Page 63 of Alpha Reid

I startle a bit when Serena cheers loudly from the passenger seat, throwing up her hands. The smile she’s wearing is contagious, and I can’t help but grin from ear to ear as we race down the forest road at a hundred miles per hour, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

I let out a loud cheer right along with Serena, darting quick glimpses at her as I remain in control of the car at such a high speed. We both whoop and yell and something about it feels like letting go, and I’m a little sorry when I see that the turnoff for Stillwater is coming up and I have to let up off the gas and slow down to make it.

We’re both laughing as we navigate the roads of Stillwater to the packhouse, coming down off of the adrenaline high.

“You’re a little crazy, you know that?” I chuckle, sliding a hand over to rest on Serena’s thigh.

She tosses me a wink, beaming. “I think deep down, you like a little bit of crazy.”

Fuck, she’s not wrong.

I’m fuckingwildfor her brand of crazy.

I swing the Mustang into the driveway of the packhouse, sliding the gear into park and immediately unbuckling her seatbelt, reaching for her.

“Come here, crazy girl,” I growl, pulling her onto my lap in the drivers’ seat. She offers no resistance as she climbs on, straddling me and throwing her arms around my neck, and the next thing I know our lips are colliding in a frenzied kiss. She tastes like sweetness and danger, a potent blend of heaven and hell.

Every touch, every kiss, only leaves me wanting more… and no matter how much I get, I know it’ll never be enough.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Serena

For some reason this feels like the calm before the storm. My lie bought us a little bit of time, but the monsters are still coming, and they’ll be here before we know it. Until then, I should try to embrace the good, right? Except every time I feel a little bit of happiness, it’s quickly followed by an overwhelming sense of guilt. Here I am, running free, suddenly living some semblance of a ‘normal’ life with friends and a mate, while my sister and pack suffer at the hands of a lunatic. What kind of person does that make me?

It's so hard to sit back and do nothing. Reid says that we can’t show our hand before the big battle- that rather than go in and retrieve my people, we should wait to take out the shadow pack here, then carry out our rescue mission once the threat has been extinguished. He says that’s the best way to preserve the safety of the people I care about, but I can’t help but feel like I’m failing them by sitting on my hands rather than coming up with a plan to save them. And with every smile, every laugh, every bit of enjoyment I find in my current situation, I only feel more guilty.

I was excited to go out to the Stillwater Tap tonight with Jax and Quinn, but the guilt is weighing on me so heavily today that I’m tempted to call it off. I drag my feet about even getting showered and ready to go, but then Reid stops by my room looking positively drool worthy and I have a renewed excitement about the evening ahead. He’s dressed in a crisp black button down with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a nicely fitted pair of grey slacks, and my wolf practically starts howling at the sight of him. The man looks damngood.

I have to dress up enough to look worthy to be on his arm, right? So I throw on a tight charcoal body-con dress that makes my legs look impossibly long and top it off with a fitted black leather jacket and a pair of black ankle booties. For my makeup, I do a smoky eye and a red lip, and for my hair, I break out a tool that I’ve never used before- a triple barrel waver. After a little trial and error, I get the hang of it, and I leave my hair down, cascading down my back in red waves. Once I’m satisfied with the whole look, I give myself one last once-over in the mirror and head downstairs to join Reid.

He lets out a low whistle when I hit the bottom step, roaming eyes appraising my appearance from where he’s standing in the kitchen sipping on a beer. “Damn, Red,” he groans almost like he’s in pain, sinking his teeth into his lower lip as his eyes rake over my form. They linger on my exposed legs, the curve of my waist, the swell of my breasts, then lock with my own, the silver swirls of his wolf dancing in his irises.

My heart flutters at his reaction to my appearance, my face warming as I blush. “I’d ask how I look, but…”

“Damn,” he repeats, practically drooling.

I chuckle, sweeping my hair over a shoulder with my hands. “Thanks.”

He lifts his chin, giving a little flick of his head. “Come here.”

My feet move on their own accord, and I cross the room to where he’s standing at the counter, eyes focused so intently on me that I feel as though I could catch fire at any moment.

Reid slides his beer onto the counter behind him, and as soon as I’m within reach, he grabs for me, pulling me to him and spinning to trap me between his body and the kitchen counter. He cages me in with his hands resting on the counter on either side of me, leaning closer until his lips are almost on mine.

“I’m not sure I can let you leave the house in that,” he murmurs, goosebumps rising from my skin in response to the rich baritone of his voice.

“What if I promise to behave?” I tease, tilting my head innocently.

Reid pulls back slightly, eyes trailing down my body, then back up to meet mine. He winces again like he’s in pain. “I’m not sure I can make the same promise.”

A shiver of excitement runs through me at his suggestion. That hot and heavy make out session in the driveway after practice today wasn’t enough- the sexual tension between us has been rising by the second, in no small part due to the mate bond, I’m sure. The bond snapped in nearly two weeks ago, and we still haven’t marked to seal it. The attraction between us has therefore cranked up to a fever pitch, a biological urge to seal the deal, so to speak.

Reid abruptly pulls back, raking a hand through his hair. “We should probably get going.”

“Yeah,” I breathe in agreement, my heart still hammering against my ribs.

Damn him and his restraint.

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