Oh Hell No

Chapter 32

'You found your mate?'

Ryder was more than a little disappointed that he missed that; he had always wanted to see Chris act anything other than snarky or calm, and meeting his mate would have certainly provided that opportunity. Would he be the possessive type? Would they immediately mark each other? He'd have to wait to find out.

'Yeah, that's what I said,' So far, it sounded like Chris was already more focused on his mate than anything, including being respectful towards others.

"Ryder, what's going on?" Jamie finally managed to catch his attention, mostly because the conversation was over and he could actually focus on what was happening around him.

"Chris found his mate, and is looking for Alpha Lewis," Ryder summarizes, "And no offense but I've been waiting for this day since his first shift, so I'm gonna go find him."

She snorted, "Are you planning on taking pictures and hugging him because it's just now hitting you how much your little boy has grown up?"

"I'm not a middle-aged soccer mom," He argues, "It's just that Chris has acted like a robot with a sense of humor. Making fun of him when I see just how much this mystery girl has melted his heart will be so satisfying after all the years of him patronizing me for having a temper. C'mon."

"Why do I have to come?" She wasn't complaining per se, because if she stayed she'd have to help clean up all the little rubber pieces left behind by the water balloons.

Ryder glanced at Fin, his true intentions poorly disguised, "I really want you too?" He tried, and the others decided to not call him out. It was obvious enough, so they didn't see a reason to.

"Got it. I last saw Lewis inside," Only Ryder questioned the lack of a title attached to his name, the other three knowing that she was never good at addressing anyone by their proper role. It was the primary reason Alpha Lewis and her didn't get along; his wolf didn't like how disrespectful her decision felt. Now that he wasn't her alpha, she felt even less obligated to use his title so the old habit stuck. Mason was an exception in the beginning because she was trying to get on his good side, but that time was over and it wouldn't be long before she referred to him casually too.

"So did I. Chances are Chris has already found him so we'd better hurry it up if I'm gonna embarrass the crap out of him in front of his mate," Ryder took Jamie's hand, going to drag her along inside to find them but was stopped when her hand unwillingly pulled away. He turned around and growled lowly at the sight of Fin hugging her from behind, even picking her up for a second before setting her down. Ryder immediately worked to calm Enzo down, despite the very tempting urge to tear him apart.

"In case you two are too busy to say proper goodbye's, I'll do it now. You better visit sometime, because everyone else here is super boring," He then walks off in a seemingly random direction, and while a small part of Ryder hopes he accidentally walks off the edge of a cliff, the rest of him is relieved that he's gone.

Melissa practically jumped onto Jamie, bear hugging her tightly, "I love you so much, Jamie. Thank you," Jamie wasn't exactly sure why exactly she was apologizing, but she'd take it. She didn't know how long she would be in this gracious mood.

She smiled awkwardly, before turning back to Ryder, "Let's go."

Finding Alpha Lewis and Chris was incredibly easy with werewolf senses. It was even easier because they were on the first floor, which was the first area they checked. Even with the very loud group of werewolves in the living room, which was obnoxiously large in Jamie's opinion, they were able to follow the sound of Lewis's voice to its source from the back door. He wasn't even talking loud, if anything that just made it more identifiable compared to the very passionate Green Bay Packers fans that had crammed way too close together on the fake leather couch. It was like when Jamie's old, and apparently stupid, bus driver tried to fit three fifth graders in one bus seat, which is to say that it didn't work all that well.

Chris had indeed caught Lewis while he was in the kitchen, basically dragging his mate along with him. Jamie and Ryder were able to tell that much as they traced the sound of their voices to the room, only temporarily getting distracted by the fresh carrot cake that Alpha Lewis was icing. He had taken up the cake decorating hobby because it gave him almost complete control as to how the cake looked when it was finished, and because he was such a perfectionist, he became really good at it. The future beta had apparently chosen a bad time to talk to Lewis, if the alpha's sour expression was any indication.

Usually, when he was busy icing, he made sure that no one else came in the kitchen so as not to ruin his focus. Being an outsider, Chris didn't technically have a way of knowing this but that didn't mean Lewis was particularly happy about it. While it was unlikely that he would keep Chris from returning to his pack with his mate in tow, his wolf mentally kicked him for lowering those chances.

"Chris, I'm not going to stop you two from going back to the Everglade Pack. But right now, I'm busy taking a break from all the paperwork I have to finish by the end of the week. I can officially remove Quinn's bond from my pack in about an hour. For now, I suggest you leave me be because it has been a very stressful morning, and talk to your pack's beta and future alpha about this," He said with a tired smile that, had Chris been in his right mind, he might have felt the slightest bit intimidated by.

Ryder took this as his opportunity to walk in, Jamie having no real option other than to follow, "Yeah, I don't mind waiting an extra hour or so, which gives you plenty of time to introduce us to the lucky-" He cut himself off, taking note of who was in the room.

Chris and Alpha Lewis, obviously, they had literally been talking. Jamie and himself, even though she was technically standing in the doorway to keep from intruding. Finally, instead of the petite, nerdy type of girl he had honestly been expecting Chris to get paired up with, Ryder was faced with a bright red boy, who his future beta had an arm protectively wrapped around.

A/N: I know how stereotypical it is to turn a character gay out of nowhere, but I don't care 😂 And if anyone has a problem with Chris being gay then be prepared to fight a losing war