Page 17 of Alpha Unchained
"We need to talk."
"I have nothing left to say," she snaps, even as her hand shakes just slightly. "You've made yourself pretty clear, as have I. We don't seem to have any common ground, so I don't see a reason to continue."
I take a step closer, crowding her space just enough to see her breath hitch. “You don’t get to shut me out and pretend this isn’t real,” I grit. “Not with my baby inside you. Not when you’re still wearing my mark.”
She lets out a sharp laugh; the sound brittle. "There is no ‘us.’” Her words hit harder than any punch I’ve ever taken. Because she’s right. “You walked out. You left me to figure out what it meant to be a wolf, to be pregnant, to be the center of every rumor in this town. You don’t get to just… show up and make demands."
I move fast, cutting the distance between us, pinning her back against the door with my presence more than force. I cage her in, hands braced on either side of her shoulders, letting my wolf bleed into my voice. "You think I wanted this? You think I wanted to leave? I’ve been tearing myself apart every day I was gone, worrying about you. About every bastard who wants to take what’s mine."
"I’m not yours," she spits, chin lifted. "And this isn’t your life to control, Luke."
"The hell it isn’t," I growl, every muscle tight. "You think I can just let you go? Let Waylon or the syndicate circle around you, waiting for a sign of weakness? You’re mine, Elena. Our baby is mine. And I’ll protect you both, even if it means you hate me for it."
For a moment, she looks like she might slap me. Instead, she grabs the heaviest book from the nearby shelf and hurls it at my head. I duck, barely missing a face-full of hardcover, and it hits the wall with a satisfying thud.
"Get out," she snarls, her voice shaking with fury and something hotter, wilder underneath. "I mean it, Luke. Just get the hell out. I don’t need you. I don’t want you here."
I take a step back, breathing hard, but I don’t leave. I watch her, the color in her cheeks, the sharp rise and fall of her chest.My wolf wants to take, to claim, to prove she’s still mine. But the look in her eyes says it all—hurt, longing, betrayal tangled together in a snarl it's going to take more than force to untangle.
"You want me to go? You’ll have to make me," I say, voice low, letting my need and my anger tangle in the space between us.
She doesn’t back down. "Don’t tempt me." She doesn’t flinch, and that alone makes my cock ache. Even furious, even ready to claw me bloody—she’s never looked more mine.
We stand there, caught in a battle neither of us wants to end. The fight turns heated—words traded like claws, accusations hurled, old wounds ripped open. But underneath it all, the air is thick with want. I see it in the way she looks at me, the way her hands tremble when I step close.
The need between us is feral, a raw thing clawing through the pretense. I move before I think, pressing her back against the wall, mouth crashing down on hers in a kiss that’s pure demand. She fights me at first, fists pushing at my chest, but I don’t yield. I capture her wrists in one hand, holding her there with all the command my body can muster.
My grip on her wrists tightens, pinning them over her head as I press her into the wall. Her glare dares me to try, dares me to take what’s always burned between us. I claim her mouth, tongue and teeth, demanding, not giving her room to pretend she doesn’t want this too. She fights me—hips jerking, thighs pressing against mine, her body arching as much in defiance as need.
My free hand trails down, shoving her shirt up, fingers rough and reverent at once as I drag it over her head and toss it aside. The bra is gone with a single flick, her breasts bared to the shadowy light, nipples tight and flushed. I lean in, taking her mouth again as my palm closes over one breast—squeezing, teasing, letting her feel exactly how badly I want her. She gasps,her whole body taut, her she-wolf most likely straining for freedom.
I break the kiss and bite down at the base of her throat, right over the mark I left. Her back bows off the wall, a sound torn from her lips—equal parts pain and pleasure, the two inseparable now.
“Still think you don’t want me?” I growl against her skin, tracing my tongue along her collarbone, trailing lower.
Her hands twist, desperate to break free, but I hold her fast, dragging my mouth down to her breast, flicking my tongue over her nipple before sucking hard—claiming, hungry. She bucks against me, a helpless moan breaking free, her hips rolling against my thigh. I slip my hand beneath her waistband, pausing to feel her breath catch.
“Luke...” Her voice is a warning and a plea.
“Tell me to stop,” I rasp, but she only arches into my touch, fire in her eyes.
Her eyes burn into mine, daring me.
“Don’t stop,” she murmurs, breath catching.
"I want you to remember.”
That’s all the permission I need. Still holding her pinned against the wall, I haul her jeans open and shove them—along with her panties—down to her knees. She tries to twist away, but I catch her hips, grip firm and commanding, and drop to my knees right there. Her back pressed to the wall, legs spread by my hands, I look up at her—breathless, defiant, already trembling. I press a kiss to her belly, just below her navel, lingering for a heartbeat, then lower, mouth hot on her, my breath teasing her slick heat.
She gasps, fists tangling in my hair, as I slide my tongue along her folds—slow at first, savoring the taste of her, the pulse that jumps under my mouth. I tease her, licking and sucking,letting her feel my control in every movement. Her hips buck, her voice raw and desperate.
“Luke...”
I answer by slipping two fingers inside her, curling them until she cries out, my tongue never relenting. I work her ceaselessly, letting her ride the edge, her thighs tightening around my shoulders, her wolf howling in silence, raw and wild and desperate to protect what’s hers. I feel her body tense, every muscle straining as she shatters against my mouth, her pleasure breaking loose in waves—loud, helpless, mine.
I rise, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, staring down at her—breathless, undone, wild and beautiful in her fury. “Mine,” I growl, catching her mouth again, letting her taste herself on my lips.
She’s trembling, legs barely holding her, eyes dazed and angry all at once. But before I can take it further, she twists in my grip, shoves at my chest, shattering the spell with sheer will. “You can’t fix this with sex, Luke. Not this time. You don’t get to own me just because you can make me come. I can do that myself without you.”
