Page 116 of Alpha Mates

“What happened with your parents this morning?” he asks, softening himself the way he always does when he brings them up.

“They were weird. Slightly apologetic, but full of excuses.” I shrug. “We talked and then I left.”

“What did they say?” he presses, and my fingers twitch. It takes effort not to tug my hand from his. “Did they give you shit?”

“No,” I answer too fast. “They were fine.”

“Then why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you have something to say,” he says, and I know him well enough to recognise the tension in him. He’s nervous.

I don’t want to make him scared, but I also don’t want to share what they said in case it puts any ideas into his head and ruins this. I can’t lose this. It’s the one thingIhave.

“What—” I start before taking a moment to choose my words. “What are we?” I ask carefully. “I know we’re mates, but besides that … what are we?”

His brows lift, surprise taking the place of worry, before confusion takes over, and I can’t blame him. I don’t even know what I’m asking. Only that something sharp in my chest won’t let go, a thorn lodged there since my parents said the wordluna.

“Um,” he drawls, blinking slowly as he settles himself on the seat beside me, his hand still over mine. “Besides mates …” His head tilts. “I don’t know,” he replies honestly. “I mean, I guess we’re dating now? But what doesboyfriendseven matter when we’re mates?”

He looks at me, clearly hoping that answer was sufficient, but the thorn remains where it is. He frowns, and it’s cute watching him gear up to try again.

“We are us, I guess,” he states finally.

“Us?” I deadpan, lips twitching.

“Yeah, us,” he repeats, firmer this time. “Us‘cause I don’t know how to put it in one word,” he admits. “Before we were mates, I hated you, but I also grew up with you. You’re the one constant in my life. And now I care about you more than anyone else in my life,” he whispers, sliding his fingers between mine. “So you ask me what we are, and I don’t know—because I don’t know how to confine us to a word.”

His words, and the tenderness in them, make my heart swell so fast it forces the thorn out.

“Technically, by saying that we are ‘us,’ you are confining us into a word,” I reply, grinning when he scowls.

“Smartass,” he snipes, but I can feel his amusement in the bond.

“But I understand what you were trying to say, so thank you.” I squeeze his hands in mine.

Hisexpression turns sharp again. “Were your parents asking about us?” he sneers, already at ten.

“No, not really.” That is the truth. “They were fine today, which is why it was so weird. They were … nice?” I say, laughing at the bewilderment on his face. “Yeah, I know.”

“If you’re okay, then I don’t care how weird they are,” he says, smoothing his hands over mine.

I’m not okay, but it feels like I might be when I’m here with him, his touch bleeding the tension from my bones. It always does. With him, I feel safe and happy, and when he touches me, it’s even better.

But maybe that has to do with the whole luna thing. Maybe that’s why I submit to him so easily when we’re intimate—because I wasn’t supposed to be his alpha, but his luna.

When have you ever submitted to Aiden?Alex cuts in with a growl.There is no reality where we let him walk all over us.

But when we’re together—

It’s different in bed,Alex dismisses with more conviction than I can muster.Like Aiden said, what you like in bed has nothing to do with who you are, and it’s between us, no one else. You aren’t anyone’s luna, so stop thinking that before I take over and slap us.

I snort a laugh, and Aiden frowns, looking so adorably confused that my laughter builds as I slide my other hand over where ours are already clasped.

“I’m okay, Aiden,” I promise, leaning over the table. “I just had a long day, and I’m tired.”

He nods, shoulders relaxing a bit before he sits up too, bringing himself closer to me. “If that’s the case, how about we call it a day and I order in for us? I can get something from that Chinese place you like.”