I should’ve known. Alpha Derick was even more shameless than I gave him credit for. Kneeling before me in my office, his face arranged in what I assumed was his best “romantic hero” expression, he was putting on quite the performance. I couldn’t help myself—I clapped. Slowly.
“Well, well, Alpha Derick,” I drawled, smirking. “You never fail to amaze me.”
His expression darkened like a brewing storm. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he snapped, his voice taut with indignation.
I folded my arms. “It means there is no universe in which I would ever marry you. Go back to wherever you crawled out from.”
His face twisted as he shot to his feet. “Why?!” he all but shouted. “You’ve always loved me! This is what you wanted!”
“Was what I wanted,” I corrected, my voice ice-cold. “Once, maybe. But
