Listen to me 136

Chapter 136

When tarvetat Alpha Windon’s park. I stood in stunned silent

Sloane walked down the stairs of the parkhouse to

Why are you staring at me she frowns.

“Every time I think you rouldut be more gorgeous, you prove me wrong.” I tell her.

The dress she’s wearing is Casually elegant, with thin straps for sleeves. But it’s her long brown hair that falls in soft curls nearly to her waist that has me so stunned.

“How am I supposed to remember my speech when you’re going to be standing next to me looking like this?” I ask.

She laughs softly, but I’m not joking. Everything in my head just went blank except for Sloane.

“Goodbye Alpha. I’ll see you later?” she asks, turning to Alpha Waylon.

“We’ll be there,” he says.

“Goodnight, Alpha,” I say to him before leading Sloane to my car

I kiss her softly, realizing that she’s also put on a light dusting of makeup and lip gloss on. She’s got a wrap to go over her shoulders for later this evening, a small overnight bag, and a clutch purse along with her cap and gown. I take her things and put them into the trunk before joining her in the car.

“Damn, I am one lucky man,” I say.

She smiles at me as I turn on the car. “Maybe I’m the lucky one,” she

says.

“Nope, that’s all me,” I grin before pulling out of the drive.

On the way to the auditorium where graduation is happening, I take her hand and after pulling it to my lips, I intertwine our fingers.

“Are you ready for tonight?” I ask her.

“I think so. I’m nervous, but I keep reminding myself of what you said.”

“Which is?”

“I’m going to be an Alpha. Alphas lead. Tonight is my first opportunity to show everyone that I’m a leader, even if they don’t realize the implications of that,” she says.

I grin.

“What now?” she asks, sounding exasperated.

“You’re listening to what I’ve said.”

“Yeah, well, as Scarlet reminded me this morning, you’re pretty damn smart.”

“You and Scarlet were talking about me?” Why does it make me feel so excited that she was talking about me with her best friend?

‘Because we were on her mind,’ Marrok purrs in my head.

21:52 Fri, Jan00

Sealer didn’t exactly give me a chime when dhe shirtled yo

Bent all over me this morning she hulls

No Last glancing over at hee. “What did you tell bet

The bush Talways tell Scarlet the truth.”

And that was

That you were amazing, and that the night was amazing except for the part where I messed things up, but then it was amazing again at the end.”

Thope you’re interested in having another amazing night tonight” I say, pulling her hand to my lips again. I swear she smells better today than she did yesterday and now, she also sinells strongly of me.

“I wasn’t sure if you were serious about that,” she says, blushing hyly. Damn. I love it that I get this vulnerable side of her.

“I have a Presidential Suite waiting for us,” I tell her.

“WHAT? Benedict! That’s too expensive.”

“Well, I would agree with you, except it was the ONLY room still available. So, we’ll have to make sure we take advantage of every surface in that room.”

When her cheeks turn the color of a cooked lobster, I growl. “What are you thinking?”

She shakes her head and, if possible, her cheeks turn an even darker shade of red.

“Sloane,” I growl, watching her.

“It’s nothing,” she says, trying to brush it off.

“Oh, it’s definitely something. Won’t you tell me?” I ask, making my voice softer, pleading. I really, REALLY want to know what has her blushing like that.

She begins plucking imaginary lint off her dress. “It was just something that Scarlet said, that’s all.”

I fight the grin. There’s no telling what came out of Sc

mouth.

“That could be basically anything,” I say.

“Well, first she said you would swallow your tongue when you saw me.”

“She was right about that,” I say without hesitation. “What else did she say?”

She stares at me a moment, then I watch as she lifts her chin and narrows her eyes.

“She wanted to know if I thought you’d bend me over and take me from behind or slide the dress off me slowly.”

“I can do both, if you’d like,” I growl. I’m so fucking hard right now. I need to change the subject so I’m not standing in front of the entire student body looking like a chump.

She frowns. “How would that work?”

Oh, I love how sweet and innocent she is about sex.

“I could slide the bodice of your dress to your waist, spend time kissing you, and teasing your nipples, then turn you around, lift your skirt and take you from behind as Scarlet suggested.”

Her mouth drops open, and I see her press her legs together tightly, but not before I catch the scent of her arousal.

aire tinte tan them. The in this for the Dang

we pill in fw parking bielu nume, we protisly beed to dipange the subje

****) * TUPAS 1 agree wat yet, but why are you saying far the gate.

i gedurs to my cranch where my cut has sellel to an unromfitable size, pressing against my parts like during rivets at any moment.

gog to p

Her eyes go wide, then she begins giggling. It’s so unlike Sloane Brat i just smile and watch her. This is a side of Sloane that very fist people have ever seen, possible only me and Scarlet.

She covers her mouth, closing her eyes lightly as she laughs.

“I’m glad my discomfort is making you laugh,” I say, but it’s more teasing than aggravated.

“I’m sorry,” she says, still grinning and waving a hand in front of her face. She dabs her eyes, trying to make herself stop laughing.

“It’s worth it to see you laugh like this. But we do need to change the subject.”

“Noted. Shall we go see where Principal Rodgers wants us to sit tonight?”

“Yes,” I say, taking her chin gently in my hand before she can get out. I lean in and slowly kiss her, waiting for her to relax into the kiss. She slides her tongue across the seam of my lips, making me growl possessively. I deepen the kiss, sliding my tongue into her mouth and teasing hers in dance that’s already becoming natural and familiar.

When she slides her hand into my hair and the scent of her arousal fills the space in the car, I pull back.

“That is not helping my situation,” I growl. “Come on, let’s go.”

I get her shawl and clutch, and we walk hand in hand inside the auditorium. For the next hour, we meet with the teachers who congratulate us and go through the motions of when we’ll be announced and where we’ll sit.

By the time we’re done, students and families are already starting to arrive. Time seems to speed up as we wait for everything to begin, and then it’s time for us to follow Principal Rodgers and the select teachers who are sitting with us, onto the stage.

Principal Rodgers steps up to the podium and calls the evening to order. She says words about our path ending, new pathways ahead, and the start of new journeys. Then our vice principal steps up, giving his own speech about saying farewell and new beginnings.

Finally, Principal Rodgers steps back up to the podium to announce Sloane and I.

“As many of you know, this year, we have a first at our esteemed Academy. This year, for the first time in our history, we have co–Valedictorians. Without further ado, I give you your Valedictorians, Alpha Sloane Hartwell, and Alpha Benedict Winslow, V,” she says, and begins clapping.

The crowd erupts in cheers, and I stand, extending my hand to Sloane. Then we walk to the podium together. When we arrive, I don’t release her hand.

As we discussed last night, I go first.

“Good evening, my fellow graduates. We fucking made it!” I say, making everyone cheer, howl, and stomp their feet.

rallel aan te gechnet Based on mbi wzmus a re shouts to chat everyont le march Sloane like impacted vis

-hi la 19mm verslae vredeleted ups and deeme

Juking Cervon Jangh and coins in funfidence. Dvism for forearm at grote en kaledu tarian fast fan it you 3 migha nos be her Hat want for this woman chauling betde me. I say to some Fire Fyes go wule as she looks at mịn,

This woman has hallenged my unlike any other person or wall we ever met in my life I was riving thigh high or hond confident that I was the stun mutil the end of our sophomore year when Principal Mollime pullet me into his offire and told me that a quiel girl whis rarely said a word in class was beating me out of the number one position in school.”

I watch as lane blushes softly

“Well, you all know I hate to lose.” I say, grinning as everyone chuckles. “So, I doubled down. I started paying attention to the quiet girl in the classroom, the one who others ignored or forgot was there. I started watching as her papers and tests would come back with scores higher than mine. So I studied harder, I stopped playing around and assurning that I would be Valedicatorian just because I’m an Alpha. I had real competition and you Alphas out there know that we love nothing trane than a good competition. By the end of our junior year, I’d closed the gap, but I still wasn’t in the lead.”

I stop and look at this woman who has taught me so many things over the last few years, things she didn’t even realize she was teaching me.

“I knew I needed to be a better man. I knew I couldn’t slide on my bloodline and Alpha lineage alone, because there was another person in this school whose bloodline is as strong as mine and she wasn’t playing around. She was in it to win it, and so I fought harder. Some of you may think that being co–Valedictorian with Sloane Hartwell means that I lost, but to me, it means I won. Big–time. I get to stand here on this stage with the only person in this school who has given me a challenge worthy of an Alpha and she did it without even realizing we were in a competition until just a couple of months ago.”

I squeeze her hand, holding her gaze for a moment before turning back to our student body and families. “There’s a lesson here, for all of us. We’re about to go out into this world. Some of us will become leaders, some of us will support our packs by protecting our pack lands, and some will find work outside the pack to bring financial support to your packs. But you should always search for the person who challenges you to be a better person. Find the person who makes you strive to achieve your goals and pushes you to work for what you want in life. As we walk into this next chapter of our lives, I’m proud to stand before you, as a future Alpha, and welcome you to the next phase of our lives. Congratulations, graduates. We did it!”

I

step back as everyone begins cheering and watch as Sloane steps forward, standing in front of the crowd. She waits for everyone to quiet down, then begins.

Lucia Morh

Lucia Morh is a passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.