Page 35 of The Alpha and His Enemy Wolf
Mila’s breathcame quick and hard as she rushed up to her floor, and she doubted it had anything to do with taking the stairs. A part of her knew her plans to spy on Rafe in his home was wrong. She wanted Rafe and not just sexually. The truth was she’d enjoyed spending time with him. He had a way of making her feel protected and cared for, and never so much as when he’d held her in his arms. No one else had ever made her feel that way before, and she didn’t want to give up that comforting security just yet.
She reached her door and swiped the room key, forcing herself to push away the chaos in her head. All she wanted was to feel more of that wonderful sensation that happened when their bodies touched. That was all she cared about tonight. She’d worry about the pack and her agenda tomorrow.
Mila entered her room and quickly stuffed her minimal belongings into her bag. She gazed at herself in the mirror. Her reflection stared back with a flushness in her cheeks and excited glimmer in her eyes. She rushed back down to the lobby, eager to see Rafe again. When she returned, he stood near the reservations desk. When their eyes met, his darkened with a smoldering intensity that burned bright as he walked over to her.
He offered to take her bag. “Are you ready?”
A wild thrill of anticipation danced inside. “I am.”
“All right, let’s go.” He took her hand in his, which did nothing to calm the excitement that grew inside her.
She attempted to calm the rising desire as they walked out of the hotel and across the street. He led her to a road that snaked up the side of the mountain. They passed several cabins on either side of them. The higher they descended, the nicer the homes.
“Let me guess, yours is at the top,” she said.
He squeezed her hand and flashed her a devilish grin. “A benefit of being the alpha.”
She tilted her head in acknowledgment. “Any drawbacks?”
The smile vanished and his mouth formed a grim line. “There are always advantages and disadvantages to any situation, don’t you think?”
She shrugged. “I suppose.”
Rafe fixed his gaze on the road ascending before them. “I guess that’s where your father and I might have some similarities. Ensuring the safety of the pack. The pressure to lead. And in my case, I have the resort as well. The shifters in my pack rely on the success of our business to provide for themselves and their families. The responsibility rests on me to make sure that we succeed.” He cocked his head and grinned. “Fortunately, I have a financial genius helping me in those matters.”
Her ears perked. “Grayson?”
“Yes. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
Mila filed that piece of information away, reason piercing through her lust. If her pack could get to Grayson, it would be a devastating blow to Rafe.
A swell of guilt followed. He just told her how many shifters relied on him to survive. She’d been intent on ruining operations over here, believing in her father’s dictate that the Franconia shifters were evil. Was that the case, though? Grayson and Aurora had seemed decent. And Rafe? She didn’t know where to begin when it came to understanding her confusing reaction to him.
As they continued walking, she glanced into the forests. Was the Franconia pack’s lifestyle as different as she’d once thought? Many built their homes surrounded by nature, the same as her pack. She gazed back to glance at the village and all the developments there. Her pack had not bulldozed land for commercial sprawl, but perhaps she didn’t know all the details. Rafe and Grayson both mentioned how they’d adopted an environmental mindset, choosing green energy whenever possible. Taking all that into consideration, was it right to want to destroy them?
Mila wasn’t so sure anymore.
That burning for vengeance had dimmed since she’d arrived here and spent time with Rafe. Would it eventually be snuffed out?
Enough questioning. All she wanted was to feel. All she wanted was one night with Rafe and she would think again tomorrow. They reached the end of the road and faced an impressive A-frame home with gray stone surrounded by trees.
Rafe declared, “We’re home.”
Home, she repeated in her head. It had such a nice sound to it. But it wasn’t her home. It was just a temporary place for her to sleep while they finished out their week together.
And then what—she carried out her plan to defeat him and his pack?
Rafe
Rafe’s heart pounded as he opened the door and welcomed Mila inside. Inviting her here meant more than just bringing a woman home to spend a night with him. He was inviting his mate into his home. Even if this was temporary and they could never have anything between them other than a torrid fling, that connection between them was palpable and impossible to dismiss.
After she entered, he closed the door behind them and hung their coats on the coat rack near the door.
She glanced around and his gazed followed, seeing his home from her eyes. The open plan spread out with a sitting area in front of a fireplace and then a round oak dining table that separated it from the kitchen with all the high-end appliances he rarely used.
“It’s so nice in here. And huge.” She turned to him with a questioning look. “You live here alone?”
“I do.” How do two short words sound so odd, strangled? He bent and removed his boots and placing them on a boot tray.
