Page 92 of The Gamma's Second Chance

I remember to breathe and race up the stairs to her, trapping her against the railing and leaning forward, caging her in with my hands on either side of her body. She tilts her head up, that sassy smile still on her lips, and the waves of her low, center-parted ponytail fall from her shoulder, tumbling and swaying side to side until they come to a stop. The sleek hairstyle highlights her gorgeous cheekbones, her elegant nose, and her full lips, and I can’t keep my eyes off her.

She’s captivating. She’s ensnared me, body and soul. She’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.

And she’s all mine.

“I don’t know what I want more,” I say, lowering my lips to her ear, my hand wrapping around her waist and gliding over the velvet of her dress. My palm presses into her lower back, and she arches, baring her long neck to me and bracing herself with her hands on the banister behind her. “I can’t decide if I want to show you off to everyone so they can all see how lucky I am to have you as a mate, or if I want to smuggle you back upstairsto our room, remove this dress from your body, and take you to bed.”

“You could do both?” she suggests, blinking up at me through her long lashes. “Make a quick appearance to show me off, and then sneak away to show me how much you love me?”

I step closer to her, guiding her hips to feel the desire rising between my legs. “The second option is more appealing.”

My hands roam her velvet-covered torso, caressing the subtle curves the bodice of her dress highlights—around her lower back, up her sides, ghosting over the curve of her breasts, across the low neckline, and then down the cut to her navel. A mix of a groan and a growl leaves me, and I grab her hips and tug her tight against my body.

“I don’t know if I can handle other males seeing you in this dress, Cassandra,” I say, resting my forehead against hers.

Her lips twitch, and her arms drape around my neck, her fingertips teasing my skin. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

I growl again and dive for her mouth, kissing her hard. A fierce kiss, a claiming kiss on the public centerpiece of Prescott’s pretentious lobby. She arches up into me, giving in to the demands of my lips, hands cupping my neck and bringing me closer still. I taste every inch of her mouth, wrapping myself around her as our lips twist together.

“Do you have your ring on?” I ask when we pull away from each other, both of our chests heaving as we catch our breath.

She nods, her hands sliding from my neck to my shoulders and down my chest, adjusting the collar of my black shirt. “I do.”

I sigh as her fingers trail across the skin exposed by the buttons I left undone. “That will have to do. But I’m not letting you out of my sight tonight.”

She smooths my lapels with a knowing smile, like she expected me to say that. I caress up and down her sides again, taking the time to feel where her waist curves in and her breasts and hipsflare out before she spins away from me, showcasing the back of her dress to me.

It’s totally sheer, all the way to the top of her ass. Extending from the base of her neck and down her spine are countless buttons, the last one ending between her cheeks. And the fitted top half of her skirt wraps around her butt, drawing focus to it from the way the fabric stretches with each step she takes and from the buttons nestled between her ass cheeks.

My wolf snarls in my mind, and I almost roar, possessiveness and protectiveness overtaking me as I rush down the stairs and encircle her waist with my arm, my fingers splaying over her abdomen and my face burying into her neck.

“Scratch that,” I say, my voice raspy, low, and strained, my muscles tensing as I keep her tight against me. “I’m not letting you out of my arms tonight.”

She responds by reaching her arm backwards and stroking my cheek. We stand like that, at the foot of the stairs, me holding her and her holding me, my face in her unmarked neck, until Wes mindlinks us.“They’re letting our pack in now.”

I sigh and pull away from her, but I keep my arm around her waist and my hand on her hip as we stroll to the ballroom entrance, where the Crescent Lake members wait. They’ve assigned each pack a separate entrance into the event space, as well as their own time of admittance, in order to space out arrivals and avoid a massive collision of feral, unmated wolves racing towards their mate all at once. Every wolf in attendance who is searching for their mate also took a scent blocker before arriving. They are given the antidote right before entering the ballroom, so no claiming happens before the event starts.

Eager anticipation swirls around our waiting pack members. It builds and builds, passing from one wolf to the next as they whisper in excitement to each other or give smiles of encouragement to their friends waiting with them.

Bile rises in my throat, and I freeze as Cassandra and I reach the edge of our gathered attendees. My grip on her tightens and my vision tunnels again. I hear nothing and see only the door looming in front of us, vast, ominous, and gaping as I walk towards it on autopilot. My wolf shrinks back into the recesses of my mind as the cloying anxiety returns tenfold, wrapping itself around my ankles and weighing me down, drowning me.

Cassandra squeezes my hand on her hip, tugging me to the surface and drawing my focus to her instead of the door. She smiles at me, and I exhale, focusing on her body in my arms to keep me afloat. There’s no reason to panic. I have her. My Daisy.

My mate.

We cross the threshold, and Cassandra guides me around the outskirts of the crowd. She observes the activity of the attendees, watching as mates find each other or friends from other packs say hello. But my attention is on her. I don’t care about the decorations, or the music, or the other guests.

All that matters is her. She’s the one thing keeping me from losing myself.

She leads me to the far corner of the room, where Wes and Haven mingle with other guests, and our roles quickly switch. She freezes when she sees Benjamin chatting with them, his back to us. Color drains from her cheeks. Her hand shakes once, but she tightens her hold on mine to stop it from getting worse. She begins to turn around to head back the way we came, but Haven sees her and waves, causing Ben to glance our way.

Her tension and nerves ease a little, however, when he smiles and gives us a nod to greet us. Wesley beckons us over, and I take the lead this time, keeping my firm hold on her body as I walk us over to join them.

“Alpha Benjamin,” I say, switching to Cassandra’s other side so I can offer him my right hand. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Likewise,” he says as he shakes my hand firmly.

“Any luck?” I ask, pointing my chin towards the crowd.

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