Page 9 of The Forbidden Alpha

“Princess.”

Shane’s voice didn’t carry; it vibrated through the floorboards. He was standing in the center of the polished wood, silhouetted by the high, barred windows. It was his personal nickname for me. He had changed out of his uniform and now wore a black tactical jacket, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his forearms.

My heart thrashed against my ribs—a frantic, trapped bird facing a viper. As he turned, his gaze didn’t just land on me; it marked me. The heat of his eyes burned as they trailed over me, while dark strands of hair fell over his forehead.

“Thanks for coming,” he murmured, his voice smooth, laced with something as lethal as wolfsbane.

“I didn’t really have a choice,” I croaked, a shred of defiance that we both knew was meaningless. He didn’t walk; he prowled, his shoulders rippling as he closed the distance before I could even think to flee. I took a sharp step back, afraid of tripping his wolf’s hunt drive. My heel caught on the floor, but he was already there. He stopped just out of reach, but his dominance rolled over me in a wave, carrying the sharp, dark scent of cedar and sandalwood.

I lifted my chin to look at him, swallowing hard. The gym was freezing, but the air between us was electric, charged with an energy I didn’t want to put a name to.

“What do you want, Shane? I have to meet Mavy…”

He didn’t answer with words. Instead, he reached out and traced the hollow of my throat with his thumb—a stinging reminder of the smooth, unmarked skin where a mating bond should have been. His dark hair fell forward as he lowered his head, his breath ghosting over my collarbone an instant before he buried his face in the crook of my neck. I gasped, frozen in place. He didn’t just smell me; he ground his jaw against the sensitive skin of my throat, a slow, possessive friction that seized the air in my lungs. My heart broke as my mind screamed. He was scenting me—claiming the space my wolf should have risen to fight him for, marking a territory that didn’t belong to him.

I trembled beneath his touch, but it was his eyes that locked me in place—obsidian looked through me, searching for something I didn’t know if I could give.

My eyes lowered as his lips parted.

“You’re mine, Adea,” he rasped, his voice thick with certainty. He hooked a heavy knee between my thighs, prying them apart before pinning me firmly against the unforgiving stone. “I want you writhing under me, screaming my name.”

My throat dried. He looked at me like I was his. When his lips crashed against mine, it wasn’t a question. It was a violent reminder.

I saw everything. The weight of his hand on my wrist. The distance to the door—too far. He was faster. I was prey. So I went somewhere else instead. Not away—I stayed and witnessed every second of it, but I built a wall of glass between what was happening to my body and the part of me he didn’t get to touch. He didn’t get to have me.

I should have bitten him. I should have clawed at those broad shoulders until I drew the same blood he was stealing from my lips. But my mind was a fractured mess, and my body… my body was a traitor. It didn’t recognize him as a monster; it recognized him as another—and she was lonely. The clench and the way my breath hitched were a homecoming I hadn’t asked for.

I hated him. He pinned my wrists above my head, my shirt rising up as he loomed over me. I hated the way he made me a pig at lunch and a princess in the dark. He only let his darkest desires surface when no one was looking. But as his fingers grazed my thigh, I went rigid as a violent shiver ran down my spine—not from disgust, but from the terrifying way my body leaned into his touch. My mind screamed no, but my skin burned with need.

“You always smell the same, Princess,” he whispered as we broke apart. “Like broken promises and freedom.”

I tried to pull away, but his hand shot out, slamming against the wall behind my head. The sound cracked through the empty gym and rattled the windows. Before I could breathe, his lips crashed against mine again—not a kiss this time, but a rough, desperate claim.

I pushed against his chest, my hands fisted in his shirt, but he let out a low growl that settled into my chest, beating alongside my own heart. He crushed me against the ridged planes of his abs, the unyielding press of his need marking me through the thin fabric of my shirt.

His weight was a crushing force, stealing the oxygen from my lungs until I was lightheaded from more than just his touch.

“Look at me,” he commanded.

I didn’t remember closing my eyes. I forced them open. His gaze was consumed by gold that burned with intensity. His beast surged to the surface, scratching at the door, demanding. This was my first time being face to face with the beast beneath his skin. I needed to tread carefully.

“You were so eager to be seen by the creek,” he rasped, his voice a dark caress that made my skin crawl. “If you’re that desperate for an audience, I’ll give you that. But this time, everyone will know who owns you.”

My heart plummeted.

“Let me escort you to the Festival,” he murmured against my lips, his other hand sliding beneath the hem of my skirt. His skin was fire against my ice.

“I’m going with Mavy,” I gasped, struggling against his grip. “I won’t be your trophy, Shane.”

His grip tightened, his fingers bruising my wrists. “You’ll be whatever I tell you to be. Agree, and I’ll stop.”

His hand moved higher, his fingers ghosting over my panties. The betrayal of my body was the true horror; I felt the heat blooming between my thighs, the clench of a core that wanted to please her alpha, even as my soul recoiled in disgust.

“Okay!” I choked out. The word tasted of something I couldn’t take back.

“Okay. I’ll go. Just… stop.”

He stilled.