Archer
I felt bad for Caleb when Delilah took off like that. Even though Delilah is a werewolf and knew that she’d meet her mate after she turned 18, it was obvious she wasn’t expecting him to find her first. She also wasn’t expecting him to be so high ranked.
We went into the game room and Brandon tried to cheer Caleb up, but you could tell he was running on autopilot. His mind was probably replaying his interaction with her and the things he could’ve done differently.
Todd and Harry tried to distract Caleb as well. It was cute how hard they were trying, especially Todd. I’ve grown fond of Todd this weekend and Harry is growing on me too. Since the rogue attack and him realizing who I am to Riley, he’s eased up a lot.
I sit beside Riley who has an absent look on her face. What is she thinking about?
I take her hand in mine and it seems to snap her out of whatever daze she was in. She smiles softly at me, and I ask quietly, “What do you think of the two of us going out tonight?”
Her eyes flicker to Caleb and she bites on her lower lip nervously before she asks, “Do you really think we should? What about him?”
I love how much she cares about my friends already. I say, “We can stay if you want, but I get the feeling the rest of the night will be similar to this.”
Her lips press together, and she stands up and walks out of the room. My eyebrows furrow in confusion from her abrupt movement and I stand up so I can follow her.
As we leave the game room I watch as she pulls out her phone and sends a text and then looks at me and says, “Bring me to Delilah’s house.”
I cock an eyebrow as I say, “I think we should let her have some time to herself.”
She holds her phone out and states, “She said I could come over. Now, please take me there.”
I look at her curiously and she breathes out and says, “Archer, if I can get Delilah and Caleb at least on talking terms then I’ll go out with you tonight without any hesitations.”
I smirk as I shake my head and take her hand and say, “Let’s go.”
We walk towards the little village that isn’t far from the packhouse. When we get to Delilah’s house, I see that she’s sitting on the front porch waiting for us. Riley smiles as she walks over to her. Delilah stands up and wipes her hands on her pants nervously as she sees me. She says lowly to Riley, “What is the Alpha doing here?”
I hate how scared of me she seems. I haven’t done anything to instill fear into her! Why is she acting like this?
Riley looks back at me and gives a small smile and asks, “Can we have some privacy?”
I breathe out and nod as I turn around to leave and I hear her call, “I owe you, Arch!”
I chuckle under my breath at her nickname as I walk away.
Riley
Delilah’s shoulders relax as soon as Archer gets out of sight. I look at her with an eyebrow raised and ask, “What’s your issue with Archer?”
She gives me a nervous smile as she shakes her head and states, “I don’t have an ‘issue’ with Alpha Archer. It’s just… I’m an Omega. I’ve never been in direct contact with him before since he recently took over the pack. But I know of a lot of packs who treat their Omegas poorly.”
My eyebrows knit together; I don’t like hearing that. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect regardless of their status. Perhaps it’s something I need to look into whenever I become Luna Queen.
I say, “Archer isn’t like that.”
She breathes out as she nods, “I’m sure he’s not. I just can’t help but feel uncomfortable. He’s so much stronger than I am. It’s frightening. Then again, I suppose I could say that same thing about my ‘mate’.”
She huffs as she runs her fingers through her hair. I watch her curiously as I ask, “What’s the issue with Caleb being your mate? Isn’t it a good thing? Won’t it help you move up in ranks?”
Her lips press together and she says, “Yes, it would help me move up, but it might make there be a target on my back. I doubt you’d understand this since you’re a human, but being an Omega isn’t a good thing. I already get picked on for it! People won’t think I’m worthy of being a Gamma’s mate. That’s why I ran off. I don’t know how to feel about it, it doesn’t help that I can’t feel the pull to him yet. I don’t feel that instant attraction the same way he does.”
I nod, “That makes sense. But before you get lost in the haze of that physical attraction, wouldn’t it be a good thing for you to get to know him?”
She bites her lower lip nervously as she slowly nods and says, “Yeah, I guess that isn’t such a bad idea.”
I smirk, “Come on back to the packhouse, let’s see if you guys can have a better first impression.”
She huffs and I watch as her eyes glaze over and she says, “Okay, my mom said it’s fine so let’s go.”
We walk back to the packhouse and once we walk inside I can hear the guys talking from the game room, but then suddenly everything goes quiet and one of the guys asks, “Are you okay, Caleb?”
I hear footsteps and I watch as Caleb rushes into the room then stops in his tracks when his eyes land on Delilah. He seems frozen as she smiles awkwardly and waves one hand and says, “Hey.”
He raises his hand as he chuckles under his breath and awkwardly responds, “Hi.”
Delilah looks at me, lost and unsure of what to do next. I say, “Hey Caleb, I was thinking Chinese would be good tonight. How about you and Delilah here go pick it up for us?”
He nods eagerly, and we both look at her as we await her response. She breathes out as she says, “Okay, yeah, let’s-let’s go.”
He grins as he walks towards her and offers her his arm. She hesitantly takes it and I watch in amusement as they walk off.
I can feel a presence behind me, and I look up to see Archer right behind me. He says, “You said you owe me.”
I laugh as he picks me up and runs off with me as he yells for Brandon, Harry, and Todd to start the movie without us.