Page 50 of The Alpha's Silent Mate

I slide my arms around his shoulders. “But it’s not all you are. And I’ll help.”

A new emotion flashes in his eyes. “You’ll help?”

I nod. “You don’t need to do everything on your own anymore. You have me.”

“I do, don’t I?” he says, his fingers stroking my cheek.

“You do.” A thought occurs. “But don’t expect me to fight alpha challenges. I think you’ll do a better job than me with that.”

His lip twitches. “And there is a little more of that sense of humor spilling out,” he says, as he swings me into his arms and heads for the bed.

As he lays me down, my thoughts return to the courtyard and what might be happening there now. Shay has never lost his confidence that the pack is okay without him, but I can’t help but worry, even knowing how capable Ewan is.

Maybe if they weren’t mostly strangers to me, I’d be a little less anxious. But I know Aron, and I would never forgive myself if the same thing happened here.

“Your mind is drifting,” Shay murmurs.

I blink and refocus on his face above mine. “A little.”

“And I think I can guess where it’s drifted too.”

He probably could. “Will we go back today?”

“If Ewan doesn’t send someone with news by this afternoon, I’ll head back and see what’s happening. But I have faith in my people.”

“And where will I be?”

“You,” Shay murmurs, as he covers my body with his, and his voice turns husky, “will be sleeping in his bed, safe, warm, comfortable and worn out from all the things I plan to do to you.”

I stroke my hands over his back. “And what things are those?”

“I could show you,” he murmurs, giving me one more kiss before moving down my body.

Before he can, I grip his face and stop him.

His eyes crease in concern. “Lexa? You don’t want me to?”

I love you.

My lips part, but I don’t say the words out loud. I’ve gotten so used to holding in all the things I should let out that it always seems so difficult to speak.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel what this ache is in my heart. It’s more than just need or want. It’s love.

Shay moves back up my body, not saying a word, never taking his eyes off me. And he knows. There’s a sweet heat in his eyes that tells me he heard my voice as if I spoke them aloud. The way he always has.

“I know you think the pack will be okay without you, but it can’t be easy being with me instead of them,” I whisper.

“And is that the reason why?”

I shake my head. “It’s one of them, but it’s not the only reason.”

“What reasons are those?” he murmurs.

“There are too many reasons for me to love you,” I tell him.

“I know the feeling, pup.” He lowers his head and kisses me again on the lips, a tender joining that makes me want it to last forever.

His hands frame my face, and when I think the kiss can’t get any sweeter, he angles his head and deepens it. Moaning into his mouth, I wind my legs around the back of his.

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