Page 103 of The Denver Alpha

She doesn’t come back with a quick retort, doesn’t press me. She doesn’t say anything. Instead, she just nods, her throat bobbing with a hard swallow.

It’s so unlike her that I’m immediately on guard, taking a step back to study her face and trying to discern whether something’s wrong.

“What’s on your mind, babe?” I ask, tilting my head in question.

Jules purses her lips before giving a little shake of her own head and looking away.

She’s been somewhat distant since we went to bed last night.Off. I can tell something’s eating at her, but she hasn’t let on as to what it is, to the point where I began to wonder if it was all in my head. But the resounding quiet in response to my question only further cements that something’s up.

“It isn’t easy, taking a life,” I mumble, hazarding a guess at what’s got her acting strange. “Especially the first time you have to do it. I remember when I…”

“Why haven’t you marked me yet?” Juliet interrupts, snapping her gaze back up to mine.

My jaw goes slack. That’s definitely not what I was expecting, and the question catches me off guard as I stumble for a response.

“You… said you weren’t ready.”

Juliet rolls her eyes, waving a hand dismissively. “That was right when we made up. We both know things are different now. Or at least I thought they were. We’ve slept together a lot of times since then, and you haven’t eventried.”

“I didn’t want to rush you…”

“But you never had the urge?” she asks, interrupting me again before I can finish.

“Of course I did,” I admit. “But I shoved it back.”

“Why?” Juliet takes a confrontational step closer, challenge blazing in her eyes. “Why haven’t you marked me?”

Fuck.

“Because I had this whole fucking thing planned, Juliet,” I groan, scrubbing a hand over my face.

She falls back a step, blinking. “Whatthing?”

“Just…” I heave a sigh, reaching out to take her hand. “Come on.”

She eyes me suspiciously as I tug her out of the living room, leading her down the hall, to the foyer. Down the stairs to the parking garage. She’s still giving me that look when we get into the Camaro and I fire up the engine, pulling out of the garage and onto the street.

Neither of us say a word, and the tension between us grows as the silence stretches on. This wasn’t exactly how I pictured this night going, but then again, nothing’s as I expect it to be when it comes to Juliet. She’s a damn wildcard.

“Where are we going?” she asks again as we drive through the gate to leave the pack’s compound, finally breaking the silence.

“You’ll see,” I say cryptically. She frowns as I slide her a glance, and I can’t help but laugh. “Jesus, woman, you make it hard to do something nice for you,” I tease. “Just sit back and enjoy the drive. You’ll see when we get there.”

She huffs out a sigh, folding her arms over her chest like a petulant child.

If only she knew the night I had in store for her.

Just thinking about it has a grin tugging at my lips- how we’ll laugh about this when we look back on it. I can’t wait to tease her about this for the rest of our lives.

“You’re a stubborn little brat, you know that?” I mutter, side-eyeing her.

“And you’re an arrogant prick,” she fires back, refusing to turn my way as she glares daggers into the windshield. “Still love you, though.”

My smile grows as I slide a hand over the console, finding hers and weaving my fingers between her own. “Love you too, babe.”

She flickers a glance my way, the ghost of a smile on her lips.

I lift her hand to press a kiss to the back of it, comfortable in the silence as I continue to drive to our destination.

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