Page 3 of The Alpha's Broken Oath

He’s real? He’s even more than real. A gasp wrenches out of me when he takes off his shirt, kneels in front of me, and puts it on my shoulders, urging me to wear it. I didn’t even think about the fact that my clothes might have ripped away the minute I shifted into my wolf.

“You just got your wolf. It might take a second for you to adjust.”

How is he here?

“Okay.”

“Anything hurt?”

“No. Yes? Maybe…a little. Everything…smells different. You smell different.”

He smells familiar.

“Come on. I’ll take you home. Jake must be worried to death.”

“You...you followed me?”

A small smile tugs at his lips, and it makes the butterflies in my stomach flutter crazily.

“You looked upset. Jake would have wanted me to make sure you were alright. Come on, I’ll help you up.”

My heart breaks a little. He followed me to make sure his best friend’s little sister didn’t get into trouble.

I’m naked with only his shirt acting as some sort of cover, and not once has it affected him. Meanwhile, my eyes can’t stop raking every muscle on his naked chest.

I take Deacon’s hand begrudgingly.

The touch of the skin on his calloused hand sends tingles all across my body. My heart thumps. I can almost feel the blood roaring in my veins. It’s like I have found something that I’ve been missing my entire life. It’s as if I’ve been living without knowing how complete a person should be my entire life.

“Winter,” Deacon’s blazing eyes dig into mine, and I take a step away, this unsettling and newfound feeling slipping deep inside me till my wolf can feel it.

“Mate,” my wolf growls with such heated desire that it confirms what I felt a few minutes ago wasn’t a figment of my imagination.

“We are fated,” I whisper, and the words, together with the realization, only heighten the desire growing inside me like an unwanted weed.

“It’s getting late,” Deacon tries to divert my words, but the look on his face tells it all.

In our pack, once a member turns eighteen and gets their wolf, they are able to tell who their mate is, whether or not their partners know it as well. Does that mean Deacon knew I was his mate when he got his wolf, too?

Why did he not tell me? Because I was still young? Because he was afraid of telling his best friend’s little sister they were mated?

“We are mates,” my wolf repeats, this time more determined to make sure I hear her.

“You are my mate, and I am yours. We are destined to be together,” I try to insist, even though the look on Deacon’s face tells me he’s not going to give in to the bond that’s getting stronger and stronger every minute we stand like this.

“You are still recovering from shifting. You are confused, Winter, and I need to take you home.”

“Stop…stop lying to me. My wolf and I feel it, which means you feel it, too. Did you know? How long have you known?”

I’m met with silence.

The critters of the night chirp away. A distant howl breaks the air, and the man I’ve loved since forever stands before me. No, he looks at me, and he lies to me even more.

“We are not mates, Winter.”

The denial in his voice cuts me, but the happiness booming in my chest rivals his words.

I can feel my wolf getting angry and scared at the same time.

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