Page 6 of The Alpha's Silent Mate

It isn’t just the day that’s beautiful. It’s this place. Wolfkeep.

“Lexa!” Ana’s voice rings out behind me, and my attention snaps back to the present.

She’ll want to know where I’m going, and she will try to stop me.

My bare feet carry me away from the courtyard, down the sloping hill and into the dense forest a few feet away. Thin cotton tangles around my legs, and I pull my dress over my knees before it can trip me. In seconds, I’m surrounded by trees that stand tall, and songbirds weaving their high, sweet songs into the sky.

As I run, the stories Shay told me when I was too afraid to climb out from beneath the bed fill my head.

“The Clayfells aren’t the biggest wolf pack, but we’re one of the fiercest. We have a bloody history, which is why the courtyard is at the very center and we planted trees all around to protect the heart of the pack. There are some wolves you won’t ever meet, because they prefer to stay alone deep in the forest. But most of us live in the courtyard. You’ll meet some of them when we have our twice-weekly pack gathering.”

The desperate need to ask him if he was the fiercest wolf in one of the fiercest packs became all I could think about. As I hid under the bed, I thought of nothing else.

When he brought me trays loaded with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the question flavored every bite. It was the first thing I thought about when I woke, and the last before I closed my eyes to sleep.

The man comes out of nowhere.

I’m running so fast that I crash into his chest.

His strong, calloused hands grip me by the top of my arms and stop me from bouncing off him and onto the ground. But I’m not grateful. When I look into his eyes, I wish I had fallen.

“Lexa.” My name rolls off his tongue. He doesn’t say it the way Shay does.

He says it like a threat.

I wriggle to get free.

His eyes, just like all the rest of the pack's, dip to my chest, and a smile creeps across his face. “Where’s your notepad?”

I wriggle harder, but his hands tighten around my arms.

“Did you drop it?” His gaze darts behind me. Not as if he’s looking to see if I dropped it on the way—more like he’s checking to see if I’m alone.

Dread pools in my belly.

“That’s okay. I’m sure we can find other ways to get to know each other a little better.” As he talks, he backs up into the forest, dragging me with him.

He isn’t one of the wolves Shay told me lives alone, because I’ve seen him in the courtyard. He was one of the reasons I stay in my room.

He presses my back against a tree, and his brown eyes settle on my lips. That’s when I understand how much trouble I’m in.

I could scream and Shay would come running.

But he would take me back, and because I stayed, his pack would die. So I don’t scream. I struggle to get free.

“Now, now, Lexa.” The shifter with the sly smile and the brown hair dusted with gray steps closer, all but pinning me against the tree. “Just relax. I promise you’ll like it.”

I kick out at him. But as if he plucked the thought from my head the second before I moved, he blocks my attack. “That wasn’t very nice, Lexa,” he says, a smile in his voice.

Tree bark scratches my back as I fight.

His slap jerks my head to the side, and the unexpected flare of pain makes me cry out. A second later, a splash of hot tears hits my cheeks.

As they fall, he grips my wrists with both hands and forces them over my head. I’m trapped. The only one who knows where I am is Ana, and she’s a human woman. Even if she found me now, there would be nothing she could do.

His head lowers and I struggle to get free, but his hips pin me to the tree. “Now, settle down,” he murmurs, his lips a breath away from touching mine.

With no way to fight or even turn away from the kiss, I slam my eyes shut so at least I don’t have to see.

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