Page 8 of Alpha's Chosen Mate (Wolf Billionaire #2)

CHAPTER 8

LEILANI

A childish squeal snaps my attention away from the romance novel I’ve been reading for three days. It tumbles onto the bed as I turn, crawling up the wall until I’m awkwardly perched on the headboard, where I can peer out the window.

My heart stalls at the sight of a shirtless Asher surrounded by an army of children who demand his attention. He leans over, and I try not to notice how great his ass looks in those slacks. Predictably, I fail. I’m staring, and I can’t stop. It’s not just his godlike physique or how his sweaty skin glistens in the sunlight; it’s the excited giggle the girl unleashes when Asher lifts her up.

Why aren’t they scared of him? She lifts her hands to his face and slaps his cheeks softly. Asher laughs, cracking a grin so fierce and genuine that my stomach squeezes. Maybe I ate something bad.

His eyes twinkle, and a cleft in the center of his chin I’ve never noticed before dips. Goddess, the bastard is gorgeous. It hits me in the gut, rendering me breathless, speechless, hot, and ill—all at once. That’s the only way to explain the flutters in my stomach and the sudden spike in my temperature.

His lips move, and I strain to hear. They’re too far away for me to easily pick up their conversation, but the wind catches a few stray words and sends them my way. “...said I was your first choice...”

Asher taps her nose. “You are, Ceri!”

“You’re a mated man now! We can’t get married anymore, alpha!” she squeals, pouting and pulling at his silky black hair. His blue eyes shine with mirth as he chuckles, leaning in to whisper something that makes her eyes go wide. She slaps her hand over her mouth. “Really? The princess snores?”

I glare. I do not snore. The prick nods and lifts a boy with his free arm. I bet if he wanted to, he could lift a third and juggle all three without breaking a sweat. Asher is a large man, larger than any I’ve met, and also the scariest.

Hottest, you mean , a voice murmurs in my subconscious, startling me.

Shut up, Fio—Wait. Fiona?

She snickers for a moment before falling silent again, but that’s typical. Fiona is usually quiet, unless she’s being nasty. But…I can hear my wolf again. Distant or not, the hollow space in my heart feels less desolate, and something new and lighter pulses in its place.

My gaze returns to the dashing ogre below, and my heart skips a beat as I rest my head on my arms and watch him call each child by name, toss them into the air, and catch them. He lets the smallest one, Matt, trip him. He yelps and falls on the grass. They attack him as one, sitting atop him, giggling and squealing loud enough to wake the entire castle .

The maids walk by, smiling. So do the gardeners and the guards. Every passerby bows, but there’s a fond smile on their faces as they regard this monster of a man who’s done nothing but make my life miserable, and the realization hits me hard.

They love him. The children, the pack, his servants. They all love and respect Alpha Asher. That’s why Enya despises me. While I can’t be entirely sure that they aren’t fucking, there’s something else in her eyes when she looks at him—reverence.

My father does everything for our pack, but I’ve never seen them look to him with such complete adoration, like if he asked, they’d lay their lives at his feet.

They must all be as crazy as he is.

As if he can feel my gaze on him, Asher’s eyes lift to the window, meeting mine. I gasp and shuffle back so quickly that I fall off the headboard. The back of my head hits the bedframe, and I cuss, rubbing the sore spot.

What is wrong with me?

I can’t stop doing it. It’s like an itch I can’t stop scratching. Every morning before dawn, I lift my skirts and climb the headboard, peering through the window just to catch a glimpse of Asher running. My mouth dries and my body betrays me, growing tense with feelings I shouldn’t have while the marks of two men burn on my skin. I feel like I’m losing my mind, but I can’t stop myself from watching him. I wait for him to return every evening and run across the yard again, into the woods .

By the end of the first week, I have his schedule figured out, and by the second, I’m brimming with tension. He knows I watch him run every day—I mean, I have nothing else to do—but he acts like I don’t exist. Like he hasn’t locked me up in his version of a tower, turning me into a helpless damsel waiting for her prince charming to rescue her.

Sighing, I let myself fall back against the bed and clutch a pillow to my chest, my pile of books completely forgotten in the corner. I wonder how my father is. I haven’t heard from him since that disastrous dinner, and I’m starting to believe I might truly be alone. Sometimes, I think of Christian and wonder if he’s happy with Georgia.

The pains from his rejection have dulled into faint stings, and I think I have Asher’s mark to thank for that. It blocks out the pain, though I don’t understand how or why. Frankly, when it comes to Asher, nothing makes sense.

When footsteps shuffle outside my door, I turn, expecting to see Enya walk in with her mocking smile and foul tongue, ready to throw insults at me. Instead, I’m greeted by a sterner face.

I sit up straight. “B-Beta Talon.” The guards stationed at my door walk in behind him, and I glance from his face to theirs, fear slowly crawling into my heart. Did something happen? Has Asher decided he doesn’t want me around anymore?

Talon lowers his head in an awkward bow. “Luna.” He jerks his head toward the chains. “Take them off her.”

I stare wide-eyed as they unlock the cuffs. Shuffling forward, I look up at Talon. “Is something wrong? D-Did Asher change his mind?” My voice drops to a tiny whisper. “Is he going to…” I use my finger to draw a shaky line across my neck .

Talon doesn’t smile. Instead, he addresses the guards. “Lead her to the alpha’s chambers.”

“Lead me—lead me where?” I croak, backing toward the far end of the room, but a strong hand around my wrist stops me. “Hey, let go of—I don’t want to see him! I like it here! I love it here, I swear!” I yell as they pull me out of my room, not roughly, but firmly enough that I can’t slip away.

Rather than down the stairs, they take me up. Sweat coats my skin as we draw closer to the landing. Is this how I die? My heart thuds painfully in my chest and my legs stop moving, but the guards easily drag me across the floors. I swear Talon’s shoulders shake as I yell for help, but he doesn’t turn around. No one stops to help me—not the guests milling around, not the guards who watch me like I’m an alien in a nightdress, not the maids who acknowledge me with small bows, as if I’m not in obvious distress.

Our steps slow when we reach a hallway decorated with tasteful art pieces I would drool over if I wasn’t about to die. There are three doors along this hallway. Two are on the left side of the stairs, facing each other, but I’m led to the door on the other end.

My appeals to Talon fall on deaf ears, and my heart leaps into my mouth as the beta opens the door.

Talon turns to look at me, and the guards let me go as he ushers me into the room with a dramatic sweep of hands. “Your new rooms, luna.”

I blink slowly. “M-Mine?”

Beta Talon arches an expectant brow and I eye him warily, taking the first step past the doorway. When I cross the threshold, my jaw hits the ground.

The room encompasses half of the hallway, stretching farther than the hall in my father’s packhouse. I turn in a circle, unsure where to look first. The bed is so large that looks like it’d be better suited for orgies than sleep. Classy furniture fills up the rest of the space, but I’m most interested in the bookshelf. By the fresh smell of wood and paint, I can tell it’s a new addition. Beneath the shelf, there’s a modern workspace. It’s a cozy little nook, and I already know the rocking chair is my favorite part.

“Woah,” I mutter under my breath, noticing the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook a small paradise of cultivated gardens and a stunning waterfall. “It’s...beautiful.”

My fingers press against the glass surface of what I thought was the window, but it suddenly swings open, and I stumble onto a balcony. Goddess, it just keeps getting better.

I return inside and flutter about, opening every door I can get my hands on. There’s a closet the size of my bedroom in my father’s house, filled with extravagant clothes. My bathroom is a dream.

The last door sits on the left wall, close to my dressing table. “Where does this lead to?” I ask myself as I push the handle and open it.

It’s another bedroom, decorated in darker shades and even bigger than mine. But the man standing in front of me makes it look tiny enough to give me claustrophobia.

It’s Asher. His bare back is turned to me, and the only thing he’s wearing is a towel wrapped around his tapered waist.

Just like that, I can’t breathe anymore. Steam rises from his freshly showered skin and water drips from his black hair. I’m painfully aware of the droplets running down his broad back until they get absorbed by his towel .

My face flames as thoughts assault me. Thoughts of running my fingers and lips across that back. Peppering his skin with kisses. Sinking my teeth into his flesh as he pushes into me?—

“They can smell you, Leilani,” my husband says without turning around.

My heart jumps and I shut the door, hard. Of course it’s an adjoining room. Why didn’t someone warn me?

“Enya will be here soon to tend your needs,” Talon says, as if he doesn’t notice my face has turned a bright shade of red. “Until a private guard is assigned to you, Cayden will be your escort.”

“Why do I need an escort when this place is crawling with guards? You very well know there’s no way I can escape,” I say, loud enough for Asher to hear me.

Something soft flickers in his brown eyes for a split second. Then Talon blinks and lowers his gaze. “If that’s all…?”

“Talon?” I say softly, and he looks at me skeptically. “Can I...speak to my father?” His eyes harden and I add swiftly, “Just one call. One minute is all I need. I haven’t heard from him in weeks. I just want to know he’s alright. Please?”

Talon straightens and heads to the door. “I’ll inform the alpha of your request.”

So that’s a no.

I’m left alone, with nothing to protect me from the big, bad monster on the other side of the oak door. I slide the bolts into place, barring his way into my room, and jam a chair under the handle for good measure.

But I know that if Alpha Asher wanted to be in my room, a flimsy chair and a lock wouldn’t stop him .

Which begs the question—why did he bring me here? To smother me in my sleep, or...?

I let my imagination run wild on what the other options may be, and I find that I like none of them.

New rooms aren’t the only thing I receive from Asher in the following days, which only heightens my worries. There’s something wrong with my husband.

More clothes than I’ve owned in my entire life are brought to me to be fitted. I lived a good life in my pack, but not a luxurious one. It’s unsettling to find that every dress, skirt, shirt, pair of boots, heels, and even my bras and panties, are a perfect fit.

A pretty man with soft eyes named Cayden appears at my door the next day and hands me a set of car keys. I stare at the keys for a few seconds before asking, “I’m allowed to...go out?”

He smiles gently. “So long as you never cross the northern border and remain with an escort at all times.”

I bite my bottom lip nervously, lowering my voice. “I-I don’t know if I can accept this gift.”

Cayden stares at me incredulously. “It’s not a gift. It comes with the title. The alpha takes pride in ensuring his people are well taken care of.”

His people.

The following day, he gives me a cellphone with a few numbers already in the contact list: Asher’s, Talon’s, and Cayden’s. I try calling my dad, only to discover that I can only call those three lines. I cuss Asher loudly enough that I swear I hear a small chuckle from the other side of the door.

Next comes a black card, one I doubt I’ll ever use unless I somehow find myself in the human lands, since packhouses like Asher’s are built to have everything we need.

The final straw, however, is falling asleep in my rocking chair one night and waking up to find myself safely tucked under a blanket, my head nestled on my pillows, and my room covered in Asher’s scent.

How he got in without waking me up, I have no idea, but I’ve had enough.

Clutching my robe closed and ignoring my horrible bedhead, I unlock the door that leads to his room and barge in angrily.

“Okay, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

Asher looks over his shoulder, his eyes taking in my disheveled hair, puffy eyes, night robes, and bare feet, slowly and intimately. A shudder wracks my body despite how hot the room feels.

“I’m not sure I understand your question.”

Cool. Calm. But not cold. His eyes aren’t icy today. They’re more lively than I’ve ever seen them. Something has changed significantly between us in the past week, and I have no idea what it is. “What do you want? Why are you being nice to me? Why don’t you want to kill me anymore? Why aren’t you acting like you want to choke me to death?”

Asher’s lips purse and his brows furrow. “Would you like me to choke you to death, Leilani?”

The word “choke” brings up feelings I don’t want to dwell on, and I feel the heat in his gaze when it drops to my neck, like he remembers the last time his fingers were wrapped around my throat.

I suddenly feel open, vulnerable, and undoubtedly idiotic for coming in here. The bed is covered in his carnal scent, and I wonder if sleeping in it would make me smell like him. I wonder how I’d look naked, with my face pressed into his black sheets to consummate our marriage, hips arched, thighs spread apart.

Goddess.

Asher’s blue eyes flare in warning and I look away abruptly, wiping sweat off my forehead. “No,” I say, surprised at the steadiness of my voice. “I just don’t understand you. You hate me one moment and touch me the next. You ignore me for weeks. You kiss me.You watch me sleep. You tuck me in at night.”

His hands slip into his pockets, and the corners of his ears turn red. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Denial. Classy. “My room is drenched in your scent. You were there last night, and I want to know why.”

Asher shrugs. “Perhaps you smell me everywhere because you want to.”

Annoyance flares in the pit of my stomach. “Are you always this annoying?” I pull down the collar of my robe, exposing his mark to him. “Will you deny biting me, too? Will you tell me I wanted your mark so badly that I wished it into existence?”

Another shrug. I’ve never wanted to hurl a shoe at a man’s head as badly as I do right now. I turn around and stomp angrily back to my door.

“Is there anything you love besides reading? ”

His casual tone startles me. I turn around, eyeing Asher skeptically. Who is this strange creature that has possessed my husband? For some reason, I respond just as casually. “Hunting.”

Interest sparks in his blue eyes, and his gaze flicks over my figure. He doesn’t need to say it. I already know what he’s thinking. I’m rather small. I don’t look like a hunter. Raising my chin, I give him a lethal smile. “Hand me a bow or a gun, and I’ll show you how good I am.”

He huffs a laugh, deep and rich, and my stomach is in knots again. Asher catches himself, and his blistering stare pins me to the spot. “You’re starting to grow on me, wife.”

My legs quiver as his eyes trail from my lips to my tangled hair and down the length of my neck. They turn a stormy shade of blue. “There’s an event tonight, held in honor of the late alpha. You will attend as my luna.” He turns back to the window, dismissing me. “Wear your hair up.”

Several hours later, the hall has been transformed for another classy celebration. But even though I’m standing right here, all dressed up and wearing my hair up, Asher hasn’t so much as looked in my direction. It hurts more than it should to stand off to the side awkwardly, without any form of acknowledgement from anyone. I rub at my wrists anxiously.

I smooth down my dress for the hundredth time and push up the ticklish neckline that seemed sexy when I imagined Asher seeing me in it, but now it’s just suffocating.

Enya warned me against drinking tonight, so I don’t embarrass their precious alpha, but when the next tray passes and I’m still a fucking wallflower at my husband’s party, I snag two glasses and quickly gulp down the alcohol .

Heat prickles my skin, and the feeling of discomfort and hurt only heightens. I reach up to my hair and begin pulling the pins out. I shouldn’t have worn my hair up. I have no idea what I was expecting, why I dressed up for him, why I followed his orders.

Still pulling out the pins, I retreat to the entrance, surprised that the guards don’t stop me when I walk past them. I’m gasping for air when I finally reach the yard.

My eyes sting with tears as I kick off my heels and walk down the cobblestone path, past couples embracing under the moonlight, past more guards who watch me but make no move to stop me. I don’t stop walking until my feet hurt and my harsh breathing evens out.

I look up at the sky, feeling lost. I don’t know what to do with myself. What can I do? My life isn’t my own anymore. A single tear slides down my cheek, quickly followed by another.

I start to sob, stifling the sound with a hand over my mouth. I shut my eyes tightly and cry. Goddess, what am I doing here? Should I make a run for it? Should I go home? Would my pack even take me back, with my tarnished reputation?

Sudden movement beside catches me off guard, but my yelp is muffled by a finger pressed against my lips. A hand settles around my waist, pulling me into a blind spot between two walls.

I thrash, dragging my nails across my assailant’s skin, kicking and grappling for anything I can find, but he’s strong. He shoves my back against the wall.

I freeze as a pair of piercing green eyes meets mine. “Chris?”