The Alpha's Rebel

Chapter 7

Thay and I are laying in his bed, our naked bodies pressed up against one another. I smile and snuggle my face into his neck, his scent catching in my nose. He smelt like the forest in the dead of winter. It was my favorite scent. It had been for a long time.

And then I begin to wonder what Maddox would smell like. With my eyes closed and my mind being lost in the moment, I don't realize I'm even doing it until Thay shifts beside me. My eyes fly open, and my body tenses up. "Woah, Harp, you good?" Thay asks, his voice still husky from the events of the last hour.

It takes me a second to process what he asked me, and then I trip over my answer. "Um, yeah, fine." A memory comes back from last night, and I'm honestly surprised I remember it. I bring it up now as a way to cover up what just happened. I am not telling Thay that I was thinking about another man while I'm laying naked beside him. I hate myself for it.

"What would we do if you met your mate?" I ask him, refusing to look in his eyes. This is one of the rare times when I have no clue what his answer will be. I know Thay better than anyone, but this is something that's unique to every individual, and there's no way to no what they want until they talk about it.

Thay sighs at my question, and he slips his arm out form under me so he can sit up. He leans back against the headboard, closing his eyes. I sit up too, holding the sheets up to cover my breasts. I lean back with him, waiting patiently for him to respond.

"I don't know," he finally answers.

I'm not gonna lie; my heart drops a little. A small part of had hoped that he would choose to stay with me. In my perfect reality, Thay and I would both reject our mates and be together. He knows me better than I know myself sometimes, and he's the only one who's been able to bring me back down to earth when my sight is clouded with anger. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I wish that mates weren't a thing. We should be able to choose who we spend the rest of our lives with.

I try to keep my breathing normal as the silence consumes us, filling every corner of the room. Neither of us knows what to say, but we both know there's more that needs to be said.

"Harp," he says quietly, reaching for my hand. I let him grab it, but I don't look at him. I feel vulnerable right now, because there's a small part of me that's terrified of losing him. I don't want to lose Thay, but if he wants to be with his mate when she comes along, I can't stop him.

"Harp, look at me," he says. I shake my head, biting my lip to keep my face void of any emotion. I want to know exactly how he's feeling, and I don't want him to take pity on me if he see's me upset. "Harper." I still don't look at him. I can't look at him. If I do, I'll cry.

When Thay realizes that I'm not going to look, he shifts closer to me and pulls me into his lap. The sheets fall from my body, but I don't try to cover up again. I stare at Thay's stomach to avoid looking at his face, but his hands have other plans. He firmly grabs either side of my face and forces me to look up.

"Harper, I don't know what the future holds. All I know is right now, I love you. If I meet my mate, I don't know what I'm going to do, because I love you so much but I don't know what's going to happen when I meet her. We'll figure it out when and if it happens."

I look into his eyes the entire time, and I can't help the smile that grows on my face when he says he loves me. He replicates my smile, leaning forward and pressing his lips to mine. I smirk and wrap my arms around his neck, pushing my breasts against his chest. He releases me face and presses his hands on my lower back, pulling me closer to him.

We jump apart at the sound of someone pounding on the front door. "Who in the hell. . ." I start, but I trail off when his scent fills my nose. "The motherfucker. Why won't he leave me the fuck alone!" I growl aggressively. I crawl out of bed and find Thay's t-shirt by the doorway, pulling it over my head as I open the door and heading out into the hall. Thay stays in bed, not having to ask me who it is.

I yank open the front door. "Are you stalking me?" I snarl at Maddox, running a hand through my tangled hair. For the first time since meeting him last night, the look on his face is deadly. His eyes are pitch black, full of fury. His eyes take in Thay's black t-shirt and my bare legs, and then he meets my eyes. If he thinks his little look is intimidating, he's got another thing coming.

"You slept with another man," he says in a low voice. I meet his look with one of my own, glowering at him with a hatred so fierce I don't even want to know what I look like right now.

"Yeah, I made love to my boyfriend. So?" I respond, choosing those words specifically because I know they'll piss him off even more. I raise an eyebrow in satisfaction when I see him tremble, trying to force down the wolf in him. I lean my shoulder against the open door, not missing him glance at my bare legs again.

"Why are you being like this?" His words come out choked, half way between a human's voice and a growl. I let myself show my amusement at his struggle to control himself, because I love pushing people's buttons. Especially people who I hate. Him being my mate is just the cherry on top. "Why. . .are you acting like this?"

"Like what?" I ask innocently.

"Like we're not mated," he growls. "Why are you ignoring the bond, Harper?"

I feel goosebumps creep onto my skin when he says my name. The hair on the back of my neck stands up and a shiver goes through my body. I try to hide it, not wanting him to see how much it effects me when he says my name. I don't want to be this affected by something so simple, but my body is betraying me. The raise of his eyebrow is enough to tell me that he saw what it did to me.

I should have never told him my name.

I huff and roll my eyes, acting like the last five seconds didn't happen. "I told you last night and I'll tell you again. I don't want a mate. Period. End of story. Goodbye." I move so I can close the door, but he throws a hand out with lightning speed to stop the door from closing.

"Enough!" he booms. His voice echos in the apartment hallway, and I set my eyes on him in a furious glare.

"Stop trying to control me," I hiss in a whisper.

I've snapped.

"You don't get to walk in here and act like you own me. Like I'm some prized possession you get to sport around on your shoulder. I get to choose the person I want to be with, and that person is not you. I'm obviously not what you expected, but I'm not going to apologize. Move on and get over it."

I successfully slam the door this time, and I lock it for good measure. I rest my forehead against the door, suddenly breathing heavily. It feels like my body just got pumped by a shot of adrenaline. My heart is racing in my chest, and it takes a while for me to slow it down. I clench my fists at my sides, feeling my nails dig in to the soft tissue of my palms.

As I stand there and wait for myself to cool down, I can sense Maddox on the other side. His breathing is ragged at first, just like mine is coming out in pants. I picture him in the same position as me; forehead against the door, eyes closed, fists clenched. Our breathing seems to return to normal at the same rate, becoming softer and quieter with each passing minute.

There's a small part deep inside of me that want's to open the door and see what happens. See what would happen if I gave into the urges slowly creeping up on me. Let myself feel for him what I was destined to feel. I remain frozen, not letting my body betray me this time.

I only go back to the bedroom after I hear him walk away.