Page 15 of The Alpha's Heart

He might not be the epitome of the possessive, jealous alpha wolf I expected him to be. That’s okay. I’m acting like a true she-wolf, ready to bear my teeth at any one who thinks they have a claim on my fated mate stronger than mine.

I don’t. Deep down, I recognize that Bishop and Helene have a bond of their own that is no threat to the one I have with Bishop—even if, after his slight rejection, I’m beginning to doubt we’ll ever finalize it.

Bishop’s nostrils flare, a touch of annoyance causing his alpha aura to spike. “Helene. We can talk later. I’m eatin’ with my intended right now. I know you have West fetchin’ you your plates. Why don’t you go back to the poor boy?”

“West will wait for me,” she says with all the assurance of a teenaged she-wolf who realizes that she has the future Beta eating out of her paw, even if she’s not sure what that means just yet. She flashes me a friendly grin. “Sofia, you don’t mind, do you? I’ll have Bishop right back to you. Promise.”

Another rumble coming from the big Alpha, but he’s not arguing again.

That’s all I needed to see. Matching her grin while setting down my fork and knife, I push my plate away. “I’m actually done. I was hoping to head back to the cabin anyway. It’s been a long day,” I add, and since Bishop had to sit through the same two-hour-long pack meeting that I did right before dinner, heknows I’m not kidding. “Dinner was delicious. You have great pack cooks here. But I think I’d like to wind down.”

Helene nods. “It’s part of being a maternal wolf, “ she says. “You give everything you have to your packmates. If there’s a confrontation, you’ll want to be the peacemaker. If someone is upsetting you, you’d rather duck out and escape than face them yourself. If a pup’s in danger, or someone weaker than you, your wolf is fierce. Otherwise, you need to have some quiet time to recuperate after being around too many conflicting types of wolves.”

I… wow.

I cock my head. “You can tell all that about—” Me. I give my head a small shake. “—about my kind of wolf just be looking at me?”

She shrugs. “You’re a maternal wolf, Sofia. I’m an omega.”

Of course. I knew that.

Bishop starts to reach across the table with his free hand. He pauses when the heat of his palm reaches the top of my hand, though he doesn’t quite touch me.

I wait for him to lower his hand.

He doesn’t.

My smile becomes a little more brittle. I do everything I can to lock down my feelings so that Helene doesn’t know how that sting of rejection from before has become an ache, then push my chair back.

“I’ll be at the cabin,” I say, a falsely cheery tone in my voice. “I’ll see you later.”

Bishop doesn’t say anything. Helene squeezes his arm. He winces—and I know damn well it’s not because the sixteen-year-old she-wolf managed to hurt him at all.

“‘Course,” he grates out. “I’ll be there.”

He has to be. It’shiscabin.

Pacing around my new bedroom,clutching my phone in my hand, I think about what I’m going to do next.

I haven’t called home yet. Not since I’ve been in Hickory. I’ve left my phone in my suitcase most of the time. Bishop doesn’t have one, and he’s shown no interest in mine, but I decided to keep it tucked away unless I’m checking for missed calls or recent text messages.

Part of the reason I haven’t returned any of the calls is because I didn’t want to be too homesick. Trading River Run for the Sylvan Pack was easier than I thought it would be—my fated mate bond helping me with the transition because when I scent Bishop’s clove scent, I can’t help but thinkhome—but that’s because I decided to cut all ties with my past life while I was in the middle of the mating dance with Bishop.

The other part? I can’t help but feel as if Bishop is humoring me. That he offered to mate me because that’s what the Luna wants him to do, but if it was up to him, he would pat me on the head and ship me off to River Run again.

I shut down my side of the bond everytime those thoughts run through my mind. I never would’ve thought I was an insecure she-wolf before, but I can’t help it. It’s rare for a pair of fated mates to go more than a single full moon before they’re bonded. For Bishop to suggest we wait… he didn’t reject me, not outright at least, but it’s the closest he can get without breaking our engagement.

Declan, I think. I need to talk to him. Out of respect for my new mate, I’d kept my text responses to the few messages he sent me brief. After Bishop and me are bonded, I’ll explain that my friend from back home is a male that he has nothing toworry about, but until wearebonded, I’d rather avoid having that chat if I can. Male shifters in the throes of the mating dance are unpredictable, possessive, and highly jealous. It wouldn’t matter that Declan isDeclan, or that Bishop would only react because he believes the Luna gave him to me. He’s an Alpha. I agreed to be his mate. If Bishop wanted to challenge the less-dominant male over me, that’s the one time pack tradition would understand an Alpha having free rein to slaughter another wolf.

But, for Luna’s sake, it’sDeclan. I’m sure that, after our Luna Ceremony, the two guys in my life will get on like a house on fire. I just needed to wait until afte the Luna Ceremony to introduce them—and, wouldn’t you know, it doesn’t look likethat’s happening anytime soon.

Bitter? Me? Sofia Russo? Oh, no. You must have the wrong she-wolf…

I shake my head. This is part of being an intended mate. Until we’re bonded, either one of us can easily break our arrangement by rejecting the other. And though I’m sure that Bishop will go through with mating me because he feels like it’s his duty, and that the Luna—and his pack—expect it of him, do I really want to be trapped in a bonded mating with a male who is doing everything because he has to, not because hechoseto?

But what’s the alternative? He can change his mind, reject me, and neither one of us will ever have a second chance with a fated mate. As a powerful Alpha, I’m sure there would be loads of she-wolves jumping at the chance to be his.

What about me? Would Guy be desperate enough to take me as his chosen mates if I’m damaged goods?

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