The Two Alphas of Rosewood Creek [MxM]

Chapter 33

We cried, the two of us a soppy pile of tears and fraught emotion. Theo and Derrick had to pull us apart and Derrick helped gather all of Kash's belongings as we began our trek back to the packhouse. Theo effortlessly plucked me from the dirty shed floor and gave me a piggyback ride the whole way back. We all shared an ugly sense of the truth that night, and it was quietly understood that it would not be talked of once we got back. Not to others. Not even amongst ourselves. An invisible bond cementing our futures to each other in a way that was to be unquestionably accepted, though not fully explained.

"So, Kash," Derrick devilishly proposed as the house came within sight, "Wanna stay with me tonight? Just got a Helix Moonlight in the mail yesterday, and it feels like you're sleeping on a cloud!"

"Uhh... Well... I mean, I guess... Shit, I don't know!" Kash gave me a quick blushed glance, and I could see a nervous broach for approval from me in the way his eyes darted between me and Derrick and the soft, but nervous clenching of his lips.

"I'm sorry... what is going on here, Kash," I appraised him skeptically.

"Don't worry Remy, let him go." Theo interrupted me. "You can come chill with me." Theo's proposition was not a question‒‒it was an absolute, and I could just barely see behind his cool toneless expression that he had his own plans for me as Derrick did for Kash. My stomach churned with excitement and uncertainty.

'Remy you can't! We need to leave, you can't stay with that Alpha. You promised!' River bellowed.

'Oh come on River... I mean, I can't lie. I'm a little nervous, but Theo's is chill. Besides, it's just one night!'

'Remy, don't you even fucking think about it!'

"So what do you say?" Theo asked tepidly. He briefly cleared his throat afterwards, and I couldn't quite tell if it was from the strain of carrying me on his back for so long, or if he had to forcibly restrain some kind of nervous apprehension in order to ask me.

'Remy,' the wolf within me ceaselessly protested, 'Absolutely fucking not! You cannot trust him!'

"Sure, I'd love to," I answered, merrily ignoring River's incessant protest. I just wanted to hang out with Theo for once; and going home now‒‒being alone after a day like this‒‒would freak me out even more knowing that there were others watching my every move. It felt like it was the safest bet to be by his side.

"Cool," Theo smiled. His eyes, quietly radiant from my response, could meet mine no longer than a second before turning back to the trail exit and the hulking pack mansion before us. He was having as much trouble keeping his composure as I was. 

Maybe this wasn't the best choice, but it certainly wasn't a bad one. River was less a stern solemn wolf and more like a frantic cat running rampant in my mind, knocking things off shelves as frantic cats are wont to do. But River could do nothing to quell the butterflies in my stomach, nor squash the soft flame of Theo's warm reassurance.

---

Theo's room was basically a tiny apartment. The studio loft had a small kitchenette tucked away in the far corner, and the expanded layout had a small living room area with a large bed towards the back of the room. In true Theo fashion, there was a wall of built-in shelving stuffed to the brim with books. The interior was outfitted with the same creams and cool earth tones from the downstairs foyer. What took me by surprise was the full ceiling to floor window which gave a sweeping panoramic view of the looming forests and cloud-veiled mountains. It was incredible.

Theo lent me the shower first as I washed the day's problems away. It was refreshing to finally tear off James' now tattered and blood-stained tracksuit. Dressed in one of Theo's oversized long tee and basketball shorts that were way too big for me, I made do with what I had and dried my soppy curls. I didn't have any of my products, but one day without them wouldn't frizz my hair too much.