Page 67 of Alpha Chase

My jaw goes slack as I frantically search my mind for a reasonable explanation, but I’m coming up empty- this shit has definitely never happened to me before; it defies all logic. I scrub a hand over my face, eyes colliding with hers again. The way she’s looking at me right now, like me marking her would be the most revolting thing in the world, has me ready to go incredible hulk on everything in this room and smash it all to pieces.

“Why the fuck would I want to markyou?” I snap.

The words hang in the air between us like poisonous vapor, Vienna’s eyes going dark. The hurt bleeds through her irises for the briefest moment, then her guard slams back up, her impenetrable mask back in place.

It’s like a slow-motion car crash- I don’t even realize how much I’ve fucked up until everything is being ripped to shreds around me- and all I can do is stare blankly. Vienna throws herself off the bed, collecting her clothes from the floor and scrambling into them as quickly as possible.

“You’re an asshole,” she mutters, stomping over to the dresser to scoop up her car keys.

Fuuuuuck.Fuck! Say something, you idiot!

“Wait!” I choke out, scrambling out of bed and racing across the room to catch her before she leaves. The last thing I’m doing is watching my step, and my foot lands clumsily on one of my overturned boots, sending me stumbling forward. I hit the ground so fast that I don’t even have time to stick my hands out to catch myself, my body landing on the hardwood floor with a painful thud right as the door to my bedroom slams behind Vienna.

“Fuck.” I wince, pushing up from the floor, body aching as I find my bearings. I fell so hard that it knocked the damn wind out of me, and by the time I’m on my feet again, I hear the front door of the packhouse slamming. Snatching up my phone from the nightstand, I swipe the screen to unlock it and bring up Vienna’s contact, hitting dial. As it rings in my ear, I hear a buzzing noise from the top of my dresser-her goddamn phone. She must’ve accidentally left it behind in her hurry to get out of here, and now I have no way to get ahold of her.

“Fuck!” I roar, pitching my own phone across the room. It collides with the full-length mirror, smashing it to pieces. As I stare at the shattered glass raining onto the floor, chest heaving, it occurs to me that it looks exactly how the inside of my chest feels right now.

“It was my teeth,” I say, holding my mouth open and pointing to indicate my canines.

Gray narrows his eyes on me. “Your teeth…” he repeats slowly.

I throw my hands up. “My fuckingteeth!”

After Vienna took off like a bat out of hell, I got dressed and went after her. The trouble is, she wasn’t at the lodge, and I quickly realized that I have no fucking idea where the girl lives. So, after driving around Riverton aimlessly for a good twenty minutes, I changed course and drove over to Goldenleaf, showing up on Gray’s doorstep and shocking the shit out of him.

I groan, scrubbing a hand over my face. “Seriously, what thefuck, bro? Has that ever happened to you? One minute we’re making out and the next I’m about to chow down on her like a goddamn vampire.”

Gray reclines back on the couch, rubbing his chin with a hand in thought. “Actually, yeah. It did, once.”

Relief washes over me as I slump back in the recliner across from him. “Thank god,” I sigh, tipping my head back and covering my face with my hands. “So it’s normal, then.”

Gray’s silent for a long moment, prompting me to tip my head back down to look at him. His lips are pursed, eyebrows creasing in the middle. “Not exactly…” he grumbles, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “It happened with Fallon, before we knew we were mates.”

I feel the color drain from my face, my heart slamming wildly against my ribs as my throat tightens. “If you’re saying what I think you’re saying…” I trail off, shaking my head adamantly. “No. No fucking way. That’s not possible.”

The corner of Gray’s mouth ticks up in amusement. “Why not?”

My eyes widen in shock, the true gravity of Gray’s insinuation finally settling on my shoulders. It’s heavy, too fucking heavy to even consider. My mind’s racing, heart pounding, and it feels like every bit of air is being sucked out of my lungs. “Well for starters, she fucking hates me,” I grumble, my fingers and toes tingling like my blood is suddenly failing to circulate.

Gray chuckles, the cruel bastard taking great pleasure in my misery. “There’s a fine line between love and hate,” he quips, smirking. “Strong emotions, check.”

I shake my head again, so hard that it’s in danger of flying off my shoulders. “No, there’s no fucking way,” I repeat, pulse racing a hundred miles per minute. “She doesn’t even have Alpha blood.”

He furrows his brow. “So? Neither does my mate. Since when are you a purist?”

“I’m not, it’s just…” I heave a sigh, burying my hands in my hair, yanking on it. “Isn’t it most common for…” the words die in my throat because I can’t even say it. If I say it out loud, that’d give validity to this whole thing, and it’s just not possible. There’s no way.

Gray shrugs a shoulder, so fucking cavalier. Like I’m not sitting across from him in his living room freaking the fuck out right now. “Sure, but it doesn’t always happen that way. Fallon and Brooke don’t have a drop of Alpha blood, and they’re two of the fiercest Lunas I’ve ever met.”

“I’m too young to have a…” once again, my lips refuse to utter the word.

He rolls his eyes. “Please. Do you know what I would’ve given to have met Fallon when I was your age? To have even more time with her?” Gray scoffs. “That girl is the best fucking thing that’s ever happened to me.”

The look in Vienna’s eyes flashes in my mind- the one she had this morning, when she accused me of attempting to force my mark on her. “She won’t want it,” I grit out, my chest tightening painfully. “She doesn’t even like me.”

Gray’s eyebrow quirks up. “How do you figure? Didn’t you say you two were making out this morning?”

“Well yeah, but…” I heave a sigh, tossing my head back to stare at the ceiling. “She doesn’t like me likethat, bro. It’s just physical.”

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