Page 56 of The Alpha's Stolen Mate

I took a surprised step back.

“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked. My voice was low full of desire for my Mate.

Summer leaned against the desk and crossed her arms, closing herself off to me.

“Please, don’t call me that,” she said and sighed.

She doesn’t want me to call her “baby”?

“Listen, I’m sorry if us kissing made you uncomfortable. We can take things slow—“

She cut me off.

“It’s not about us making out on your desk,” she said.

Those words coming out of her plump, bruised lips made my dick twitch in my shorts. I was still hard from kissing her.

“What is it about, then? Because I told you I loved you?” I guessed. “It didn’t seem to bother you the first time I said it.”

“Yeah, because right after, you distracted me with your…kissing abilities.”

The corners of my mouth lifted, and I took a small step toward her.

“I distract you?” I murmured and trailed a hand down her arm, leaving goosebumps in my wake.

She shivered and automatically leaned into my touch. Her lips trembled slightly. But then her eyes flew open and she stepped to the side, crossing the room until she was by the door, as far away from me as she could get. She turned her body toward me, but her hand was on the doorknob.

“Don’t go,” I said, my voice cracking at the end. “Can we please just talk? I promise not to kiss you, or even touch you. I just want to talk about us.”

Her hand tightened around the door handle, and she shut her eyes as if she was in agony.

With a jolt, I realized I was the one who was causing her pain.

She opened the door just a crack.

“There is no us,Gabriel.”

Pain zipped through me, but I couldn't give up.

“Are you saying you didn't feel our Mating bond trying to repair itself a few minutes ago?” I asked and strode across the room until I was only inches away from her. With my eyes locked on hers, I slowly placed my warm hand over her rapidly beating heart. “You’re saying that you can’t sense when I'm about to walk into a room because our souls are still connected? Can you honestly say that you don't love me, too?”

Summer was silent for five long heartbeats.

“Of course I love you,” she snapped. But her narrowed eyes and sullen tone didn't match her words. “I never stopped loving you—even when I hated you, I loved you.” My Mate stepped away from me and pressed her back against the wall.

I allowed my hand that had been on her heart to drop to my side.

If she loves me, why is she glaring at me like that?

“I…don't understand,” I admitted.

“My love for you was never in question,” she explained and tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear. “I have loved you at every stage of my life. When we were kids, when I was dating Axel, when you broke our bond, when I raised our son alone—all of it. The moment you sent me away, I stopped trusting you. When the person that you trust most in this world betrays you, something inside of you breaks. And I'm not talking about our Mating bond. Because you betrayed me, I started to distrust the world around me. I started to distrust myself.” She swallowed and looked down. “Not only did you break my heart, Gabriel, but you broke my spirit.”

It was like someone just pushed me off the edge of a cliff. I not only broke this beautiful woman's heart, but her soul.

“Summer, I promise that you can trust me. I'll never betray you again.”

Guilt stabbed at me when I remembered I was lying to her right now. It was a lie by omission, because I hadn't told her about my father’s plan for me to marry Olivia. But that wedding would never happen. Everything was coming together for my plan to fight against Axel and the Rogues, and Summer would only be hurt if I told her.

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