Page 10 of Bonded Beyond Regret

My mouth falls open in shock and I almost stumble back with how fucking surprised I am. Not use his title? Is he serious?

“Um,” I stammer, “I’ll try?” The satisfied look he gives me tells me how much he likes the idea of me not using his title. It’s strange. I shake off the feeling and forge ahead. “I want to be a contributing member of the pack. Aisley is in school all day so I’m available for whatever the pack needs. I do want to start going to training, but there’s more I can do.”

Alpha Samuel, or just Samuel—weird—apparently, takes a small step closer to me. “There’s no need to rush, Nyx. You’re more than welcome to come to training anytime. As for the rest of it, you just got here. Give yourself some time,” his voice is low and deep, the cadence of his words hypnotizing me.

My spine straightens and I glare at Samuel. “I know I’ve only been her a few days, but I don’t need more time,” I snap.

The moment my words and tone register, my eyes widen, and I slap both hands over my mouth as I drop my head to stare atthe ground. What the hell is wrong with me? Did I really just disrespect my new Alpha?

“Nyx,” Samuel’s voice is a soothing balm to my frayed nerves. He commands softly, “Look at me.”

When I meet his gaze, I expect his to be filled with anger, loathing and resentment. But it’s not. His blue eyes are dancing with amusement.

“You can do whatever you would like to do here, Nyx. Think about how you want to contribute, and I’ll ask around the pack to find out where your help will be most useful. How does that sound?”

My entire body deflates, and I start nodding my head. I feel some of the tension I’ve been feeling for so damn long start to ease.

The man in front of me doesn’t make any sense. He should be laying into me for being rude, but he’s not. Instead, he’s looking at me with nothing but pride and understanding.

My heart starts to pound harder in my chest and my wolf purring with obvious attraction is not helping at all. The only male I’ve ever been attracted to was Andrew; what the hell is going on here?

“Thank you,” I squeak. “I need to go.”

Forgetting all about breakfast, I turn and flee from the packhouse as quickly as I can. I need to get somewhere private. Everything bears down on me—all the loss, all the devastation, all the pain.

The moment I’m inside my new home, I press my back to the door and slide down it until I’m sitting on my ass with my kneespulled up to my chest. I wrap my arms around my knees, making myself as small as possible, and I sob.

For Andrew.

For Aisley.

For the loss of a future full of love.

CHAPTER 5

SAMUEL

I should be concentrating right now, but a certain black haired she-wolf is making that almost impossible. It doesn’t help that she’s wearing leggings and a sports bra that looks like it has been painted on her body. How the hell can anyone concentrate under these conditions?

The only thing I’ve wanted for the last few days since the conversation I had with Nyx in the packhouse about her contributing to the pack is to talk to her again. Each day has been exercise in control. And, fuck, my control is slipping.

I haven’t had the chance to talk to her again, but that’ll change today. There’s no other way this can go. I need to talk to her.

“Yeah, so in control,”my wolf mocks me.

“Like you’re not using my eyes to watch her,”I fire right backat him.

“I never said I wasn’t. I totally am.”If a wolf can grin, he’s definitely flashing me one before his tongue lolls out of his mouth. I think the primal asshole even drools a little bit.

I’m not sure what has been going on with him since Nyx arrived in the pack. He’s far more attentive to her than he has been to any other she-wolf. Surprisingly enough, I think that’s true even when thinking about his reaction to Kathy. I have zero fucking clue what it all means.

“Means I like that female,”he groans.“She’s strong, smart, and stunning,”he hisses,“and I want her.”

What the fuck?

I try and shake off my wolf’s words, but it’s not easy to do. It’s not like I can’t see what he does. I do.

Even though she-wolves have offered to warm my bed and help me get my mind off all the stress of being an Alpha, I never took them up on it. My wolf was not impressed with their advances and warned me not to get involved with them.

---