Page 71 of Step Alpha

“Good. I expect to hear she’s being treated with respect.”

With that, I walk out of the lockers, my wolf already frisky to get in that sun-soaked Jeep. It will be a veritable hot box of Rayne’s scent.

And yes, her scent is unlocking new notes every single day. Notes that make my pulse race and my dick get hard.

I cannot fucking wait until she learns to shift.

I hop in the Jeep and arrange my face into a glower. “Did he touch you?”

Rayne ignores me, looking straight ahead and shaking her head with exasperation. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

I grin and start up the Jeep. “He’d better not have.”

“Wilde. I told you. Not a problem. Okay? Chill out.”

I don’t know why, but I absolutely love her reassurances. That she thinks I deserve them. We both know I don’t. I have absolutely no right to lay claim to Rayne, but of course, I have. And now she’s responding as if she accepts that claim. So I’m reveling in the win.

We drive home to find my dad’s SUV in the garage.

“Oh,” Rayne says as if she’s as disappointed as I am that they’re back.

“Yeah.” We walk in through the side door. “The sheets still need to go in the dryer,” I murmur because obviously, it would look weird if I took care of them.

“‘Kay,” she murmurs.

I touch her back lightly as we part. One last secret message about what we shared. That we forged and became something clandestine and new. Something just between the two of us. Justforthe two of us.

But, of course, the secret shared pleasure can’t last.

“What in the fuck did you do to your Jeep?” my dad bellows from the living room.

Rayne flashes me a horrified look.

I shake my head at her and shoo her away to her room. I told her I’d take the fall for it, and I will.

“I’m taking care of it,” I say in a bored voice as I walk to the living room to greet my dad. “Greg will help me repair it at no cost.”

“What did you do?”

“I was texting and driving. I hit the mailbox. I will fix that, too. Tonight.” I’m kicking myself for not fixing it yesterday. My mistake, for sure.

My dad looks like his head is going to spin around and pop off. He narrows his eyes at me. “You–” He waves his hands in the air. “You hit the mailbox? How fast were you going to do that kind of damage?”

I nod. “Probably too fast.”

“You think?”

I keep my throat exposed in a sign of wolf submission.

“Were drugs and alcohol involved?”

“No, sir.”

“Then why were you backing out that fast?”

Lying to a shifter is tricky business. If anything in your scent changes, if there's any sign of fear, they will detect it. So I go with what's closest to the truth. The reason Rayne was backing out so quickly.

“I was pissed off.”

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