Page 40 of Alpha's Forbidden Bond

“You’re drawing again.”

He shrugged. “Just trying to pass the time. Couldn’t sleep. I was actually just about to go out for a run before the sun rose. Is that where you’re coming from?”

“Yeah,” I said, getting myself a glass of water. “I did a security check around the perimeter and then ran around for a while.” I looked out the window and wondered if Diana had made it home yet.

“All clear?”

“Huh?”

“You said you did a security check.”

“Oh right.” I took a big gulp from my glass and nodded. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Nothing to report.”

“Yeah? Then why do I smell Diana Pearl’s scent all over you?”

I gulped. Fuck. Even among shifters, my brother’s sense of smell had always been unparalleled. There was no getting things like this past him, and honestly, it was a miracle he hadn’t smelled Diana on me the last time I came back from hooking up with her. It must’ve worn off enough on my drive from the big box store back to the compound. Now, however, only a short time had passed since we’d had our bodies pressed together. Since I’d been inside of her. Of course, he knew the truth.

I finished my glass of water, filled it up a second time, and then came to sit down. It was time to come clean with my brother.

“We had sex.”

Mikeal laughed. “Yeah, I gathered.”

“It wasn’t the first time.”

This seemed to surprise him. He leaned forward and raised his eyebrows. “Is that so? Well, how about that. And here you’ve been trying to convince me you’re not into her.”

“I think I was trying to convince myself more. I don’t know what has gotten into me, but ever since Diana and I met—I don’t know. I just haven’t been able to stop thinking about her. She’s quite literally driving me mad. So when she showed up at the compound tonight, I just gave into my desires, I guess.”

“She showed up here?” He drew back in his chair. “So there was another security breach?”

“Not just one.”

“What do you mean?”

I took a moment to collect my thoughts, trying to figure out the least alarming way to reveal to Mikeal what Diana had told me about her online reading. “She came here looking for answers,” I began. “Because after doing some digging online about us, she came across a website that mentioned werewolves and it made her even more curious.”

“What?” His eyes widened. “She knows about us?”

“Yes,” I said. “She saw me as a wolf, and then I… I shifted back into human form.”

Mikeal opened his mouth, probably to scold me, but I talked over him.

“But even if I hadn’t done that, she was already suspicious. She could’ve seen someone else running through the forest tonight or heard us howling. The fact that she already had the idea that we were werewolves in her head is what we really need to be worried about.”

“This is what Mr. Morena was worried about.”

“And what you warned me of as well,” I reminded him. “I’m sorry that I didn’t take you seriously at first. I understand now that this is a very real threat, and one that I am going to do everything in power to protect us from.”

“And what about her?”

“Diana?” But, of course, he meant her. Who else could he be referring to? “I know this might sound crazy, but I honestly don’t think we need to be worried about her. I don’t think she’s going to tell anyone what she saw here tonight.”

“Wow. I can’t believe I’m hearing you, of all people, say something like that.”

“She didn’t come here with a camera, nor did she try to take a picture or video of me when I showed up in wolf form. She was here to find answers for herself, but that’s it. Maybe I’m being an idiot, but I don’t have much of a choice but to trust her. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Fair enough. I guess that brings me to my next question—what will you do about Sarafina?”

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