Page 98 of Alpha Theo

I regret my words as soon as they leave my lips, cursing my mouth for moving faster than my brain. I glance over at Brooke and she’s just biting her lip, staring at the ground. She wriggles her hand free from mine.

I immediately redirect to try to salvage the conversation. “Why do you care what people think anyways?”

“I’d rather stay out of the rumor mill,” she grumbles.

I blow out a breath as we walk in silence for a few minutes, kicking myself for the comment I made that shifted her mood.

“Listen, kid, I get why you don’t want people knowing about the mate bond until we decide whether we’re going to seal it, but can’t we at least tell people we’re dating?” I ask, my own mood shifting with hers. Is that another trick of this goddamn bond? “I don’t want other guys sniffing around what’s mine.” A low growl starts in my chest at the thought of another guy even fucking looking at my female.

“You can drop the whole possessive alpha thing,” Brooke grumbles. “You don’t have a claim over me.”

“Tell that to my wolf.”

“Well what about all the girls that are always throwing themselves at you?” she asks, her tone sharp.

I shake my head. “I don’t want any of those girls.”

“Why, because you’ve already had them?” she asks bitterly.

Ouch.

“Now who’s being possessive?” I look over at her and she just rolls her eyes, stomping down the path.

After another minute or so, I heave a sigh, reaching for her hand again and skidding to a stop. “Listen, can we start over? I’m sorry for what I said, it was shitty. I don’t want it to ruin the night.”

I step closer to her, sliding my hands onto her waist, looking down into those ocean blue eyes. “Please?”

Brooke sighs, placing her palms on my chest as she gazes up at me. “Yeah, okay,” she whispers.

Her tongue swipes across her bottom lip to moisten it and my eyes follow the movement. I lean down, pressing my lips to hers, stealing a quick kiss. When I pull back, a coy smile tugs at her lips, telling me we’re back on track.

I grin in response, stepping beside her again and reaching for her hand. “C’mon.”

We amble down the trail together, and before long, I can hear the faint sound of water flowing. We’re close- and I wonder if she’s picked up on it, too; if she knows where we’re headed. This place isn’t far from the complex and a lot of the squad members know about it.

I dip from the trail onto a little offshoot, tugging Brooke behind me by the hand. It’s narrow, so we have to travel single file.

“Where are we going?” she laughs as she follows my lead, and the sound of her laugh and the excitement in her voice warms me from the inside.

“You’ll see,” I say over my shoulder, navigating the uneven terrain as I keep a grip on her hand behind me.

The sound of flowing water gets louder as we make our way down a little hill. I duck under a low hanging branch, the swimming hole coming into view as I pop back up on the other side. I turn to watch Brooke as she grabs for the branch overhead with her free hand, stepping down beside me and taking in her surroundings.

Above us is a rocky ridge, where a thin waterfall streams down to form a wide, deep pool of water. In the dark and with the soft illumination of the moonlight, the place looks almost magical. I hear Brooke draw a shallow breath, her hand tightening in mine as she lifts the other to my bicep.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathes, looking up at me with wide eyes.

I can’t contain the smile that spreads across my face. “You up for a swim?” I ask, waggling my eyebrows.

Brooke’s eyes dart nervously to the swimming hole, then back to mine. “What?” she asks hoarsely, releasing her hold on me and taking a step back.

I chuckle, raking a hand through my hair. “C’mon, kid,” I coax, grabbing for the hem of my t-shirt and pulling it off overhead. “Live a little.”

Brooke

My breath catches in my throat as Theo’s shirt comes off and he tosses it to the ground. Every time I see his body it’s like the first time- it’s so beautiful that it doesn’t even seem real, rippling with hard-earned muscle. The moonlight dances off of the well-defined dips and curves of his broad shoulders, his wide chest, his abs. My belly fills with the flutter of butterflies.

He turns from me and strides to the edge of the pool of water, my eyes feasting upon his bulging back muscles. Then he kicks off his shoes and slides down his shorts- and my eyes go straight to his butt. My body heats as I watch him take a step down, lowering himself into the water, diving forward. He splashes up a few feet away, rising to stand waist-deep, the water rippling around his torso as he reaches his inked arm up to slick his hair back and whirls around to face me.

---