Page 76 of Alpha Varsity

I forgot he was human. I forgot to hold back my strength.

He smashes through the plate glass window, his body continuing to soar through the air another twenty feet where he lands in a roll on the grass outside.

“Asher, no!” Lotta shrieks, her eyes wide with horror.

Her upset should slow me down, but instead my wolf only registers that she’s still in danger. I stomp across the broken glass, and kick out the remaining pieces along the frame, so I can jump out and finish him off.

“Asher!” Lotta jumps on my back, her forearmagainst my windpipe like she can choke me. I hardly feel her weight. I’m oblivious to what she wants from me.

My focus is on the human climbing to his feet, apparently still capable of walking. He won’t be soon.

“Asher, no!” She bites my ear.

I jerk my head away, but she clamps her teeth down harder, breaking the skin. Blood drips down my neck.

Some question pops in my mind about what’s happening, but I can’t focus.

She puts her hands over my eyes, so I can’t see.

I pause, finally registering that she’s trying to stop me.

“Asher, you have to stop now.”

Reality starts to seep in through the fog of rage. Reality and a whisper of dread.

Oh, fuck.What have I done?

My breath is coming in hard. I take a step back and then another.

Lotta uncovers my eyes, and I stare at the mess I’ve made.

“Fuck.”

“It’s okay.” Lotta sounds like she’s trying to talk herself into it, too. “He’s still alive. He doesn’t even look hurt. You get out of here now. I will handle this.”

I stay frozen where I am. The enormity of what I’ve done hits me like a bowling ball to the stomach. I just attacked a human. I broke the biggest pack rule, right after never revealing our nature to humans. Fuck, I broke that one, too. Because that guy just had a taste of my super human strength.

“Fuck, Lotta. I’m sorry. I–I didn’t mean to.” I’m still staring at the guy staggering around on the grass. “I mean, I did, but I lost control.”

“Iknow. He was assaulting me. You couldn’t help it.But Asher, you can’t tell them I’m your mate. Let me handle this. Please?”

Oh.

Oh, fuck.

This is it–the moment I always knew would come. I’m going to be banished like my father was. I became the man I now want to kill.

If I tell them Lotta’s my mate, I might be released from culpability. They would understand there’s nothing more powerful than a male wolf’s need to protect his fated mate. Everyone knows that, whether they have a fated mate or not.

But I won’t do that to Lotta. As much as it’s killing me, she needs us to remain a secret. She needs this job, and I have to respect her wishes. Especially when she directly asked me not to tell.

It’s all right. I was never going to be able to make it on the straight and narrow path, anyway. I would’ve tried for Lotta, but it’s too late now. After the shit I’ve put her through, the best thing I can do for her is leave.

She didn’t want to be cuffed to me, anyway. She made that plain from the beginning. She doesn’t want to be a wolf or have a mate.

I take another step backward.

Lotta splits her glances between the man out on the grass and me.

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