Page 63 of The Alpha's Fated Bond

There’s a small grin on his face as he turns on the coffee maker, but I don’t need to see it to be able to sense that he’s happy.

“Then what?” I ask hesitantly.

Alex glances at me over his shoulder. “What do you mean?”

“The mating mark, Alex.” I take a step toward him. “Why haven’t you given it to me?”

His back stiffens, and he’s quiet.

I haven’t forgotten Patrick’s words, the reasoning he gave me, but I need to hear it from Alex himself.

The silence in the room is suffocating, but I force myself to wait for his response.

“I want to give you my mark.” Alex’s hands come to rest on the edge of the counter. “I want nothing more than that, Sophia. But you have no idea how precious you are to me. Even the mere thought of something happening to you is unbearable to me.”

My heart skips a beat, my pulse racing at his words.

“If I give you my mating mark, and I don’t succeed against Karina, you will suffer along with me. I can’t do that to you. My wolf is getting more and more desperate, and I’m doing my best to keep it at bay, but I cannot put you in a position where you could get hurt.”

I touch his back, and he turns around to face me.

“You think you can’t beat Karina?” I ask quietly as the blaze in his eyes burns me.

“It’s not a matter if I can win against her or not.” His hands settle on my shoulders as if anchoring me to him. “I want you to be free, Sophia. After all the years that you’ve suffered, I want you to be able to breathe and live life the way you were meant to.”

“Being your mate isn’t going to—”

“That’s not what I meant.” He caresses my cheek. “If Karina finds out you’re the Silver Wolf, all she has to do is capture me, and then she can force you to do her bidding. You will become nothing more than her slave.”

Tension fills my body, and I reach out to grab the front of Alex’s shirt. “If she were to come right now and capture you, you think I wouldn’t do her bidding? Do you think I wouldn’t try to save you?”

“Our lives will be linked.”

“I understand that. It doesn’t matter. I would still go to every length for you.”

“I wouldn’t want you to,” Alex says, quietly. “I love you, Sophia. So deeply that it feels like you are a part of me already. Your happiness and your safety are paramount to me. It was so easy for me to think that finding the Silver Wolf would solve all my problems. I never imagined you would ensnare my heart so easily. And now, you are in my every breath. I can’t—”

“I am safe. I will always be safe as long as you’re with me. I need you to be by my side, Alex. I want to wear your mark. I don’t need you to protect me anymore. I am growing stronger every day. I don’t want to be the kind of mate that you feel you have to safeguard all the time. I want to stand by your side as an equal.”

His smile has me growing weak in the knees. “I will always want to protect you, Sophia. You could have the strength of a thousand shifters, and I would still want to protect you. I have lost everyone I have ever loved. Losing you would break me.”

Tears burn my eyes, and my voice cracks. “Then you won’t break because you won’t lose me. I won’t let that happen. I never thought I would ever fall in love with someone, Alex. Heck, I didn’t even know love could be in the cards for me. I know we’ve had our problems, but you…There’s never going to be another you in my life. You are where my happiness begins and ends. In the time we’ve spent together, you were patient with me when I resisted the idea of you. You were understanding when I used my words to hurt you. And you were gentle with me when I was being crushed. You make me feel safe and protected. You make me feel wanted. You’re the one who gave me my confidence, the kind of confidence I never knew I lacked. When my entire worldwas shattering, Alex, you held out your hand to me. Even when it was your pack on the line, you chose me.”

“How could I not choose you?” Alex asks simply, emotion welling in his eyes. “You are my whole world, Sophia.”

“Then, I want what’s mine.” I wrap my arms around his neck. “I want my mating mark.”

His own arms come to encircle my waist, and he sighs good-naturedly. “You’re not gonna take no for an answer, are you?”

I smile. “What do you think?”

His response is a heated kiss that has my toes curling. I’m pretty sure I know where this is headed, and I’m reaching for the buttons of his shirt when he pulls away, laughing. “Not yet. I bought you a present. Well, no, I was trying to buy you a present, but the owner of the shop wanted to give it to you as a gift.”

“You should’ve stuck with you got me a present,” I giggle. “More romantic.”

“Fair,” he agrees. “Let me go get it.”

Releasing me, he heads into the hallway. I sip my coffee, my lower muscles tightening in wanton need. I can already feel the wetness between my lower lips. One kiss from Alex, and my engines are revving.

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