Page 20 of The Alpha's Heart

Helene is his ‘canari’. His songbird. And me… from the day our intuitive Omega sat him down and made him realize that the walls around his heart were pushing me away before my honest with him got them to crack, I’ve been his ‘cher’. Bishops’s dear. His darling.

And, tomorrow when the Luna rises, I’ll be his mate.

CHAPTER 8

DECLAN

Feeling giddy, a little girlish, and buzzing with anticipation for later tonight, I pluck a fallen leaf from my hair as I slip into our bedroom.

Bishop needed a way to work off his wolf’s pent-up aggression and hunger for me. While both his human half and his beast understand that we’ll be mated and bonded tonight, I think the weeks-long wait has finally got to my intended.

So while the gammas prepped the decorations for our public vow to each other, and the pack cooks prepared a feast for the ages—which will definitely include fresh beignets for dessert—Bishop and I went on a run that quickly turned into a chase. I let my Alpha mate track me down, the two of our beasts tussling in the woods, before he pinned me beneath him and bathed my face with his tongue.

Shifters don’t mate in their fur. Some twisted ferals might try, but when you’re in control of both of your halves, our beasts may frolic and get covered in leaves, but the only place his tongue goes is near my face. Of course, after I escaped him, shaking my ass at him before taking off again… all I kept thinking about was the places his tongue might go later tonight.

It was so tempting to shift to my human skin and just say ‘fuck it’ and, well,fuck. Bishop is so close to the end of his chain that I doubt it would take little more than a come hither look to get him to finally pounce on me after all. Only knowing all the work the pack has gone to, both to celebrate their Alpha finding his mate and to formally welcome me into the pack, kept me on my best behavior.

Bishop, too. The two of us ran until we were back in the heart of pack land, heading toward the Alpha cabin together. Only then did we shift back to our skin, though to keep us both from succumbing to temptation, Bishop dragged a spare change of clothes into the living area while I’m freshening up in the bedroom.

Even after I pulled on a new change of clothes, I’m still finding a stray leaf or two in my hair. It probably would’ve been better if I showered, but after rolling around with Bishop, I like how much I smell like his innate clove scent. I don’t want it to ever leave my skin, and until I have his bite on me and his scent imbedded into every inch of me, a shower can wait.

Bishop feels the same. He quickly got dressed, then told me that he had to run out on a pack errand. Even though I don’t have the same gift he does when it comes to spotting a lie, I can tell he’s not being entirely truthful.

But since Helene spilled the beans at breakfast this morning that Bishop was taking a quick run out of Hickory to pick up a mating present for me… that he was insistent that he go on his own while Harris and West held down the fort… I let it slide.

The Luna Ceremony is scheduled for sunset. Wherever exactly he’s going, I know he’ll be back long before then. Trust me. I’m becoming a lot more familiar with my new packmates, and if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s not to disrespect the gammas.

We still have a few hours until then. And since those very same gammas made it very clear that I’m not allowed to see their set-up until it’s time for the ceremony, I can’t really distract myself by walking around Hickory. Bishop didn’t quite tell me to stay inside, either, though my intended suggested that it might be a good idea.

Of course. My overprotective Alpha… this is the first time he’s left pack territory with me on it. I can only imagine what dark scenarios are running through his head. Even while we’re running together earlier, he stopped a couple of times to mark his territory along the border, just in case. He won’t take any chances that something will happen to me before we’re bonded.

The only exception would be if I chose to leave him before our mating became irreversible, but since I’ve done everything I can to make sure he understands that, he has nothing to worry about.

And I cling to that naive thought for as long as it takes for me to fish my phone out of the drawer where I keep it constantly charged.

I don’t carry it with me. Bishop knows I have it, and he gave his solemn vow that he wouldn’t snoop. That it’s my phone, and my chance to make a decision that—to him—was never really one. He’s one hundred percent in on the two of us spending the rest of our supernaturally-long lives together. Barring a challenger that might manage to end Bishop’s existence, we should have plenty of decades ahead of us.

That’s one thing I can say. As long as Bishop has any breath in his body or fight in his wolf, I will always, always be safe.

Later, I’ll admit that’s why I did what I did. When I peered at my phone and saw that I had forty-four missed calls since I looked at it last, plus too many text messages to count, I didn’t think to myself that I would wait for Bishop to return.

I couldn’t. Not when I would do anything to keep Bishop from having to deal with this.

This is my problem. That much is clear. With every missed call coming from a number I recognize as Guy’s except for a few from Declan’s and a couple coming up as ‘unknown’, there’s no doubt in my mind that something must have happened. I didn’t block him because I thought that, if I kept ignoring him, he’d understand that I wouldn’t respond. Was that a mistake?

Considering the texts are from Declan, it just might be.

Declan

Sofia?

Are you there?

Okay. Listen to me. Have you heard from Guy?

He disappeared. Took a pack truck yesterday night. Kendall and Carver think he’s heading your way.

You have to let your Alpha know.

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