The Alpha's Rebel

Chapter 22

I spend the entirety of the next day with my friends, and we all have dinner at my parent's house again. Maddox and Dax join us. We go back to Vinnie and Molly's house and play another drinking game of Cards Against Humanity the entire night. I've never seen Maddox drunk before, and I know it takes a lot for an alpha to get drunk, but he's winning enough where he is definitely not sober. He's hilarious and super touchy, and I fucking love it.

I love him, but I still haven't told anyone yet. Drunk me thinks I should tell him this very second, but drunk me also knows that sober me will be mad at her if I do.

So I don't.

His arm is loosely hanging around my waist, and I lean into his body and rest my head on his shoulder like I was doing last night with Kaitlyn. His arm tightens around my waist and pulls me as close to him as he can until I'm practically in his lap. I giggle and move my head into the crook of his neck now that I'm closer to him.

Kaitlyn reads another white card, something about dying that I hardly hear because I'm now so focused on the way Maddox's body is pressed against mine. I throw in two midgets shitting into a bucket and call it good, returning my head back to Maddox's neck. The crook is so comfy and I think I might fall asleep, but I don't want to fall asleep because this is my last night with my friends.

This is my last night with my friends before I move with Maddox.

That single thought right there is enough for me to sit up straight and hold my head up. "Woah baby, what's up?" Maddox grins, keeping his arm around me.

"This is my last night here, and we need to have a fucking bad ass adventure."

"Hell yes we do!" Molly cheers, and I realize how loudly I said that. I don't really care how loud I was because everyone needs to know it, and I'm glad at least one person is on the same page as me.

Everyone starts talking at once about everything we could do tonight, and I can't even keep up with one person's words with the haziness in my mind.

"Wait!" Thay says loudly, talking over everyone so they can all hear. It works, and we all look at him. He's looking at me with an evil glint in his eyes. "Harp should get to choose since this is her last night with us."

"That's a great idea!" Molly giggles.

"What'll it be, Harp?" Kaitlyn asks, leaning back against Dax's chest as she lazily grins at me. I grin back, relaxing against Maddox. He presses a kiss to my temple that definitely turns me on more than it should.

"We're going to go cliff jumping," I grin. "And when we get back, we're having a pizza party on the roof."

Everyone excitedly agrees, and we're all getting up in a flurry of movements. Most of us need to go back to our respectful homes to put swimsuits on, so we agree to meet at the cliffs in a half hour. I giggle as I grab Maddox's hand and pull him out the front door after Thay so we can go back to the house he's been staying in and then my house. We have a half hour, and I plan on making the most of it.

We shift into our wolves, and being in wolf form when you're well into being drunk is number one on the weirdest list of feelings I've ever had. Our human forms already have advanced senses, and those are much, much more advanced when in wolf forms. So just like getting drunk throws off all your typical senses in human form, it has the same effect in wolf form.

Only it's a million times worse. Because our senses are stronger, they also get thrown off more.

It's so weird.

Maddox and I stumble to his place as wolves, nosing each other back and forth with wolffish grins. When we reach the front door, we both shift back. Once inside with the door closed behind us, I'm immediately on my toes and pressing my lips to Maddox's. I slip my hands under his t-shirt and trace the muscles with the tips of my finger up his abdomen and chest, his constant shivers at my touch putting a smile on my face.

"If you wanna do this, we gotta make it quick," Maddox mutters against my lips.

"You think you can do it?"

An even more intense kiss is the only response I get. He picks me up so I can loosely wrap my legs around his waist. In our drunken state, heading to the bedroom seems like too much work when the couch is right there, so that's where Maddox lays me down.

I don't think it's the most passionate time we've ever made love, but it's definitely the craziest. With the short time we have, there's no teasing or endless kissing involved. It's straight to the point, and all I can say is wow.

Shifting on the couch to make room for Maddox, we both take a few minutes to slow our hearts rates and calm our breathing. The passionate feel in the air is too much for my drunken-but-slowly-starting-to-come-down mind, and before I lose the courage, I grab Maddox's face between my hands so he's looking me in the eye and say, "I love you."

So much for thinking I would regret it.

Maddox's eyes widen, but his lips curve upwards in one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen on him. "You do?" he asks, the serious tone in his voice a contrast to the wide grin.

I somehow know that he won't leave me hanging, so I nod my head and say it again. "I love you."

"I didn't know it would be this easy to sweep you off your feet after our first encounter," he replies in a teasing tone, burying his face in the crook of my neck and placing light kisses on my bare skin. It leaves a tingling trail from my collarbone to my temple. "I thought it would take weeks. Months even. Not a solid week." He's back to staring at me from a few centimeters away.

"I don't love often, but I love fiercely," I tell him quietly, craning my neck so I can plant a soft kiss on the corner of his lips.

"It's one of the many things I love about you," he says. "I love everything about you. Your energy, your attitude, your free spirit. The little evil glint in your eyes when you get a good idea. The protectiveness you feel for the people close to you. The urge to take care of them. How you know exactly what to do to set me over the edge. Everything. I love you, Harper Matthews."

I'm grinning like a fool from the moment he first said "love". I press my lips to his for a shirt and sweet and passionate kiss before reluctantly pushing his body away from mine.

"As much as I want to stay here until the end of time and then some, we have somewhere we need to be," I grin. I'm still hold out my arms and have my hands against his chest, but he finds a way around them for one more kiss.

Maddox heads to the room, butt naked and not bothering to pick up his clothes, so after watching him round the corner into the bedroom, I swipe his shirt from the ground and pull it over my head.

He rejoins me with navy blue swim trunks and no shirt. He smiles at the sight of me in his shift, his dark eyes clinging mischievously. I know exactly what that look means.

"Oh no," I say, shaking my head as I stand up from the couch. "We're already running late." I smirk and toss my hair over my shoulder, turning on my heel and walking towards the front door, making sure to sway my hips.

I'm setting Maddox over the edge, one of the many things he loves about me. I remember the words we exchanged only minutes ago, and my teasing smirk turns into a happy smile as I open the front door, shifting into my wolf and leaping off the porch. I take off, knowing it won't take Maddox that long to catch up to me.

At my house, I leap onto the roof and go through my bedroom window. The alcohol is quickly wearing off, and now I'm just tipsy.

There's a suitcase full of clothes and a few boxes, but I'm leaving a lot of my stuff here. I want to get to Maddox's (and technically mine now, too) home to know what I should bring before bringing too much.

I shift and dig through the suit case to pull out a swimsuit, choosing the sexiest one I have. I'm naked when I hear a thump on the roof and Maddox comes through my window. His eyes turn pitch black the moment they land in me, and there's no shame as he lets himself take me in. I smirk again and slip into my swim suit.

I approach him and immediately jump up, my arms wrapping around his neck and legs around his waist. He's prepared for the force of my jump like we've choreographed it multiple times, but I know it has more to do with the fact that our bodies are so in tune with each other.

"Hi," I say.

"I love you."

I smile as I lean in to kiss him.