The Alpha's Surrogate [The Alpha's #1]

Chapter 32

ALPHA MARCELLUS STORM

Tell me again why we're not at that party. His wolf huffed, not at all happy with having to spend the evening holed up in the office doing some more boring paperwork instead of being down at the baby shower where his mate was. I bet she's wearing something cute too but instead of looking at her, we're just looking at some stupid papers.

Marcellus groaned as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hands up and down his face in frustration.

Stop putting those thoughts in my mind.

You don't need my help with that. You think about our mate just as much as me. His wolf snorted. The only difference is that I'm not afraid to admit it.

I'm not afraid to admit anything.

Yeah, keep denying it because that's definitely healthy.

Marcellus sighed as he squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated with all the grief his wolf had been giving him as of late however, he knew he deserved it.

Despite no part of him wanting to be here right now and every part of him wanting to be down in the den where his mate was currently at, he blocked out his wolf and forced himself to start on tomorrow's set of work as he had already finished todays earlier. Usually, he would use whatever time he had left to go for a run in the forest or to deal with other pack issues but frankly, Marcellus didn't trust himself with his mate roaming about.

While her scent lingered on every surface of the pack house – or that was what it felt like to him as Anastasia Mulberry was all he could think about nowadays – he had proven that he couldn't be trusted. Just thinking of the many times that he had waited outside her room, immensely tempted to knock or lure her out under the pretence of a conversation caused his face to scrunch up into an embarrassed grimace.

A fucking horn dog, that's what you are.

Oh, whatever. You're worse than me and we both know it. Marcellus growled, not at all a fan of the sentiment.

Yes. The only difference is that I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Once again, Marcellus rolled his eyes and ignored the jab that his wolf took at him, forcing himself to rise above the occasion as if he were to respond, they would just end up in another argument.

The longer he stared at his laptop screen, the more he thought about his mate, so when he sensed her on the move, he couldn't help but wonder if he had manifested the movement.

The moment she walked out of the den and began up the stairs into the living room, he was on high alert. As she walked through the living and began down the hallway, getting closer and closer to him, Marcellus couldn't help but hold his breath in a mix of anticipation and hope. While he willed for her to walk past his office and head into her room as he simply didn't trust that he would be able to keep his hands to himself, the other part of him, the dominant part of him, wanting her to drop by his office.

So, when she stilled in front of his office door and remained there for a few moments longer than necessary or was deemed normal, he couldn't help but call out for her, every pore of his body craving her.

"How long do you plan to stay out there, Anastasia?" Marcellus called out to her a loud, booming voice, reaching out to close his laptop to give her his undivided attention, as if she didn't have it already.

When he sensed her fidgeting on her feet, still out in the hallway, Marcellus couldn't help but chuckle. When he called out to her again and she still didn't move, he rose to his feet and took large strides toward the door, pulling it open to reveal the most important and prominent thought on his mind.