Page 7 of My Brutal Alpha

Sure enough, those familiar scents hit me, and as I looked over my shoulder, I watched as they walked in and scanned the front foyer.

Cursing under my breath, I gritted my teeth and tried to keep the immediate anger down as best as I could.

My parents were trying to add pressure—to make me give in.

By showing up at a public event, one not hosted on my pack grounds, I couldn’t do anything to get rid of them. I would have to deal with it to avoid causing a scene and ruining Zoe’s day.

Even thinking about it made me seethe, but I had to hold it in.

As much as I wanted to blow up on someone, it wasn’t an option. That would be the quickest way to make Zoe hate me even more, and as far as that was going, I was already on her shit list. I was probably the highest.

Moving further into the room, I kept my distance while maintaining a decent view of Rory and my parents, wondering how I might escape them without being detected. But at the same time, Zoe seemed almost desperate for someone to rescue her from that awkward conversation.

Everything he said to her made me roll my eyes internally, aware that she was far from interested. Even if her discomfort was obvious, Rory showed no signs of giving up, clearly to her dismay.

I also knew that if my parents saw me, there was no chance they’d leave me alone either. They’d probably hover and follow me around for the rest of the afternoon, either trying to push Nora on me or questioning what I planned to do instead of abiding by their ridiculous agreement that I had no part in.

If only there were a way for me to get rid of Rory and my parents at the same time, then we’d both feel a bit better, at least.

But as I looked at Zoe, felt her desperate need to escape his senseless flirting, and remembered my situation, it clicked.

I didn’t need to avoid my parents at all…not when the perfect opportunity was right in front of me.

Pulling in a breath and shoving my pride aside, I started in Zoe and Rory’s direction, swooping in before the godforsaken interaction could continue.

Moving beside her, I noticed that my parents had a clear view of us. I slipped an arm around her waist and placed my hand against her hip, feeling her warmth beneath my fingertips.

There was something painfully familiar in the way her soft curves felt in my careful grasp, and as much as I wanted to pretend like it wasn’t doing something for me, I knew there was no denying it. The fullness of her figure always drew me in, and it was impossible for me to resist.

I steeled myself against how surprisingly nice it was and grinned instead, catching on to how she froze slightly beneath my touch.

“How’s my fiancée doing?”

The words slipped out before I could think them over, and at once, a mutual sense of surprise and shock settled between us.

From my parents to Rory to Zoe, with her tensing beneath my hold, I left them all speechless.

Even I didn’t think I had it in me.

Regardless, it got Rory to shut his mouth, and for a moment, my parents looked more stunned than I had ever seen them before and surely riddled with questions.

I had no idea how Zoe would react to my sudden plan, but at the very least, the plan was working.

That had to count for something, even if she hated me.

Chapter 4 - Zoe

I had no words. Not even one.

For a moment, I could only stand there and question if I heard him right, all while Ezra’s arm fit snuggly around my waist and held me against him.

There had been a time when I would’ve been willing to beg just for the chance to be so close to him. To feel like we were something to each other and that he really did have feelings for me.

But unfortunately, I knew better.

Fiancée.

As much as it annoyingly stirred something in my chest to hear that, I couldn’t wrap my head around why he called me that or what he was getting at.

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