Page 31 of The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate

“Why now?”

My heart stuttered in my chest. “The universe is telling me to do it.”

“Why do it out of obligation?” She leaned back to look up at me. “Why not do it out of love?”

A softness entered her gaze like she was a lush sipping a glass of red wine. That wonder in her expression led to my lips grazing hers, to my fingers sliding over her arms, to my hand cradling her head so I could tilt her back.

And then I kissed her.

Doubt crept in as always, but there was something else inside me that clawed its way to the surface, something that told me to keep going.

Hope.

It had been in her face when I agreed to the Alpha plan. It was in her touch now, so obvious in her eager kiss that it drove me to clutch her flush to my chest. Every inch of her touched every inch of me. This was as it should be. This was what forever looked like.

How did I make sure it was permanent?

On cue, my canines sharpened. My gums ached as my body began to shift without my permission. I stumbled back and covered my mouth, chuckling nervously as I staved off my wolf. “Sorry, I just—”

“I think you bit my lip.”

No other sentence could have sharpened my senses. I smelled the coppery scent next, that familiar aroma doubling the saliva on my tongue as my ears perked up. I shot upright and stared at the spot on her bottom lip that oozed rich crimson liquid.

I licked my lips. “Ohno, I didn’t mean to…”

Mmm, why did that delicious stripe of scarlet call to me? I wandered with hypnotized eyes toward her, drawn in by the warmth of her lips that softly greeted my mouth. She pursed her lips as I lapped at the tiny opening in her flesh. A flash of heat crashed in my core as I took her in my arms again, spreading sloppy kisses to her jaw, throat, and then her shoulder. I nudged the sweater out of the way to access her warm flesh, hungry for her to be in my mouth in some way.

She arched against me and hugged my shoulders. “Cliff, wait.”

I snapped my head back with a gasp. “What? Did I do too much?”

Her heavy eyelids told me otherwise. But her lips spilled a different story. “No. Yes. I just—” She huffed with irritation. “Can we just sit here for a minute?”

“Sure—Yeah—No problem.”

I lowered her to the ground and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. After a second, she slumped into me, exhaling loudly, sending a cascade of steamy air over the edge of the water tower. The way it crept like fog made it seem like fall had come early.

I squeezed her. “I got carried away. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I just want to make sure we take it easy. And then I don’t want to—” She coughed abruptly. “I don’t want to make any mistakes. We don’t have a condom.”

“You mean you don’t want Sydney to have a sibling.”

She crouched into her sweater. “Well…not yet.”

My face burned as my chest burst with excited pings. “You want more kids?”

“Yeah, I think I do.”

“I want kids, too.”

She lifted her head. “You mean that?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I mean that? I mean, I’ve totally fallen in love with Sierra. She’s such a great baby. She’s so mild, and she barely cries. I love spending time with her. She’s like my little buddy.”

Robyn sat up, loosely playing with my hand in her lap. “Yeah, she sounds cool.”

“I can’t wait till she gets bigger. She’s going to be so smart. I’m probably going to take her to every museum in the area.”

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