Page 12 of Alpha's Baby Girl
“I hate you,” she whispered when I pulled away to kiss her jaw, beneath her ear and then lick my way back into her mouth.
“Then hate me,” I said. “But I’ll take it if I still get to kiss you.”
Her shuddering gasp was enough as she clenched her fingers at the nape of my neck. I felt the scrape of nails and shivered against her. I wanted to take her back up to my room, to have her spend the night instead, but I couldn’t. This was all we would, and could, have for now.
“I hate that I still want you,” she groaned as I nipped at her neck, cupping her head in my hand. My other hand teased over the plunging neckline of her dress. I wanted to take all of her, as much as she would give me. I wanted to heal her old wounds and show her who I was now. A man worthy of her forgiveness.
It wasn’t until her hips pressed flush to mine, and she felt how much I wanted her, that she pulled back. Her lips were swollen, her eyes bright in the darkness. I thumbed over her lower lip, so plush, and she sucked it into her mouth for a minute.
“God,” I groaned.
“We should get back,” she said quietly. She wouldn’t look me in the eye as she took a step back. “I don’t want to break any rules if anyone sees us.”
It was the logical thing but I craved her. In the end, I nodded and walked her back inside the hotel. Halting at the elevator, I reached for her but pulled back. I’d promised myself at least one kiss, that was all we could do tonight.
Unspoken words were written so clearly on her face but she bit her tongue.Tell me
every thought you have,I wanted to beg. But they were confessions and required her to open wounds. For that, I would need to earn her trust.
Chapter 7 - Thalia
I’d come way too close to admitting the truth to Fenrys last night. I wasn’t here to win and be his Luna. His trust was the only thing I cared about, and betraying him would mean nothing to me.
Even if I’d wanted him to kiss me.
Even if I’d given in and kissed him last night. I told myself it was all a ploy to get him to fall for me again. Because once he had, I could do to him the same as he’d done to me.
And yet…
Those words he had told me last night had been everything I’d ever wanted to hear, that Fenrys wanted me. That I could keep my anger, that he wouldtake itas long as I might still want him. The desire had burned long after we’d parted at the hotel elevator, me finding my way to my own room. A treacherous part of me wanted to follow him to his. I tampered that down butGod, the way he’d kissed me had been everything I’d dreamed about.
He had held me tenderly, his mouth working hot kisses over my skin, and I’d wanted him so badly. We weren’t strangers; I had spent years pining over him during college. Now I wasn’t here to pine or kiss. I was here to eliminate him. But how could I let myself be convincing during the Mating Games and give in to the physical temptation of him when that only brought me too close to my buried feelings for him?
I could be eliminated if he suspected I wasn’t in the competition for the right reasons. I couldn’t let that happen; I needed to be more careful about how I was playing my cards. Most importantly, I needed to stay to win the next trial.
Your alpha is worth nothingcompared to what you will do to him, when the time comes.
As I finished dressing for the elimination gathering, I reminded myself of Kato’s words once again.Your alpha is worth nothingcompared to what you will do to him, when the time comes.
A small question voiced in my head: what if he had changed?
Gathered in the lobby, the six she-wolves and I grouped around the head councilor who seemed to run the whole Games. Two of the she-wolves clutched suitcases, their expressions sour. Leah, with her long, dark hair, and Tyra, with her sharp pixie cut, one from Oak Hill and the other from a town further away. I hadn’t talked to either of them all that much but I still empathized with them. They hadn’t done anything wrong except not quite catch Fenrys’s attention and be the slowest in the trial. As Fenrys had told me, we all knew what we were signing up for.
“We are sorry to lose you at the first hurdle,” Graham said. “But that is the way of these things. Please leave quietly and peacefully and respect the other contestants as they proceed with the trials.”
I’d found out that in the past, some she-wolves had become aggressive and tried to take victory by force. There had been nasty fights, some rumors even told of a darker tale for one she-wolf who never came back from a trial, but I never put much stock into those stories.
Both women nodded and departed from the group. Shiba was pouting, her arms crossed over her chest, glaring daggers at the retreating she-wolves.
Fenrys stood at the hotel’s main doors and shook each of their hands as they left,
thanking them for their participation. He was dressed in pressed navy jogger pants and a hoodie. His hair was wet, as if he’d not long left a shower. I swallowed, trying not to look too hard. A flush spread over my neck, and the only thing that cooled the heat in me was the knowledge that his smile looked so false that I sniggered. Fenrys’s eyes found me, skipping right over yesterday’s victor.
“Is something funny?” Fenrys asked, coming towards me.
“No.” My response was immediate as I forced my expression to be more neutral, more open. “Not at all.” I glanced at his lips as he spoke, remembering how they’d felt on mine.
“Good,” he said. Then he addressed us all. “Today, there will be no trials or group dinner. I would like you to take the day to rest or explore. Some of you are from the town, but most of you aren’t. Silverlake Valley has enough to offer someone new in the area, and we’re proud, even if we’re a little on the smaller side. Stay safe and rest up for your next trial which will challenge you all further than the one you’ve already faced.”
