The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate (Five Packs #1)(60)

My wolf surges, a giant wave that almost knocks me unsteady. He wants to mount her now, and he’s losing patience. He was pissed as hell back in the windbreak when I forced him out of our skin. He was pushing too hard, though. Her wolf was down to fuck, but she was nowhere near ready.

Later. Soon enough.

I jerk back on the reins.

I can’t handle her rough. She’s—I don’t know the word. Delicate doesn’t seem right. But instinct tells me I gotta be gentle. Tread carefully. Unfortunately, that’s not my forte. Nor my wolf’s.

My hoodie comes to mid-thigh on her. Doesn’t really hide many of the scars, and they’re bad. There’s a Frankenstein quality to them, as if the wounds were stitched in haste. Who tended to her? Couldn’t have been the crone. The crone would’ve never abided such shoddy work.

Out of nowhere, Una makes a soft little harrumph, her wolf adding a little growl. She gives me her back, shoulders up to her ears.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Thought you’d like the rear view. So you can take it all in.”

She’s shaking. Vibrating with anger and hurt. The thread may be slight, but the feelings stream into my chest, toxic and awful.

I didn’t mean to upset her. Again. I suck at this. I tilt my face to the ceiling, cracking my neck. What do I do?

Usually, when a female drops by, she takes the lead, asks for a cup of sugar or suggests a game of cards or something. Or just gets on her knees.

I’ve got my mate in my den, and she’s glaring at the front door, tense as hell, and her wolf’s growling low, riling mine.

“Come on. Sit down.” I back away, give her space. Gesture to the sofa. She finally turns back to face the room.

I take a seat. Put myself below her level. Try to calm her wolf. Let her take the dominant position for a while. Females love that feeling of power.

Una shakes her head. “No, thanks.”

I almost say, “I don’t bite.” I swear, it’s my wolf who stops me.

“We can talk,” I say instead.

“I can’t sit on that thing.”

A bright red flush has creeped up her neck and stained her cheeks. She re-braided her hair in the truck, but a strand’s come loose, and she’s winding it tight around her finger.

“Why not?” I try to smile. Let her know I mean no harm. I’m not really a smiler, though. She kind of grimaces in response. “Can’t we have a conversation?”

Her blush darkens. “I can’t. It stinks.”

It’s leather. It smells good. I draw in a deep breath. All I smell is her—her warm deliciousness and her tart displeasure. I almost like her scent better with an edge.

“Like what?” I ask.

Her gaze skitters wildly around the room. I hope she notices how big it is. I renovated it myself when I became alpha. Doubled the square feet. Added the loft. It’s got Energy Star appliances.

“You gonna keep me in suspense, shy girl?”

She glares mutinously at the rug halfway between us. “Females.”

“Nah.” I give the cushion a good sniff. I mean, yes, I’ve gotten my knob polished plenty on this sofa, but I have the cabin cleaned on the regular. It’s immaculate. “I don’t smell it.”

She closes her eyes. She’s got her hands jammed in the hoodie pockets. “Haisley. Rowan.” She scrunches her nose. “Maeve. Shalene. Finley. Siobhan. Tierney. Iona.”

I, uh. Damn, she’s accurate. “It wasn’t, uh—” I don’t know how to tell her that it was only oral. Does that even matter?

She grimaces. “Their smell is everywhere.”

“It bothers you?” I kind of perk up. She minds. She cares.

She crosses her arms. “It’s not my business. You can do what you want.”

“Then sit down next to me.”

She’s shaking her head vehemently before I get the words all the way out. “I can’t.”

“You can’t stand in the doorway forever.”

She casts me a dark look. “Yeah. You’re right. I’m going out on the porch. If I stay in here, I’m gonna throw up.” And she turns on her heel and does just that.

She turns her back on her alpha. Me.

No one does that. No one. Even my father never walked away from me. He was too good a fighter to make that kind of mistake. And here’s Una, giving me her back at every opportunity.

My lip quirks up. She knows I won’t hurt her. Maybe not consciously, but something inside her—maybe her wolf—recognizes that in our pack of two, she outranks the hell out of me.

If she ever realizes the power that gives her, I’m fucked. But I can’t bring myself to mind.

My mate could stalk off up the hill to her place, make this is a real fight, but she doesn’t. She pokes around the front porch a little and then manages to lower herself to the top stair, stretching the hoodie over her knees as far as it’ll go to cover herself. That’s right. That body is only for me.

I’m gonna have to rethink the full moon runs. She can shift now, and I don’t think my wolf will be able to handle her naked around the other males for the swim afterwards. I’d be cool. I don’t have human hang ups. But my wolf, though. He definitely wouldn’t be okay with it.

I watch Una from the front window while I make a few calls. A few packmates pass on the path. She ignores them. They eye her, curious, but not curious enough to talk to a low-ranking lone female. She looks like she’s in time out on the alpha’s porch.