Page 19 of Bullied By the Alpha Wolf

Why was he having such a difficult time with it now? Obviously, the guy must have learned to get his wolf under control. Defeating the previous alpha aside, they wouldn’t let Kaiden be the leader of this pack if he was going around shifting at random times.

It was something about me.

My presence was making it hard for him to keep a lid on things, and that entertained me way more than it should. Little old human Kit was messing with the big bad alpha wolf, making his shift gnaw at him.

That was hilarious. And frankly, it was nice to see that I could get under his skin, too. He’d teased me enough over the years that taking Kaiden down a peg felt great.

“What’s the matter, Kaiden? You seem to be having a bit of a control issue there.”

“Drop it, Kit,” he snapped. “Is that all? Can you think of anything else that might benefit me?”

I smirked, narrowing my eyes at him as I mirrored his posture, folding my arms over my chest.

“Benefit you, huh? Sure, this’ll benefit you. Take a fucking chill pill. You’re not the one recounting their torture, so wolf up. I’m doing you a service, and you’re standing there fighting against a shift because what? It’s a lot? I’m the one who lived it, Kaiden, so I don’t want to hear it.”

He growled low again, his brows sinking down over his eyes as he sneered at me.

“Jesus, what is with you? Why is being around me so hard for you? Scared to confront your past?”

Before I could even blink, Kaiden crossed the room in a flash. His clawed fingers latched onto my shoulders, gripping hard. It nearly hurt, and as I stared up at him, I saw the yellow glow of his eyes and the lengthening of his canines into long fangs.

I’d never been around him when he was in wolf form or in this half-state so close. My heart slammed against my ribs as my pulse skyrocketed. I could intimately sense how much of a predator he was and how much I was his prey.

It was genuinely terrifying, and yet, a part of me knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wouldn’t hurt me. Which was beyond strange.

I’d never trusted him like that before. But with Kaiden so close, his grip on my shoulders was iron as his wavering human-to-wolf-and-back eyes looked down at me like I was the only thing in the universe.

What the hell is happening right now?

“Don’t…Kit…” Kaiden whispered, and I could hear the strain in his voice.

As the moment hung, tense as a piano wire, I seriously considered if my need for a bit of revenge just got me into way more trouble. Trouble that I could not handle.

Chapter 9 - Kaiden

I needed to shift into my wolf. I needed to shift right fucking now, or I was going to explode.

Tension crawled through my muscles and tendons, yanking on my bones so damn hard it ached. It was so much worse than the typical urge. I hadn’t felt anything this strong since my first time transforming into my wolf. And still, this felt…different.

I was furious. Eli had laid his fucking hands on my fucking mate, and I was going to gut him. The thoughts were insane, completely ridiculous and beyond. Kit was not my mate. She was human. I didn’t have a mate, and that was perfectly fine.

What the hell is wrong with me? Let her go, Kaiden. Get your hands off Kit. Now.

My brain sent the message to my hands, but they weren’t listening. I was so damn close to her, and my wolf was driving this ship a lot more than I was at present. Her scent, that lilac swirl of spring, was too close. It was everywhere, and my blood hummed with not just the need to take off into a primal run.

But also the need to take…her.

“Kaiden?” Kit’s voice was low, a thready whisper that made my cock twitch against my leg. “What are you doing? Back off.”

I was trying, dammit, but my fucking wolf didn’t want to let up. Unthinking, I leaned in, getting my face to the crook of Kit’s neck and breathing deeply. That lilac smell flooded my nose, and it was all I could do not to fucking rut her right then and there.

How was this possible? How was this still so damn strong? I was sure that my stupid little crush on Kit had been the result of raging hormones and a good ol’ dose of “the strange.” She was human, after all, and there were a slim few wolves who knew what one felt like.

But even after all these years of separation, I was inexplicably drawn to her.

Because she’s your mate, my wolf whispered in my mind, and for the first time in years, I was finding it really fucking hard to ignore him.

I had to do something, though. At this point, Kit probably thought I was out of my fucking mind. And she wasn’t far off.

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