Page 41 of The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate
The question stung, but he deserved it. “I’m not asking you to trust me blindly, Luna. But right now, I’m the only ally you have in this place.”
She was silent for a long moment, weighing her options. Finally, she nodded. “Fine. But there are rules.”
Dominic raised an eyebrow. “Rules?”
“Yes.” Luna squared her shoulders, drawing herself up to her full height, which still left her head barely reaching his chest. “You stay on your side of the bed. No touching. And you tell me everything you learn—no holding back information.”
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth despite the gravity of their situation. Even in captivity, even facing demons and corruption and danger, she wasn’t going to be pushed around.
“Deal,” he said. “And in return, you tell me everything about your powers. How they work, what you can do with them.”
Luna hesitated only briefly before nodding. “Deal.”
They stood there, an arm’s length apart. Dominic’s wolf paced restlessly beneath his skin, demanding he claim their mate. But the man knew better. She hadn’t forgiven him for the past, and he hadn’t earned that forgiveness.
Not yet. But he would.
Chapter 10 - Luna
The mattress dipped on one side as Dominic settled onto the bed beside her. Luna hugged the edge of her side, already feeling the heat radiating off his body. The cabin’s master bedroom suddenly felt impossibly small, the king-sized bed shrinking to the dimensions of a life raft.
This was ridiculous. It didn’t have to be weird.
She tugged at the borrowed T-shirt that barely reached mid-thigh. The cotton was worn thin from countless washes and soft, but it was not enough armor against the hard male body lying less than one feet away.
“You can relax,” Dominic said, his deep voice slicing through the silence. “I’m not going to touch you.”
Why?
Luna stiffened. “I didn’t think you would.”
Liar.
“Your body language suggests otherwise.” He wore only a pair of black sweatpants, his muscular chest bare and impossible to ignore.
Why was he so damn sexy?
Luna forced her gaze to the ceiling. “I’m just not used to sharing a bed.”
“With me, or with anyone?”
“Both.”
Dominic moved, and she felt the mattress adjust again. When she braved a look, she found him propped on an elbow, watching her with those eyes that saw through her every time.
“What was your life like?” he asked. “After you left the pack.”
“There’s not much to tell,” she said. “I ran. I hid. I survived.”
“You did more than survive,” Dominic countered. “Tell me more.”
“I moved around a lot at first,” she said after a long pause. “Three different towns before I found Oakridge. Changed my name to Lily Coleman. Dyed my hair.” She touched the brown strands self-consciously. “Did everything I could to become someone else.”
“Why a librarian?”
A small smile tugged at her lips despite herself. “Books were my only friends those first few months. Seemed fitting to surround myself with them.” She glanced at him. “What about you? What was your life like after I left?”
Dominic’s expression darkened. “I joined the Hunter Organization almost immediately. I felt I needed to punish myself instead of taking on my mantle as alpha. I worked my way up through the ranks. Fought. Killed.” His voice dropped lower. “Became exactly what they wanted me to be.”
