Page 31 of The Alpha Wolf's Bullied Bride

Squaring my shoulders and curling my fists, I ascend the stairs and head to the main bedroom. What was once Mother and Father’s suite has now become ours—except I’ve been too spineless to join Lila in the room, remaining a recluse in the living room for the rest of the evening.

Until now. I have to brave this torment and deal with this like a real man—not like the immature boy I was before I left for the mountains, but like the Alpha of Blood Moon, who just made the Omega his mate.

I push the door open with a force that stretches from a determined mind into a flat palm. Lila shrieks in surprise, turning horrified eyes on me as her creamy cheeks turn a bright shade of pink.

“What are you doing?!” she demands, clutching the towel in her fists to her chest.

“I—We need to talk.” I hesitate, entering the room.

Lila backs away then, frowning at me accusingly. “And I need my privacy, Alpha,” she sneers as she tilts her chin away in defiance.

When did she get so feisty?

Her coldness, I could understand. But this is a side of Lila I never thought possible. When her nostrils flare and her frown deepens, it ignites something innate inside me.

She's not allowed to speak to me like this. I am her Alpha.

“Might I remind you that this is as much my room as it is yours?” I put forward with a quirked brow, calmly strolling toward the bed after shutting the door behind me. I casually flop onto the bed, crossing my arms behind my head.

I can only hope that she sees how serious I am, and not get any indication that inappropriate images are flashing in my mind.

Gulping, I attempt to stop the awareness from flowing down to my core when I picture the towel slipping off her chest and pooling at her feet. To see her full breasts exposed would be the highlight of my reign as Alpha.

Maybe a little more, if I'm being honest. It might be the highlight of my entire existence, to finally see what I'd denied myself the night of the bonfire party when I found myself outside her cabin.

“Do you not value anyone's privacy?” she grumbles, narrowing her eyes at me.

“You're not justanyone, Lila. You are my mate.”

“As I'm aware,” she bleats, grabbing her clothes from the foot of the bed and snapping her head away while she mutters incomprehensibly under her breath. “If you'll excuse me, I need to get dressed. I'm going to visit the pack center.” She turns and begins marching toward the bathroom door, and I know she's about to secure herself in there.

She doesn't want to speak to me.

But I can't allow this.

Rushing off the bed, I swiftly put myself between the door and Lila. She shrieks again, unable to proceed to her hiding spot. She gasps, slowly lifting her eyes to my face with a glare.

“Move, Flynn,” she grates out firmly.

“Not a chance,” I refuse with a grunt. My eyes flicker to her lips, which quiver with irritation but remind me of the kiss we shared earlier today.

If it wasn’t for how the pack constantly treated her, all of Blood Moon would have witnessed the sparks that flew around us when our lips met. It’s my fault that they kept bullying her, and my fault that they didn’t get to witness something I can hardly believe myself.

Shaking my head and brushing aside the thought of the kiss, I meet her eyes, full of derision as she glowers at me.

“The pack center?” I lift a quizzical brow. “What for?”

“Work, obviously,” she says indifferently.

A pang in my chest suddenly has me seeing red. “What makes you think you can still continue working there?”

She shrugs. “Your mother thinks—”

“It doesn’t matter what my mother thinks!” I roar angrily, unsure why I suddenly feel so possessive of Lila. Why do I care what she does or doesn't do?

I take a deep breath, calming myself. “It's your wedding night.” The words slip off my tongue without my control.

“So?”

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