Return of the Bad Boy Alpha Chapter 20
Magnus
I sat on the couch with Pops and Max for an hour watching sports news before getting bored. Naomi had gone shopping with my mother and Phoebe, so I expected them to be gone for a while. I stretch my arms and then slowly stand up. "What are you doing, son?" Pops asks.
"Going for a walk. I am so tired of doing nothing," I go to my room to slip on some shoes and come out, and the TV is off. "Are you guys coming?"
"Sure," Max responds. "Nothing else to do," He laughs.
We leave the apartment, and I am glad to get out of the apartment. We walk around for a few minutes, and I greet the men as they pass by. They pat me on the back and go back to their duties.
We walk outside and past the kitchen, and I see Suzie smile and trot over to me. I know she had said something to Naomi about being in love with me, and I needed to say something to her.
"Hi, Major Bowie," Suzie smiles brightly at me and brushes her hand against my arm. "How are you feeling?"
"I am feeling good, thank you," I say to her and eye her hand on my arm. I pull away from her and watch her frown. "I don't want you to have to wrong impression about us. We are just friends. I am a mated man now, and you need to respect that." Tears fill her eyes, and she tries to say something. "I-I respect that," She squeaks out.
I feel bad for making her cry, but she needs to learn. "I am glad you do. I would appreciate it if you don't tell my mate that you and I are in love."
She looks at me with tear-filled eyes and tries to touch me again, but I step back. "I honestly thought-" She trails off. "No, I'm an idiot." She squeaks and runs into the building.
I think about going after her but sigh. Max claps me on the back. "That went well," My twin snarks.
I elbow him. "Shut up."
"What was that all about, son?" Pops joins in.
"Just a little misunderstanding that needed to be cleared up," I mumble and walk towards the training grounds. "Let's just walk."
"Did you sleep with that poor girl?" Pops pushes.
"No, Pops," I hiss. "We went on a couple of dates. But Suzie told Naomi that I was in love with her and well-"
"Oh, I see. One of those," Pops chuckles dryly. "I think you handled it alright. Hopefully, the poor girl will get over it."
"I hope so. I can't have a trail of broken women trying to intimidate Naomi," I sigh.
We reach the training grounds, and I go to watch the advanced class. The trainer, a man named Brady Hicks, walks over to me. "Afternoon, Major. How is it going?"
"It's going," I respond to him. "Don't mind me. I am just here to observe." I say to him and nod to my father and brother. "This is my father, Darryl Bowie, and my brother Max Bowie."
"Ah, the former and current alphas of Ghost River," Brady acknowledges them.
"You are well informed, young man," Pops says to Brady.
"That's something that Major Bowie instills in us," Brady explains.
"That's a good strategy," Pops replies.
"Anyways, you can go back to what you were doing, Brady," I say to him. The three of us stand on the sidelines, watching the men spar. I am ready to be back with them on the field, honing my skills. I hate being laid up with an injury. After twenty minutes of watching the training, I decided to keep walking.
"Are you feeling alright, son?" Pops asks.
I sigh. "I feel fine, Pops. I am just tired of being stuck inside and feeling like a weakling." I mumble.
"You were badly injured, Magnus. You almost died," Pops reminds me.
"I know, Pops."
"It's alright to let yourself heal," Pops pushes me.
I stop and look him in the eyes. "I'm not used to being idle, Pops. I have been injured before, but this-" I trail off.
"I know, Magnus. I know it's hard. I have been injured a few times, bad enough to require a few weeks of healing. Even with your mother, it took a long time. It's hard for an alpha male to be idle. Luckily, I had a competent Beta and your mother to keep the pack running smoothly." He grabs my shoulders. "But you need to trust the healing process. If you push yourself too soon, you'll do more damage."
I sigh. "I got ya, Pops."
We keep walking and start to head back to the main building. Dulce comes running up to me, looking worried. "Oh man, I have looked everywhere for you."
"What's up?" I ask her.
"The Great North Pack has been attacked and heavily decimated by a large group of vampires. They need assistance." She tells me.
"Send the squad then, Dulce," I tell her.
"I just thought I should tell you." She sighs. "I think it's the same group."
"Take the secondary squad also. Make Brutus go with you. I wish I could go with you," I tell her.
"We'll leave immediately," Dulce salutes me and runs off.
I watch her and shake my head. "I should be going with them. This is my squad." I ball up my fist. "What if they get hurt?"
"You can only hope that your people have the necessary skills to lead in your absence, son," Pops pats my shoulder, and I pull away from him.
"I need a beer," I grumble and walk away from my father and brother. We get back up to the apartment, and I grab a beer from the fridge and suck half of it down. The guilt of not being with the squad to fight a brutal enemy is wearing on me. I finish the beer and grab another. "Magnus, I know you are frustrated," Pops stands at the counter, trying to sound sympathetic.
"Frustrated is hardly the word, Pops." I slam the bottle down. I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh. I grab the bottle, trudge to the couch, and sit down with a groan. My wounds are starting to hurt, and I feel useless.
"Are you in pain?" Max asks.
"Eh," I respond and stare at the wall. "I can take it."
"Magnus, you need your medicine," Pops pushes.
I roll my eyes and ignore him. He hands me my pill bottle and sits on the couch next to me. We watch some action movie for an hour until the women return. Naomi looks so happy with the things she has bought for the apartment, and I am just a cranky ass. Not wanting to be social, I go into the bedroom, flop on the bed, and shut my eyes to everything going on. An hour later, everyone is gone, and Naomi rummages around the apartment putting stuff up, and I want silence. "Do you have to do that now?" I ask her.
"I just wanted to get everything put away," She responds. "Are you hurting? Do you need your pills?" She asks and enters my view.
"No," I respond with a bit of spit.
She narrows her eyes and puts her hands on her hips. "What's up your ass, Magnus?"
I sat up on the bed and glared at her. "I hate that I can't be with my squad fighting those damn vampires. That's what's up my ass, Naomi!" I shout at her, and she steps away from me. I sigh, hating that I have scared my mate. "Sorry." "You still need another few weeks to heal, Magnus. They understand." Naomi tries to reassure me.
"That doesn't make me feel better, Naomi. I hate feeling useless. I hate not being there. I am their leader, and I am stuck indoors." I stand up and wave my hands around. "If I hadn't been upset over you kicking me out of your apartment after s*x, I could have concentrated on the mission!"
Naomi looks at me with tears in her eyes. "So, it was my fault that you got hurt?" She sniffles.
"No, I mean-" I try to say before she runs out of our room. "Naomi?" I call after her. I hobble out of my bedroom as Naomi leaves the apartment, slamming the door behind her. "Naomi!" With a low growl, I follow her out of the apartment. 'Idiot, Kairos speaks up.
'Oh, don't you start! I snark at my wolf. "Naomi," I call to my mate as I follow her down the stairs. "Naomi, I didn't mean what I said," I call after her. The building is quiet since most of the men have gone on the mission. "Naomi!" I call after my mate as she goes outside.
"Major?" I hear Suzie call to me. "Is everything okay?" She walks over to me.
I sigh and stop. I figure I need to let Naomi cool off before going after her. "It's fine, Suzie."
Suzie touches my arm. "Are you having trouble with your mate?"
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." I pull away from her and hobble towards the door. "I just need to give her a minute to cool off."
"I can go make sure she is alright." Suzie smiles brightly at me.
I look her up and down and shrug. "Okay," I mumble and sit on a bench overlooking the compound. Suzie walks away while I catch my breath. I lean against the wall and close my eyes. "How could I be so stupid?" I whisper.
I sit with my eyes closed for a few minutes, and then I catch Naomi's scent in the air and open my eyes. She is walking towards the building, looking angrier. "Naomi," I stand up and try to block her charging path.
"Get away from me!" She spats and walks around me, and goes inside.
"Naomi," I hobble after and reach for her arm. "Talk to me."
She pulls her arm away from me. "I am going home." She pulls away from me. "I knew coming here was a mistake."
"Mistake? You think this was a mistake?" I cry.
She nods. "I'm leaving, and you can go be with Suzie since you are so much in love."
"What?" I yell. "I don't love Suzie." I feel frustration well up in me. Naomi charges away from me. "Naomi, wait!" I yell at her. "Will you stop and talk to me!"
"I'm done talking, Magnus. Just let reject me so we can both move on with our lives!" Naomi stomps her foot.
"No!" I growl at her. "I don't know what Suzie told you, but I don't want her. I want you. I wouldn't have marked you if I didn't want you."
"Then why did you send her to tell me that you wanted her!" Naomi screams with tears in her eyes.
"Goddammit!" I growl loudly. Naomi starts to walk away from me, and I grab her arm and pull her towards me. She screams and hits me. "Stop!" I shout at my angry mate and smash my lips against hers. She struggles for a moment and then melts into me. We hold the kiss for what seems for minutes before I pull back to catch my breath. She looks at me with brown eyes, and I run my hand down her cheek. "I love you, Naomi. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that. But I do. I love you."
She buries her face in my chest and sobs. "I love you too. I'm sorry I caused you to get injured."
We walk up the stairs to the apartment, and I pull her in, and we sit on the couch. I hold her tightly. "Baby, you didn't cause my injuries, okay? The vampires caused my injuries."
"But you were upset because I kicked you out of my apartment," She sniffles.
"Look, I won't lie and say I wasn't upset. But I know how to compartmentalize my life so my personal and professional lives don't get muddled. I got injured because those were some tough fucking vampires," I chuckle, causing her to laugh lightly. I trace my thumb over the tears on her cheeks. "When I look at my future, I see you, Naomi. I see you and our future pups."
She sniffles and buries her face in my chest again. I stroke my hands up and down her back. She pulls away from me. "Maybe we should start going for walks together so that it gets you out of the apartment. And Dulce told me that you could probably work in the office. I'll help you there too."
I smile at her. "That sounds like a plan, baby. I think that will help. Being holed up in here is probably adding to my frustration. I look around at the new decorations and stuff that Naomi added. "I like what you did with the place."
"Do you? It's not too girly?" She cringes. "Your mom suggested most of it," she laughs.
"Yeah, it looks like my mother's style," I agree. "You can add your quirky stuff."
"Oh right. I need to go home and get my stuff. I miss my skulls." She laughs.
We spent an hour just talking and laughing together before deciding to go to bed. We shower together and then lay in bed in each other's arms. "I wish I felt up to sex tonight. You smell so good," I kiss her neck and lick her mark. She shudders and moans. "This is good enough for me," She whispers. "Hey, maybe not tomorrow, but I want to go home and get my stuff in a few days."
"We should do that," I tell her as we settle down.
We talk some more before drifting off into a dream filled sleep.