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.My heart and soul screamed for it.“You know what,” he said slowly, pulling me close.He was wearing only a pair of tight jeans, and our naked chests came into contact, reminding me of the night before.“Don’t throw this away.”I took a deep breath and mentally reviewed all the reasons why I shouldn’t be doing this.It was so hard for me to think with his scent surrounding me, and I had trouble focusing.“Arden, I—”He interrupted me before I could finish the phrase.“Stay with me, baby.I can give you everything you’d ever want or need.”In that moment, I had no doubt that it was the case.My defenses crumbled, and I’d have undoubtedly surrendered and returned to bed with him had my cell phone not chosen that exact moment to ring.The sound startled me from my haze.Arden released a low curse as I retrieved it from my pocket.The name on the display screen told me my parents were waiting for a progress report on my most recent mission, aka, my visit to Mackenzie’s new home.For a few seconds, I actually stared at the object with loathing.It was so foreign, a relic from a life I didn’t want.I wished I didn’t have to listen to whatever they had to say.I wished I’d thought not to look at the phone in the first place.But I had, and the part of me that was pure hunter couldn’t just ignore it.With a sigh, I took the call.“Well?” my father asked without preamble.“How did it go? Is Mackenzie all right? Why didn’t you call us as we established?”“I was busy,” I said, pulling away from Arden.Somehow, it felt like a betrayal to touch him while I spoke with my dad, although I wasn’t exactly sure who I was betraying, Arden or my parents.“The celebration lasted well into the night.In fact, I only got up a few minutes ago.”“That’s unlike you.” His voice held a silent reprimand, and I bristled.“Anyway, it doesn’t matter.What happened?”“Mack’s pregnant,” I replied bluntly, not even trying to cushion the blow.“He said he’s forgiven us and asked me to visit him often.”“That’s excellent news,” my dad blurted out, and I knew he hadn’t processed the first part of my brief report.My guess was confirmed mere moments later when he asked, “Wait, pregnant? What in the world do you mean?”“He’s half-incubus,” I answered with an irritated sigh.“You know their men have that ability.Anyway, he’s going to give birth to the heir of the incubus royal family, so you’d better get used to the thought.”My outburst of temper didn’t go unnoticed.“Am I keeping you from anything, Rylee?” he asked.“You sound awfully snappish this morning.”“I’m always snappish before I’ve had my coffee,” I answered.At that, he chuckled.In that regard, I was telling the truth, but he didn’t know it wasn’t coffee withdrawal that caused today’s frustration.“How silly of me,” he said.“Of course.I’ll call Mackenzie to congratulate him later.I think I need a couple of hours to process it.In the meantime, when are you coming back?”I threw a gaze toward Arden.He was scanning my face earnestly, his golden eyes threatening to hypnotize me once again.“Today,” I replied, knowing that if I didn’t leave as soon as possible I’d lose my nerve.“I’ll probably just say good-bye to Mack, then leave.I have a lot of work pending.”He said something else, but I really didn’t hear it.The shock and hurt in Arden’s expression crushed me, and I immediately wanted to take those words back, to change my mind, to do things differently.But even as I ended my conversation with my father, I knew things had to be this way.In a different life, Arden might have been my perfect man.I’d have loved to explore our chemistry more and maybe wake up to more coffee and donuts every morning.But I didn’t have that option, and I had to stop clinging to a dream that I could never have.Still, something inside me felt I owed him an explanation.I didn’t know why, but I said, “Please understand.As much as I want to be with you, I can’t.”The pain in his gaze seemed to ease.He brushed his lips over mine and whispered, “Yes, you can, Ry.But I’m patient, baby.I can wait, and I’ll convince you that I’m right.”I quickly broke away from him, for the first time in my life surrendering to cowardice.As I fled the room, his words followed me, haunting my mind.I’ll convince you that I’m right.Was he? I didn’t know anymore, and it scared me.* * * *One week laterRylee.Rylee’s beautiful eyes, the lovely curl of his lips, his soft skin.Rylee, my sweet mate.Oh, how I missed his scent, how I craved his presence, how I…“Alpha? Alpha, did you hear what I said?”I jumped, startled from my reverie.“What? I’m sorry, Mos, what did you say?”Moses and my second beta, Ethan, shared a concerned look.“Alpha, are you sure you’re all right?” Ethan asked softly.I suppressed a wince at his words.To say I hadn’t paid much attention to the pack since my return from the incubi’s party would have been the understatement of the century.Ever since I’d spent that fateful night with Rylee, I could only think about his delicious taste, the way he’d writhed under me as I buried my cock deep inside his body, the…“Alpha?”Crap.I was doing it again.“Sorry,” I said.“I’m distracted.I have a lot of things on my mind.Private things.”“Oh.” Moses arched a brow at me.“This is about that human at the party, isn’t it?”“Mos,” I said warningly, “stay out of it.I can handle my own love life, thank you very much.”“If you say so, Alpha,” Ethan replied, not looking very convinced in the slightest.“So, what reply should we give to the omega?”I just stared at him.Of course, I hadn’t heard a thing they’d been saying.Something about an omega wanting to leave Detroit and come here? Christ, I couldn’t process werewolf politics right now.“Look, how about we leave the files on the omega here and you can take a decision later,” Moses said.“And if I may, Alpha, I’d like to offer you one piece of advice, as a friend.If he’s your mate, seek him out.”I didn’t reply, and they didn’t wait for me to do so.They placed the folders on the table and left my office.I knew I should give the matter my full attention—an omega changing packs was a very serious issue indeed—but I really couldn’t focus on anything else but my mate.Moses was right, of course.I needed to go after Rylee [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]