The Alpha (BoyxBoy) (Book Two)

Part 11

*River's PoV*

"Where's Jinx?" Cherry asked as she set the plate of pancakes in front of me.

"He went back with Austin and Jamie. His pack needed him." I explained. I could hear the saddness laced in my own voice and I hated it. I hated being away from him. I hated how vulnerable I felt without him by my side now. "He should be back later today though."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked with a tone of concern. "You sound pretty upset."

I shrugged softly. "I just," I sighed. "I don't know what I'm gonna do. This whole thing is so stressful. I have no idea how anyone is gonna react, and I know it being a secret hurts him, it hurts me too, I just don't think I could stand rejection from my pack." I explained.

She nodded softly. "I can see where you're coming from. But I mean, you're all wolves, everyone knows you don't pick your mate. No one should have a problem with it. Honestly if I were in your position I'd really only care what my parents thought, and I've met your dad, he's not gonna care in the slightest."

I knew deep down that she was right. No one was going to say anything even if they did care. It was just hard because there were still all these nagging thoughts. Then what about the blood line? We couldn't have kids of our own, and I didn't want any weird ideas thrown out about offspring.

Then I had no idea how anyone would feel about the fact we'd need to extend the territory, and just the fact our pack size was about to at least double. That thought alone was weird. Then the lack of a Luna. Unless when we finally did mate one of us would be put in the Luna position. That kinda freaked me out too. This whole situation was freaking me out.

It sucked even more because Jinx seemed so calm and collected like these questions weren't swimming through his head, and maybe they weren't. But I couldn't see that as being possible. He had to care about our future, our packs future.

*Jinx's PoV*

When we got to Jamie's house Corey was already there looking for him. They now sat on the couch with Andrew and Jacob while I stood in his kitchen throwing together some food. Austin's words were still playing in my head though, and all I could think about was how Andrews family used to talk to him.

"Jamie, could you come here for a second?" I hollered. He didn't verbally respond but I could hear him getting up and making his way to the kitchen. I motioned towards the table and watched as he sat down. I walked over and sat a plate in front of him with a hot dog and some macaroni salad on it. He stared down at it for a moment and then up towards me with a pale face.

"I'm really not hungry." He mumbled.

I nodded softly. "I'm not asking you to eat it all, just some." He sighed and returned his eyes to the plate. "Can I ask something that might be a little personal? You don't have to answer." He gave a light shrug. "Who's Franklin?"

He sat back and I watched his face grow redder than a tomato. "You heard that?" I nodded softly. He smiled softly. "He's my unborn son." he chuckled a little and shook his head. "Me and Austin sat up one night talking about kids and we came up with names."

I could feel myself smiling as I nodded. "Well, Franklin's gonna need a healthy father while he's growing up you know." He nodded softly as his smile faded. "Healthy sort of consists of more than just a slice of pizza a day." He nodded again and picked up his fork looking more irritated every second.

I walked back towards the counter and got Corey and Jacob's plates ready. I then walked them out to them before asking Andrew to join us in the kitchen. He groaned but nodded and followed. He sat next to Jamie while I got mine and his together.

"Are we gonna talk with him here?" Andrew asked quietly.

I nodded softly. "We're all gonna talk if that's okay with you." He sighed but nodded. I sat his plate in front of him and slowly started eating mine as I turned back to Jamie. "I have a story for you Jamie, and afterwards I wanna hear a story from you, okay?"

He looked confused and a little nervous but nodded. "Andrew here used to be the biggest kid in the pack." Andrew stiffened and glared at me but it didn't stop me from continuing. "Seeing as it isn't really normal for wolves to weigh a certain amount, he kinda got made fun of a lot, and it got to the point where he stopped eating all together."

Jamie was now staring at Andrew with wide eyes, while Andrew was probably killing me in his head over and over again but still, I continued. "His family didn't really know how to deal with it, but they tried even though it didn't really help. Our pack used to go on runs every Sunday. But one Sunday Andrew completely collapsed because his body didn't have the nutrients to keep going. Ever since then me and Andrew eat every single meal together like this, and talk about what's bothering him and how he's doing. I told him from the start though, that this is going to continue until he can finish his plate before I finish mine."

I watched Andrews eyes finally change from their anger to realization as he looked between our plates and realized he hadn't even touched his yet while mine was almost a fourth gone. "That's why Andrew and I am here Jamie, why are you?"

His face shifted from a curious wonder to completely blank as it grew a little red. "Well," he started as he stared down and started pushing his food around with his fork. "I guess it sort of started a long time ago. Eating in front of people just made me really anxious. So I would wait till I was alone and I'd just eat a whole lot hoping I wouldn't be hungry again for a bit, but it just made me feel sick. By the time I was comfortable enough to eat normally I just"

He sighed and pushed his plate away, Andrew reached over and rested a hand on his shoulder. A moment of silence went by before he finally started speaking again. "By then I knew Austin was my mate, and he was always talking about girls he liked and how small they were and that sort of shit, so just the thought of food made me feel sick. And it's like I know that how I'm eating isn't right, but it's like I can't bring myself to care, I don't know it's a weird situation."

I nodded softy while Andrew just held him, lightly rubbing his shoulder. I leaned forward and set my hand on his. "Listen Jamie," I started softly. "Austin loves you. He doesn't care how you look. You're his mate. I know it's hard to believe sometimes but it's true, and I know you know it. It's not gonna be easy, but you have tons of people who care about you and we're all gonna help you through this."

"Thanks." He whispered, but I could feel the sincerity.

I smiled and nodded again. "How about you take a few bites of the hot dog and head to bed." He nodded before picking it up and bringing it to his mouth. I turned back towards Andrew and looked at his plate that he had still barley touched. "Today doesn't count by the way." I told him and watched as relief washed over him. "But you still need to eat."

He nodded and I watched as Jamie stood up. I glanced towards his plate and was rather satisfied with how much he ate. I told him I'd take care of the plate, and he headed upstairs. I turned towards Andrew who was now staring at me like he was waiting for me to say something, but when I didn't he spoke up. "He's gonna do fine."

I nodded softly before gesturing down towards his food. "And so are you." He offered a small smile before picking up his own fork.