The Alpha’s Little Rogue (Alessia)

Chapter 133

Daphne's POV Our eyes clash, blue against brown.

My heart stills and my pulse quickens. The stranger draws a reaction out of me that leaves me blindsided. Also, I feel like I know him from somewhere.

My brows furrow in confusion as the man standing beside Henry watches me with an inscrutable look in his eyes. Shaking my head, I look away from him and focus my attention on the children crowding me.

"Miss Daphne," Rina calls out with a pout. "You didn't give me a cupcake." She stretches out her hands to show me her empty palms.

"I'm sorry, dear," I apologize and reach into the basket beside me to pull out a cupcake which I place in her opened palm.

She gives me a toothless smile and digs into the cupcake, getting some of the icing on her cheeks.

I smile and stand to my full height from the squatting position I've been in. "I need to leave," I inform the kids who break out into various forms of whining.

One of them even goes as far as to hang onto my leg.

Rolling my eyes at them, I remove the little hands wrapped around my legs and reach down the pick up my baskets.

"You guys will see me in class on Monday," I remind them and I'm met with more whining.

Shaking my head, I sidestep them and start heading for the pack house where Henry is still standing outside. The man that was with him is nowhere to be seen though.

I shove down the irrational disappointment that settles in my chest.

"Hey," I greet. "I brought over some cupcakes for the pack members." I stretch out the baskets in my hands and he receives them with a gentle smile.

"Thank you. I was wondering when you would show up." He pushes the door open with his foot and ushers me in.

I follow behind him, pushing away the voice in my head that keeps telling me that I don't believe here. I may not have a wolf but this pack is still my family. And I might have moved out as soon as I got a paying job but that doesn't mean that I'm no longer welcomed here. I need to find a way to push those negative thoughts out of my head before I end up driving away the few persons I have left.

Henry leads me into the kitchen and places the baskets on the counter where Luke, a kid in the seventh grade, snatches a cupcake right out of one of the baskets.

"Thank you, Miss Daphne," he says with his mouth full and runs out of the kitchen with his prize. He's definitely going to go tell the other kids that the cupcakes have arrived.

Henry shakes his head. "Those little demons, he teases with a playfut smile on his lips. "I better take mine before they cause a stampede in here. He takes a cupcake and hurriedly bites into it.

"I'll bring more over next time," I say, making a mental note to buy more baking ingredients.

"You don't have to do that. I feel guilty when you keep bringing us baskets of cupcakes each weekend without us giving you anything in return."

"I love baking." Besides, it's the only

thing that makes the voices in my head shut up even if it's just for a few hours. Also, what else am I supposed to do when I live in a

cottage all by myself? I have nonet

I

friends and although my mother lives close by, I can't possibly visit her whenever I feel down. The wom an has a life of her own and

deserves to have her privacy.

"Well, I can't force you to stop then," he folds with a shrug and as he predicted, people start swarming into the kitchen, each of them heading for the baskets on the

counter. Then the pushing, shoving,

and quarreling start.

Henry and I slip out of the kitchen and into the main room. I make a mental note to definitely get more baking ingredients.

As we sit on the couch in the main room, I remember the man standing beside Henry a while ago.

"Who were you speaking to outside?" I ask, hoping not to come off as no sey.

"That was Raphael. He's the Gamma of the Red Moon Pack and he came over to train us," he explains.

I nod in understanding. I remember hearing some teenagers at school talking about a person who was coming to train them. I guess he was the one that the buzz was all about.

I say my goodbyes to Henry at the door and start the small walk to my mother's house. She lives alone and has told me several times to move in with her but I keep refusing all her offers.

I know there's a man that she's currently seeing and I'd hate to impose on her life just when she's finally stepping out of her shell.

She hardly ever talks about my father, her mate, but I know he did something to hurt her. I'm not about to ruin the little development that she's starting to make.

Standing outside her door, I tap twice on the wooden door and wait patiently for her to answer it.

My mother's face appears before me as the door opens. Smiling, I walk into her open arms and bury my face into her shoulder, feeling like I'm five again.

"I miss you, dear," she says when we finally pull apart. "You don't visit me anymore."

I bite my tongue so I don't remind her that I was here just two days ago. Instead, I give her a guilty smile. "I promise to visit you more often."

She gives me a satisfied nod and walks into her house. "Would you like to have some tea?"

"I would," I say, slumping into her chair and planning to spend the next few hours with my mother pampering me. It's nice to be an only child.