Page 55 of Lonely Alpha

“He sent his friend Jonathan to teach me. I fought back. He was only a beta, so I was able to get out of his grip for long enough to pick up Nyla. She was on the mantle. He didn’t realize there was a knife there in time to stop me, so I stabbed him in the neck.”

“And he died,” I concluded.

“Oh, he did,” she said. Kiara let out a laugh that was a little hysterical, her hand coming down to clutch at Nyla. “I followed him down when he fell and made sure of it. He wasn’t coming back by the time I was done. Instead of feeling guilty or puking up my lunch or any of the normal things, I liked it. It made me really happy.”

Her nose scrunched and she met my eyes, hers wide and set in flushed cheeks. “I didn’t feel the same about stabbing Ambrose. I thought I would, but I didn’t. Just now though, with Dash… it made me happy again. How fucked up am I?”

It was a rhetorical question that I answered anyway.

“You’re not fucked up. Not at all, dove. You don’t get a thrill out of stabbing innocent people, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

It was an odd compulsion, admittedly, but I couldn’t judge.

“I absolutely don’t. Jonathan deserved it, and Dash asked,” she said.

“Dash also deserved it, for the record.”

That made her laugh. I lived for that smile, those little crinkles in the corners of her eyes.

I’d figure out a way to keep her safe forever even if it fucking killed me. It might, considering who we were dealing with. The blackmail material my mom kept on me didn’t help. I wasn’t looking forward to when Tobias realized the woman his father ‘hired’ to help with the search and the woman who dark bonded his sister were one and the same.

“What do you think about Mercury?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Don’t know him too well. He’s uptight. A couple of months ago, my brother’s pack needed help from Dash, and Mercury was furious. He reamed me out after it was all said and done, as if I had anything to do with it.”

Rolling my eyes, I collapsed back on the bed. She peered down at me. “That was rude of him.”

“He’s protective of Dash. The man was broken after my brother rejected him. Until recently. The past day is the most playful I’ve ever seen him. Usually he’s busy drinking whiskey and banging betas and stirring up trouble on his talk show.”

She stiffened when I made the list. “Banging betas?”

“He’s a bit of a man whore, according to the tabloids.”

Her scent soured. “Oh.”

“Do you not want him to do that anymore, dove?”

“I don’t care. Of course. You’re my alpha, not him.”

Still laying down, I smirked. She’d let him get her off for a reason. Why was I having increasingly less of a problem with it? Maybe it was because Dash had passively let me take his junk in my hand and squeeze. Plus, the napkin to shut him up. It was obvious I was the more dominant one.

“Liar,” I murmured.

She brought her hand down to the knife, but didn’t deny it. “Whatever. I should get dressed. I’m still hungry.”

I watched her ass jiggle as she walked, enjoying the view. She put on new panties along with a pair of sweats. Had I only gotten her one pair of leggings? I was going to have to change that, pronto. I’d wanted to take a bite of her when she’d walked out wearing those. Would have if Dash hadn’t been there.

“Are you coming?” she asked, pausing at the door when I wasn’t following.

“Be out in five.”

It was partly to make her suffer through the tension of being alone with Mercury and Dash after that, and partly because I really needed to relieve some tension. An orgasm was on my menu, or I wouldn’t be able to deal with this circus.

She flushed but nodded, going out to finish her meal as I slid my hand down my stomach.

* * *

As it turned out, coming made it worse.

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