When I Misunderstood Alpha, We’re Sweeter

All I'd ever done was pay for a few years of Dorian Kestrel's schooling. He was loyal to a fault—after I hit rock bottom, he gave me blood and got me treated, and he worked patrol shifts day and night to keep me afloat. I was terrified he'd work himself into an early grave, so I told him to stop wasting his time on me. He gave me a hard, cold look as he spooned soup into my mouth and simply grumbled, "I'm doing it anyway." Later, we ended up in bed together. I was afraid he'd feel pressured or guilty, so I put on a casual, carefree act and said, "We're both adults. This is just a mutual benefit, no strings attached. You don't owe me anything." After that, I got myself a friend with benefits who cooked all my meals and did all my laundry without asking questions. That arrangement lasted until he became Alpha and started going out of his way to help a new intern who had just joined the team. I didn't want to make things awkward for him, so I packed up all my belongings and left. A month later, I came back to pick up the things I'd left behind and overheard him talking to his friend. "Mirelle doesn't love me anymore. I swear, I don't even want to live anymore." ***** In the span of three minutes, Dorian glanced at the new intern five times. I was standing right outside the glass-walled conference room, counting every single one of those glances, clear as day. On the fifth one, the girl was twisting her pen cap with her head down, and he actually smiled at her. Was this the same guy who'd wash my underwear with that perpetually frosty look on his face, or drag himself out of bed at any hour to make me pancakes the second I woke him up? Was my grumpy, ride-or-die bed partner actually about to fall head over heels for someone else? I huffed and spun on my heel to leave, but I didn't even make it two steps. Dorian had already pushed the conference room door open, the pen still clutched in his hand. "Why didn't you wait for me?" The intern came chasing after him right behind. "Alpha, all the old files are here." She tripped over her own shoelace and stumbled.  Dorian shot his hand out to steady her. "Again? You never watch where you're going." The girl stuck her tongue out playfully, then pulled her fingers away from his sleeve. I stared at that spot on his arm where she'd touched him, and suddenly had the wild urge to take a pair of scissors and cut that entire section of fabric off. When we got into his office, I pulled away before he could hug me. He locked the door behind him, leaned in to nuzzle the side of my neck. I blocked him with my purse. "What about your little intern? Aren't you gonna go check on her?" "Corinne? She went back to work." He led me over to his chair, pulled my scarf off for me, then knelt down on one knee. He braced his hands on the armrests and looked up at me, licking his dry lips as his fingertips brushed my knee.  That angle was downright lethal. I slammed my hand down on his to stop him. "What do you think you're doing?" "You said last time you wanted to try messing around in the office, remember?" I nearly bit my own tongue in half. When he was testing out the sturdiness of his new desk a while back, I'd run my mouth and joked that it looked solid enough to handle all kinds of . . . vigorous activity. I'd been teasing! Who told him to take me seriously? He just kept looking up at me, waiting for an answer. I gripped his wrist tight, memories of the last time we'd fooled around, and I'd had to take half a day off work flashing through my head. Footsteps sounded right outside the door, getting closer, and I yanked my legs back together so fast I almost pulled a muscle. Dorian let go of my knee immediately and smoothed out my skirt for me, all innocent, like he hadn't just been propositioning me five seconds ago. My ears were burning so hot I swore I could fry an egg on them, but I tried to sound annoyed anyway. "Oh, so you do whatever I say? I also told you to buy me a ten-carat diamond ring, remember? You gonna do that too?" He stood up, pulled open a desk drawer, and handed me a small velvet box. "I always do whatever you say." I flipped it open and glanced inside. Holy crap, that rock was so sparkly it practically seared my retinas. My first instinct was to yank him down and kiss him silly, but then I caught sight of that brown paper bag sitting on the edge of the desk, and my hand froze mid-movement. "What did Corinne give you, anyway?" "Some old registration records and photos. There are some details I'm still fact-checking." "What kind of details?" Dorian's gaze darted to the paper bag for a second, and he rubbed his thumb back and forth along the edge of the ring box. "It's some old family stuff. I'll tell you all about it once I get to the bottom of it." I snapped the ring box shut. He used to even set his bank password to my birthday, for heaven's sake. He never hid a single thing from me back then. Now, all of a sudden, he's got secrets I'm not allowed to hear? Right then, his phone lit up. It was Corinne. He glanced at the screen and silenced the ringer. "You should reply, you know," I said, a sharp edge bleeding into my tone. "Don't keep her waiting." "I'd rather hang out with you first." I set the ring box back on the table. Dorian reached out to stop the lid from clicking shut all the way. "You don't like it?" Of course, I liked it. It's a ten-carat diamond, who in their right mind wouldn't? But what exactly did giving me this right now even mean? I lifted my head to meet his eyes. "Dorian, we…" "Hm?" He leaned in, waiting for me to finish what I was going to say. But my gaze snagged on that brown paper envelope sitting on the edge of his desk, and the words died in my throat.  Maybe I was making a mountain out of a molehill. He said he'd tell me once he sorted it out, right? "Nothing. Just put the ring away for now. I don't want to wear it today." He tried to push the box back into my hands, but I'd already grabbed my bag to leave. Of course, the strap got wedged in the door c***k, so I had to turn back to pull the door open again. Dorian pulled the strap free for me, but he didn't let go of it once he had it in his hand. "You still coming over tonight?" I stared at him for a long beat, then nodded.  "Sure. But how about you be the one to come over?" Tomorrow was my birthday. He'd shown up the night before to celebrate every single year for as long as I could remember.  This year didn't have to be me reading too much into it, right?