The Next Alpha King (No longer updating 2021)

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen



Ryder glances at me and then pulls something out of his pocket.

"Do you mind?" He asks when he pulls out his cigarette.

I actually do. I hated the smell of cigarettes. It reminds me of the last time I went to a party. Some guy I crushed on was smoking and he tried to pull a move on me. I couldn't push him away and my lungs filled with the smoke. I coughed loudly and just in time, Jason came in and beat the guy up.

It was the last time I ever went to a party. I realized that guys who were drunk didn't know what they were doing and could possibly rape a girl.

But instead of moving away from Ryder, I shook my head and told him, "You can go on."

He nodded and pulled a lighter out, lighting his cigarette. I watched as he breathed the smoke in and out.

It wasn't like I was scared of cigarettes. I hated the memory of it being breathed down my face but I doubt Ryder would do that.

Jason smoked around me all the time that I had gotten used to it, but that doesn't mean I don't hate it still.

"Do you want one?" He asks me.

Did I want one? Did I want to feel the poison air going down my lungs so it could slowly kill me? It wouldn't really matter if I did or didn't though, but I know for sure Jason will find out. After all, no matter how far away I am from him, he is protective as hell.

I shook my head.

"How often do you smoke?" I asked him, slightly curious.

"I think maybe one or two a day," He says.

That's not bad for an addicted person.

"Well," He continues, "I do smoke a joint maybe three or four times a day too. And sometimes I use a hookah."

Okay, maybe that was pretty bad.

"You do a lot of drugs, don't you?" I didn't mean to sound like I hated it.

He shrugs. "Yeah I do."

At least he admitted it.

"Is that it?" He asked. He turned to look at me. I looked at him back and saw something burning in his eyes. Almost like a fire waiting to be put out. "Is that the only reaction I'm getting? You're not going to try to stop me like everybody else?"

"It's not that I like you doing all these drugs. I hate it, in fact. But I can't just force you to stop. Since you seem like any other guy out there, you'll probably stop when you realize that somebody out there does care for you and I'm planning on staying with you for a while now. I'm your mate remember? I'm not supposed to control what your life is like. I'm supposed to be there for you, thick and thin and support you all the time." I say, feeling quite proud that I had actually said all of that without messing up.

He seemed to stare at me for a long time and I hear my heart beat louder in fear. Did I say something wrong? Why is he looking at me like that?

He breathes the smoke out of his lungs before he puts his cigarette out by pressing it against the bench.

He then gives me a side smile and leans over to place a small peck on my forehead.

He then leans back against the bench we were sitting on and runs his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry," Ryder apologizes.

"What are you sorry for?"

He shakes his head and sighs. "I'll tell you some other time."

I tilt my head in slight confusion and was about to demand him to tell me but we suddenly heard a 'meow' coming from right in front of us.

It was a black cat sitting on the sidewalk and staring at us.

"Oh god," Ryder grimaces, "I hate cats."

"That's such a stereotypical thing for a wolf to say," I retorted.

He grins at me, "I think most wolves hate cats."

I gave him a side smile. "I think cats are adorable."

"You're crazy."

"I'm not."

"Alright, go ahead and pick him or her up and see if it likes you."

I rolled my eyes at him and got up slowly, just so I don't scare the cat away.

I approached him and crouched down. I petted his head softly and soon, the cat was purring and it rubbed its head harder against my hand.

"Oh how cute," I say lovingly and continued to pet him.

"Do you want to keep him?" I heard Ryder ask.

My eyes widened a bit and I turned around, only to see that he was not joking around. He had a small smile on his face and he stared at me so lovingly that I almost blushed at his intense stare.

"I thought you didn't like cats," I raised a brow.

"But you like them right?" He asks. "I want you to be happy too."

I think my heart just skipped a beat from the overwhelming happiness that just came. Not because he was letting me have a cat, but because he wanted me to be happy.

He smiles. Like actually, really smiled. Not a side smirk or his joking grin but a genuine happy smile. "So do you want the cat?"

I smiled widely. I nodded and picked it up, cradling it as if it were a baby in my arms.

"Do you think it has an owner?" I asked him.

"Probably not, seeing as it's roaming around this really big park during the day. We'll look for fliers if he or she doesn't belong to anyone."

"Is this okay with your parents?"

"They don't run my life. I'm 18 now, remember?"

"Oh, you're so rebellious," I tease.

He gives me a grin and gets up. "C'mon, let's take it to the vet so we can check if it has fleas or something."

"Okay," I smiled and got up. "Do you want to hold him?"

"Nope."

"How come?" I laugh.

"I told you, I hate cats."

"C'mon, don't be like that." I pushed the cat toward him and the cat meows. It looks at Ryder curiously.

"Please?"

He stares at me but then sighs. "Fine."

I handed him the cat and he holds it by the stomach and away from him.

"Don't hold him like that!"

"Him? How do you even know if the cat is a boy?"

"I'm just guessing. Now hold the cat like how you would like to be held."

"Hey, the only way I would like the be held at the moment is in between your legs."

"Okay, Ryder. That is kind of gross," I say but I couldn't help the blush that had risen to my cheek.

He laughs and copies the position I put the cat in. "Are you happy now?"

"Very happy," I smile, refraining from thinking about his dirty comment, and we reached his car.

We drove to the vet and we discovered that the cat is a boy and that he was very healthy. He received all his shots and was fixed. Honestly, I didn't know what being fixed was until Ryder told me more about cats.

"Well," He stretched and looked back at his car full of cat food, toys, and the cat itself. "That killed a couple of hours."

"We're going to the party now, right?"

"Yep, Lily called me earlier to get you there early so she can do some girly stuff."

"Alright," I say and we pull out of the vet's parking lot and into the street.

The whole way there, the cat, in which I decided to name Cole, kept meowing.

"Cats are so annoying," Ryder complains and turns up his rap music louder.

I turned it down and sighed. "He's probably just lonely back there."

"Yeah, okay. Sure he is."

"Don't be like that."

"Cats are annoying," He says again.

"I'm pretty sure you've established that you think of that already," I say.

"It's because they are annoying," He argues.

"Will you at least learn to like him?"

"Maybe, but only for you."

Only for you.

The three words that can make you feel instantly special. You are the only reason why I'm doing this. You are the only person who I will do this for. Because you are really special to me.

Even though he's doing something trivial for me, it made me feel special. And I loved it. I love him.

We arrived at his house in a couple if minutes. A couple of maids came out and took all the cat stuff, including Cole.

"Party starts in thirty minutes," One of them tells us and walks away.

When we entered his room, or our room if I should call it that, he grabs my waist and kissed me deeply.

"I was waiting all morning to do that again," He says when he pulled back.

"You were?"

"Of course," He kissed me softly on the lips again.

There was a loud knock and shouting. "Alright lovebirds, break it up! Grace, it's time to get ready for the party."

I groaned.

Ryder chuckles. "I guess I'll see you later then."

"I guess," I say. "If you wanna find me, there is a high chance I'll be by the food table, just saying."

"Well guess what? I'll probably be there eating already when you come over."

I flashed him a grin and tippy-toed to give him a peck on the lips.

I said one last goodbye and get out of the room. Lily was there with her newly dyed chestnut-colored hair.

"It suits you," I say.

"Thanks," She smiles and grabs my hand. "Now c'mon it's time for you to get all dolled up."

"Okay Lily," I say with a happy grin.

"I even bought you a new summer dress that's really pretty!" She continues to say as we walked down the hall. "And a super hot dress for the party tonight."

"Are you sure it will look 'hot' on me?"

"Yes, it will make you look super hot with your curves."

I doubt that. The last time I wore something "hot" was at that party and honestly, it was really uncomfortable.

We arrived at Alex and her room later.

"Hey sugar," Alex greets. "Hey Grace."

"Hey," We replied back and Lily pushes him out the door.

"Go hang out with Ryder. We're going to get ready for the party."

"Okay," He chuckles and shuts the door behind him.

She then takes out a green dress and tossed it toward me. It was long in the back and short in the front, probably to give it a more flowy look. It had a seam below where the boob area was, probably to accentuate my curves?

"I got that baby for 25 bucks," Lily says proudly.

"Impressive," I say and start stripping.

Lily takes out her dress next which was a pretty pink floral dress.

There was a knock on the door when we were doing each other's hair.

"Hey Lily?" I heard a female voice say. "You in there?"

Lily gasps. "That must be the girl I was telling you about earlier!"

"The one with the pretty brown hair that you wanted?" I question.

"Yes! Oh my god Grace, she's so nice and pretty. I think you'll like her a lot." She gets up to open the door. Lily smiles widely. "Grace, I want you to meet Allie."

My good mood instantly dropped.