Page 200 of The Alpha

She looked at him, then tore the paper away to stare at the square blue velvet covered box in her hands. She slowly opened it.

“Oh, Melvale,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful.” Pari looked at him with wide eyes. “You didn’t have to…”

“I wanted to, Kitten.” He smiled. “Go ahead, take it out, let’s see how it looks.”

She pulled out the intricately carved silver bracelet and held it up. It was a solid band about an inch wide, but not over thick. “Where did you get this?”

He smiled. “Mm, let’s just say it wasn’t from anywhere around here.”

She sucked in a breath. “This is from your world?”

He nodded. “It is very valuable and is what a man of my race might give to his… girlfriend.” He looked into her eyes. “Pari,my people make mistakes just like anyone else. I have made one with you, and I am truly sorry. Your feelings for me, I have damaged them. Let this be the first of many things that helps you find those feelings again.”

Melvale took the bracelet from her, held it between the palms of his hands a moment and closed his eyes.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a soft voice.

“Readying it for you.” He opened his eyes and gazed lovingly into hers. “This is a special gift and not to be taken lightly. Do you accept it?”

Pari didn’t flinch exactly, but she did draw in a sharp breath. “Will it help me…” she shrugged. “Feel normal again?”

He bobbed his head side to side. “Mmm, it can’t hurt.”

Her eyes met his again, and he caught a flicker of trust in them. “Okay.”

Melvale smiled as he opened his hands, and the bracelet clicked open.

Pari stared at it. “What did it just do?” She got closer and peered at it. “I don’t see a clasp.”

“It’s well hidden.” He took her left wrist, closed his eyes, and placed the bracelet on her. It snapped closed and shrank to fit her wrist.

She gasped. “What was that?”

“It’s made so it won’t fall off,” he assured with a smile. “You can shower or bathe with it on and the water won’t hurt it.” He held up her wrist and admired how it looked against her creamy skin. “It’s beautiful on you, Pari.”

She examined it too. “Wow, I’ve never had a piece of jewelry like this before. Thank you.” She smiled at him, and to his utter delight kissed him on the cheek.

Maybe, justmaybe,he hadn’t screwed things up as bad as he thought.

Pari drew backfrom Melvale’s cheek. Touching him made her feel better, less disjointed, and as an experiment, she took him by the hand. “Thank you, for all you’ve done.”

He looked into her eyes with such tenderness her heart stirred in response. “I will always be there for you, Pari. The other side of me might have jumped the gun, as your people say, but I think he means well.” He smiled. “Imean well, precious one. Thank you for giving me another chance to prove it to you. I don’t want the bond between us to lessen any more than it has.”

“Bond?” She looked at her bracelet. “I’ve heard that word used before.”

“To bond is to… come together,” he said. “To become one. When one of my kind bonds, it is for life.”

Her breath hitched. “That’s… kind of romantic.”

He smiled. “I suppose it is.” Melvale’s eyes roamed her face, and Pari realized that even though she couldn’t recapture all the feelings she had for him now, it didn’t mean they weren’t still there. “Your heart is… inside of me?”

He nodded. “Part of it. The other is with me. It wishes to bring us together, but… I am not whole yet. I have not fully merged with the Alpha side of me.”

“And when you do?”

He drew closer. “Then all will be right with the world.” He gently brushed his lips across hers.

Pari’s eyes closed, and a tiny flutter started in her chest. But there was something else, like a wall around her heart, a sentry. Would it let him in? Or was he going to have to fight his way back into her heart?

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