Staring Daggers

Alpha Zayne Steele

The coordinator, Yara, went on…

"We are here tonight to celebrate the life of our fallen. We are here to send them off to their ancestors' arms. We are here tonight to say our goodbyes and bid them a safe journey on the other side...Please join me as I welcome our Alpha, Zayne Steele, everybody."

There was loud applause and wolf-whistling as Zayne stepped up to meet Yara, and she handed him the mic. "Good evening, community members. Thank you, everyone, for coming to celebrate with the members who have suffered losses."

"These men gave their lives protecting this community from those who meant to harm us. They held the line and fort strong so that we could be here today. Tonight we will dance and celebrate their lives till the moon goes down and the sun returns."

Loud cheers, hooting, and hollering filled the ground.

"Let the festivities begin," with that, Zayne nodded, returned the mic to Yara, and returned to Mekhi. When he got there, he saw Sacha and Rafael had joined Mekhi.

Paying no mind to the additions, Zayne sat next to Mekhi, Sacha was to his left, and Rafael was next to her as we looked on. Sacha wore that skimpy see-through white dress that the dancers wear when they dance to the drums. She sits with one leg crossed over the other as she leans into Mekhi almost lovingly.

We all know that is for a show, as if Zayne even cares to notice.

Zayne looked up to the sky and sent a kiss up to the Divine Moon Goddess, saying thank you. You would not believe the enormous relief Zayne felt when he realized he may not have to spend his night fending off Sacha's advances.

Zayne grabbed another beer and sipped it as the four of them conversed casually while the program went on.

The Minister was speaking now. Soon it would be the ritual, then the family members and anyone else who wanted to say their goodbyes or tell stories would speak, and that is where the time usually ticks by.

Soon, Zayne's IT guy, Jovi, joins them, and they all chit-chat.

Moments passed as family members got up individually to say a few words. Again, the mates were the hardest to watch. Most got up but could not even bring themselves to say two coherent words.

They would simply sit back down on their chairs.

It was heartbreaking to watch.

"What are your plans for the night?" Mekhi asks casually.

"Nothing, really. I plan to sit here and relax with you guys,"

"Not gonna try to have some fun, self?"

"Fun?" Zayne questioned incredulously, as fun was the last thing on his mind.

"Geez, you are too tense, dude. You need to lighten up and have some fun," he leans in and whispers, "have some sex."

"Woaw, dude, relax. There would be none of that tonight." Besides, Zayne thought, who would he have sex with? But Mekhi was not the only one to tell Zayne he needed to lighten up, recalling a similar conversation he had with a certain gorgeous blonde with blue eyes.

As a matter of fact, she called him old! Zayned sucked down his beer hard.

Soon Sacha left them. They all assumed it was for preparation for the dance because soon they would have to go on.

"I do not know when she will see you." Zayne leaned in and said to Mekhi.

"Maybe as soon as she gets over you." He answers, and Zayne shakes his head.

"Not soon enough," Zanye uttered.

"Was she the one you talked about in my office when you were like- I am not waiting for my mate anymore?" Zayne was curious to find out.

Rolling his eyes, Mekhi says, "Geez man, why are you like this? THAT is not what I said."

Zayne lifts an eyebrow in challenge, "then tell me again. Maybe I missed something."

Shaking his head, he says, "I only hinted that I was wondering if our mates were still out there, and maybe, just maybe, I said I might start dating."

"Ok, ok, ok, yea, whatever, to me, it sounds the same. Anyways was it Sacha you were interested in dating?" He gave Zayne that, ain't it obvious, look.

"Dude, good luck." Zayne all but laughed out loud.

"I know it is embarrassing how I have puppy eyes for someone who has those same puppy eyes for someone else."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. Just know that where I stand is with you. No matter how much she tries, I am not going down that road with Sacha." Zayne said.

If not anything else, he said it as a way of reassurance to Mekhi.

Mekhi couldn't help but feel relieved to hear his Alpha's confirmation. Though he had seen it with his actions, however, he was not with his Alpha twenty for seven, so who knows. All that can be an act for the public, and they had been getting it on behind closed doors unbeknownst to anyone else.

Bottomline Mekhi was over the moon, and with the bit of attention he got from her tonight, he felt things were progressing as she had reached out to him. She saw him there, and she walked over and started chatting with him.

He was ecstatic even though that voice in his head told him this was just another attempt to try and make the Alpha jealous. To try and gauge a reaction from him.

He had been through this countless times before, yet he was a sucker every single time. He always thinks that this time could be it. The beginning.

Either way, he was willing to be used in any way Sacha deemed fit. Because in the back of his mind, he knew his Alpha would not bulge, so there was a part of him that was curious to find out just how far she would be willing to go to illicit that nonexistent response from the Alpha.

And he was here for it. In his eyes, Sacha was his amazon queen.

Soon the loud blaring of the drums came on, and all of their attention went out to the dancers dancing in front of the Pyres encircling it.

The dancers ran out onto the field. Leandra was excited. As she waited for the last to go out, her heart raced as the drums came on and when everyone ran out.

She lagged behind, and as calm as she could under the circumstances of her nerves and her beating heart, she did her big reveal. She hoped Zayne had seen her.

She then ran out on the field, joining the others and entering into the routine. She did all the steps in timing with the drums. One thing about Leandra is that she always strives for perfection in anything that she does.

It must be perfect.

And so she practiced and practiced even when there was no practice.

They all moved in sync with each other. All unmated male wolves' eyes were glued hungrily to the she-wolves that danced.

Leandra looked off to the side and glanced at Zayne. Mekhi, Rafael, and Jovi are to her right as she faces them, so she decides to sexily maneuver to lock eyes with someone on her left instead.

She was smart, unlike Sacha who was literally gyrating and staring daggers at Zayne.

Zayne glanced at Leandra. He found that his eyes kept finding her ever so often. When the drums had started playing, and the ladies ran out on the field, one particular she-wolf lagged behind. He had zoned in with his wolf vision and saw it was Leandra.

She had loosened a maxi dress that she wore over her see-through piece for the dance. And when the dress dropped to the ground, Zayne felt his jaw drop to the ground as well.

She was a vision.

How she moved, and her body flowed in sync with the drums and the steps was like it was second nature to her. Her waistline moved so seductively, like it was beckoning him to grab her by her small waist.

At that moment, Zayne was mesmerized. He simply could not take his eyes off her.

Zayne sucks his teeth and leans back in his chair as he sips his beer, eyes still never leaving Leandra. Rocked back in his chair, he observed that she was making eyes at some wolf on the other side, and for some reason, he did not like it.

Yea, that ticked him off.