Not My Alpha

Chapter 23 ‘The Truth’

Keira’s POV

I hear a branch snap and turn my head to the sound. It’s Shepard. My heart drops in my stomach. How much did he hear? Shepherd looks surprised. Oh no he heard everything.

“Beta Shepherd.” I say.

“Shep what are you doing here?” Alpha asks.

“What are you two doing here?” Shepherd asks. I look over at Alpha Theo and realize his hand is on my shoulder and we are pretty close to each other.

“Oh, no it’s not-“ an arm wraps around Shepard’s neck and Whitney appears next to him.

“Look at what we have here. Looks like the little omega is just moving up the ranks. I can’t believe you would use poor Shepherd and Vivian in your little scheme. That’s really low of you.” Whitney says.

“What?” Shepherd asks.

“I heard her with her little coffee friend laughing about the whole thing.” I take a step back from Theo.

“That’s not true.” I say. But the look on Shepard’s face tells me her words are sinking in.

“Shepherd none of that is true.” Theo says.

“Of course you don’t want to believe that. I’m sorry Alpha, but she’s nothing but a dirty little leech. Using one man to get to the next.” Whitney flashes me a smile of victory.

“Shepherd please.” I try to say something.

“I think you better leave.” He says harshly.

“But I.”

“Now!” Shepard cuts me off. I look at Theo, he looks upset. I turn and walk back down the road towards town. I want to cry, but my tears don’t come.

“LILY!” I hear someone shouting my name from behind me. I turn and see Grace coming towards me.

“I’m glad I caught you before you left. Wait, are you alright?” She asks me.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry, I won’t be back up here.” I turn to leave.

“Did something happen?” She asks.

“Nothing at all.” I walk back to the cafe and enter through the back door and head straight for my room. I collapse into my bed. I think I’ll spend the rest of the day here.

Theo’s POV

“Now!” Shepherd shouts. He doesn’t shout often, and he’s picking a bad moment to do it. What is this i***t thinking? Why does he always let this woman mess with him mind? Keira walks out of the forest and I can see a smirk on Whitney’s face. As the Alpha I can command them to listen, but if he’s like this it won’t do any good. Shepherd has to figure this out on his own. He removes Whitney’s arm from around him.

“You leave too.” Shepherd says. Whitney looks crushed.

“But baby why?”

“Don’t call me baby. Just.. please leave.”

“Don’t worry about that s**t, you have me.”

“WHITNEY LEAVE!” Shepard shouts. She’s struck silent. She turns in a huff. It’s just me and him now. I am at his parent’s grave, maybe he came here for a reason. I decide to leave him to cool down.

“Do you have feelings for her?” He asks me. I turn to look at him.

“And what would you do if I told you I did?” I ask. Why am I provoking him?

“You are my alpha and best friend. But that doesn’t really tell me what I’d do. I really don’t know what I’d do.”

“With what I just saw, you don’t deserve her.” I can see shock flash across his face. I hear someone approaching, I look up and see Grace walking over.

“Hello Ms. Grace.” I greet her. She doesn’t look pleased.

“What happened?” She looks at us accusatorially. I give Shepherd a side glance, he’s looking away.

“A little rat got to the cheese and infested the whole lot.” I turn to Shepard.

“You need to stop the rat from eating any more cheese.” I turn and leave. He needs to get himself together, maybe Grace can talk some sense into him.

Shepard’s POV

Theo leaves me and Grace at my parents’ grave.

“Shep, are you ok?” She asks. I’ve known Grace my whole life. She’s older than me and her talent as a warrior is unmatched. I’ve always looked up to her ever since my own training started. But right now all I can think about is Lily and Theo. But of course I didn’t ask them anything.

“No I’m not.” I think I messed up, that’s what I want to say.

“Is it about Lily?” She can always see right through me.

“Grace I’m fine.”

“She tried to tell me the same lie earlier. You’ve never been a good liar, don’t try to start now.”

“This is something I need to figure out for myself. I’m sorry, but it’s my problem.” Why am I shutting her out? Why can’t I just say what’s on my mind.

“That’s fair. I’ll just leave you with this, you can’t trust everything you hear or see until you have more than one angle. I’ll leave you alone for now.” She turns and leaves. Im all alone staring at my parents’ grave. It feels like all my desire to keep going has been ripped from my chest. I yelled at Lily, how am I suppose to face her again? But what about what Whitney said, could she be telling the truth?