Page 62 of Alpha Mates

I know that. Mate bonds go beyond the connection. It was strong and undeniable, but it doesn’t promise a good relationship, and I want that with Aiden. But we aren’t just any wolves. We’re alphas, and our jobs are never-ending. Aiden had done his duty this morning with scouting, so it was only right that I do mine.

I could handle the matter of the reports, knock out some of my homework, and then join Aiden for some time in front of the TV. I’d much rather read to relax, but like Alex said, spending time with him was important, and besides, I was discovering that Ireallyliked spending time with my mate.

Decision made, I dry my hands before I get to work.

The reports go quickly; they’re all succinct and detailed, containing all the key information we’d told the wolves to keep an eye out for. Before long, I have a notebook filled with several well-inked pages. The same can’t be said, however, for my schoolwork.

It’s not too late to take up Aiden’s offer of skipping, Alex interjects with a hopefulness he doesn’t bother to downplay.We can do all this tomorrow if we do.

We are not skipping.

Alex groans much like Aiden had earlier.There’s nothing wrong with living a little, Julian. You’re young, not ninety. No one would blame you, not even me, if you wanted to get ‘closer’ to your mate.

I’m not letting you convince me to do something stupid, Alex,I retort, knowing very well which head he’s thinking with right now.

Fine. I’m not the one who’s going to suffer with blue balls for eternity. That’s all you.

I growl, pushing Alex and his taunts away so I can focus.

Time flies as I work, moving so quickly that when I finally bother glancing at the clock, I find the hands both pointing at twelve.

I jolt from my seat, my heart dropping straight to the bottom of my gut as I rush out the study door.

Please still be up. Please still be up. Please still be up.

My hope flatlines when I push the bedroom door open and find Aiden sound asleep. The TV on the wall is still on, but Aiden’s under the covers, lying on his stomach with his right arm stretched over the empty side of the bed.

Guilt twists and digs into my heart like a jagged knife. Alex had been right. I’d spent the entire evening wrapped up in work when I should’ve spent some of it with my mate. I know it’s only one night, but it was our first of being something other than enemies or wary of one another, and I hadn’t spent a minute of it with him.

I drag myself to the bathroom and make sure I’m quiet as I brush my teeth and get ready for bed. My head fills with all the things I should’ve done, but what’s done is done and there’s no fixing it.

Well, that’s not true, Alex interjects.Aiden really liked you preparing breakfast yesterday. Maybe you wake up a little earlier and do it again?

As simple as it’d been, he had looked at me as if I was something precious. And that was what had led to us hugging in the first place. My heart warms at the memory, and that’s all I need to make my mind up.

I’m only just taking the sausages from the fridge when a loud and insistent knock sounds at the door. I curse quietly as I rush over, ready to skin the wolf on the other side who’d risked waking Aiden up too early.

“Pancakes! Waffles and—” Emitt’s shout dies on his tongue when the door opens to the alpha he is evidently not expecting to see.

The wood of the door threatens to splinter between my fingers as I strain against myself not to kill Aiden’s best friend. It’s exceedingly difficult though, because there is no chance in all the Hells that all that screaming hasn’t woken him up.

“Oh, Julian,” Emitt says awkwardly, stepping back. “I mean, Alpha. Alpha Julian? I um … I was looking for Aiden.”

“This early in the morning?” I ask coldly.

Emitt wisely takes another step back, sure not to meet my eyes.

“It’s Wednesday,” he mumbles, his head ducking under my spiteful gaze. “Wednesdays are Waffle—”

“Waffle Wednesdays,” a sleepy voice finishes from behind us.

Aiden walks over with sweatpants hanging low on his hips. Every inch of his inked chest is exposed, along with the sharp v-line that disappears below his bunched waistband. If I was the only wolf seeing this alluring display, I’m sure I would be drooling, but unfortunately, we have company.

Moving forward, I fill the doorway with as much of my frame as I can to block Emitt’s view into the apartment without seeming crazy.

“Morning,” Aiden mumbles as he stops just behind me. My fingers tighten around the door as his heavy voice slides over my skin, making my head distractingly fuzzy.

“Morning,” I mumble back, eyes still on Emitt, even while I ask Aiden, “What are Waffle Wednesdays?”