Page 31 of Alpha's Arranged Mate

Though she was pissed at him, she still had to admit as she stood there that he was right. She had to make this work, not just for herself, but for the entire pack; if that meant figuring out exactly where she stood with Braxton, then so be it.

Turning on her heels, she started back the way she came, headed straight for his room.

She was forced to bite back a scream as someone suddenly slipped from an alcove close by and grabbed hold of her. They clamped their hand down just in time to contain the whimper that escaped her lips, and Lottie blinked up in astonishment at Braxton's clear, affectionate gaze.

"What the hell?" She demanded, shoving him away roughly. Though his closeness sent heat sizzling throughout her, she was still too angry with him to let him near.

"Is he right?" Braxton asked, clearly ignoring her anger. "Was he right that our pack rivalry is why you've been keeping me at arm's length?"

Lottie's cheeks heated with embarrassment. "He never actually said that."

"I can read between the lines, Lottie. Have you been turning away from me because…"

She couldn't bear for him to finish the sentence. To hear it from his lips would be all too painful. To hear just how dumb she had been might well tip her over the edge.

"I have to do what is right for my pack," Lottie said, straightening up and gritting her teeth. "I have to marry you, no matter how I may or may not feel about you."

Silence reigned between them for several moments before he drew closer and whispered, “How do you feel about me?”

The seductive tone of his voice sent a warm tingle down Lottie’s spine. Looking into his eyes, she was sure he had seen something flash in hers. The way his lips twitched upwards in a half-smile told her so.

“You can tell me,” he urged her when she didn’t speak.

“There is nothing to tell,” she protested, shaking her head. Even as she said the words, she found she couldn’t look him in the eye, and so she looked down at his chest instead. As soon as she had done so, she realized her mistake.

Everything from the broadness of his chest to the arch of his muscular pecks peeking out from the neckline of his t-shirt made her want him. Just the scent of him, though tinged with brimstone, was intoxicating to her senses.

“Lot, it doesn’t have to be like this,” he objected, and just hearing him name her so familiarly made her wince. She didn’t like the way it made her heart flutter. She had been trying so hard to keep her distance, that now she truly had no idea what it was that she felt.

“Don’t call me that!” she hissed, turning away from him, unable to bear how close he was.

Before she could walk away, Braxton grabbed hold of her wrist and yanked her back around to face him. Grabbing hold of her face in both his hands, he forced her to look him in the eye as he snarled, “Tell me how you really feel.”

The seductive, dominant tone of his voice made her quiver deep within, and she felt herself trembling in his hands. Somehow, she thought she might collapse if he let her go, and so she instinctively reached out to grab his wrists in order to hold him there.

“I…I have been so conflicted all this time,” she admitted, the words threatening to choke her. “I don’t know exactly how I feel.”

“Then tell me,” he urged her again, this time his voice softer, his thumbs brushing her cheeks delicately.

Lottie blinked, and when she looked into his handsome face once more, she knew that there was no way she could continue to deny it to anyone, especially herself.

Closing her eyes again, scared of how he might react to her words, she admitted, “I…I fell for you right from the very first time we spoke. I did not allow myself to realize it at first, but I do now. And every time I see you, it’s like a knife in my gut, because I know you have just been using me this entire time, first to escape and now to protect yourself and your pack. And what’s worse, my pack is using me now, too, for the alliance.”

As she spoke, she felt Braxton’s grip tightening on her face, and her heart raced harder and harder until she thought it might burst.

When she finally finished speaking and tried to contain her trembling, she opened her eyes again to look at him. The sadness in his eyes was almost too painful to behold, and it took everything she had not to close her own again.

Out of the corner of her eye she watched his Adam’s apple bounce. He seemed to consider something carefully before speaking. “You are not the only one being used. I am also.”

At that, Lottie snatched herself away, unable to believe what she was hearing. “You don’t have to be! You are Alpha. Nobody can force an alpha to do anything.”

Braxton looked as though he was about to speak. Then his mouth closed firmly, and his lips pursed into a thin line.

“Alphas can do as they please,” Lottie continued, whispering the words under her breath to reassure herself of the fact as much as to tell him.

“If that is the case, then there is something I wish to do,” Braxton announced, and before Lottie could even think to ask what he meant, he had dropped down onto one knee before her.

“Braxton, what are you—”

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