Chapter 19

ALEXIS

"And this is a picture of when he didn't want to wear his clothes so he ran around in his diaper. He was a such a stubborn baby," Dorothy rambled, pointing at the picture of Hudson.

I smiled and stared at the chubby baby. He was so adorable with his head covered in black curls and his lips shaped into a small pout. Dorothy seemed to love taking pictures of every new thing her kids did. There were pictures from the first time Hudson sneezed to the first time he went to the bathroom by himself. It was a good thing Hudson was busy making rounds in his pack or else I was pretty sure he would have dragged me out before his mom could show me all these pictures.

The front door opened and shut loudly which made Dorothy leap up from the barstool and scramble to hide the album behind some plants. Hudson walked into the kitchen and raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him.

"What, no baby pictures?" He asked casually, walking toward the fridge. Dorothy winked at me and shook her head innocently, "No sweetie, I couldn't find the album."

Hudson turned around and popped open his can of beer, "Good. That album needs to be burned and if I find it, that's what I'll do."

I pursed my lips to keep from laughing and ran my fingers through my hair, feeling slightly self-conscious when Hudson just stared at me.

Dorothy cleared her throat and stood up, "Well, I'm going to go fold the laundry. Let me know if you two need anything."

I gave her a kind smile as she patted my back gently and rushed out of the kitchen like it was on fire.

Why did I get the feeling she was trying to get Hudson and I alone?

"Do you want to go see the packhouse?"

My head turned back to Hudson, who was placing the opened can of beer back into the fridge.

"Uh, sure."

I stood up and froze when I realized that I hadn't showered and probably smelled really bad– not the first impression I wanted his pack members to have of me.

"Or maybe some other time. I stink right now," I muttered, sitting back down slowly. Hudson frowned and walked over to me, grabbing my hand gently and pulling me up gracefully.

"I don't think you smell bad."

I gave him a flat look, "You don't count. You're my mate. I could roll around in dirt and garbage for some time and you would still think I smell nice."

"I think you smell nice," a new voice interjected. Our heads turned to Bradley, who had a wide smirk on his face. Bradley seemed to be a good mix of Dorothy and Lewis, unlike Hudson, who looked completely like Lewis, and Lucy, who looked very much like Dorothy.

I noticed that he didn't have his cane, but it was probably because he knew where everything was in his house. Although, without his cane, it was hard to tell that he was blind because his eyes moved as though he was taking in his surroundings. However, when he was up close, the fogginess in his gray pools gave away that he wasn't looking around.

Bradley sat down in my old seat slowly and sniffed the air, "You smell like honey-suckles. It's quite refreshing honestly. Some of the she-wolves here like to spray those floral perfumes all over."

I laughed quietly, "Don't floral perfumes smell nice though?"

"Not if they swim in the scent," Hudson muttered, "Bradley, I'm going to show Alexis the packhouse, did you need anything?"

"Nope, I just came here to annoy you, but since you're busy I'll just come back later. Just don't christen the packhouse dining table or something. People still use those."

My mouth fell open while Hudson didn't seem fazed by his brother's words. He just grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the front door. Once we were outside, he shook his head, "Don't listen to my brother. He likes messing around. It's one of the reasons why he and Boston get along so well,"

I smiled, "Where are Boston and Matthew?"

"Matthew is checking up on the warriors in training and Boston is checking up on border patrol."

"Then what did you do?"

Hudson gave me a pointed look as if I had offended him or something, "I visited my Deltas and asked for the reports on their sectors. I also called up the other packs to check if they had any rogue issues."

"Did they?"

"Nope. The last rogue sighting was at the Burlington Pack."

Just as I opened my mouth to reply, he pulled me towards a small house, "On second thought, let's stop by my place first."

He unlocked the door and opened it up quickly, letting me inside. I looked around curiously, but not very surprised.

It looked like a classic bachelor pad, although, it was very well designed. The colors went together perfectly.

"Let's go up to my room," Hudson said, shutting the door and locking it carefully. It was as if he didn't want anyone interrupting our conversation which I thought was a bit odd considering everyone was quite busy.

When we finally got upstairs to his room, I was in awe. It was very clean and everything seemed to have a specific spot.

"Have a seat," he nodded, pointing his chin in the direction of his bed.

I sat down and stared at him curiously. He shook his head and leaned against the wall, "I didn't want anyone overhearing our conversation. My pack doesn't really know much about what's going on and I would very much rather keep it that way. The last thing I need is five hundred people hounding me for answers."

"Are you going to tell them anytime soon?"

"It depends. If these rogue attacks get more serious then I will tell them for the sake of there safety."

I sighed and rubbed my eyes tiredly, "What are we going to do? We don't know where the griffins are or what plans they have. All we know is that they want my blood."

"I was thinking we could torture the next rogue into telling us that information. The only problem is is that they seemed to have stopped attacking. Who knows when they'll show up again?"

We stayed quiet for a few minutes, lost in our own thoughts before Hudson gave me a undecipherable look, "When's your next heat cycle?"

I counted the number of days in my head and frowned, "I would say three to four days."

He cursed under his breath and scratched the stubble on his face. I couldn't help but admire how the rugged look suited him much better than the clean shaved look he usually sported.

He noticed me staring and raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Nothing," I shrugged casually, pretending I wasn't just staring at his jaw unabashed.

He narrowed his eyes and stalked towards me, making me stiffen.

What was he doing?

I started scooting away as he got closer and found myself laying flat on my back with Hudson leaning over me in a matter of seconds. I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach as our bodies pressed together perfectly, making me want to squirm and pull him closer and push him away all at the same time. The feeling was almost too intense to handle.

He didn't seem deterred by our position and just studied my face. I gulped and waited for him to say something, not wanting to break the silence with something completely embarassing.

"I don't like it when you lie to me," he whispered suddenly, his breath tickling my lips. His gray eyes bore into mine as if he was trying to read my mind.

"Who told you I was lying?" I whispered back, looking back and forth between his eyes.

His hard body moved above me, and I bit my lip to keep a gasp from escaping when his hips ground against mine. I couldn't tell if he was trying to tease me on purpose or not because he was busy glaring at my lips.

I released my bottom lip slowly and licked it to soothe the stinging. His chest rumbled with a groan as he watched me.

Honestly, I was a bit surprised we lasted this long without wanting to share some sort of intimacy. Mateships were designed so that we would mate the day we met or even the day after. The level of attraction a mated couple had for each other was impossible to ignore, and I think Hudson was slowly coming to terms with that fact.

Despite the fact the he liked to pretend that we didn't cuddle or whatever, he couldn't say that everything we had done was plutonic. It just wasn't.

He stared at my lips while I stared at his. I knew that I wanted to kiss him, and I had a feeling that he felt the same way. It was just a matter of who would initiate it.

"Alexis," Hudson whispered huskily, the tone of his voice sending shivers up my spine.

"Hudson," I whispered, tracing a finger down his jawline.

He suddenly seemed very determined and he moved his face closer to mine very slowly, as if waiting for me to stop and push him away. My heart nearly stopped when I felt his lips graze mine. Harsh breathes escaped my lips as I waited for him to finally press them against mine and stop the ache in my abdomen .

His lips brushed against mine again, and I gripped the neck of his shirt tightly as my toes curled and my lips trembled from being teased so much.

Why was he hesitating?

I tugged him closer, ready to smash my lips against his when he suddenly stiffened and pulled away, clearing his throat and running a hand down his face angrily.

"Someone's trying to cross the pack border."