Page 20 of Fated to the Alpha

“About what?” The question came out a little muffled because of the mask over his mouth.

“Why are you here in Tolstone?” Kimberly did her best to keep the curiosity out of her voice, as if they were having a simple, easy conversation.

But nothing about that question was easy. It meant Shane would have to open up, to share what big, bad thing happened to his pack to drive him into the protection of the Prime Alpha. From what Kimberly witnessed, the events that brought shifters to Tolstone were never good.

Shane sat back on his heels and rested his drill on his muscular thigh. “You remember Kevin?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s alpha of Warrington now.”

Kimberly tilted her head like a confused puppy. “You gave him Warrington?”

Shane all but glared at her. “No. He challenged me and I lost.”

Shock ripped through her. Shane lost to a beta? To Kevin? That wolf was about as old as their parents. That made no sense.

A thousand questions prickled on her tongue, but she could tell Shane didn’t want to talk about it. He leaned forward again, giving her a prime view of his gorgeous ass as he took up the drill again to drive in another screw. His shirt stretched tight across his shoulders, and Kimberly felt the impulse to shrink away from the mad alpha.

She waited for an opening between the whirl of the drill. “And the wolves that followed you here?”

“They sided with me.”

“Even though you lost?”

She heard a huff of breath that sounded a little too much like an aggravated sigh. “Yes, even though I lost.”

“I guess that’s something to be grateful for,” Kimberly said, again waiting for a gap between the drone of the power tool. “Kevin obviously didn’t read the pack that well if he thought he could take it all.”

“He rigged it,” Shane snapped. “He spread lies about me months before the challenge. He made sure that most of the pack would turn against me, even if I won.”

Kimberly blinked. “That’s low, even for him.”

It became noticeable that Shane’s drilling was a little more aggressive now, as if he had a grudge against the wood and wanted it to suffer. Kimberly bit her lips together and decided to give him a little bit of quiet to calm down.

Suddenly, Shane turned on his knees to face her and set the drill down. With a little too much force, he yanked off his mask. The skin around his cheeks and mouth was flushed, as if he had gotten too hot under the cloth.

The eyes that turned up to her burned just as hot, nothing like the soft looks from yesterday. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

Kimberly went still, as if caught under a predator’s gaze. “Yeah.”

“You said you were happy in your pack. But I’ve met Gage. He’s an asshole. Why did you lie?”

If she had been in her wolf form, her fur would have bristled. “I didn’t lie. I am happy. Gage may be a little rough around the edges, but he’s a good guy.”

Shane’s stare turned hard. He didn’t believe her. “A good guy—a good alpha—wouldn’t make jokes about your dominance behind your back.”

Kimberly straightened, hands on the edge of the counter. “What?” She knew Gage could be a sarcastic ass sometimes, but making a joke at her expense was a little low. He had to be drunk at the time.

“Are you defending him because you’re hot for him?”

Her hands turned to fists. “Excuse me?”

Shane stood, nearly towering over her from the other side of the counter. “I didn’t think you went for guys like him, but ten years can change a person, right? Admit it. You like him.”

“Like him?” She huffed. “We’re not in high school anymore, Shane. Real adults don’t talk like that.”

He took a step closer, his shadow falling across her. “Just tell me the truth. Is the only reason you stayed with your pack because you had the hots for Gage and didn’t want to leave?”