Page 2 of The Silent Mate

It’s just your nerves,I told myself, inhaling a deep breath to calm the frantic racing of my heart.

Finally, we reached a pair of double doors nestled deep in the center of the castle. I wiped my palms on my thighs, hyper-aware that my fingers trembled. I needed to get a hold of myself. The people on the other side of these doors would be able tosmellmy fear, and werewolves saw fear as weakness.

And most packs sought to exterminate any weakness from their ranks.

The doors groaned as they opened, and a delicious wave of tobacco leaf and mint filled my lungs, infiltrated my veins, and settled straight in my core. Warmth gathered there, seeping to that sensitive spot between my thighs.

Oh hell.

The force of the scent—and its incredible impact on my body—nearly brought me to my knees. My cheeks flamed, and I lingered in the doorway, even as every fiber in me begged to race into the room and find the source of the arousing smell.

“Aria,” my father called, firm, glancing over his shoulderwith furrowed brows. He used his signaturealphavoice. The one that couldn’t be disobeyed by subordinates.

I ducked my head, keeping my eyes trained on my shoes, and heeded his silent command.

The incredible scent only increased in potency when I reached the center of the room, but I kept my head bowed. Because, in addition to the overbearingly delicious combination of tobacco and mint, an undeniable pulse of power filled the space.

The type of power only possessed by an alpha.

Every lupine instinct in my blood warned me to submit, but I remained on my feet. Alpha Roman hadn’t yet done anything to prove that he deserved me on my knees.

“Ah, Mason,” a deep voice hummed from the opposite end of the room. “I’m pleased you came.”

“As you requested, Alpha Roman, I brought my daughter,” Dad replied, every word stiff and formal.

“Yes, I see,” Alpha Roman drawled, and I felt the heat of his slow perusal. “And I amverypleased…”

Unease skittered down my spine, in direct conflict with the warmth that had previously churned at my center. I dared to peek up, barely lifting my brow enough to see my new alpha through thick dark lashes.

My heart battered against my ribcage as my eyes met those of theIntonat Nocteleader. At least half a dozen men and women stood on his flanks, guards and advisors, no doubt, but I paid no attention to them.

Alpha Roman sat on a medieval-looking throne at the center of a dais, and his broad frame filled every inch of that giant chair of honor. A tailored suit covered his body, contrasting the gothic architecture of the throne and room. Dark hair, short and groomed to perfection, adorned his head like a crown, and he wore a wicked, hungry smile.

My blood turned to ice. Alpha Roman’s presence overshadowed everything else, and any thought of that tantalizing scent of tobacco and mint disappeared as my survival instincts took control.

“I’m glad,” Dad croaked, although his voice shook and betrayed his horror.

The lupine grin on Alpha Roman’s lips only grew as he slowly stood from his throne. With slow, arrogant movements, he stepped off of the dais, black eyes never leaving me.

I was old enough to know when a male wanted me. I’d seen desire in enough gazes to know that they found me beautiful. I possessed my mother’s honey blonde waves and soft features, paired with my father’s dark blue eyes. In the summer before my sixteenth birthday, I sprouted from a gangly, awkward girl into a woman.

Now, four years later, I’d earned the attention of one of the continent’s most powerful alphas. I should’ve been honored. Instead, his heated gaze made me feel…dirty.

It felt wrong. Repulsive. As if my body yearned for the admiration of another.

“She’s a bit skinny,” Alpha Roman mused, his lips pinching into a thin line as he studied me like a piece of livestock.“But, as long as she has alpha’s blood, I suppose she’ll do the job…”

Alarms blared in my mind, and I ripped my attention from Alpha Roman to stare at my father. “Dad, what is he talking about?”

Guilt glossed the surface of his eyes as he shook his head apologetically. His lips cracked open, but no words escaped.

“Dad?”I repeated, louder.

A low chuckle rumbled from the chest of my new alpha, who’d stalked closer until he stood directly in front of me. When he spoke, the scent of iron wafted over me. “Did your father fail to tell you the terms of his surrender, little girl?”

I recoiled. “What are you talking about?”

Alpha Roman cocked his head, predatory. “I’ve found myself in need of an heir.”

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