You never told me your name.”

I chuckle, “You heard my name from Alpha Jackass.”

His laugh is contagious; his eyes glimmer with amusement as he tells me, “I want to hear it from your lips.”

Heat rushes to my cheeks, and I tell him, “Riley, Riley Ford.”

He lifts my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles as he says, “Well, Riley Ford, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”