Page 74 of The Alpha Under My Bed

No idea I was part of Pack Cross.

I had been absent most of the time—not by choice, but by circumstance. The spare, the afterthought, the one nobody considered when it came to choosing the pack’s mate.

And when Ellie was rejected?

She left without ever knowing I had been sitting there, silent and seething, watching my brother throw away the best fucking thing that had ever happened to me.

That was my breaking point.

That was the moment I decided:

I would never let another alpha touch her again.

They didn’t want her? Fine.

That meant she was mine.

I took a slow, deliberate breath, the heat in my blood far stronger than the water pounding against my back.

And now?

Now they had the audacity to find our scent match.

My scent match.

Like I gave a shit.

Like fate meant a fucking thing to me when I had already chosen.

When Julian realized who Ellie belonged to now?

Oh. Oh, it was going to be beautiful.

My fingers twitched against the tile, my breathing slow and steady.

I could wait.

I could be patient.

BecauseI had already won.

I was just about to turn off the shower when?—

Pounding.

Frantic.

My stomach dropped.

I barely managed to wrap the towel around my waist before I was moving, crossing the room in four quick strides, ripping open the door before my brain could catch up.

And there she was.

Ellie.

My Ellie.

She was a wreck.

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