Page 11 of Alpha's Second Chance

I would not let the past mar our time together now. Eve was a part of me, even if we weren’t together. I could finally accept that now, as I entered her body all the way.

She squeezed her eyes closed as my hips met hers. “How are you?” I asked.

“Good,” she said between breaths. “Keep going.”

I shifted, pulled back, and thrust into her. She wrapped her arms tight around my shoulder and lifted her head to kiss me. I thrust again, finding a rhythm that allowed us to move together. I made it for a few minutes until the intoxication of having her, and possessing her struck me with a flood of awareness. I was going to come. I let it happen, releasing into her body.

She threw her head back and moaned. “I can feel it,” she said. I pressed a hand between her legs again, circling my fingers over her folds. She bucked against me, then came again, her pussy pulsating against my cock.

I kissed her forehead. I tugged her into my arms, and I found that her muscles stayed relaxed as we lay together, both of us drifting off to sleep.

We both woke up at dawn.

I gazed at Eve where she lay on her side. Her beauty took my breath away.

Last night I’d made love to her. We hadn’t fucked; with Eve, sex would never be simply fucking. My bear instinctively accepted her, and viewed her as a lover.

Now that I’d been inside her, my bear thought of her as mine. Ten years ago, before the anger settled over me, overwhelming grief had consumed me. I hadn’t eaten, though hunger had clawed at me. I hadn’t slept, though I’d been mindless with exhaustion. I walked through my life, bereft, only finding purpose in my work with my MASK unit.

Could I recover from losing her again?

“Don’t run off,” I said to Eve as soon as I saw that she was awake. I wasn’t under any illusions that she wanted a relationship. As much as I’d wanted her last night, I knew our new intimacy would only bring more complications. Protecting her when we weren’t sleeping together was hard enough.

“Good morning to you too,” she snapped. “And don’t patronize me.”

I was getting really tired of her attitude. I got that her life hadn’t been easy. I’d even tried to apologize. Not that it had done much good. “How exactly is trying to protect you patronizing?”

“Because it implies I can’t make my own decisions.”

My bear rumbled. He wanted to shift, and demonstrate to Eve that she truly was his mate. To the bear, that would solve every problem.We will absolutely not be doing that,I warned him.“I never said that.”

“I realize that you think I’m irrational, or blowing this out of proportion. I’m sure you’re tired of hearing about it. Until you can understand what it’s like to have no choices, just because of the way you’re born, then don’t speak to me.”

Why was she getting to me? I had a reputation for being a brick wall. Nothing got to me. Less than twenty-four hours with Eve, and I was ready to bash my head into this cheap plaster wall. “I am tired of hearing about it, because you rip me apart, but you don’t offer any solutions.”

She shoved herself into a sitting position. She yanked the sheet up, covering her breasts. “I had a solution. Leaving!”

I grabbed my own pants and tugged them up. “Yeah. Because that solves everything.”

“It did for me.”

“And yet you’re here now, and not back in your happy life in Denver,” I said.

“Do not sneer at me, Owen Brady.” She slammed her hand against the hard mattress. “You’re just jealous that you’re still trapped in their archaic system, and I got out.”

“Enough.” I was done with her bullshit. “We’re leaving. Get dressed, then get in the car.”

I half expected her to scream she wasn’t going to listen, but as she’d said, she didn’t get this far in life by not having a lot of common sense. Her ire was palpable, it blazed across the room. I wouldn’t wait around for any more scathing words.

I grabbed the keys and scanned the parking lot, keeping an eye out. I looked across the treeline, then walked the perimeter of the parking lot. There were no people around. No cars. No movement.

My senses prickled. My bear’s presence usually pushed at me, making me bolder. Now, he wanted me back inside.Can’t go back inside, buddy. We have to get out of here.

I didn’t expect the dart. It hit me in the neck, right in the vein.

My bear had been right to be skittish. He’d sensed this incoming threat. The poison rushed through my blood. My vision swam. My hearing dulled. A misty haze washed over me as my body struck the pavement.Fuck.I had to warn Eve. I hadn’t sensed another shifter nearby, so whoever did this was a human, or a shifter using more of those fucked up suppressants.

Whoever shot me knew I was a shifter -- this much tranquilizer would kill a human. A sniper shot to the head with the right bullet would kill me, so they obviously wanted me alive, not dead. I had to hope the same was true with Eve. I tried to call out to her. I pushed myself up on my hands. If I could drag myself back to the room, I could warn her.

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