Page 79 of The Alpha's Fake Mate

When he finally backed away to finish dressing, I held my chin high. I made myself stand firm and never show my anxiety and horror at this whole mess.

I quickly fastened my pants, realizing I actually needed a shower before dressing. And Orion, he had no time for that. We both probably stunk of wild sex. I almost wanted to laugh.

Orion finished dressing and turned for the door.

“Orion.”

He swung back to face me.

“It’s going to work. We’ll make it work.” I stood defiant, though I couldn’t keep the note of desperation from my voice.

His face was emotionless. His stance rigid. Then he strode toward me so fast and I caught my breath as he clasped my face between his hands.

“You do understand what all this means,” he said, his brow lowering.

I nodded, turning my face into his left open palm and kissing it.

He shook me very gently. “I mean it. You do know. The mate-bond between Alpha and Omega cannot be formed in the way--” He gulped. “In the way we’ve been together.”

I pressed my lips tight and breathed in hard through my nose.

His right hand moved down my face to caress my jaw and neck. “I told you I would never harm you and that you were safe with me. But you aren’t.”

“I am,” I protested.

“You are safer with me than withhim.But that still doesn’t make you safe.”

“By birth, I never was,” I replied.

He winced.

I reached out and clasped my arms around his waist. I looked up at him, my lips an inch from his chin. “We will make this work. You and I. Together. We will.”

He lowered his chin and our lips met.

Then he left me standing in the middle of his room, turned and walked out the door.

I wondered what would be coming back to me. My Alpha lover? Or an Alpha turned mad from the Burn?

Chapter Eighteen

Orion

I sat gripping the armrest of the limo’s leather couch, staring at the fridge and thinking about the alcohol that resided within. But with whatever cocktail of hormones that was running through my veins, I didn’t dare.

The ride to Wilde’s office went quickly because I told the driver to go fast. But the ride home seemed endless.

I could not get Holland’s wide-eyed gaze from my mind. He’d stood tall, chin up, demanding as usual. But those eyes had held too much of a storm kept at bay.

This would not be easy between us. We shared intimacy, caring and on my part, love. He had given to me his trust and his true virginity. The past few days we’d been unable to keep our hands off each other.

But this would test us. Me in the Burn and him needing to bend when I knew it was the very last thing he wanted. But there was no other way for the bond to form.

For myself, I didn’t need Omegas to bend for me to assuage the Burn. I preferred to have them on top. I was aberrant that way. Now when I needed to do everything right by Holland, what if I lacked the skills?

I stared out the limo windows at the dusk, the lights of the streets and other cars flashing by. It seemed to take forever, this journey, and I needed to be back home now.

I searched my body for any sign that the hormones Wilde had given me were affecting me. It was too early, of course, but I still catalogued every quirk of my body: heart beating a little faster, mouth a bit dry, muscles tense, a twinge in my groin. Did I smell any different? It would take another person to let me know that.