Blood

Chapter Two: It's not a choice

When I wake up in the morning, my body is stiff and aching from the rocky ground. Reluctantly, I uncurl myself and slip out of the cave. I paddle to the opposite side of the lake and as I'm wading out of the water I am nailed by the potent smell of my mate. He'd obviously been all around the lake, but not ventured into it. Idiot.

I take off at a sprint back towards the packhouse, steeling myself for the inevitable results of my actions. The Alpha would no doubt yell at me, as would Leon. Then there's my mate, it's not like I can avoid him forever. My inner wolf is crying at me for leaving him, even if temporarily.

As soon as I'm in the house, I book it towards my room, still in as my wolf. I'd forgotten to find my discarded dress from last night. Luckily, this house was both built and decorated for us to run through it. It's not actually as uncommon as one might hope it would be.

As I turn a corner I catch sight of a very angry, huge, black wolf growling at me from the other end of the hallway. Shit. Zev's wolf is huge, much larger than our alpha's. I push my speed until it doubles and within a few seconds, I'm safely inside my room. I quickly shift and then lock myself in the bathroom.

I'm expecting to hear him break into my room, but I don't. His harsh growling remains just beyond my bedroom door though. Taking a gamble, I jump through the quickest shower I'd ever taken. At most a minute long. Then I dry my off, throwing my damp hair up into a rushed bun.

I quickly dress myself keeping an eye locked on the door from my closet. I' put on black undergarments, which I regret as I find myself pulling on my favorite loose white crop top. Ignoring the predicament, I pull on black, high waisted, skinny jeans and then walk over to the door. The growling instantly stops. From his breathing, I can tell he's still in a stance ready to pounce on me as soon as I open the door. I glance over to my window, debating my choices.

With a huge sigh, making up my mind, I sit down on the edge of my bed and lean back, looking at my ceiling. Then I call out, "I'm not opening that door until you're in human form, and decent."

I hear a warning growl and then he's gone. Surprising. I thought he wouldn't trust me with my disappearing act last night. As I wait I lay back on my bed and covering my eyes with my arms. This is going to be traumatizing. I hear the door open and look up at him. Damn, he's hot.

He's standing there in only a pair of shorts. He has a well-defined six-pack. Like how do you even get that definition? My eyes trail down and a suspicious amount of his v-line is clearly visible. Seriously don't wear your shorts so low, it's dangerous.

"Mate," he growls at me, his eyes instantly glowing green.

"Reign your wolf in," I scoff.

"You will not reject me," he orders. Using his alpha tone, which obviously doesn't work on me since I'm his mate.

"You think I'm suicidal?" I deadpan. "You're a fuckin' Alpha, if I tried rejecting you, you'd probably force mate me."

"I would never," he spits out, his body shaking.

I scoff at him again and sit up. Oh, not my best idea. My shirt falls down, not too far but just enough to show off a generous portion of my lacy, black bra. I quickly fix it and look up sheepishly at him. He doesn't seem to have noticed or, if he did, care.

"Wow, what a catch you are," I grumble under my breath, fully aware he could still hear me.

"Why do you deny the mate bond? If anything your wolf should be forcing you," he inquires.

"She's a pushover. Though, she has been whining at me ever since," I reply casually.

He stalks over and shoves his face into my neck. Taking a deep breath before saying, "But you're an Alpha."