The Alpha's accidental pup

ALICIA

“Alicia!”

I drop my bags on the floor of my father’s kitchen and let him pull me into his arms. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the same room with anyone in my family, and now we’re all together again. And I’ve got some seriously mixed feelings about that—but at least Deidre isn’t here. At least she’s out of our lives.

Dad lets me go. I turn to my sisters, Kayla and Patricia. Pat’s standing with her husband, David. Seeing him is strange. I’m sure he feels like close family to everyone else in this kitchen, but he and Pat only married 5 years before I left the pack. I just didn’t have that long to get to know him in the first place.

“Hey, kid,” Pat says. “Welcome home.”

I feel myself bristle. This isn’t home. “I’m here for a visit, but nothing more than that. I fully intend to go back home in a couple of days.”

Kay pounces on me. She’s only two years older than I am, and we’ve always been close. She’s the only member of the family I still speak to regularly by phone. Still, talking on the phone hasn’t prepared me for the shock of seeing her in person. She’s changed. Life has gotten to her, etching lines in her face and graying her hair.

I think of my own skin, treated regularly with human- designed skin care products, and my hair, which I dye every couple of months. I’m only a little bit younger than my sister, but now she looks much older than me. I suddenly find myself wishing I’d allowed myself to age naturally. I picked up the habits of humans without even thinking about it, but Kay looks great. I didn’t need to be afraid of letting my body evolve in that direction.

Maybe I’ll quit with all the anti-aging products.

“It’s good to see you,” Kay murmurs, squeezing me tightly. “Thanks for coming home.”

The word home doesn’t bother me so much when she’s the one saying it. I nod and hug her back. “It’s good to see you too, Kay,” I say. “It’s been too long.”

“Let’s sit down,” Dad suggests, pulling out his chair at the head of the table.

Kay, Pat, and David join him, but I remain standing. They’re all at ease here in this kitchen, but I’m not. I never will be.

“Where’s Lonnie?” I ask.

As if in answer to my question, my youngest sibling—my half-brother, Lonnie—bangs through the door, acting for all the world as if he lives here. A young woman—probably in her late twenties—is trailing behind him. I don’t know her.

He looks me up and down like he’s checking for flaws, like he imagines I care what he thinks of me. “So,” he says. “You’re back. Couldn’t cut it in the human world?”

“I’m not back,” I assure him. Lonnie and I hate each other, and we always have. I’m sure he’s no happier to see me than I am to see him.

He grabs the young woman by the arm and tugs her forward. “This is Maddy,” he tells me. “My new mate.”

“What happened to Lola?” It’s not normal for a wolf to go through mates the way Lonnie does. He’s on his third already. Kayla keeps me updated about his antics. I mean, it’s not like there’s anything great about the women he chooses. Lola was a bitch. But I wasn’t expecting her to be out of the picture.

Lonnie makes a face. “She got all old and saggy.”

“Does he think this new girl isn’t going to get old?” I ask. I can’t figure out how my brother’s mind works.

“Alicia, sit down,” Dad says. “You and Lonnie can catch up later.”

Right, because catching up is totally what we’re doing. It feels more like squaring off. I can’t stand my brother. I wish he would just spend all his time at Deidre’s house, now that

she and Dad are divorced. I don’t know why he still comes over here at all.

Maddy wraps herself around Lonnie like a vine, and I’m hard-pressed not to roll my eyes. She looks like she’s trying to mount him right here at my dad’s breakfast table. I remember what it was like to be that age and attracted to someone but come on. There’s a time and a place.

Fortunately, the two of them head upstairs. “What are they doing here?” I ask Dad.

“He just came over to take some things.”

“You shouldn’t let him take your stuff.”

“It’s his stuff, Alicia. He left it here.” I sigh.

“Don’t be upset. I’m just glad you’re home.”

“You know I’m not staying, Dad.”

“I never understood why you left. I found you a perfectly good mate.”

“I remember.” Brandon. The bad boy of the pack. I haven’t thought much about him in all these years, and I don’t want to start now. “I didn’t want him, Dad. That was part of the reason I left.”

“You could have rejected him and stayed. You didn’t need to leave the whole pack.”

“You know I never got along with Deidre. You now she was cruel to me,” I remind him.

“I know you didn’t. And I’m sorry I didn’t see the cruelty part, she was good at hiding things,” he says. “Your sisters didn’t get along with her either. But they stayed.”

“Pat was older. She was off on her own sooner. And Kay…”

“People respond to things differently, Dad,” Kay says. Alicia likes her human life. That’s okay.”

“We should be in touch more,” I tell him, wanting to give him something. “You should get a cell phone, Dad. I can help set you up. Then we could talk every day.”

Dad nods, and a smile crosses his face. “I’d like that,” he admits.

“Great. We’ll do that while I’m here. Does the truck still work?”

“Oh, it works.”

“Then we’ll go into town tomorrow and pick you out a phone, and I’ll teach you how to use it,” I promise him.

Dad reaches across the table and rests his hand on top of mine. “I’ve missed you, Alicia. I’m glad you’re back.”

It felt good to feel his touch again. I had always loved and missed my father, but I’m not back.