Page 51 of Alpha Hunt

“Do you want me to?” I ask softly, already knowing the answer. The silence stretches between us, thick and heavy. I continue, “No. You don’t. You hate the idea.” My heart sinks as I realize I’ve misread this moment, misjudged her reaction. She’s not ready for this.

“What did you expect?” she snaps, pulling away from me, her eyes flashing with fury. “You think you can get into my mind…delve into my deepest thoughts?”

“It’s not like that,” I protest, desperate to make her understand. “I always respect those boundaries. I don’t go further than I have to. I swear I would never do that to you, Casey.”

“Really? Then what about the things you know about me? The…” She pauses, realization dawning on her face. “Wait. Is that how you found me? On the hunt?” Her expression morphs into one of horror. “Jesus, Edirn!” She sits up abruptly, putting even more distance between us. She rubs her forehead. “Oh, my God!”

I sit up, too, reaching for her, but she recoils, and my chest tightens. “Casey, it’s not—”

“Not what? A lie? A complete invasion of my privacy?” She’s on her feet now, pacing the room like a caged animal. “You cheated! You cheated your way into my life…into my bed!” Her voice cracks, raw with betrayal. “I can’t believe you would do this! I thought…I thought…”

She doesn’t finish the sentence; instead, she grabs her scattered clothes as if she’s about to put them on. She changes her mind because she flings them aside in a huff as she keeps stalking about. She’s not looking at me. I can sense the turmoil in her mind, the feeling of violation and anger that consumes her. I want to explain, to make her see that it’s not what she thinks, but the words won’t come.

Fuck.

I totally screwed this up.

I should have waited…but then again, would it have made any difference?

“I can’t even look at you right now!” she growls. With one last glare in my direction, she storms out of the room, slamming the door behind her. A moment later, the door to the apartment slams shut, too. I feel the change in the air that marks the turning of her wolf. The sound of claws on the hallway tiles confirms that she’s shifted into the beast. Rage. She’s furious, and so is her wolf…and now they’ve gone out together. They need to run.

I sit there, stunned, my heart aching with the knowledge that I’ve ruined everything. I’m angry with myself for getting this so wrong, for not considering how she might react to the truth about my abilities.

And even though she’s gone, I can still feel her presence, the hurt and betrayal radiating off her. I’ve lost her, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to win her back.

Chapter 20

Edirn

“I need to go out again,” I say as I stand in front of Jagger’s desk. It’s been less than an hour since Casey left, but it feels like my entire world just came crashing down. I need to do something useful. Need to feel a sense of rebuilding something.

“That so?” Jagger looks at me. His nostrils flare, and he grins, no doubt scenting her on me. “You certain you want to leave your mate again so soon?”

“I’m fine with it.” I keep my voice neutral.

“Really? Because after what we all heard go down in the changing rooms yesterday, I’d have thought there’d be some catching up to do. I gotta say, it took you long enough. Maybe you should stick around here for a bit.” He winks.

“I said I need to go out.”

He leans back in his desk chair, contemplating me. “Okay. What are your plans? Casey will have my ass if I let you go wandering off again – not without knowing what your plans are.”

Somehow, I doubt that. “She’ll understand,” I say.

“Well, aside from her, I need to know.” He shifts forward again, resting his elbows on the surface of the table. “We’ve given you free rein, but it’s time you started letting us in on what you’ve been up to.”

I run my eyes over his face, searching his thoughts for any signs of suspicion. I find none. He’s simply a leader who’s making sure he has his details in line. I respect that.

“I want to reach out to Barrett and see what he’s doing there. We spoke yesterday, and it looked like he was onto something. I think it’s time I got involved.”

“To what end?” Jagger steeples his fingers.

“I want to see if it’s time for us to assemble a party to go in there. We’ve played things cautiously till now. Didn’t want to risk exposing ourselves. But if there’s enough evidence that they’re keeping shifters in there, we need to go in. This has dragged on long enough.” Plus, if I turn my focus to the plight of the Wildview wolves, I’ll have a good reason to stop moping over my mate.

That’s if she’ll still see herself as my mate after this.

My wolf is aching to reconnect with her. So am I. But these things can’t be forced. Especially not with that woman.

“Sounds plausible,” says Jagger, tapping his forefingers against his chin. “I’ll get the teams on standby. We’ll be ready if you need us out there.”

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