Don't Fall for the Big Bad Alpha

Chapter 9

As I woke I heard Theo's voice, but it sounded like he was on the phone. I grumbled as I stretched and opened my eyes. Quickly realizing I was in bed and no longer on the couch, I sat up at looked around the room until I saw Theo. He was sitting at the end of the bed with his phone in one hand and the other hand tangled in his hair.
Theo turns to look at me as he hears me waking up, smiling softly at me and bringing his hand out of his hair to rest it on my leg which was right behind him. I moved over to him, sitting right behind him with my legs crossed. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder. I sat quietly as he continued to talk to whoever was on the other end of the phone, waiting patiently for him to finish up.
Finally I hear him say goodbye, and lift my head up a bit to look at him after he hangs up.
"Hey, love. How'd you sleep?" Theo asks, looking over at me.
"Good... but when did I get in bed?" I asked, not remembering moving in here.
"Ah, you didn't, love. I brought you in here when the movie ended so you'd sleep a bit longer. I knew you were tired, so I wanted you to rest while you could."
"Thank you, Theo. Who was on the phone? Is everything okay?"
"It was Matt. There's a pack we are allies with that is having some trouble with rogues attacking and they need help, we're supposed to go and help them."
"When will you have to go? And, how long will you be gone?"
"Two weeks from today. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. I was thinking, maybe you'd go with me? You're my Luna, you should be there... and I'm not sure I could go without you."
"Of course I'll go with you Theo. Where is it? What pack?"
"It's in Tennessee. I know that's a long way from here, but they need our help."
"Oh, Tennessee, huh? Um, what-what pack did you say it was again?"
"Oh, I forgot. It's the Lunar Valley Pack."
As soon as the words left his mouth I began to feel sick. My hands shook and I had to carefully pull my body away from Theo's before he noticed anything was wrong.
"Um, Theo, I-I'm not sure that I can go with you. I just realized that, um, I'll have to ask off work and, and since I'm off this week they may not let me off. I-I'm sorry, it just, um, slipped my mind."
"Alex, love, is everything okay? You look a bit pale."
"I-I'm fine. Just not feeling too great. I-I'll be right back."
I quickly went to my bathroom, barely able to shut the door behind me before I was hunched over the toilet, heaving. I managed to tie my hair up quickly but that didn't stop me from feeling hot and sweaty. I felt awful, and every time I heaved my whole body shook. I heard a knock on the door and panicked, unable to remember if I'd locked the door.
"Alex, love are you okay? I thought I heard something," Theo's voice came through the door.
I went to respond but before I could get the words out I was heaving again. I heard the door open and Theo walk in.
"Are you okay Alex?" Theo asked as he knelt down next to me.
I shook my head hard, afraid of trying to speak again.
"Should I call the doctor?"
Once again I shook my head, knowing this wasn't an illness.
"What can I do, love? Do you need water, do you have any medicine here I can get for you?"
I wasn't sure how to respond, knowing medicine probably can't help.
Finally I felt like I'd be okay to stand up again, and I quickly put down the lid on the toilet and flushed it as I stood up. I moved to the sink to clean my face and brush my teeth, and Theo stood behind me, waiting patiently.
When I felt clean again I turned to Theo, but was immediately afraid to tell him what had really happened. Tears came to my eyes, and I looked down. He quickly brought me into his arms, comforting me as best as he could without knowing what was wrong.
"You gotta talk to me, love. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong," Theo said, kissing the top of my head as he held me close.
I pulled back slightly, looking down before saying, "I can't go to Tennessee with you Theo."
"I take it this isn't because of work?"
"No... Theo, it's, that's where I'm from."
"You mean that's your old pack? The Lunar Valley Pack?"
"Yes. That's my old pack."
"The one that kicked you out and the one where that bastard lives?"
"Yes, but Theo, please, don't try to find him while you're there. Please. I just want to forget about him and if you do something it'll be harder for me to forget."
"If it's what you want, love, then I won't. But don't you at least want to see your family?"
"I don't think they'd want to see me... I really don't think it'd be a good idea for me to go, no one wants me there..."
"I won't make you go, love. But I do think it'd be good for you to try and see your family. Maybe it's all just a misunderstanding. But I do think that, if you do go with me, you're going to have to tell me why they kicked you out of the pack before we go. Because if someone mentions it, it probably wouldn't look good on my part if I didn't know what happened."
"You're right. And I'm sorry that I haven't told you yet. It's just a lot to think about."
"I know. It's okay, love. I know that you'll tell me when you are ready. Try not to stress over it too much, okay?"
"I'll try... just, give me a little bit more time, okay? I promise I'll tell you everything but, I just need some more time to sort my thoughts out. I want to tell you the whole story calmly and accurately."
"Okay, love. Now what do you say we get out of this bathroom?"
I nodded, smiling as he kissed my head and led me out of the bathroom. I followed Theo to my bedroom, where he sat down on the bed and motioned for me to do the same. I sat next to him, and he immediately pulled me into his arms and had the both of us lay down in the bed.
"I'm gonna tell you today, Theo... but can we just lay here for a while? Just like this?" I asked, finding comfort in the way he held me and the warmth that surrounded me because of it.
I wanted to lay there for a while before I said anything because, well, he made me feel safe. Being here like this, with him, I feel safe. I feel like I can tell him anything, if only I can just have a little more time to feel like this before I am worried for how he will react to what I am going to say.
"Of course, my love. We will stay here as long as you like. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to stay like this," he responded, kissing my head.
•••
As I finished making my tea Theo waited for me on the couch, absentmindedly checking his email on his phone. When I finally finished I walked over to him cautiously, knowing I'd have to tell him now.
I sat down sideways on the couch, facing him. I drank a little bit of my tea before setting it down on the coffee table and looking up at him.
"Theo..." I said, waiting for him to look away from his phone.
"Yes, love?" He asked, putting his phone down and looking up at me.
"I'm ready to tell you now... if that's okay with you."
"Of course it is, Alex."
"Okay. So. From the beginning, I guess?" I paused, thinking about where to start, "there was a group of rogues that liked to hang around outside our pack. They rarely, if ever, left. We had tried and tried and tried to run them off, but nothing seemed to work, so they stayed there. One day, I was patrolling the border in the woods by myself. Everything was going fine until six of them surrounded me. I tried to fight them off, but I was severely outnumbered and unprepared for what was happening. They took me down, and I blacked out. I managed to ask for help over mind link once before they took me down but it wasn't quick enough. The rogues dragged me away to wherever their camp spot was, and when we got there and they threw me against a tree I woke up. They forced me to shift so we could talk and tied me to the tree. I remember being so... uncomfortable with the way they looked at me once I'd shifted. My first assumption of what they wanted with me was that they were going to rape me. Just a year and a half after...him... I was terrified. But that wasn't the case. In fact, maybe things wouldn't have turned out so bad if they had just raped me instead. When they were done looking at me and I was done screaming at them due to their 'leader' of sorts slapping me and pointing his gun at me, they told me what they wanted. They asked me to deliver them information on my pack's attack plans and a patrol map. They also asked me to give them any other information I could find that may help them pull off an attack on my pack. Of course my immediate reaction was hell no, but that's when he started making threats. He told me that he'd kill my family slowly and painfully and make me watch. He said that he knew," I paused as I got choked up, taking a deep breath before continuing, "he said he knew I had a little sister. He said he knew she was young still, and he'd seen her with me. He-he said he'd keep her for a while before he killed her, so he c-could... have his way with her for as long as he wanted. He made a disgusting comment about how if her body was anything like mine then he'd be in for a treat. And when they were sure I'd do what they asked, they untied me and dragged me back to the border. When they left I shifted back so I wouldn't cry for the rest of my patrol. I-I did what they asked. I had to! I couldn't let them do that to her. She was only 10. She didn't deserve that. I couldn't let that happen to her. It was my job to protect her! I had to..." I trailed off as I started crying, thinking about my sister.
Theo immediately moved over to me and pulled me into his arms, holding me close to him. He tried to calm me down but I hadn't thought about everything that happened much less said it out loud since I left home. It hurt. A lot. It was either be loyal to my Alpha or save my family. At the time, my family was more important to me. Especially once they brought my sister into it.
"Alex, love, I just need you to know that what you did doesn't change how I feel about you. To be honest, if I were in your situation, I probably would have done the same. Actually, I really admire that you were ready to give up everything just to protect your family. I know you're upset, but I think you did the right thing."
"They just never gave me a chance to explain... they don't even know that I was protecting them. They only cared about the fact that I betrayed the Alpha. They kicked me out without giving me a chance to explain... I don't think they've even missed me, Theo..."
"Shhh love of course they've missed you. You're their daughter. No matter what you did, you're still their child. I think it'd be good for you to go with me, talk to them. Besides, don't you want to see your sister?"
"Of course I want to see her."
"So come with me! I know you're nervous but you'd get to see her and I think that's what's most important."
"Okay, okay. I'll go with you. But if something happens I'm catching the first flight back."
"I understand, love. I'm so glad you're going with me. I'm not sure how long I'll be there and I'm worried I wouldn't make it more than two days without seeing you."
I laughed, the tears finally stopping, and went to wipe underneath my eyes when Theo beat me to it. He held my face in his hands and gently wiped away my tears with his thumbs. I closed my eyes, leaning into his touch.
"Theo?" I asked suddenly, looking up at him with all the courage I could muster.
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
"I love you too, Alex. So much."
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, and smiled at him.
"I'm glad, because it made me really anxious trying to say that," I laughed, holding his hands.
"Why, love?"
"Because I was afraid that you wouldn't feel the same way... and it's just hard, after everything with my last relationship. That's all."
"I understand, love. But of course I feel the same, I'm crazy about you. I always knew I'd love my mate, but I never imagined I was even capable of loving someone this much."
I leaned in and kissed him, slowly and passionately. All I wanted at this moment was to be close to him. A lot has happened today, and all I know is that I'm so glad that I have Theo. He is amazing and so so caring.
Somehow we ended up laying down on the couch, still kissing. Theo had pulled me down on top of him, holding me there tightly. As we pulled apart for a moment to catch our breath, I laid my head on his shoulder.
"I love you, Alex," Theo said, kissing my forehead.
"I love you too."
•••
I walked into my kitchen and saw Theo standing at the stove, cooking dinner. I smiled for a moment, just watching him.
"Hey Theo, can I talk to you about something?" I asked, leaning against the counter.
"Of course, love. What's up?"
"So I was thinking, if I'm gonna go to Tennessee with you and I were to ask off work I'd need to know how long we'd be gone. But since we don't know, and things are going so good right now anyway, I was thinking that maybe instead of asking off, I'd put in my two weeks notice. The only problem with that, though, is that I wouldn't be able to pay my rent anymore and I'd need somewhere else to live... so I was hoping..."
"You want to move in with me?"
He was trying to sound calm but I could tell he was excited.
"Well, only if you're offering, and you're truly okay with it. We'd have to have me moved out of here by the time we leave for Tennessee, but I've already paid rent this month and I have this whole week off work, so I figured it wouldn't be that hard for me to get it all packed up again."
"Yes, Alex, of course you'll move in with me! You know I want this. I've been wanting this for a while. I can't wait to wake up to you next to me every morning."
"Well to be fair, we haven't had too many nights apart, though that is probably mostly my fault."
"What do you mean it's your fault?"
"I mean I've made you stay the night with me more than once simply because I knew I wouldn't sleep nearly as well, if at all, without you there."
"Trust me love, all I needed was for you to want me to stay as much as I wanted to."
I smiled at him, going over to hug him before he turned back to the food. He kissed the top of my head before we pulled apart, and I smiled at him one more time before returning to the living room to wait until he was done cooking dinner.
Not too long after I'd sat back down on the couch Theo walked into the living room carrying a large tray that held two bowls and two drinks, along with some breadsticks and silverware. He walked over to me, setting the tray on the coffee table so he could sit down before getting everything ready. He put a fork and breadstick on the edge of each bowl before handing one to me and keeping the other for himself.
"Fettuccine Alfredo?" I asked, smiling.
"I know it's your favorite, and after everything today I thought you deserved it," Theo responded sheepishly.
"Aw, thanks Theo. I love you."
"I love you too."
•••
*the next day*
"Okay, so I need to get boxes, trash bags, and some newspapers. Then I should have everything I need to start packing," I say as Theo and I get out of the car.
"Are you sure you want to start packing today, love? I know it needs to be done but this week off was supposed to be for you to relax."
"Yes. I'm sure. I can relax once I've gotten everything packed up. I also need to go to work so I can give my boss my notice."
"If you say so, love. But you will relax at some point. I'll make sure of it."