Page 14 of Sold to the Alpha Wolf

My mate.

I could see the tremendous pain Senna was in, and it took everything not to immediately soothe the ache any way I could.

Get him out. You need to get him out.

“It’s done, Collins. Take your few packmates and leave. We will not start a war this day. Your sacrifice is accepted.”

The man barely restrained the petulant fucking snarl that curled just his top lip, and I leveled him with a glare.

“Another moment of dallying, and you’ll be considered trespassing again. Don’t press my kindness, Collins. I’ll not be so lenient again.”

Gesturing for his wolves to surround him, Terrance left through the front door. Icy wind stabbed through the air as the door opened, and Grayson quickly shut it behind them, locking things up.

“You are all dismissed. I will be seeing to our…sacrifice myself.”

My pack began to argue, but I shoved a stern wave of command through our bond, and they immediately backed off. I didn’t do it often; I hated it, really, and that alone told them I was serious.

Still, I couldn’t leave it like that. I wasn’t Terrance. I was not a monster.

“We have a breeding-ready omega in our midst. I want to be sure of her status. Understood?”

My mate’s eyes flared at me despite the obvious pain she was in, both of us joined in the secret knowledge that Terrance had hoped I didn’t know. Senna didn’t have a wolf.

I swallowed hard to keep myself from scooping her up into my arms and taking her away from all this, but my pack didn’t know, either. I had a solid feeling that they wouldn’t be too pleased that I’d accepted a wolfless omega to breed. They’d demand I kill her, at least quite a few of them.

“Of course, Alpha.” Kaiden’s voice was even and calm, but I could scent the curious apprehension tinging his usual fragrance with something bitter, like char.

A quiet grumbling leaked from Leon’s chest, and I snapped a sidelong gaze at him.

“Did I say stand around, Leon? Get going, pup.”

He was young, still impulsive and rash. When he nearly began growling, anger filling him, I menaced in his direction, and he immediately backed off. Kaiden and Kenzie yanked him away down the hall, and the rest of the pack followed.

I was alone in the entryway with Senna. At last.

Stooping down to her slowly, I raised my hands up when she instinctively snapped at me, a pained snarl reverberating through her chest.

“I’m not going to harm you. I wouldn’t. I swear to you.”

Senna lowered her head, looking up at me from under her brows as a tear seeped down her reddened cheek.

“Don’t you mean again, Alpha? You won’t hurt me again?” she glared with an icy fire that made my nerves howl with regret and guilt. “I don’t believe you for a second.”

I dropped my eyes to the ground between us, sighing as I squeezed my hands into fists. Senna had no reason to trust me. I had harmed her. I’d harmed my mate by letting our connection fray, the thread between us torn and abused.

But it hadn’t snapped, and I wouldn’t let it.

There was only so much I could do to get Senna to trust me for any length of time, though. I amplified the wave of alpha energy coming off me, directing the calming power of our bond over my mate’s skin.

She shuddered against it, renewed tears falling as her breathing slowed and her clenched hands relaxed. The burnt smell of her natural scent faded. Senna was feeling at least a little better, and with it, that intoxicating scent of roses and almonds came back.

“What…what are you doing? Why does that feel…”

I inched closer, shuffling across the floor on my hands and knees. She was going to collapse. I could see it in the way Senna’s arms wobbled.

“It’s the mate bond. It’s amplifying the comfort of an alpha. I suppose you didn’t know it could be so…strong.”

She shook her head. I wasn’t trying to sedate her or anything with it. Still, I imagined that the stress she’d been under was making the likelihood of passing out a lot greater.

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