Alpha's Chosen Mate

13

Annoyance flares in my father’s amber gaze. “Whether or not it is changes nothing. Let her go while I’m still asking nicely, Asher. I don’t care if I win this. I’ll have your head if you harm my daughter.”

Asher’s hand clamps around my wrist, forcing me back onto his lap. He lets everyone see as he strokes my cheek with his warm fingers. His thumb runs across my bottom lip, and heat crawls up my skin. “Tell me, Leilani,” he muses. A strangled, frustrated breath escapes me as those electric blue eyes zero in on me, and my body responds to him like a s*x-starved b***h. “Should I let you go?”

My heart stutters, and he gives no warning before his hand slides up my neck, grabbing a fistful of hair and bringing my lips to his. Pure lust erupts inside me, violent enough to make me shiver. He tastes like wine and forbidden pleasures. The hand I placed between us to push him away curls in his shirt instead, and I feel his heartbeat. I’m surprised that a heartless man can have one this steady and strong.

His tongue slides against mine as my chest brushes against his. The friction undoes me and I moan, gripping his jacket to pull him closer. Something worse and less fragile than butterflies scatters in my belly when a rough sound reverberates in his chest. He tilts my head for better access, devouring my mouth like he’s done it before, like he knows every corner of it and wishes to claim it again.

Blood rushes to my head, making me hot and desperate. I forget where I am, who I am, the guests, my father, everything. I forget who Asher is, and I kiss him back.

Or I try to, because he suddenly pulls away from me.

I blink, lips swollen, brain cells fried, the musky scent of my arousal heavy in the air. Asher laughs—at me, at my father’s disgusted look, at the members of my pack staring at me like I’m an utter disgrace. They look at me like I’m an outsider owned by the enemy, and their judgment reminds me of my wedding night. Back then, they thought I was a filthy w***e, but I can tell they think this is worse.

Dad is so mad, his veins look like they’ll pop out of his forehead, and I can tell the only thing holding him back is Madeline’s hand on his arm.

When his gaze meets mine, he sneers. “You’re a disappointment.”

I choke on a sob as he turns his back to me, walking away with Madeline practically running after him.

“Mardoc,” Asher calls out, and my father whirls to face him with barely leashed violence.

Asher’s lips curve in a sly smile. “Maybe take care of your wife before you threaten me. Your lack of strength must be why she frequented Christian’s bed so often.”

I freeze. “What?”

Madeline’s face pales. My father looks to her for a denial, but her shifty eyes and suddenly blotchy skin say it all. My stepmother was screwing my mate. I’m suddenly completely overwhelmed. I should’ve known. She was always praising him, staring at him over dinner, returning his charming smiles with shy ones. My heart goes into overdrive. They were...they were f*****g.

“Oh Goddess,” I sob, clutching at my chest as it tightens until I can’t breathe.

“Mardoc,” she calls out as my father storms down the hall. “Mardoc, please. I can explain” She looks back at me, but the guilt won’t let her meet my eyes. She goes after my father, and a gut-wrenching howl tears through the house a second later.

The hurt in my chest won’t go away. Georgia wasn’t even enough, he had to have Madeline, too? How could I have been so blind?

I wait until the last of my father’s pack leaves, carrying a wheezing Beta Manuel with them, before I attempt to stand.

“Well, that was interesting,” Jules laughs, and the rest of the table joins her.

My knees give out, and Asher grabs my elbow before I can crash to the ground. “Careful⁠—”

I snarl at the bastard, finally lashing out. My palm connects with his cheek and his face snaps left, the slap echoing off the walls. His eyes flash gold, but I don’t care. “Don’t you ever put your filthy hands on me again. I’m your prisoner, not your whore.”

A muscle jumps in his jaw. “You are whatever I want you to be. My wife. My property. My prisoner. Mine. Remember that before you raise a hand to me. I won’t be as forgiving next time.”

More tears roll down my cheeks, but I laugh hoarsely. “Or what? You’ll kill me?”

He says nothing as I turn on my heels and flee to my room.

CHAPTER 6

ASHER

I

go through the pages for what feels like the hundredth time, but I don’t see the words or figures. I only see Leilani Stone. I feel the sting of her palm against my cheek and taste her blood in my mouth.

Marking her hadn’t been intentional. I’d been driven by my wolf, and by an urgency to stake a claim on her to curb my growing hunger.

Visiting one of the many clubs I run in the human territory to find release didn’t help. The blondes I once favored no longer appeared attractive, and not even the view of a naked woman on her knees unbuckling my pants could make me as hard as kissing the annoying woman—or even just seeing her. I, Asher Wilde, walked away from a bed of ravishing women and their bouncing t**s, to go to my wife’s room instead. To my mate.

And f**k me, she had her tiny fingers buried inside her, her cheeks flushed, her lip caught between her teeth. She wasn’t the only one plagued with the dreams. I can’t sleep without being woken by nightmares of my father being burned to death or my wife riding my c**k.

I’ve never wanted anyone as badly as I want her, and I’ve never despised anyone as much. It drives me crazy.

It’s infuriating that she challenged me in front of the whole pack. She slapped me. Anyone else would have left that encounter without hands. I’d let her go, and as I watched her flee, all I felt instead of wrath and humiliation was a f*****g hard-on. Repressing the urge to punish her was torture, and I had to lock myself in a cold shower for hours before I could think straight again.