Page 71 of Alpha Theo

“Uhh… you’re gonna want to scooch a little closer,” Theo says over his shoulder.

I comply, wriggling forward until my front is pressed against his back. My heart’s still racing, and I don’t know if it’s the fear of being on the motorcycle or the contact of our bodies.

“You gotta hang on, too,” he says, matter-of-factly. “Put your arms around me.”

Slowly, I wind my arms around his waist. I’ve never touched his body before, but even through his jacket, it feels exactly how I imagined it would- solid, rock hard. My wolf is going frickin’ crazy right now, rattling around inside my chest.

I flinch as Theo fires up the engine, the roar of his motorcycle drowning out my frantic doubts.

“You ready?” he calls out over his shoulder.

“Please just go slow!” I whine.

Theo lets out a laugh and the next thing I know, we’re in motion. I squeeze my arms tighter, clinging to him as he pulls onto the street, starts to pick up a little speed.

I cannotbelieve I’m doing this. Have I lost my mind?

I feel the rumble of the motorcycle underneath me, the warmth of Theo in front of me, the wind in my hair as he starts to go faster. This… isn’t as bad as I expected. My wolf’s absolutely thrilled, practically purring, and I’m… nervous, but excited. I feel good. I feel free.

I close my eyes, let out a laugh that’s carried away on the breeze. Hold tighter to Theo as he picks up a little more speed, turns off the main road onto another one.

The first few minutes are great. I’m wondering why it took me so long to agree to this- I’m having the time of my life. And then things go sideways. Theo starts driving faster, way faster than I’m comfortable with. I see my life flash before my eyes when he takes a turn, leaning so far into it that I feel like I’m going to spill off of the bike.

“Theo!” I scream, an overwhelming sense of dread washing over me. “Slow down!”

But he doesn’t slow down. He goes faster. I squeeze tighter around his waist, trying to signal to him. “Theo!”

It’s like he doesn’t hear me. He’s racing up the mountain road now and I’m absolutely panicking. “Theo! Stop!” I cry out, digging my fingers into his abdomen. “Theo!”

He still doesn’t stop. He takes a curve way too fast, screeches his tires as he almost dumps us both off of the motorcycle. I’m so paralyzed by fear that I feel like I’m gonna throw up.

“Theo!” I keep screaming out for him, clawing at his abs.

Finally, he slows, pulling the bike onto a dirt turnoff, coasting to a stop. As soon as his feet hit the ground, I yank my arms from around his waist and start pounding on his back with my fists.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” I scream, my voice strained.

He laughs-frickin’ laughs!– and turns to look at me over his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

I grunt, pushing at his back and setting a leg down, stumbling as I pull my other leg over the motorcycle, hopping backwards as I find my footing.

“Are you kidding me?!” I spit, eyes thrown wide. I reach up to unsnap the helmet strap, fumbling with the buckle under my chin.

Theo kills the engine, setting the kickstand and lazily climbing off of his bike, still chuckling. “Calm down, kid…”

“No!” I yell, still trying to get the damn helmet unbuckled. I’m so furious that I’m seeing red. “Couldn’t you hear me?! I was terrified, I was screaming for you to stop!”

He shakes his head, that patronizing smile still on his lips. “What? I thought you were screaming because you were having fun.”

The buckle unsnaps and I pull the helmet up off of my head. “Fun?!” I hurl it in his direction.

Theo catches the helmet in front of his chest with both hands, then lowers it, dangling it beside him by the strap. He stares back at me, his smile fading from his face, like it’s finally dawning on him how upset I am.

I’m not just upset- I’m absolutelyfurious. I took a huge risk getting on that motorcycle with him- I trusted him to keep to his word that he’d take it slow, not make me fear for my frickin’ life!

Theo shakes his head, dropping the helmet to the ground and striding toward me. “Listen, kid, I…”

“No!” I interrupt, glaring up at Theo as he stops in front of me. “I’mnotgoing to listen to your excuses. That’s all you do, Theo- make excuses for yourself!”

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