The Alpha's Gamble - Chapter 63: Chapter 63
You are reading The Alpha's Gamble, Chapter 63: Chapter 63. Read more chapters of The Alpha's Gamble.
MADELINE
We cleaned the plates, and I dragged my finger through the spilled nougat filling. We’re not wasting one bite of that cake here. I sucked my finger clean, knowing full well that Noah was watching me.
“All right, that’s enough.” He rustled out.
“Is it bothering you that I’m licking my fingers?”
“I’m imagining something else between your lips.”
This goddamn blushing needed to end.
Noah put the plates and everything back on the tray, but I pulled the juice back to gulp down the last drops, and then I helped him tidy up.
“I have some business to attend to with the warriors, but I’ll find you when I’m done, and then we’ll leave.”
“Sounds good,” I said and walked him to the door. We stood there watching each other. I looked at every crease and edge of his face, his thick eyelashes, and his piercing eyes. I could stare at him forever if allowed, but luckily, he didn’t have the time for that.
I’m not sure if he wanted to kiss me or not, I’m not sure if I wanted him to either, but when he turned around and left a shallow cloud of air in his place, I realized that not only did I want him to kiss me, but I wanted him to stay. I shouldn’t want him to stay.
“Oh,” Noah came back around the corner and leaned his hand on the door.
“I broke up with Olivia, by the way. I’m not sure if you care at all, but she and I are done.”
He knew that I cared. He knew it occupied my mind, wondering if I had been with a taken man.
“Good to know,” I said, and he left after a lingering, knowing gaze.
Instead of waiting around the house for Noah to finish his business, I decided to go for a walk and soak in the sun. It was after all my birthday and i wanted to celebrate. Even if it was by myself.
Instead of waiting around the house for Noah to finish his business, I decided to go for a walk and soak in the sun. It was, after all, my birthday, and I wanted to celebrate, even if it was by myself.
I took a stroll through town, stopped at a flower shop where I bought a bouquet of midnight lilies, and then headed to my favourite coffee shop for a coffee. Walking around sipping my coffee in the sun was honestly perfect. Part of me thought I’d be sad or at least a little glum over missing out on the plans I had made with Tilly, but I had barely given her a thought since everything happened. It felt like a lifetime had passed by in the last month or two. It wasn’t natural for this many things to happen in so little time, but here we were, and everything was chaotic and crumbling, but I couldn’t be happier. Why is that?
While walking through the Marigold Garden, I remembered the times Tilly and I’d had. There were many, and they were just as messy as everything else was. Many of them were also blurry.
They were marred now, alongside the memories I had with Landon, though those were never anything to hang in the tree.
This whole friend thing had never been my forte. It was never easy talking to new kids or playing with others. I was always on my own. It was easier that way; that’s where I thrived.
But then one day, Tilly came up to me and introduced herself. I knew who she was. It’s not like we have a circulation of people here. We’re a pack, and there are generations of werewolves here dating back… far too many years for me to count.
Anyways, she swayed me with her bubbly personality. She was outgoing and a social butterfly. She was everything that I wasn’t, but it didn’t bother her. At first, I thought: wow, what a cool girl, she likes me even though I’m mostly in the background, only ever speaking if I truly have something to say, and mostly staying in the shadows. Even at parties, after drinking my bodyweight in liquor, I only ever danced for myself and never engaged much with others.
That cool girl wanted to be my friend. I was on cloud nine for days until I realized that it was real and she wouldn’t leave, after which we became inseparable, spending every day together.
It wasn’t until now, after I found out about her and Landon, and I could look at things from a more logical point of view, that I realized Tilly never wanted a friend. She wanted an audience that wouldn’t outshine her. It was always her show, her party, her friends, her way.
The number of times Tilly would ditch me, leave me in a random town or at a party, or in a boutique because she made other plans or found some guy she wanted to leave with was unfathomable. I never thought much of it, though. I guess our friendship reached its peak when we were having carefree fun, drinking, shopping, or dancing. It never got deep. We never really got to know each other on a deeper level, like I’m sure other friends do. Well, that’s not true. I knew about her. I listened to her problems, but after she was done venting, she shut off, and never once did she ask how I was doing. I had been blind, desperate for companionship and ready to do what it took to keep it. Even if it meant a shallow friendship, a person to party with, someone who would text me and ask to hang out.
I found myself standing in the garden, breathing in the magnolia-scented air and feeling a sense of peace that I thought I’d lost a few lifetimes ago.
My phone chimed in my pocket and I picked it up, thinking it’d be Noah telling me he’s done, but instead I saw Tilly’s name.
-Hi, I know we’re not talking anymore and that you’re pissed, but it’s your birthday. I’d love to meet up and give you your present and maybe have a late breakfast to celebrate?
I re-read the text three times and shook my head. Why would she care? It was never about me; it was always about her, and on my birthdays, she surely wouldn't care to move the spotlight away from herself. Something felt off.
-Hi, Tilly. I have plans, sorry
A few minutes passed of me just staring at the screen to see if she’d reply, and then, just when I was about to put my phone down, it chimed again, and I turned it over. The blood drained from my face, rushed down my arms and hands, and forced open my fingers as the cup fell from my hand and stained the grass.
-I know about the tape
We cleaned the plates, and I dragged my finger through the spilled nougat filling. We’re not wasting one bite of that cake here. I sucked my finger clean, knowing full well that Noah was watching me.
“All right, that’s enough.” He rustled out.
“Is it bothering you that I’m licking my fingers?”
“I’m imagining something else between your lips.”
This goddamn blushing needed to end.
Noah put the plates and everything back on the tray, but I pulled the juice back to gulp down the last drops, and then I helped him tidy up.
“I have some business to attend to with the warriors, but I’ll find you when I’m done, and then we’ll leave.”
“Sounds good,” I said and walked him to the door. We stood there watching each other. I looked at every crease and edge of his face, his thick eyelashes, and his piercing eyes. I could stare at him forever if allowed, but luckily, he didn’t have the time for that.
I’m not sure if he wanted to kiss me or not, I’m not sure if I wanted him to either, but when he turned around and left a shallow cloud of air in his place, I realized that not only did I want him to kiss me, but I wanted him to stay. I shouldn’t want him to stay.
“Oh,” Noah came back around the corner and leaned his hand on the door.
“I broke up with Olivia, by the way. I’m not sure if you care at all, but she and I are done.”
He knew that I cared. He knew it occupied my mind, wondering if I had been with a taken man.
“Good to know,” I said, and he left after a lingering, knowing gaze.
Instead of waiting around the house for Noah to finish his business, I decided to go for a walk and soak in the sun. It was after all my birthday and i wanted to celebrate. Even if it was by myself.
Instead of waiting around the house for Noah to finish his business, I decided to go for a walk and soak in the sun. It was, after all, my birthday, and I wanted to celebrate, even if it was by myself.
I took a stroll through town, stopped at a flower shop where I bought a bouquet of midnight lilies, and then headed to my favourite coffee shop for a coffee. Walking around sipping my coffee in the sun was honestly perfect. Part of me thought I’d be sad or at least a little glum over missing out on the plans I had made with Tilly, but I had barely given her a thought since everything happened. It felt like a lifetime had passed by in the last month or two. It wasn’t natural for this many things to happen in so little time, but here we were, and everything was chaotic and crumbling, but I couldn’t be happier. Why is that?
While walking through the Marigold Garden, I remembered the times Tilly and I’d had. There were many, and they were just as messy as everything else was. Many of them were also blurry.
They were marred now, alongside the memories I had with Landon, though those were never anything to hang in the tree.
This whole friend thing had never been my forte. It was never easy talking to new kids or playing with others. I was always on my own. It was easier that way; that’s where I thrived.
But then one day, Tilly came up to me and introduced herself. I knew who she was. It’s not like we have a circulation of people here. We’re a pack, and there are generations of werewolves here dating back… far too many years for me to count.
Anyways, she swayed me with her bubbly personality. She was outgoing and a social butterfly. She was everything that I wasn’t, but it didn’t bother her. At first, I thought: wow, what a cool girl, she likes me even though I’m mostly in the background, only ever speaking if I truly have something to say, and mostly staying in the shadows. Even at parties, after drinking my bodyweight in liquor, I only ever danced for myself and never engaged much with others.
That cool girl wanted to be my friend. I was on cloud nine for days until I realized that it was real and she wouldn’t leave, after which we became inseparable, spending every day together.
It wasn’t until now, after I found out about her and Landon, and I could look at things from a more logical point of view, that I realized Tilly never wanted a friend. She wanted an audience that wouldn’t outshine her. It was always her show, her party, her friends, her way.
The number of times Tilly would ditch me, leave me in a random town or at a party, or in a boutique because she made other plans or found some guy she wanted to leave with was unfathomable. I never thought much of it, though. I guess our friendship reached its peak when we were having carefree fun, drinking, shopping, or dancing. It never got deep. We never really got to know each other on a deeper level, like I’m sure other friends do. Well, that’s not true. I knew about her. I listened to her problems, but after she was done venting, she shut off, and never once did she ask how I was doing. I had been blind, desperate for companionship and ready to do what it took to keep it. Even if it meant a shallow friendship, a person to party with, someone who would text me and ask to hang out.
I found myself standing in the garden, breathing in the magnolia-scented air and feeling a sense of peace that I thought I’d lost a few lifetimes ago.
My phone chimed in my pocket and I picked it up, thinking it’d be Noah telling me he’s done, but instead I saw Tilly’s name.
-Hi, I know we’re not talking anymore and that you’re pissed, but it’s your birthday. I’d love to meet up and give you your present and maybe have a late breakfast to celebrate?
I re-read the text three times and shook my head. Why would she care? It was never about me; it was always about her, and on my birthdays, she surely wouldn't care to move the spotlight away from herself. Something felt off.
-Hi, Tilly. I have plans, sorry
A few minutes passed of me just staring at the screen to see if she’d reply, and then, just when I was about to put my phone down, it chimed again, and I turned it over. The blood drained from my face, rushed down my arms and hands, and forced open my fingers as the cup fell from my hand and stained the grass.
-I know about the tape
End of The Alpha's Gamble Chapter 63. Continue reading Chapter 64 or return to The Alpha's Gamble book page.