Page 93 of Alpha Theo

He takes my hand and my mind goes to mush again.

“C’mon,” Theo breathes, a devilish grin on his lips. He starts forward, tugging me with him.

I finally snap out of my haze, drinking in my surroundings as we walk toward a drop-off, an incredible view of the forest spread before us below.

“Is this…” I ask quietly.

“Yeah,” he sighs. “Pine Mountain.”

I can see why he’s been wanting to take me up here, why he likes coming here so much. It’s beautiful. The view stretches on for miles- lush green trees, sprawling landscapes, a winding river threading through. It’s so peaceful, serene.

“It’s incredible,” I whisper.

I turn to Theo and he’s just watching me, an amused smile dancing across his lips. “You think?”

He turns away from me to look out at the view, and now it’s my turn to watch him. The view’s great, but damnit if this man isn’t even more beautiful. His cheekbones and jawline look like they were chiseled by the gods themselves, his body’s so insane that it doesn’t even seem real. And those hazel eyes… they meet mine again and my breath catches in my throat.

“I’ve been coming here for years,” Theo says, something shifting in his gaze as his tone turns more somber. “Whenever I needed to get away, to clear my head…”

I step closer beside him, sliding an arm around his back. I lean my head sideways onto his chest and we just stand there in silence for a few moments, staring out at the vista.

“My mom used to take me here,” he says quietly.

I pull back, peering up at him. Slowly, he looks down at me, his eyes swimming with the pain of his loss.

“I haven’t been up here with anyone else since she…” his voice trails off and he looks away.

It suddenly hits me how important this trip was to Pine Mountain, how much it means that he wanted to bring me here. Even before the mate bond snapped in and he knew we were fated. The gravity of it is so heavy, causing a lump to form in my throat.

I turn sideways against him, bringing my other hand up to rest on his chest. “Tell me about her,” I say gently. “I was so young when it happened, I barely remember your mom.”

I see his adams apple bob as he swallows hard. Then he gazes down at me again, reaching up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“She was beautiful. Kind to everyone. Patient, even when I gave her hell. She was the only one who really understood me. My dad tried, but after…” he trails off again, then clears his throat, continuing. “My dad couldn’t even look at me for the longest time because it was my fault.”

“What?” I gasp, my heart lurching. The raw vulnerability in Theo’s eyes is tearing me apart. “How can you say that, Theo? You can’t possibly blame yourself…”

“It’s true,” he interrupts. “My wolf had just started manifesting, and I didn’t have control yet. I went out for a run and when I didn’t come home, my mom came looking for me, and…”

I shake my head in disbelief. “Theo…” I reach both hands up, cupping his face between them and staring into those beautiful hazel eyes. “It was anaccident. Those hunters were on our land. They’re the ones that shouldn’t have been there. It was a terrible, tragicaccident.”

Theo just shakes his head, his eyes shiny.Is he…?

I throw my arms around him, squeezing him tightly, pressing my body into his. He winds his own arms around me in response, one around my waist, the other at my shoulders, cupping the back of my head with a palm and pressing my face into his chest.

My heart breaks at the thought of Theo carrying around this guilt with him for so long. It’s too heavy of a burden for anyone to bear. I wish I could ease it somehow, take it from him so he didn’t have to carry it alone.

We stand there like that for a while, just holding each other on top of Pine Mountain. The place his mom used to take him. The place he used to come to for solitude. The place he decided to share with me. Only me.

Finally, Theo relinquishes his hold on me, pulling back so he can look at me again. He leans down, planting the softest kiss on my lips.

“Turning a bad memory into a good one, right?” he asks, the corners of his mouth tipping up.

“Definitely,” I breathe. “Thanks for bringing me here.”

“Oh!” he exclaims, dropping his hands from my waist and taking a step back. “I almost forgot.”

I furrow my brow in confusion, but Theo just spins around, striding back over to his motorcycle. My blood runs cold as I flash back to when he walked away like that last week, left me standing there.

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