Page 44 of The Bookseller and the Alpha (Witch Twins #1)

Calypso

I stomped down the corridor towards my room.

What an asshole move. Telling me that he couldn’t escort me to my shop.

Fuck him and fuck his Declaration of Intent.

The bedroom door slammed behind me. Eyes narrowed, fists clenched, I barely noticed the familiar surroundings of my bedroom.

First, he’d blindsided me with his Declaration.

Then he’d tried to control my movements.

As if I didn’t have a right to my own life.

Almost blindly, I sat down on the bed, one hand reaching out towards Pompy, who rolled onto her stomach for me to pat her, making little grunts of pleasure as my hand rubbed her belly.

My legs were shaky as I stood up. I was going to get dressed.

Then I was going to give the annoying Alpha a piece of my mind.

He couldn’t just take over my life using the excuse of protecting me.

Even if he did think I was his mate. And that was a whole other can of worms. He’d assured me that it wasn’t a joke, but I’d only just met him.

And currently, being his mate didn’t sound so attractive.

I went through the motions of getting ready for my day, almost on autopilot.

And the whole time, my mind wouldn’t stop.

Could Shifters make mistakes about who their mate was?

Could they get infatuated? Was he mistaking protectiveness for the mating pull?

Until I knew him better, I had to take a step back.

I needed some time away. Time to process what he’d said.

To think about what it meant without the insane sexual tension between us turning my brain to mush.

But I didn’t have the luxury of taking time out.

If the thieves hadn’t found what they were looking for, I was still in danger.

And I wasn’t stupid. If I was in danger, I didn’t want to put myself at risk.

And I was honest enough to acknowledge that I didn’t really want to stay here by myself.

Even with the new security, my stomach twisted with anxiety at the thought of staying here alone at night.

So I could go to Luc’s, he could stay here, or I could go to a hotel.

And if I went to a hotel, the over-protective Alpha Shifter who had Declared his Intent to court me would insist on giving me guards.

And that would use up valuable resources.

His staff had better, more important things to do than to guard me around the clock.

Which meant that the hot Alpha I couldn’t resist was my best choice.

Yes, he was my preferred choice, if I was into stupid decisions, but he was also my best choice.

But that didn’t mean that he could control my every movement.

It was bad enough that I was agreeing to stay with him at night.

He had already declared he wanted me close.

And that meant… that I had to stop letting him touch me or I’d find myself bonded before I knew which way was up.

And there could be no more orgasms. Not until I understood my own mind.

Right. Damn.