Page 10 of The Alpha's Silent Mate

Next door?

He blinks and steps away, his hands falling away from my hips.

Since it looks like he’s hiding something from me, I turn my questioning look to Ana. She gazes back at me without expression, so I cross over to the pad and paper I left on my bed and write my question down: What’s next door?

I show her the pad and she snorts with laughter. “Only your mate's bedroom. That’s what.”

His bedroom?

My eyes find Shay, who gazes back at me with an inscrutable look on his face. “Yes, my room is next door.”

Despite all the things I could think of, my first thought goes to my dreams.

Sometimes I would wake with my hand between my thighs and a vivid image of Shay in my head. If I could smell my arousal in the air, so would the shifter next door.

He would know. Shaydoesknow.

His eyes are completely blank, but I know he’s thinking about it.

“Lexa?” Ana murmurs.

I stare at the floor, willing it to open up and swallow me whole.

“Ana, wait outside for a second.” The playful tone in his voice is gone. Now he sounds like the alpha he is—strong, confident, assured.

The soft tread of footsteps toward the door and the quiet snick announces her departure. That’s when I know it’s just us now. Me and Shay.

His steps are silent, but I feel his approach the moment before his fingers close around my chin and lift my head. “Lexa?”

I try not to meet his eyes, but his grip doesn’t let me look away.

After a moment, he sighs. “You never need to hide your embarrassment from me, pup.”

I frown at him and mouth the words.I’m no pup.

A gentle smile curves his lips. “I know. Sometimes it just slips out. I look into those big, beautiful violet eyes, and I remember how small you looked when I found you.”

At the memory of where he found me, and how, I jerk my head away, breaking free of his grip.

He doesn’t try to hold on to me when I take a few steps away, my arms wrapped around my middle, and my eyes on the cloth bag Ana left on my bed.

In it will be another beautiful dress that will fit as if someone had made it for me. A dress that Shay is responsible for, because I can’t imagine anyone would care as much as he’s shown he cares about me.

But no matter how pretty the clothes he gives me, or how welcoming everyone is being—has been—the guilt is always there, living in my heart. I killed my last pack, and one day, I might still kill this one.

“Tomorrow. How about we spend the day together?”

I turn to him with a raised eyebrow, doing nothing to hide my disbelief. Shay has more responsibilities than anyone else in the pack, and endless meetings that fill up his day. He sees me in between them, but we’ve never spent the day together. He’s too busy for that.

“I’ll make time. We’ll go to the lake.”

Lake?

The word has my ears pricking.

I haven’t swum in… too long. Far too long, but I miss the water. Sometimes Dad would take me when he wasn’t so busy. Not for an entire day, but for a couple of hours, we would swim in a nearby stream and he wouldn’t be alpha anymore. He would just be Dad.

“You like that idea?” Shay asks, a pleased look in his eyes as if he already knows the answer.

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