Page 21 of The Alpha's Fated Bond

“I’m sorry, Sophia.” I never thought I would be begging for forgiveness, that I would lower my head in front of anyone. But for this woman, I’m willing to do anything.

“You’re sorry?” She sits down on the edge of the bed, looking up at me. “For what, letting an unmated female climb all over you? For making your mate watch? So, you can just apologizefor letting someone touch you, kiss you, cling to you, but when it comes to me, you have all these pretty words about why I should not let anyone near me.”

The gravity of my mistake is dawning on me. Hilda is like a sister to me, but that’s in my eyes. Sophia and I haven’t mated each other yet; we haven’t crossed the finish line. So, when Hilda leaped into my arms, I can only imagine how Sophia must have felt.

I kneel by her side, trying to plead my case. “Sophia, I’m begging you. It was a mistake. I won’t let Hilda touch me so casually again. Or any other woman. Don’t shut yourself off to me. Please.” I can barely feel Sophia inside me now. The bond between us that has been growing through our closeness is turning icy cold. “Hilda is a child. To me, she’ll always be the child I raised. You have my word that I will keep my distance.”

“I don’t need you to keep your distance, Alex.” Sophia tries to get to her feet, to get away from me, but I grip her hands, refusing to let her move.

“Why won’t you forgive me?”

She looks at me, her eyes dark, and I see a flicker of anger in them for the first time. “Ask me this question when I let a man take me in his arms in front of you. Ask me when he wonders who you are and I tell him you are nothing to me.”

The very image has my wolf snarling inside my head.

“I’m not interested in your apology, Alex. I’ve always told you that to me, words are meaningless. Anybody can say words. Only actions show what somebody really means. Your actions yesterday made me feel worthless. They made me doubt how youwill treat me once you get what you need from me. Once you tie me to yourself with the mating bond, is your behavior toward me going to be different? Will I just be tossed aside?” Her eyes are weary. “I have to ask myself what makes you different from Noah or anyone else.”

Her words are like stab wounds to my heart.

She truly believes this.

By my own doing, my relationship with my mate has been thoroughly shattered.

Chapter 5

Sophia

“So you’re really not going to mate him, then?”

Lily is sitting on the floor, the breakfast tray in her lap as she eats an omelet with her fingers. I don’t have much of an appetite, and I stare out the window at the village.

“I don’t know if I even have a choice.”

“What?” Lily’s head jerks up in alarm. “Are you saying he can force you?”

I want to say yes, but I can’t seem to get the word out of my mouth. I don’t think Alex will force me into anything.

“Being independent is a gift,” I say softly. “I don’t have that luxury.”

“Sure you do.” Lily picks up a cut piece of fruit and pops it into her mouth. “We all have a choice. If you don’t want to be with Alex, you can leave this place. You don’t always have to announce what you’re doing. If you think he’s going to stop you, just sneak out.”

I glance at her. “He’s a wolf shifter. He can track my scent. I won’t be getting very far.”

I stopped taking scent blockers when we fled Oakrest, and ever since, I haven’t been able to hide my scent. The lack of reaction of Alex’s companions took me aback. After all, the one time I forgot to take them, when I was sixteen, the boys of theorphanage tried to assault me. I ended up killing all of them except one. Even the smell of my blood is enough to whip any males around me into a frenzy. When Alex’s friends didn’t react the same way, it had me wondering what changed.

But this isn’t the time to be thinking about that. I’m more concerned about what to do in my present conundrum.

“I can’t sneak away in any case,” I continue slowly. “I made a promise to Alex, and I need to keep it.”

Lily casts me a dubious look. “You shouldn’t be too nice, you know. It always comes back to bite you in the ass.”

Maybe she’s right, but this is a matter of young children. I can’t leave them to this fate.

“You want to hear my opinion?” Lily rests her head back against the bed as she looks at me.

I shrug. “You’re going to share it anyway.”

She grins at me. “Yes, I am. I think you’re reading too much into the situation. I don’t think Alex’s intentions are bad. You’re kind of overreacting.”

---