AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He blinked and, for an instant, almost seemed confused. “I thought she was mine.” The words came, slow and stilted. “For years, I thought she was the one for me.”
A choked moan rumbled from behind Erin. Her mother’s pain-filled cry.
Erin stared into Harper’s eyes and knew.
Theresa’s voice drifted through her mind.“Such dark, dark eyes that saw into me so well...”
Hell.
Her mother’s lover.
Erin jerked against him, hard, horror giving her strength as she stumbled back from his hold.
His lip curled with disgust as he grated, “When she went with that human, I couldn’t pretend about her any longer. She wasn’t mine.”
Erin sucked in oxygen as hard and as fast as she could. Not. Happening.
“I left the pack.” His teeth snapped together. “I went on my own, and then you came to me.”
No, no, she hadn’t come to him. She’d just been in court, doing her job!
“The instant I saw you, I finally understood what fate had planned for me. Iknewyou were my reward, the mate I’d always wanted.” A laugh then, rough and wild. “You look so much like her,” he said, “but you’re better, stronger,mine.”
“No, I’m notyours.” Never would be.
“You know what it’s like to be different from the others. Not human. Not wolf. More powerful than both.” He lifted his hand toward her, long and deadly claws out. “We were made for each other. Perfect halves.”
She stared at that hand and remembered the sight of Bobby Burrows’s bloody body. “We are nothing alike.” She held her body perfectly still. Now wasn’t the time for an attack. Not yet.
He closed the space between them. His right hand lifted and his fingers trailed down her cheek. “I had to bide my time and make sure there were no obstacles between us.”
Yes, he’d tried tokillall the obstacles. Erin barely breathed as she stood before him.
One sharp claw pressed against the side of her face. “Purebloods always thought they were so fucking superior. I had to show the animals how wrong they were. Every day, I had to fight and claw my way through the pack.”
Alpha.Her mother had said her lover was the alpha of the pack. Alphas were the most bloodthirsty of the wolves. The most dangerous.
Shit.
“They never understood what we are!” he snarled. “Fucking idiots!”
She swallowed. “And what are we?”
The claw dug into her skin, broke the flesh. “The next evolution. We can be strong in our human form. We don’t have to wait for the wolf. We can kill and we can conquer as we are. Hell, we can rule the world. We don’t have to wait for the shift. We have the power every minute of every day.”
Her chin lifted and she knew the liquid sliding down her face wasn’t tears, it was blood. “I can’t shift.”
His gaze burned her. “I know—that’s why you’re soperfect.”
Great, of all the people in the world,hethought she was perfect.
Harper licked his thin lips. “Our children won’t need to shift. They’ll be born with power. Always have it.”
Their children?“Got news for you,” she managed. There’d been no sound from Dee—or from her mother—for several moments.Be alive.“I’m not planning on having any kids with you.” That would be the last thing she’d ever do.
Whack job for a father? Hell, no. She and her mother had very different taste in men.
His breath rushed out. More mint. “It’s that fucking tiger. I’ve been watching you. Always watching.”
