Robbing the Alpha

Ch. 8: Fatefully Yours

HUCK

Huck,

I do not want to be with a valley wolf. I do not want to give up my life to live with you in squalor. I will be mated to Alpha Titan under the mid-winter full moon, as is customary. Any further contact will actively put us both at risk. If you care for me at all, you'll stay away.

I wish you well.

The note had been hanging from the same tree I'd pinned her against the night before. I wasn't sure which to regret more: losing control or regaining it. If I'd taken her, she would be with me now. A few more seconds and my bite would have pierced her skin, claiming her as mine forever.

I closed my eyes and drew in a slow breath, remembering the image of her, totally undone, lipstick smeared to reveal those swollen, pink, parted lips. The way she'd dragged her nails down my back, clawing me closer like the greedy girl she was. I could see why people spoiled her. She was so hard to refuse. Even my wolf could deny her nothing. Somehow, she'd stopped him with a word.

The magnolias around the courtyard were in full bloom, making them the perfect place to hide. I sat amongst the blossoms, eyes fixed on the French doors, willing her to change her mind and exit. Something about the moon's reflection in the glass seemed to taunt me. She called me a thief, but I'd never stolen anything that wasn't rightfully mine. She was rightfully mine, but if I claimed her, hundreds would suffer.

I shook my head and read over the note again, trying to accept the unacceptable. She was making her choice. It was the only choice to make. I'd known that from the beginning...but like this? I wish you well? Did she mean in my squalor?

My wolf stirred, sensing something wasn't right, and my gaze shot up to her bedroom window just in time to see a shadow cast across the curtains. Unless Brooke had suddenly become much broader, it wasn't hers.

She wasn't coming, and there was a man in her room. She'd made her choice, and he was in her room.

My lips thinned. My jaw clenched. Every muscle in my body tightened, and my wolf raged to be free. I took several deep, slow breaths, fighting for calm and losing. There was so much blocking me from her, but there was nowhere near enough to keep me away. It would be too easy to enter through the secret tunnels, kill him, and claim what was mine.

But everything she said was true. I couldn't give her comfort. I couldn't dress her in fine clothes. I couldn't even guarantee to keep her alive. She deserved all that and more, but I had nothing. He'd taken everything.

With every ounce of strength I possessed, I jumped from the tree and walked away. I gave her what she wanted because it was all I had to give.

* * *

"You're back?" Jewel said, rushing to greet me.

I ignored her.

"Huck?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Did something happen?"

Plenty had happened. Brooke had happened. Her smile. Her laugh. Her wit. Her temper. Everything about her drove me insane, and it wasn't just the bond. It wasn't the pull. It was her. And now, she would spend her life with Titan. His mark would be on her neck. Her belly would swell with his child, and I would spend the rest of my life being eaten alive by nightmares about conception.

Jewel stepped into my path. "What happened?"

"I fell in love with her."

"Duh. But why are you back?"