The Alpha House

Chapter Ten

Addison's POV

"You can't be seriously going to meet him."

I turned away from Jamie's disbelieving expression, walking into the closet to quickly change out of the baggy t-shirt I'd slept in.

"Of course I am."

"Are you crazy?"

"Dean knew that we were mated already, Jamie. Don't you wanna know how? And why he told me to give him a call?"

"No! This is the guy who shot us in the middle of brunch and nearly killed all five of you."

I reappeared, popping into the bathroom to brush my teeth, do a quick skincare routine, and fix my hair. Jamie moved to the edge of the bed, where he leaned back with his arms crossed over his chest, watching me.

"I'm going to hear what he has to say, that doesn't mean I like him or trust him." I spit out my mouthful of toothpaste.

"No."

"Well, you're not the boss of me. And all due respect, it was my life put on the line because of what he did. It was me who made the girls jump from the balcony into the pool. So it's my fault that Allesia broke her leg, and Cheyenne dislocated her shoulder, and Henny fractured her arm, and Sophia..."

I rubbed my moisturizer in without looking back at Jamie.

"I have to go. I just have to."

"Addison, I've known Dean a long time. He's not someone you can trust."

"What is his deal with you guys, anyway? Is he a werewolf?" I asked, ignoring Jamie's point as I sprayed some water into my hair to refresh the limp, frizzy curls.

"He's a hunter," Jamie answered, moving forward to hand me the curl cream that was sitting on the dresser in the bedroom. Our fingers touched, and just that small amount of physical contact made me flush with warmth. I squirmed. Jamie practically jumped back, returning to his spot by the bed in two short steps.

Jamie had been acting weird since I'd woken up, almost like he was trying to brush me off. I knew he couldn't be trying to play hard to get after everything that had happened, so what was his deal?

I made a mental note to press it later.

"A hunter?"

"A werewolf hunter."

My eyebrows shot up. "So he's here to kill you guys?!"

Jamie's blue eyes almost glowed with repressed laughter. "Don't you think if he had been trying to kill us he would've shot us with actual bullets?"

"Oh. Good point."

"He's kind of like the peacekeeper in Alpharetta. He and his family make sure that the packs don't get out of control, that people aren't attacked, that kind of thing."

"And he does that by unleashing vicious wolves on unsuspecting girls at brunch?"

I thought it had been a joke, but Jamie's jaw tightened at my words.

"I didn't mean it like that," I said quickly, walking over to him while fluffing up the front of my hair. I tried to put a hand on Jamie's arm, but he pushed off from the bed, avoiding my touch.

"No, what you said was true. We are vicious animals."

I swallowed, heading back into the closet to slip my shoes on and grab my denim jacket. It was early October in Alpharetta, and still fairly warm out.

"He was testing us to see if y'all would be safe living with us. Believe it or not, he thought he was looking out for you guys."

I shot Jamie a skeptical look, noticing that he'd put his own shoes on while I'd been in the closet.