Page 9 of The Alpha Under My Bed

I swallowed, my pulse thick in my throat. “You don’t have to stay.”

Mal made a low sound in his chest, something between amusement and disbelief.

“Do I ever leave?”

No. He didn’t.

I hesitated, tracing the edge of my blanket between my fingers. “I mean it,” I murmured, even though I already knew what he was going to say.

He shifted then, not enough to move me away, but just enough that I could feel the slight tilt of his head, the weight of his gaze settling on the side of my face.

“You don’t want me to.”

It wasn’t a question.

I pressed my lips together, fingers tightening around the blanket.

Because he was right. I didn’t want him to leave.

Even if it meant I was getting too comfortable with something I could never have.

Mal exhaled, slow and steady. His fingers flexed against my waist for a split second before they curled back into loose restraint, the warmth of his palm seeping through the fabric of my sweater.

“You know I’d do anything for you, right?”

My breath hitched.

I didn’t know why.

Mal hadalwaysbeen this way with me. Steady. Protective. A presence I could lean on without fear.

But something about the way he said it now…

Something about the weight of those words…

It felt different.

My pulse ticked up, my body suddenly too aware of how close we were, how easy it would be to turn my head, to press my face into the crook of his neck and breathe him in, to close the space between us.

I forced myself to pull back before the thought could root itself too deep.

I barely moved an inch before Mal’s fingers tightened.

Not enough to stop me.

Just enough to let me know he didn’t want me to go.

I hesitated.

Felt my throat go tight.

Then I smiled—a small, quiet something only for him. “I know.”

For a second, I thought he was going to say something else, but he didn’t. He just nodded once, the tension in his shoulders relaxing only slightly.

I settled back against him, telling myself I was imagining the way his fingers traced just barely against my side.

Telling myself it didn’t mean anything.

---