Page 11 of Betrayed By the Alpha Wolf

There was just no one else, and I’d been too much of a fucking coward to admit that.

I couldn’t even bring myself to go past kissing the handful of women I’d tried to fill the void with. Worse, Kenzie thought I’d fucked them all, thought I was parading them around in front of her like I didn’t care.

I cared. I cared a lot. There was no time for that, right? I was working to become an Alpha and I was supposed to try and be a mate on top of all that? No way. That was too much.

The pattering of water hitting the ground behind me grew louder in my ears, and that spicy, clean scent of Kenzie swelled right along with it. She was everywhere, even as she stood behind that door in the shower.

Naked.

I could still see her body in my head, remember the way I traced it with my fingers and tongue. I could perfectly conjure up the image of gripping her hips as I drove into her. Or oneabout squeezing her breasts as I dragged my teeth across them, the perfect handfuls so responsive to my touch.

“No, bad. Bad, Gray. Stop this.”

Claws extended through my fingertips, and a deep, rumbling growl cut through my self-imposed silence. The need to shift made my muscles burn, and my wolf stalked back and forth quicker, pressing at the edges of my human form.

Before I could realize what I was doing, I shot up off the bed and walked directly up to the bathroom door. Heat melted from it, a combination of the shower and MacKenzie’s sheer presence.

“Kenzie,” I whispered.

My voice was ragged and rough, and I laid the flat of my palm against the door. The wood was smooth and warm beneath my skin, and I knew intimately that all I needed to do was dig my claws into the surface to get a grip strong enough to tear the thing off its hinges.

I sunk the tips of my claws into the wood without thinking, and then one of my hands went for the knob. I wasn’t in control right now; the wolf was too close to the surface. I needed her. I needed my fucking mate.

But you rejected her, asshole.

All my wolf could think of was how to remedy that, how to take her and claim her and bite her. Kenzie didn’t want it. I didn’t want it, but this fucking bastard was not listening to me.

“Come on, you dick. Stop.”

I tensed, squeezing down on my bones to keep them from shifting. My wolf needed to fucking back off, but I’d never fought this hard to avoid a shift. Fangs descended into my mouth, throbbing.

No. Mine. She’smine.

Sucking in a breath was like breathing through a straw, and I closed my eyes, focusing. I told myself to pull the claws back, take my hands off the door, and go back to that couch. It wasn’t working. I needed something else to distract me, to snap my wolf out of this.

My suit shirt, unbuttoned and hanging untucked from my pants, squeezed around my arms. I was so close to a shift, straining the fabric of this fancy getup in a way that threatened to tear it to shreds.

Come on, focus. What did Kenzie say to you?

I couldn’t think of anything else to do except focus on the insults MacKenzie was damn good at throwing my way. They stung like tiny blades every time, and maybe it would be enough to get the fuck away from this door.

I want you to jump off a bridge? Sound enticing?

My chest pinched, and I repeated the words over and over again in my head.

Jump off a bridge, jump off a bridge, jump off a bridge.

Several long seconds dragged on before my claws began to recede. I focused enough to hurry the process along and practically tore myself away from the bathroom door. Rushing across the room, I went straight to the tiny couch that sat against the right wall and lay down.

I faced into the cushions, shoving my face into them until I could hardly breathe. My fangs were next to disappear, and I just kept up with the mantra in my head until I started to get tired.

“You need to rest. The first Alpha trial is tomorrow. Come on.”

Forcing yourself to sleep was rarely successful, but apparently, fighting against your wolf was quite draining because, after just a few minutes, I could sense my body relax. Sleep climbed out of the depths to claim me, and I slowly passed out.

The last thought in my head was the now familiar mantra, still trying to keep me level.

Jump off a bridge, Gray. She wants you to jump off a bridge.

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