Laura's POV:
I shoved Matthew back.
In that split second, the gravity of what I'd just done didn't even register. I'd just defied an Alpha whose reputation for cruelty was the stuff of legends.
Matthew's obsidian eyes bored into me, unblinking and intense. Suddenly, the stories of his brutality came rushing back—the ones about how someone was brutally taken out just for staring at him a second too long. A cold fear slithered into my chest, coiling around my heart.
I bit down hard on my lip to keep the tears at bay, but my body trembled like a leaf in a gale.
Before I could catch my breath, Matthew's voice broke the silence, calm yet tinged with curiosity. "Laura, do you hate me?"
I shook my head wildly. "No," I managed to croak out.
"Then why do you push me away so hard? All I wante
