Page 17 of The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate

Chapter Four

Marc

The door shudders in its frame when Jessa leaves, and I chuckle under my breath.

Anyone else who came at me like that would have earned my temper or worn out my patience inside a minute. Her, though, I just want to indulge. Every flash of that mouth makes me want to hand her whatever she’s snapping for. My wolf paces a slow circle inside me, pleased with itself, soaking up every second of her attention even when it came sharpened to a point.

I scrub a hand down my face and sigh with an exasperated smile. “I’ve lost my mind.”

Trying to force all thoughts of Jessa from my head, I turn my attention toward the stack of donor agreements waiting on my desk After two of them, the words just start sliding past me. I give up on the third document, leaning back in my chair and staring at the ceiling.

My office sits in the heart of the junior building, close enough to the classrooms that I can hear the recess bell through the wall, and right now I can’t hear the children outside. The bell hasn’t rung yet. Which means Mia and Bella will still be in class.

Getting up, I head out into the hallway.

Crestline takes students from the youngest grades up to their final year before college, the little ones in this building, the older students across the grounds. I built it so a child could go all the way through in one place. The junior corridor’s empty this time of the morning, every door shut on a room of small bent heads, my boots loud on the tile until I reach the fourth-grade room near the end. A narrow window’s set into the door at adult height, and I stop there and look through.

They’re in the second row. Bella’s turned her chair sideways to face Mia, both elbows on the desk, chattering with a looseness she keeps for home and almost never brings to school. Mia leans in to catch every word. Whatever Bella says cracks the new girl up, and she slaps a hand over her own mouth to smother it before Miss Harlow can turn from the board.

My lips curve. When was the last time Bella was this excited? But my gaze doesn’t stay on my niece for too long.

My eyes keep drifting to Mia.

The wolf lifts its head and leans toward the glass, restless, pushing me to get closer to her. It wants to sniff the child, wants to curl up next to her. There is a streak of warmth and possessiveness that I’ve only ever felt toward Bella.

My lips press into a thin line.

Why?

What is it about this mother and child that has my wolf acting so out of character?

I return to my office, running my fingers through my hair, a knot of tension in the bottom of my nape. I’ve barely just sat down at my desk when the door swings open without so much as a knock and a man steps through, a folder tucked under one arm.

He’s big, built thick through the shoulders for the work the pack hands him, his head shaved smooth and an old scar splitting one eyebrow. He drops the folder on top of the half-signed stack and lifts that scarred brow at me. “Here.”

“Do you have something against knocking?” I scowl at him.

“I’m your second.” Adrian, my childhood friend, drops into the chair across from me without waiting to be asked. “Seconds don’t knock.”

“You’re not my second. You’re the alpha’s second,” I point out.

“You’re alpha-born, so in my book that makes you alpha.” He stretches his legs out and laces his hands behind his head, settling in. “I’m just waiting for you to reclaim your seat.”

I pluck the pen off the desk and throw it at his head. He bats it out of the air without looking. “Quit trying to stir up trouble in the pack, Adrian. If Uncle hears that kind of talk, we’ll have problems.”

Adrian rolls his eyes at me and then picks up one of magazines on my desk. “Got any naked women in here?”

“You think I keep porn in my office?”

Adrian blinks. “Well, where do you keep it?”

I stare at him till he sighs. “Yeah, yeah. I forgot you’re kind of a prude.”

“I’m not a prude, I’m just careful.” I look through the folder he brought. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“I came to drop off Gracie’s keys. She told me to hand this to you. My sister has very little respect for me. I’m nothing more than an errand boy to her.” The last part is spoken with a miffed air.

“Well, if you’re here already, look into someone for me, will you?” I lean back in the chair.