Page 88 of Lonely Alpha

I inhaled deeply, trying to count through a full breath. This was the part that I had to say delicately. It would scare her, but I could calm her. We were mates. That was my job.

“My mother sent me to do a job for your father. He wanted me to find you. Obviously, he knows now that I’ve had you all along even though I lied to keep that hidden the first time. Considering the dark bond, they want something else.”

“What?” Kiara breathed, not letting me take a break in her desperation to know.

“Mother has informed me that we are to go on a date with the pack of your father’s choosing. After an acceptable amount of time and public dates, we’re both going to join that pack.”

“That’s not fucking happening,” Ambrose growled.

I glared at him. His purr had stuttered and wasn’t properly soothing my omega anymore. “Obviously. My mother nearly fell apart when she visited me when I was arrested. There’s something there for me to exploit. I just need to figure out what.”

Dash looked up from his laptop, lifting an eyebrow. “Doubt you have time for that.”

Kiara shook. This time it wasn’t anger but fear, her coconut chocolate scent going sour with it. I stalked around the island to press myself against her side, purring.

“I’m not going to let you go back there, dove. Neither of us is bonding that pack.”

She clutched me with one hand. Ambrose let the ice pack slip down from her neck, putting it on the counter. We were both crowded close to her, and while the big alpha’s presence hadn’t been enough to soothe my omega, it was helping me.

“I just didn’t realize… how much control they had,” she mumbled. “This felt like a different part of the world. Us, together. I guess the arrest should have been a wakeup call, huh?”

My lips pressed to her hair. It flowed down over her shoulders today, matching the gentle flow of the dress she wore.

“I’m sorry, dove. I had to tell you, because we might have to go on the first date.”

It was the final bit that I knew could make her shatter, but she didn’t. She took a deep breath, sitting up straighter in the chair and grabbing my hand.

“A public date?” she asked.

“That’s what my mother said. Private dates don’t do anything for her image, so she’ll want everything public.”

“We can do it, then. But I’m bringing Nyla.”

I ran my fingers against the knife, hidden in its holster around her hips today. She could barely take four steps away from it without getting nervous.

“You can bring Nyla wherever you want.”

She smiled at me. “Thank you. What’s the plan to get out of bonding the pack, then?”

Shaking my head, I pulled out her stool and gestured for her to get off. “Not your problem. I’ll handle it. Ambrose and I are going to brainstorm, and the rest of you can go relax and behave. Dash might be best off if he got some damn sleep.”

Dash rolled his eyes, grabbing his laptop but not looking at all like he was about to take a nap.

Kiara turned to me with pursed lips, and I gave her a chaste kiss. I tried to ignore how it reminded me of what my brother had said.

Love.

Then she was gone and I was able to pretend, once again, that there weren’t any of those feelings swirling around.

TWENTY-NINE

KIARA

I trusted Leighton.

Maybe I shouldn’t—the people who wanted me to mate this pack had information on someone close to her. I assumed her brother, because she didn’t seem to care for anyone else. Why would she risk his secrets getting out? I was a mate she hadn’t wanted. I was inherently less important to her than her family was.

Yet, I trusted her with my life. She held it in the palm of her hand and had since before the dark bond had marked my neck.

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