Page 26 of Fated Alpha Protector

Slipping out from under his arm, I rush out into the clearing in the woods. Seeking refuge in the moonlight, it's the only place not hidden by shadows. The only place Theo won't be able to keep me prisoner and steal my breath away.

“Stop!” I command when he proceeds to take a step closer. As I raise my hand in the air, I turn my face away.

An Omega standing up against an Alpha. It's unheard of. Uncalled for. Yet, I don't feel the need to exercise any type of deference. Even with his brows furrowed and the glint sparkling in his eyes.

“Don't come any closer,” I order with sternness in my voice. “I need time to think.”

Theo nods as he remains a few feet away. Hands curled to fists on his sides, he's clearly tensed. But he respects my decision and only says, “Take all the time you need.”

The softness in his voice touches my heart. Squeezing it inside my chest like a warm hug meant to cajole me. I invite the feeling, only because my mind is spinning with a thousand thoughts I can't make sense of.

Theo Marrock as my fated mate?

I immediately shake away the thought and turn to face the deep forest. woods. “Please, Theo…”

Theo clears his throat, indicating that he understands my silent request. It’s a request for privacy – for me to be able to invoke my wolf.

“About dinner…” he begins softly, voice faltering in hesitation.

“It's fine,” I toss over my shoulder. “I won't be there at dinner. No one will know who I am.”

Without waiting for his response, I close my eyes and sigh with a heavy-heart. The only indication that he’s left the area is the crunching of dry leaves under his sneakers.

I can’t wrap my head around what he claims. But when I will my wolf to the fore, it’s Alpha Theo’s face I see behind my eyelids.

Hauntingly enticing, his brilliant emerald eyes are gemstones meant to bewitch me. I open my eyes again, snapping my head over my shoulder just to ensure he isn’t still there.

Only his silhouette is visible in the distance, taut arm muscles bulging from his sleeves. His shape is immaculate, distracting me enough to forget that I needed to shift.

Turning back towards the forest, I close my eyes again, praying that I don’t see his face again. But when I do, I know that he’d been telling the truth. Still, I refuse to believe it. That’s when I finally push past his image, and focus on the image of the wolf instead.

My chestnut brown wolf’s silhouette hangs in the shadows of my vision, awaiting my wielding. The imaginary act of reaching out and embracing the she-wolf’s powers brings about my transformation.

Like a flash of lightning, those powers whirl around my aura, strengthening the invisible force that surrounds me. That force gets stronger thanks to the wolf’s blood coursing through my veins. I’d only ever witnessed transformations before.

They’d never been described as majestic as this feeling of being wrapped in the embrace of pure power. Unfiltered and raw, it strengthens my very being, igniting the fire that resides in my core.

As I open my eyes, heightened senses make it possible to see every fine detail of the forest. From the veins of bedewed leaves to the marching ants on the ground, I notice everything.

Everything.

Even the Alpha’s steps as he leaves the meadow a couple of meters away. Too far away for my human ears to hear. But for my wolf ears, which perk up at the sound, I hear his intake of breath.

Wow…

The most extraordinary attribute of the wolf is its innate knowledge. How it easily dodges obstacles and fluidly maneuvers the forest without a navigating system. But more than that, the wolf already knows something I don’t.

At least, something I refuse to believe. But the intuition it wields as a second language comes fluently to its being. It just… Knows.

‘Mate…’

I frown at the sound of a very familiar voice inside my head. My own voice, echoing in my mind, confirms what the Alpha was trying to tell me.

He’s my mate.

With that knowing, I begin running out into the woods.

The freedom of the wind blowing through my fur and the ground being crushed between the large paws of my wolf feels divine. It’s unlike running on human feet. These large paws cut through the wind, carrying me further toward the river.

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