Chapter 9

I nodded at Dane "His apprenticeship is over."

"Well, it's about time Alex came back." muttered Dane which made my forehead wrinkled. "It is time?" I repeated to him.

"Errr, Yes ... "

"He meant it was time for Alex to take over your father's real estate business, Cara." interrupted Jen with a smile.

"Oh ... you're right, that was the plan." I replied to both. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone walking towards us, Eric and behind him was Julian-his prom partner.

"Ohhh ... is Eric finally going to introduce his new girlfriend to us?" Jen whispered back with a small laugh Dane. But our hopes were dashed when the two of them stopped suddenly, Eric was seen talking before Julian nodded and walked away. Jen groaned in disappointment when she saw Eric walking to our table by himself, making me chuckle.

"What is it?" Eric asked irritably at Jen before taking his place next to me.

"So when are you going to introduce Julian, Eric?" Jen replied in a sulky voice.

"Introducing her to you? Ha! Never."

After measuring my graduation gowns Jen and I decided to go home because there was nothing else for us to do at school. Eric had gone home earlier with Julian. We walked to my locker to get some things and my bag. I opened my locker to empty it, only a few books were left behind. Suddenly a pair of feet stopped right behind my locker, I closed my locker door and looked at the chestnut brown haired man in front of me.

"Ehhh, Carame firstok? Dane is waiting for me. Bye Cara! Bye Vincent!" Jen who was previously standing next to me started walking away waving her hand, I eyed her suspiciously before returning my attention to the figure in front of me again.

"Hey." he greeted, his light blue eyes looked at me with a smile. He has a cute face, with prominent dimples.

"Hey, you're in Geometry class too right?" I remember seeing him occasionally in geometry class.

"Yeah, my name is Vincent Brooks." he replied holding out his hand, I returned his helping hand.

"Caroline Brennan.".

"I know" he chuckled "Hey, Jenna said you didn't have a partner to go to prom yet ... " He paused to wait for my reaction. I'm really going to kill Jen I thought as I kept trying to keep a smile on my face then nodded at Vincent.

"Do you want to go with me?" He asked with a bit of embarrassment, he really looks cute.

"Yeah,of course." I replied with a small smile, there is no harm in going with him. Besides, he seems like a good kid. We chatted for a while while walking towards the parking lot, then he asked for my cell number. When I looked towards the gate, Alex's car was parked outside my school.

"Need a ride home?" he asked, putting his cell phone in his pocket.

"My brother has come to pick me up." I said while pointing at Alex's car, he followed my line of sight then nodded slightly.

"Then see you later, Cara." Vincent waved at me before walking towards his car park. I continued walking towards Alex's car and opened the car door. Alex didn't turn to look at me, his gaze was focused on Vincent walking in the distance.

"Who's he?" he asked briefly.

"Vincent Brooks, my friend in Geometry." I replied before throwing my bag into the backseat. Alex was silent then started driving his car. Several times I started the conversation but only one word was answered by Alex until I finally gave up, maybe he was in a bad mood this afternoon. We drove in silence until I realized this wasn't the way home.

'Alex? Where are we?" I asked looking at Alex who was still looking straight at the street in front of him.

"My apartment." He replied without looking at me.

"Oh..." I didn't know what to answer. Alex drove his car into the basement of an apartment building. Then we walked to the elevator, he pressed level 3. His bad mood was increasingly visible, his jaw had been hard since earlier as if he was holding back anger.

We walked down the hall of his apartment, several oil paintings neatly hanging on the walls. I think Alex lives in an expensive apartment because this place looks more like a hotel than an apartment. He stopped at door number 38, then took out a card and swiped it on the panel mounted next to the door.

Whoa, this apartment must be really expensive. "Tell me you're renting not buying this place." I muttered in awe.

Alex left the door open without inviting me in, not even looking at me. I stood stunned at his door, suddenly feeling angry with him too. I did nothing wrong and he treats me like this? What's wrong with him? Is he having PMS?

Moments later Alex noticed that I was still standing at his apartment door, he looked at me with his cold eyes, "Come in and close the door." his commanding voice made me grind my teeth in anger.

"I think I better go home."My angry sounding voice thwarted my plan to feign indifference. Then I turned around and walked back to the elevator. Before I got to the elevator a hand grabbed my arm, Alex stood in front of me looking at me with his brown eyes while he tried to control his anger "I'm sorry." he muttered through grinding his teeth.

"What's wrong with you?!" I cried as I let go of his hand from mine. "If you have a problem, don't take it out on me!"

"I don't like your friend." Alex looked at me carefully.

It took me a moment to understand what he had just said. "Vincent? Are you ... jealous?" I asked in surprise. Alex avoided my questioning gaze.

"Let's talk inside, Cara." He said as he pushed my back gently. Alex's apartment is dominated by gray and white, the furniture is minimalist but luxurious filling the kitchen and living room which become one in a large room. Alex sat down on the black sofa and then patted the spot next to him, asking me to sit down. My eye catches some framed pictures on a bookshelf, pictures of me and Alex when I was fresh in high school, when we were kids, pictures of us with Mum and Dad arranged neatly. Several boxes filled with Alex's unfinished things were piled in a corner of the room.

"What is it?" I asked while still standing, I folded my arms across my chest.

"Cara, I didn't mean to be mad at you." Alex stared at me for a few moments before continuing, "As an Alpha it's very hard for me to control my feelings. Especially my wolf, he can be very possessive."

"Vincent is my prom partner, Alex"

His body stiffened when he heard my reply, "Then don't go to the prom."

I looked at him in disbelief "You have no right to ban me, Alex." I hissed at him. In the bright light of his apartment, I noticed Alex's eyes had turned even more golden than before.

Alex clenched his jaw, trying to hold back his anger. "You're not going to the prom." His voice sounded flat in contrast to the expression on his face right now. Not a hint of asking sounded from his words.

"Too late. You should have asked me not to come from the start. After all, Vincent is nobody, you don't need to worry." I answered trying to be more rational than Alex. "I'm only going to the Prom with him, not getting married!"

As his lips parted again his voice turned lower and threatening, "If you don't cancel it, I'll make Vincent cancel it myself."

The last sentence made me flinch for a moment. "I won't forgive you if you do." I muttered as I turned my body to leave him.

"Cara, stay where you are!"

My steps stopped in front of his apartment door, then I slowly turned to him. "I'm not a member of your pack. Don't ever boss me around you asshole."

Alex stood up from his sofa very quickly, his eyes flashed angrily as he looked at me. "What did you just say?" he asked in a low voice. I know I've just hurt his pride as an Alpha. But what I'm saying isn't wrong. I'm not a member of his pack, his orders mean nothing to me.