Unwanted Mate (The Alpha Shifter Collection)

“If you tried, they would’ve hurt you,” he said.

“I don’t know for sure, but seeing as they didn’t need a reason to hurt me, I figured it was better to try to protect myself.”

“I get it.”

He ate some more breakfast.

“Do you know anything about your parents?” she asked.

“Not a damn thing. The foster homes didn’t either. It was like I appeared out of nowhere, and they didn’t have a clue what to do with me.”

“Did you ever want to go looking?” she asked.

“No, I didn’t. They meant nothing to me, and look at me now. I don’t need them. What about you? Do you need answers?”

“None,” Sofia said. “I wanted to get out of the pack for so long. Start my own life and not be at their mercy ever again. I finally got my wish, and I’m not going to waste it by looking for two people who didn’t want me. It’s not going to happen.”

He saw the sadness in her eyes. “What is it?”

“I just … sometimes I had to wonder. I must have been a bad person for them to leave me like that. What could I have ever done to them for them to turn their backs on me?” she asked.

“It wasn’t you,” he said.

“No, it was probably my freaky ability. They were way too scared.” She shook her head and blew out a breath. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I doubt it was your ability either, and it’s not freaky. It’s powerful.”

“Oh, please, as if that is powerful. I feel the pain, Caspian. That’s not power.”

“You feel the pain, but it heals. Every single part of you heals. It makes you a very strong alpha female, Sofia, and that can scare a whole load of people, including alpha men.”

Chapter Seven

A strong alpha female.

The words rolled around Sofia’s head as she tried to understand them. It seemed nearly impossible to think of herself as strong. Why would she? All her life she’d been held down in some way. Forced to live a life in fear. Wondering when the next bout of punishment would arrive and if she’d be able to withstand whatever they threw her way.

She stared up at the night sky, feeling the warmth within her core, alerting her to the fact she was close to what Caspian had told her.

Mating heat.

She’d never experienced it before. There was no doubt in her mind that Caspian told the truth, but even as she knew it, she couldn’t help but still deny it. After living her life for so long without anyone, always being hurt and never being able to trust, it was hard for her to start now.

Wrapping her arms around her legs, she pulled her knees up. She wasn’t quite able to put her chin on top of her knees, but she sat, calm.

She listened to the night, the animals running through the forest. The slight whistle of the wind. Even the pack in the cabins not too far from her. They were asleep, but she heard them, and they comforted her to know they were close.

There was no way anyone from her pack could get to her. She was safe.

“You shouldn’t be awake,” Caspian said.

Sofia turned to see the man who’d set her free walking naked toward her. His cock was erect, and she didn’t know what was wrong with her as she stared at it.

A hunger filled her at the sight. Her mouth watered for a taste of him, and she felt the heat swirling in her core. Her body went from zero to on fire just at the sight of him alone.

Caspian paused, and she watched as he inhaled the air. “Babe, there is only so much a man can do here. This isn’t fair.”

She stood up and stepped toward him. The wolf inside her wanted to be touched.

With every step she took, she noticed the sway of her hips, and the truth was, she didn’t care. All that mattered to her at that single moment was for those hands to be on her body, touching her. She needed him so badly.

“Sofia?”

Her name came out in almost a growl as if he couldn’t quite contain himself, and she didn’t want him to. He was supposed to be driven crazy by her, just as the scent of him alone was highlighting to her how much she needed him.

Pressing her body against his, she couldn’t help but gasp. The hard points of her breasts rubbed against his chest, and Caspian suddenly grabbed the back of her neck, smashing their bodies together, almost crushing them, and then his mouth was on hers.

She moaned his name as he deepened the kiss. Each touch and stroke engulfed her.

His other hand stroked down the curve of her back, going toward her ass. He grabbed the cheek roughly, almost too tight, but it felt so good, she didn’t want him to stop.