Monroe (6)

Darrel swung the door open, and there was a shift in the air. Max grabbed Baxter's arm to hold him back, and Esme froze, their eyes locked on each other. But that isn't what drew my attention. There was a man in the room whose eyes were locked on me; they were intense and the gold of his wolf.

His stance was rigid, causing the muscles in his body to stand out with his ristorante. he had golden brown hair that was long enough to pull up in a tiny bun. Other than that sign of outward rebellion, he wore a crisp gray suit that fit in all the right places. His breathing was strained and erratic, causing his chest to swell. I wanted to go to him, comfort him, run my hands over his strong jaw and into his hair. I was a taller woman at 5'8. Many men were my height, but this mountain of muscle would tower over me. He was just an inch shorter than the alpha, and they were naturally tall and robust. The others in the room knew the tension between the Alpha and Esme Smith. All eyes were bouncing back and forth between them, but no one noticed this tension until he shattered the mug he was holding. Coffee and glass spilled all over his hands, and blood mixed with the coffee as it dripped to the floor. "I apologize," he said in a gruff, forcefully pleasant voice. He then stormed across the room to where we stood in the doorway. He passed me, making sure not an inch of him made contact with my body. My head followed his figure as Baxter snapped out of his trance and greeted us.

"Please come in." he walked over to our group, still frozen in the doorway. "Roe, come on in. You must be Alexis and Ms. Smith." he shook Alexis' hand first, then Esme's. he held her hand longer than he needed to and stared at her after he let her hand go somewhat reluctantly. She was glancing at her hands like there was something wrong with them.

I linked with Baxter, forcing my thoughts into his head.'Cool it. She doesn't know what is happening. She is a human.' his eyes snapped to mine.

'you know?' he responded as we all sat down.

'well, it wasn't hard to figure out with the way you nearly went feral at her arrival and the fact she is staring at her hand like she has never seen it before.'

'my wolf wants out and to claim her right now.'

'Breathe; let's get Alexis settled and then ask her out before she leaves. I'll make myself scarce so you two have a moment alone.' I nodded.

"All right, Alexis. Do you understand that you will be moving in with us, and we will take care of you from now on?" Max asked. Darrel and Max were smart enough to know that Baxter and I were mind-linking, so they kept the conversation going.

"yes, I understand," she responded, still looking at the door every few seconds.

"is Taylor around to help Alexis carry her bags?" I asked Darrel, who nodded and said he would be up when we were ready to get her stuff.

"no need to sit around all day. Let's go," Baxter announced. This was her entrance interview, mandatory for every rogue entering the pack.

"Exactly, it is almost sunset," Max announced, looking sternly at Baxter. The sunset was when that new wolf McCoy was going to fight the Beta, so we needed to get the human off the pack lands before this. Taylor ran up the stairs but stopped respectfully at the door. Alexis nearly jumped up but stopped herself with her head dropped in submission before she turned her back to her new alpha. He nodded, and we all left.

Taylor and Alexis ran ahead to get the stuff, and we headed out the back door to the truck transporting us to Darrel and Max's house in the community housing. I saw the wolf that broke the mug outside in workout clothes, and they fit him well. he was rigid again and locked eyes with me. He had such anger and intensity that I froze, leading Max to bump into me, nearly knocking me to the floor. The growl from this wolf was so menacing that Max dropped his head in submission. Max lifted his hands up in surrender and stepped away from me. The wolf then looked at me before huffing and storming off.

We all loaded ourselves into two trunks, Baxter and Esme, in one with all the stuff Alexis, Taylor, Darrel, Max, and I piled in the other to give the new mates some space.

"Who was that wolf that broke the mug and growled at you?" I asked Darrel,

"That would be the hopefully new beta McCoy, but I have never seen him so agitated before," Max responded

"he growled at you?" Taylor asked. "he growled so menacingly I thought he was going to attack," I told Taylor, this wolf's younger brother. "that is so unlike him," Taylor said

"Maybe it is because of his fight. He could be on edge," Alexis reasoned. Taylor has kept her current on the pack's activities.

"it could be, or it could be because you are a witch," Taylor said with a bit of disgust at the word. "our old pack taught us that witches were selfish abusers of power who were not to be trusted."

"do you really believe that," Darrel asked

"I don't know anymore. Before, the only witches we knew about let our Luna die, but now I have two witch teachers. They seem really nice, and you are helping Alexis, so I guess you can't be all bad," Taylor explained. We pulled up at the house and started to help Alexis unload. After we were done, but before they kicked me, Esme, out for the challenge, I felt like a 7th wheel trying to give all the couples a moment alone. Baxter and Esme were in the truck talking about going on a date. Alexis was with Taylor unpacking her stuff. And Darell and Max were doing paperwork for her initiation into the pack. So I was wandering around the outside of the house. When strong hands shoved and held me in place against the side of the building. I looked up into the eyes of the golden-eyed devil.