Page 19 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

“Do you want me to go in and look?” I offer. “I’m a good swimmer. I can go to the bottom and check for you if it’ll make you feel better.”

She grabs the front of my shirt, her voice terrified. “No. Don’t go. I don’t know what happened, but don’t take the risk.”

“Why did you take the risk?” I ask her slowly. “You were having a difficult time in the water yesterday. You’re clearly not a very good swimmer.”

She shrugs. “If anything happened to me, nobody would miss me. You probably have people who care about you.”

I give her a baffled look. “That is the stupidest reason I’ve ever heard.”

She scowls at me. “You want to jump into the lake? Be my guest. But I’m not jumping in after you to save you. I’ve already had one near death experience today. I’m not looking to add any more to my daily quota.”

I feel offended. “So, if I were drowning, you wouldn’t jump in to save me?”

“No.”

I consider her for a moment before deciding, “You’re lying. You’d help me.”

“I just said I wouldn’t.”

“I don’t believe you,” I scoff, getting to my feet and walking over to where I dropped my bag.

She pulls on her shirt, muttering something nasty under her breath, and I watch from the corner of my eye. Her skin is pale and flawless, her generous breasts straining against her bra cups. My cock stirs, and I feel ashamed. Quickly turning around, I try not to think about what it would feel like to rip that flimsy-looking bra in two, or how her breasts would fill my hands if I were to hold them.

I close my eyes and try to imagine Jimmy in front of me.

Jimmy smirking at one of his lady friends. Jimmy being a wiseass about my real-life problems.

My erection vanishes as irritation floods me. He wanted to tag along with me to see this mysterious woman that I wasseemingly enamored by. I’m not enamored by anybody. It’s guilt. And maybe I think she’s amusing, but that’s it. Enamored is the last word I would use.

The smug look on his face made me want to introduce it to my fist. Not that it would deter him. Jimmy is among the strongest fighters in the Wolf Kingdom, second only to me. While my specialty lies in strategy and brute strength, he’s wily and fast.

Frowning, I pick up the bakery bag from the ground. There is no way in hell I am introducing Jimmy to this woman. My second-in-command has a thing for exotic-looking women. I’ve had to drag him out of human bars more times than I would like to count. With this wolf shifter of such unique features, Jimmy wouldn’t be able to help himself.

I growl under my breath.

Looking over my shoulder, I see her sitting now, her arms around her knees. She’s staring at the lake. My anger fades. She looks so heartbreakingly young.

“If anything happened to me, nobody would miss me.”

I feel troubled by her words. Surely, that can’t be the case. She must have some family. Unless she’s an orphan.

But even then, orphans are well loved within packs. Even if nobody is able to foster them, they are given the best opportunities. She must have friends and people who care about her. But as I gaze at her, she appears incredibly lonely.

I walk back over to her. “Here. I ruined your celebration yesterday, so I got you something. It is your birthday today, right?”

She looks up at me, surprised, and then at the bag in my hand. “You got me something?” There is wariness in her voice. “Why?”

“Because that cupcake seemed important to you,” I admit.

She shrugs. “It was just a cupcake.”

“Either way.” I put down the bag in front of her. “Celebrating a birthday by yourself is boring. I thought we could celebrate it together.”

She gives me a cautious look. “What do you want in exchange?”

“Nothing!” I exclaim, her words stinging me.

“Really?” she says doubtfully. “People always want something in exchange for being nice to me.”

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