Chapter 16

Dominic

She was trembling, whether with rage or fear I did not know.

“I’m fine,” she kept repeating, trying to make it come true.

I let my hands slide down her arms and held her hands, gently, between us. She looked up at me, a flash of heat in her eyes before she pulled herself away.

As she moved, I caught a new scent on her. It was unfamiliar, and it was male.

Some other wolf had touched her, and he had upset her.

I want to kill him.

My wolf was furious and possessive, and wanted to cover this other man’s scent with my own. Mira was mine, and I needed the world to remember that.

I took a breath to clear this sudden jealousy from my mind. As my thoughts cleared, I realized I did know the owner of that scent: it was Ward. The beta who was engaged to Tessa, and who had just rushed past me as I came outside.

I really want to kill him.

“What did he say to you?” I asked Mira sternly.

“What? Who?” she was startled by my outburst.

“Ward. He was here. I can smell him.”

“Nothing, it was nothing,” she said, avoiding eye contact. “We were just catching up, old friends.”

I thought back to her file, recalling that she and Ward had grown up together, that his family had taken her in. And I recalled Tessa’s accusation, that Mira had tried to come between her and Ward.

Could Tessa have been telling the truth, for once? Did Mira really have feelings for that pathetic Beta wolf?

“Do you love him?” I said with a clenched jaw.

“What?” she looked offended. “No! All of that is in the past, you know he is with Tessa now.”

“But you did love him, once?”

“I don’t see how that is any of your business,” she responded, crossing her arms against her chest.

“You are my Mate, of course it is my business,” my voice was calmer now. “Especially if he is bothering you.”

“I told you— I’m fine!”

She turned, trying to leave.

She can’t leave.

Before I knew it I had grabbed her, pulling her close to my chest, wrapping my arms around her. Her body was rigid at first, then slowly softened as she accepted my embrace. For a moment, the world melted away except for our two hearts beating as one.

Keep her.

“Mira,” I whispered.

She sighed, shifting her head slightly to hear me.

“I can tell you’re upset,” I told her, “and you don’t want to show weakness around me.. But I am your Mate now. You need to trust me.”

It sounded more like an order than I meant it.

“I’m trying,” she said quietly.

“I will protect you, from him, from anyone,” I vowed. “I am an Alpha, my Pack is strong, and I will not tolerate another man’s scent on my Mate.”

I felt her body tense.

“I’ll remind you,” she said as she pulled herself away from me, “that we are contract mates, and nothing more.”

She took a step back, standing up straighter, exuding control. As she turned I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to me. Our faces were only inches apart.

“A mate is a mate, Mira.” My words were firm but I softened my grip and let her arm fall. “Contract or no, you are mine and I am yours. And I will do whatever it takes to prove that you can trust me and tell me anything. I am your future, but I can help you carry your past.”

I saw her pulse quicken in her neck, and fought the impulse to feel it with my fingers. My wolf wanted to feel much more of her.

For a moment her eyes grew large and her expression changed to sadness, then just as quickly she steadied herself.

“I did love him, I think,” she said finally. “And I thought he loved me too. But I was wrong.”

There, the truth.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “Ward is an idiot, and never deserved you.”

She smiled then, and it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. A small chuckle fell from her perfect lips.

“Maybe you’re right,” she said lightly.

“Of course I’m right. I’m an Alpha— no ones ever told an Alpha they were wrong, not until you.”

Mira made a face until she realized I was joking, then responded by gently slapping my chest.

“So arrogant!” she said playfully. Then her face grew more serious. “Thank you, for listening. And for coming to calm me down. I’m sorry if I made a dramatic exit from the party.”

“Don’t worry about that,” I assured her, “I’m just glad you’re alright. I thought maybe I’d done something that made you want to leave.”

Something passed over her face and furrowed her brow, but she said nothing. I wouldn’t press her more, but there was something still bothering her.

“Let’s go back inside,” she said with a gentle pat on my arm.

Before she could walk too far, I took her arm and linked it with mine.

“An Alpha and Luna should go in together,” I said formally, reminding her of our contract.

“Yes they should,” she said with a smile.

It was enough for the moment, though I knew she was still holding back. The pain from her past caused her to put up impenetrable walls, but maybe someday she would drop them around me.

I would prove to her that our future could be better. I would prove to her that I was not like Ward.

Mira

The party was still going strong when we went back in, and I wondered if anyone had noticed we were gone. Hopefully my departure hadn’t been as dramatic as I thought. I didn’t need negative rumors spreading about disrespecting that Pack on such an important night.

Dominic kept my arm in his as we entered, and stopped us for a moment just inside the door. As the heads of the crowd turned to look at us, I knew he was using his Alpha aura to get their attention. He wanted everyone to see us returning together, arm-in-arm.

I looked up him, and I had to admit that he looked handsome in his suit, his hair combed back off his forehead. And judging from the eyes on us, we looked good together.

As if he was reading my mind, he looked down at me. I felt and electric jolt when our eyes locked, and tried to convince myself it was just his aura affecting me, not anything to do with my own emotions.

The spell was thankfully broken when Dominic’s Beta appeared next to him.

“Sir,” Lucas said, “your father is asking for you.”

“Probably something about auctions and speeches and family duty,” Dominic sighed. “I’ll come find you again soon, Mira.”

He carefully took my arm from his, planting a light kiss on the back of my hand before walking away. Lucas didn’t even try to hide his smirk as he turned to follow his leader.

I wasn’t left alone for long, as a group of women quickly descended upon me.

“You two are just so cute!” a woman in purple said. “I guess the rumors aren’t true at all.”

“What rumors?” I asked, trying to distance myself a bit from their gawking and pawing.

“Everyone is saying that you two aren’t really Mates,” another woman said, “that there must be some deal you made or a bribe or something.”

“People are saying that? A lot of people?” I hoped my desperation was written on my face.

“Oh sure, people love to talk,” a third chimed in. “But don’t worry honey, it’s obvious you two are the real deal.”

“We do get along well, of course,” I said “I mean, we care about each other a lot.”

“Right, right,” purple dress said, “we can tell you two are very close.”

This last line was said with a salacious wink.

“You can tell?” I asked, not quite understanding what she meant.

“Oh honey, we can all tell,” she replied. “Seems like you just had to get out of the party for a while, can’t keep your hands off each other!

“Excuse me?” I was taken aback by this suggestion. “We weren’t— we were just talking! Why would you think that we were, well…”

The group looked around with knowing smiles, as if I was obviously trying to cover up the truth.

“You’re not fooling anyone, Mira,” one said. “That man’s scent is all over you!”

My cheeks blushed immediately.

Of course I wouldn’t be able to smell it myself without my wolf, but clearly everyone around me could.

Everyone knew— I belonged to Dominic.