ALPHA MATE

Chapter Three

Elise woke with a start from a deep sleep and blinked in confusion at her unfamiliar surroundings. This wasn’t her bedroom. Where was she? A noise from the foot of the bed drew her attention and she was greeted with the rearview of a very well-built and very naked male. The sight stunned her before she remembered recent events. She was in a cabin with her new mate, Kane. The past twenty-four hours hadn’t been a bad dream. She let her head sink back onto the pillow and silently studied the man who was getting dressed before her. Muscles rippled across his back and his taut buttocks. His legs were long and sturdy, also giving evidence of his strength. As his lower anatomy disappeared from view under a pair of briefs, he glanced her way and caught her watching him. “I see you’re awake.” “Uh-huh. What time is it?” Her voice was raspy, her throat still tight from her earlier emotions. “Almost noon. You must have been tired after our run.” He turned to grab a shirt and she noticed a long scar on his side, its pink colour indicating that it was still fairly new. She vaguely recalled seeing it last night. “What happened to your side?” Kane barely glanced down at the mark. “Nothing. Just a scratch from a fight.” “That’s more than a scratch. Who was the fight with?” “Another Lycan named Ryne.” Kane shrugged as if to dismiss the matter and stepped into his pants. The scar appeared to have come from a serious injury, not the result of a minor scuffle. Not sure why it suddenly mattered to her, she hitched herself up against the headboard and pressed for more information. “Why were you fighting?” Kane sighed and finished doing up his zipper before turning and facing her, his arms crossed in resignation. “You aren’t going to leave this alone, are you?” “No. I have an inquiring mind.” She gave him a smirk that indicated she wasn’t planning on backing down. He might be her Alpha, but she wasn’t going to let him walk all over her—she’d come to that decision earlier in the morning—and there was no time like the present to start showing that she had a backbone, especially since she still had home turf advantage. “Well, in that case, I suppose I should tell you. Otherwise you might ask questions of the wrong people and end up with some incorrect information.” He rubbed his hands over his face then walked to the window and stared outside while speaking. “As you know, I’m the new Alpha of my pack.