Page 41 of X-Clan The Origin

“He grew up in Blood Sector,” Kieran had said once. “I don’t know him well, but Lorcan does. The two of them seem to enjoy being silent together.”

I’d met Lorcan a few times in passing. He was one of Kieran’s Elite guards. And terrifying as fuck.

Not unlike Jonas, really.

Because Jonas also had that brooding scariness quality to him. However, unlike Lorcan, Jonas had tried to be more approachable in my presence. He’d often attempted to engage me in polite conversation.

And I’drejectedhim each time.

“Because I’m a terrible person,” I told myself. “Ugh.”

I deserved this punishment.

I deserved to be abandoned. Alone. Forced to go through my estrus without an Alpha’s touch.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

Nor would it be the last.

I’d chosen this life of solitude. I had never wanted a nest or a child or a mate.

Because the right Alpha has never piqued my interest.

Until Jonas.

Which was why I’d pushed him away. He scared me. He made me question things. He caused my wolf to pace anxiously inside me. She wanted him. Even now, she was urging me to shift and go hunt for him. Because she wanted to be claimed. She wanted his purr. His touch. Hisknot.

How much of this craving is a result of the heat?I wondered.Or is this really me?

I could admit that I’d been attracted to Jonas from the first day we’d met. It was hard to ignore his beautiful face and thick blond hair and muscular form.

He was the epitome of Alpha male.

A specimen meant to be worshipped by my hands and tongue.

But this attraction went deeper than lust. It’d hit my very soul.

I’d just never understood how or why it was possible. Because X-Clan wolves didn’t have fated-mate magic. We chose our partners.

And I’d chosen not to take an Alpha.

Hell, I’d suppressed the very instinct with drugs.

Yet that hadn’t stopped my wolf from sitting up and taking notice.

I’d thought it was simply because Jonas was an X-Clan Alpha. But I’d never wanted a male like I did Jonas.

I’d found plenty of Alphas beautiful.

But Jonas took that to a whole new level.

His steadfast control, unerring calmness, and inexplicable patience all made him that much more desirable.

Just like his show of restraint tonight.

His confidence in his ability to harness his rutting instincts.

The way he’d carried me and purred for me even while being furious with me.