Taking Down the Alpha

16 Unsettling Deviation

The door opened, and he towered over me, chocolate brown eyes boring into mine. Even with a black t-shirt on and red shorts, it was glaringly obvious he was practically build of muscle, and he looked so powerful my ridiculous power lusting wolf danced in my head like this crazy situation was a purely good thing rather than a unsettling deviation from my intricate plans.

He looked angry, his jaw clenched, but also inquisitive. I couldn't tell if he thought that my presence before him was a good thing or not. Heart pounding, my mind went completely blank, so I just reverted back to the plan. That was why I made plans, after all. "Sorry to bother you, Mr... Troublemaker, and congratulations on your win. I came here with a proposition, I'm currently looking for a challenger, and my associates and I believe you would be a great fit."

His eyebrow quirked up. How could an eyebrow quirking up be so attractive? And why was I noticing, when that wasn't at all what I was here for?

The older man growled. "You said you believed you were his mate, and that—"

I tore my eyes away from the fighter before me with the greatest difficulty for just long enough to glance at my vexed guide and see him throw his hands up in pure irritation. "Actually that was my friend who said that, and she threw me under the bus back there. But that doesn't change the fact that I was hoping—"

The older man cut me off, and put his hand on my arm. His voice was brisk and businesslike. "I'll get her out of here now, Al."

The amazing smelling specimen finally spoke again, and this time his voice was not irritated or brisk, instead it was the sound of that first cup of coffee pouring in the morning except somehow even more satisfying. "No need, Monroe. I'll keep this one."

"Wha—?"

Wrapping one arm around my waist while the other dislodged the older man's grasp on me, he pulled me into his room almost faster than my mind could comprehend what was happening or protest his action. The vexed grey haired man's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as the door was slammed in his face.

The room smelled better than the hall, absolutely saturated in his appealing male scent. He looked even bigger now that we were in a much smaller room, and a flicker of trepidation made its way through my mind fog. I was suddenly horribly aware about how mismatched I was against him, and he did just abruptly drag me in here. It hadn't even occurred to me to resist, but would I have been able to if I had wanted to. I met those mesmerizing eyes. "I don't know what you're planning—"

"I don't know what you're planning, either. I don't know about this challenge you're referring to. But I do know one thing. You're my mate." He grabbed my hand, his skin burning against mine. My wolf, ever unhelpful as she was prone to be, yipped excitedly in my mind. Two seconds into meeting him and she was already pathetically attached and submissive. I pulled my hand back, even though I didn't want to, and straightened my glasses.

"Well, yes, I suppose that is true. But that's not why I'm here."

He smiled, and it reminded me of his anticipation before his fight. "That's exactly why you're here. If you were anyone else, I would have let my coach remove you just now. You're not the first girl who's come to see me claiming mateship."

"But I'm not here for the reasons he implied, it's business, you know."

"Normally, if it's business about a fight, you should have gone through my promoter."

Okay, I could do this. Navigating bureaucracies was my speciality. "Well, then maybe I should leave and make use of the proper..." I trailed off as he pulled me towards him by my hand until there was barely a body width between us. I didn't try to pull it away again, not because I couldn't since he wasn't holding me that hard, but because I had no will to.