Nerd's Badboy Alpha novel Chapter 19

Bethany rides home with her parents and me with Alex when we go back to my pack's compound. I was feeling really weak and still unable to stand on my own two feet, so Alex had to carry me to his truck. He puts on my seatbelt for me and gives me his blazer. I ball it up and prop it up against the window to use as a pillow. I fall asleep during the twenty-minute drive home. The walking trail to our compound from our school is less than a mile, but the drive is longer because you have to take a different path when you drive.

Alex carries me from the truck to my uncle's house and into the den. Thompson just automatically opens the door now without question. He sets me down on the divan where Ramona puts a blanket on me. Alex takes a seat next to me and holds my hand.

My uncle, aunt, and Bethany come in, and they close the door. The look on my uncle's face is neutral, unreadable, but my aunt looks outwardly worried. About what, I don't know. She has her arm around Bethany's shoulders and they all sit together on one couch.

"The wolf, Alex," my uncle says. "You saw it?"

"Yes, sir," Alex replies. "Everyone did. Black and white. Big. Amber eyes."

My uncle nods. "How big, exactly?"

Alex peers at me with concern and squeezes my hand. "What's this all about, sir? Melody had bit of a shock today and I think she needs some rest, don't you?"

I gasp, dreading that my uncle would throw Alex out for being an upstart who would dare tell him what to do with his niece in his own home, but instead, my uncle nods, "Yes. You're right. Assist her to her room, Mr. Royce. Will you be staying for supper?"

I see the surprised expression on Alex's face. But he recovers quickly and nods. "I would like that, sir. Thank you. I'll just need to call my parents."

Alex and I head to my room, but not before my aunt reminds us to leave the door open. I seem to have lost my ability to walk, so once again, Alex had to haul my useless carcass from the den to my bedroom.

I can't get myself to worry that I can't feel anything under my waist. I know that I'm not paralyzed from the waist down, but right now, I'm quite content being carried and handled like a delicate flower.

Alex's body is so warm and he smells really good. "You got new windows?"

There's a couple of guys on there on a makeshift platform right outside, putting up my triple-glazed security windows, which should be a little bit harder to shatter. They've already replaced the mirrors in the bathrooms, too.

"Yeah, that energy efficiency thing I was talking about," I mutter as he sets me down on the bed. I wave at the guys on the other side of the window and they wave back.

Alex closes the drapes. "You know, Melvin, you get prettier and prettier every day. Soon, I might have to start carrying around a baseball bat to keep away the losers from bothering you." He sits on the bed next to me. "I'll talk to the office in the morning about switching my two electives, so we can have all the same classes together and I can be with you all the time."

I swallow hard. "Well, we can't be together all the time. Don't you have football?"

He shrugs. "Eh. I'm not really all that into it anymore. I've got an early admission to Stanford and a bit of scholarship and I was never counting on football to pay for school, anyway, since I've got a college fund. I can quit football."

I narrow my eyes at him. "You're the quarterback."

He shrugs again. "It's not important to me, Melody. You are." He leans over and kisses me. He smiles, then kisses me again.

"Alex, what are you doing? I thought you're waiting for your True Mate? Are you just going to dump me when she comes along?"

He chuckles. "What do you care? You're the one marrying someone else."