Page 101 of Alpha Mates

Aiden’s focus settles heavily on me, and I hate it, even more so when his hand slides over mine. Its warmth is perfect.

“Julian,” he whispers, leaning closer. “Julian, look at me.” I don’t want to. Goddess knows I don’t want to, but—

“Please.”

I lift my head.

He smiles at me when our eyes meet and that alone already eases the pressure on my chest as he shifts closer.

“Listen, I’m only admitting it this once, so you better savour it,” he whispers as he threads our fingers together. “You are the strongest wolf I know, Julian,” he grumbles, and I can’t help but laugh.

“I’m serious. If we’re talking strength, nobody in my pack or yours touches you. Your wolf puts us all to shame, and on top of that, that brain of yours makes you unstoppable. Your pack is a fucking machine because of you, and I know for a fact you’re keeping us a month ahead of where we need to be with our merge.”

He isn’t wrong.

“You are an amazing alpha, Julian,” he finishes, with the utmost earnestness. “What we do together doesn’t change that or lessen it in any way.”

“But alphas don’t submit,” I remind him, knowing he’d heard the words growing up just as much as I had. “We don’t, and I-I—” I swallow around the lump in my throat before I whisper, “I submitted to you, Aiden. That day, I let you mount me … I laid myselfbeneathyou, and it’s not the first time I’ve submitted like that. I always give in to you, even on our first day.”

One could blame it on the bond or the mate awareness that had plagued us back then. But I know the truth. When Aiden pinned me against the wall that first morning after our coronation, I’d chosen not to free myself becauseI liked how it felt. And that hasn’t changed all these weeks later.

“What kind of alpha submits to another wolf, Aiden?” I mumble as I drop my gaze.

“Jewels,” Aiden whispers sadly as if my words hurt him, but they’re the truth, and we both know it. “Julian,” he tries again, releasing my hands to cradle my face. “Maybe an alpha doesn’t submit to another wolf,” he says, dipping closer when I try to look away, “but a mate can.”

My heart stutters while the rest of me goes still.

“Mates give their all to their other halves,” he continues softly, choosing each word with care. “They give whatever they can, whenever they can. And if that’s the case, then there’s no shame in a wolf submitting to their mate, is there?”

No, there isn’t. But as much as I want to cling to that reasoning, we aren’t any ordinary pair of mates.

“We’re alphas first, Aiden.”

“No, we’re mates first,” he corrects, gaze hardening as he dares me to say otherwise again. “Our packs suffer if we’re not right with each other. So, we’re mates first. And last I checked, we’re the ones mated. That means it’s you and me in this—nobody else.” His eyes dart between mine. “So, if you like what we do as much as I do, then it doesn’t matter. It’s nobody’s business but ours.”

“But—” I start, groaning when I can’t think of a rebuttal. “You know it’s not that simple.”

“Why can’t it be?” he asks, tone serious but hopeful. “Why can’t it be as simple as you and I fitting together the way we’re meant to?”

I shrug, helpless to answer when I want so desperately for those words to be true.

“Did you like it?” he asks, his thumbs sliding gently over my cheeks. My eyes shift between his as heat fills my chest, and I nod.

“I liked it.”

“Then that’s all that matters,” he murmurs before his lips brush mine. My heart takes off and struggles to settle as Aiden pulls back. “Nobody else matters, Jewels.” He kisses me again, and I can’t stop my whimper. I feel his smile and taste it too. Another kiss. “Nobody.”

“… nobody else matters,” I echo against his soft lips before I slot ours together, searching for more. “Aiden,” I warn when he draws back, but he ignores me.

He tortures me with sweet, fleeting kisses that make my toes curl in my shoes.

“It’s just me and you, Jewels,” he promises, lips claiming mine betweenour rushed breaths. “You and me.”

Groaning, I scramble closer, wanting to feel his body against mine, but the armrest digging into my stomach makes sure I get no further. I dig my fingers into his hair and drag him to me instead. Aiden moans as we fall into a deep, unrelenting kiss, as if we’ve done this for a lifetime.

It’s desperate and unwavering, and it coaxes needful arousal to chase its tail.

“Can we—” I start only to suck in a needed breath while Aiden moves his lips down my jaw, making me moan, “—go home. I want to—” He scrapes his teeth against my skin, and my eyes cross. “I want to go home.”