Unwanted Mate (The Alpha Shifter Collection)

“You’re so hard,” she said.

“It’s all for you.”

She chuckled. “I’ve never had anything all for me.”

Sofia paused and stared down at him, the arousal seeming to stop for the merest second as she got her bearings. She pulled herself away from him and Caspian stood.

“Sofia?”

She shook her head. “No. No. This isn’t happening.” She wanted to cover all her senses, to block everything out to try to focus, but that didn’t work. Nothing worked.

Caspian touched her back. His palm set her on fire, and she jerked back.

The pack was right. She was going mad.

Without another look at him, she charged out of her apartment, not caring where she was going. She had to break free. To find peace.

Her name pierced her mind, but she ignored Caspian’s call.

Running out of the apartment building into the busy street, she apologized to whomever she hit and realized this was a mistake as well. Men seemed to look at her as if they wanted to eat her up.

Taking off at a run, she ignored the calls of her name and kept on running.

She didn’t know how long it took her to clear the city, but all too soon, night had fallen. Sweat covered her brow, but the feelings inside her didn’t fade.

Sofia came to a sudden stop when she realized she had found some kind of forest. The smells were a little fake, like people had interfered with the natural habitat.

Closing her eyes, she tilted her head up to the sky and took several deep breaths.

This wasn’t fair. She lived through all that pain and sadness, only to die from going mad. Life had a way of kicking people when they were down, and this, this seemed way too cruel to her.

“Are you done running?” Caspian asked.

She whirled around to see the object of her troubles. “You need to leave me alone.”

“Why? Because you think you’re going crazy?”

“You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

“Honey, I’ve been alone all of my life. I didn’t break away from any pack. I’ve not been kicked out. I don’t bear the unwanted scar. I have been alone, and the human world is my world. I’ve never gone mad. I haven’t gone on a killing spree.”

“You have a pack, asshole,” she said. “They keep you grounded.”

“I met my first wolf at twenty-one, and his pack was trying to kill him, hiding the body. I killed them for what they were about to do. We’ve been together ever since, and like you, he had a pack that treated him like a punching bag. Guess what, he didn’t heal quite so fast. To them, he was defective. I took him in. One by one, I’ve seemed to pick up an entire pack of unwanted men and women. I was raised in the human foster care system, Sofia. I went through my first turning alone. I was alone until I was twenty-one years old. I’ve heard all of the stories about me. Every single one of them is a lie. Only I know the truth, and I’m telling you it now.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why would they lie?”

“Because some packs need members to be strong, and if wolves knew the truth, they would have escaped long ago.”

“What’s happening to me?” she asked.

****

Caspian hated being the voice of fucking reason.

He was considered the alpha of the pack, but he had fought it every single step of the way because he hadn’t wanted the title. All he’d wanted to do was party and live life to the fullest.

He was a fucking wolf.

Powerless to no one.

He controlled his own life.

Then he started to find the unwanted. After Sean, it was like a catalyst for people. So many unwanted wolves.

Rumors about him began to flood the wolf community. He heard the tales from wolves he picked up along the way.

He couldn’t seem to help but want the dumped. That was what it felt like, anyway.

Staring at Sofia right now, he saw her hair was wild, her face flushed. The smells coming from her body were intoxicating.

He wanted to go and rub his nose all over her body, but he was a good boy. He held himself back.

At the apartment, he’d been ready to be fucked. He had no problems with a woman taking control, and if Sofia wanted to use him, then his body was for her. His whole life was in her hands.

This was the mating heat, the bond that bound them together. There was no getting away from it.

Seeing the tears in her eyes, he closed the distance between them and pulled her against him.

“You’re not going mad, Sofia. I promise you.”

“If this is the mating heat, and you’re my mate, why don’t I feel it?” She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he felt her sob.

Her body seemed to give way, and he held her as tightly as he could. He hated hearing her cry. The sounds coming from her lips nearly destroyed him.