Page 108 of Red's Beast

Grandmother chuckles under her breath. "Maybe he prefers being a goat without responsibility, where he can terrorize anyone and everyone to his own delight."

"Oh, is that so?" Our eyes lock and I feel the alpha command roll off me in one massive wave. "Change yourself back, now."

His hooves glow softly, much to his dismay. He fights the rope with all his might, but I hang on to the other end, keeping him from escaping.

"Do it, Corbin. You can't resist. Change now!" I shout from the top of my lungs and push my will onto him.

Suddenly, the glow spreads to his whole body, and in a blink of an eye, the man is in place of the goat. He's breathing heavily, his eyes wide with shock as he looks down at his naked form. Once our gazes meet, I can see the fear there.

"How did you do that?" He whispers. "You shouldn't be able to do that."

Everything is quiet for a moment, the only sound in the room being his ragged breathing. His eyes dart around wildly between me and my grandmother. He sits on his heels, still on his knees, as he studies everything in the room after thoroughly checking us out.

"No, this can't be," he mutters. "You shouldn't be able to command me. I'm the alpha's son and this is impossible. I have to be dreaming. This was all just a terrible dream. You couldn't do that, and this isn't real. My great grandmother didn't rise from the dead, my mother is still alive, and I wasn't just a goat. Nope, a horrible nightmare. That’s all this is.”

He squeezes his eyes tight and then opens them again before smacking himself. "I didn't wake up. Why didn't I wake up? No, I refuse to believe this. It can't be true."

I move slowly, squatting before him. Once we're face to face, I smile. "I'm the alpha now, Corbin, and you’re going to do everything I say. Do you understand?”

Corbin stares up at me with a look of disdain. "Whatever it is you want me to do, I won't do it, especially after you hit me in the head with a book. You’re just using me and I don’t like that.”

"I haven't even asked you to do anything yet and you are already denying me? If I had denied you as you have me, what would your family have done to me? I think I should do the same to you. You also forget it is you who leaned in and tried to eat the book.”

He cuts his eyes toward my grandmother and growls low in his throat. I reach out and smack him on the top of his head.

"Growl at her again and I will make a spectacle of you outside. Then everyone is going to know you were the goat.”

As our eyes meet again, he smirks. "You wouldn't dare. The pack is new to you and one little fiasco is all it will take for them to rebel. You need me and you know it. They won’t take too kindly to you treating me poorly."

I counter, "I don't need you. That's where you are wrong."

Suddenly, a sensation in my stomach hits and doubles me over. I can no longer hold my position and fall forward onto my knees. Leaning forward on my hands does nothing for me.

I hear Corbin laugh and ask my grandmother, "You know what's happening to her, don't you? Does she know? What was that you were saying? You don’t need me. I think you need me more than you realize.”

“Shut up, Corbin,” I snap.

A surge of power rolls off me, and I feel sick. My face flushes and when I glance up, the room is swirling in circles.

Grandmother drops a towel on Corbin for him to use to cover himself, and he stands, wrapping it around his waist. I’meternally grateful for her giving him something to cover up with because if I have to keep looking at it, it’s going to make me sick.

"She needs me, but she's too stubborn to realize it."

Grandmother coughs as she nearly chokes on air. "She has a mate, you dipstick, and it isn't you. Get that out of your head right now."

I try to stand, but stumble back to the wooden floor. "He really needs to just shut up.”

"You're an alpha without a mate, and everything in you is going to drive you toward taking a mate. Get ready. It's not pleasant when you deny your wolf and eventually you may even lose control. Mating heat sucks.”

Sweat beads across my forehead and drips onto the floorboard. I stare at it for a moment, considering my words wisely. As I turn my head to the side, I can see a look of shame crossing my poor grandmother’s features. “It’s okay, Grandmother. I made it through one wave, so I will do so again.”

She closes her eyes and sighs. "I wish you had longer between dealing with it.”

“I hate this.”

“Oh, you’re about to hate it more, Lillian. Without your dear mate, your wolf is going to cry out for an equal match and each wave of mating heat will get worse.”

When he stops, Grandmother finishes what he was about to say. “What this idiot means to tell you is that he might sadly be the only option if you don’t find your fated mate.”

---