Page 25 of The Alpha's Bargain
I wasbreaking.
Piece by piece, everything inside of me wascrumbling.
How had a simple bargain turned out to be so much more than I hadbargainedfor?
He was my mate. I could smell it. My wolf could feel it. Regardless of the heartache, she wanted him, and she wantedhimnow.
Finding all the strength I never had before, I muttered, “Go away.” I didn’t mean it, but I did at thesametime.
Pressing my hand against the wood of the door, I could feel him. So close, yet sofaraway.
“Baby, you know I can’tdothat.”
He felt it, too. The intensity of this was more than before. More than when he had bitten me and marked me. More than when he had held me securely in his arms while the rain poured around us. All of this was more. I hadn’t thought that waspossible.
“Justgo.”
“Baby, I wasn’t in that bed. Hell, I wasn’t in thehouse.”
How he knew any of this, I didn’t know. I just needed him to go away because it hurttoomuch.
“Please, I don’t want to do this with a door between us.Openup.”
“I can’t,” Iwhispered.
“You’re the strongest female I know. Open it and let’s talkthisout.”
“What’s to talk about? Natalie was in our bed!” I yelled loudly, not caring whoheard.
“Either open the door, or I’m tearing it down, Cal. Decide now and step back.” His alpha tone came out loud andclear.
I couldn’t fight the pull. I unlocked the door and pulled the chain. It opened immediately, and Luca stepped through in all his sexyglory.
Why on earth this man had to be so hot wasbeyondme?
He closed the door, his breathing ragged, his eyes lookingtired.
I took severalstepsback.
“Baby, it was a setup. I was on the property, letting my wolf run with George. Jonas told me you ran out. He went up to our room and saw Natalie there. He kicked her ass out and came to find me. All of it was a setup.” He stepped closer, and the back of my knees hit the bed as I moved away. I movedaroundit.
My heart squeezed and thumped. Everything inside me was telling me that Luca wasn’t lyingtome.
“You weren’tthere?”
Luca, hurry up before she gets back.Natalie’s words rang throughmyhead.
“No, baby. I would never cheat on my mate.Never.”
“But, we weren’t really mates.” I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, but it wouldn’thappen.
He came to me and placed his hands on my arms. They felt like sexy lava onmyskin.
My wolf howled, wanting to consummate the mating. I held her back, along with my raging body, which proved difficult with him thisclose.
“Six months ago, I went to an Oracle. I didn’t ask her, but she felt the need to tell me who my future mate was. Luck was on my side when Sage told me what was happening, and I took the initiative to get you inmybed.”
Eyes wide and mouth dropped open, I stared at the man in front of me. “Youknew?”
