Page 3 of Alpha Mates

Maybe Goddess will be kind?Alex tries hopefully.Maybe she’ll call him to the plains early?

I laugh.Let’s hope.

I park in the school’s back lot and steal a few minutes to settle my thoughts—and rid them of that dimwit. The last thing I need is for some curious human to catch the anger flickering in my eyes.

I rein in my pheromones, fish out my contacts, and take a steadying breath before I pry my lids open. I blink past the sting that comes each time the lenses dull my transparent gaze into an uninspired, human blue.

It’s a small thing, hardly painful, but masking who I am never sits right.

Oliver had to go through this for so long …

Shaking my head, I rid my thoughts of him too before the burning behind my eyes worsens.

The car locks behind me as I head toward the bland stone building, and into the flow of students milling around. It’s still jarring how many bodies they squeeze into this one place, but I’m used to it—enough to slip through their groups without drawing attention.

Forming relationships with humans isn’t wise. Or permitted. It’s one of my father's strictest rules, and one of the few I don’t particularly mind since I’m not the most social wolf.

Friends aren’t exactly my strong suit, but that’s not to say that I don’t have them—if two count.

“Fix your face, Julian. You look constipated.”

Beckett’s deep timbre finds me just before his arm slings around my shoulder and tugs me to him. I’ve removed it too many times to count, but it always finds its way back, so I leave the heavy slab he calls a limb in place as we walk into the crowded hallway.

“Must you be so loud in the morning?”

“Mustyoube so depressing?” he counters mockingly. “Aren’t you excited for the coronation?”

“As much as I can be.” I sigh. “I’m guessing you are?”

“I am!” he shouts, turning a few heads our way—none of which he notices—as he beams at me. “It’s going to be legendary. You, the brooding yet cunning alpha, and me, your wildly charismatic beta.”

“You’re charismatic as spoiled meet is flavourful,” Isabel says, appearingbehind us. “And stop yelling before you scare the humans.”

“Please, the humans love me,” he scoffs.

Isabel and I roll our eyes.

Beckett has been my best friend since we were seven, and my only pick for a beta once I realised I’d be alpha. It was only natural that he came with me to school. Seeing as Aiden’s beta got to do the same, my parents begrudgingly agreed, but not without assigning Isabel to join us.

Isabel’s a pack scout and soon-to-be delta with instincts that no one in the pack ignores, so she was the obvious choice. She was also, thankfully, amazing.

“We were just talking about the coronation,” Beckett says, filling Isabel in as we walk on. “You losing your shit yet?”

“Just a little,” Isabel admits with a chuckle. “Honestly, I’d be lying if I said I don’t piss myself every time I think about officially becoming a delta.”

“You’ll be fine,” I promise as we head towards my first class, with the two of them on either side of me.

“What about you?” She asks. “You seem more worried about Physics than running a pack.”

“I’m not.” I am. I can’t admit it, but I’m enjoying our astrophysics a little too much at the moment.

“A smart alpha’s nothing to complain about,” Beckett says, ever the optimist.

“True,” Isabel agrees, slowing as we reach the doorway. “Alright, I’ll see you both for lunch.”

I nod, and she skips off to whatever class she chose for when she’s not stuck in mine.

Isabel and Beckett can’t be with me for everything—not without drawing attention—so they split the difference. Beckett joins me for half my classes, Isabel for the rest.