“Screw you.” I jerk my head away from him before opening the passenger side door, grabbing my bag and heading for the front door of his house. I glance over my shoulder to see him staring after me, not having gotten out of the truck yet himself.

Like always, the front door is unlocked, and I walk through. The alpha’s house is always open, and it’s not like Stone needs security. He is the security.

I go straight for the upstairs bathroom with one goal in mind. A very hot shower. Hopefully, the sound of the shower will muffle the tears that are going to break free. Just a moment longer, I plead with myself.

Once I’m safely inside, I lock the bathroom door and turn the shower knobs, quickly ridding myself of my clothes. Once that’s done, I get in and let the water wash over me. The warm water makes my muscles relax, and the tears flow down my cheeks, mixing with the water. I’m not even sure why I’m crying.

Maybe it was the hurtful words my stepsisters threw at me when I first walked in the door.

It is strange for a shifter not to be with their mate when they find one another. It gave them lots of ammo, and they threw things like, “even your mate doesn’t want you,” and, “you’ll never be what the alpha needs,” at me.

Those words, combined with Stone having let me leave so easily this evening and his agreeing that he hated when I used to crawl into bed with him, cause all my repressed emotions to break free. I stand under the spray until the water runs cold. When I can’t stand the chill anymore, I finally wash my body before making myself get out.

I take my time, even going as far as to blow dry my hair. After there is absolutely nothing else I can possibly do in the bathroom, I open the door and poke my head out. When I see the coast is clear, I tiptoe to the guest room, locking the door before slipping under the covers. I’m not sure why I bother being quiet. I have no doubt he’s heard every move I’ve made.

After thirty minutes of silence, I roll to my side. Maybe he’s going to let me be alone tonight.

No sooner have I started to doze off than I feel a warm body against me. Stone wraps his arms around me, pulling me close. Once again, my body melts into him. I move a little, and I can feel his legs are bare as they tangle with mine.

“I thought you’d sneak into my room. It would be so different this time, and I could finally know.” His deep voice is quiet in the dark, but his breath is hot against my neck.

It’s almost laughable how the tables have turned. Him slipping into my bed, pulling me from the very home he once left me at. I’d begged him in that same driveway not to leave me.

“You told me not hours ago you hated it when I did that,” I bite out. “And what could you finally know?” Half of what he’s saying doesn’t even make sense to me. What could he finally know?

I feel his teeth graze my neck and latch on to where he bit me before. I have to fight not to moan and beg him to do it again. I want to plead with him to sink so deeply, I’ll never be free of him

“Don’t.” I try to growl the word, but the bear that seems to be making herself known a little more lately is not helping. Before I can finish the word, we’ve flipped, and I find myself straddling Stone’s hips as he lies beneath me. My hands fall to his chest to support myself, and my nails dig into the solid muscle there. His hands slide up my bare hips, his fingers digging in. It’s a hold I know I couldn’t break, but it isn’t so hard that it hurts me. It’s dark, but with our shifter eyes, we can see just fine, and I know he sees me naked on top of him.

“I’m an alpha, Winnie.” His eyes lock with mine, the blue seeming even darker with only the moonlight flooding in through the window to illuminate them. “I’ll give you all the control I can. In time, I think I’ll make you happy because I have the need to do that. I want to make you happy and give you everything you could ever want. But not when it comes to your safety. Nor will I allow you to pull away from me.”

It’s then I understand why he put us in this position. He’s showing me I can do with him what I want, but he won’t be letting me go.

“You don’t really want me. You’ve always pushed me away. Even…”

He sits up, his naked chest pressing against my bare breasts. My legs extend, wrapping around his waist, and I feel him, skin to skin.

We’re just a breath from each other, and then he closes the distance. His mouth covers mine, devouring my lips, and he kisses me like he’s been starved for my mouth. He dominates me, taking and demanding. His hard cock moves and rubs against my wet folds.

“Does that feel like I don’t want you? That I want to push you away?”

I feel his cock jerk against my pussy. Pushing against me and seeking entry.

“That’s just it. Now that you don’t have a choice…” I close my eyes because I can’t even finish the sentence. This is it, truth time.

I feel his big hands cup my face, making me open my eyes.

“I hated when you crawled into my bed because it made me want something I thought I couldn’t have.”

His thumb rubs along my jaw, but I just stare at him in confusion.

“I’ve meet a lot of alphas and their mates.” He pauses, leaning forward, his nose brushing mine, before pulling back. A soft smile pulls at his lips. “All the alphas I’ve met were mated to alpha females. Nothing like you.”

I can’t stop myself from flinching. The words cause me pain, and they cut me. Stone must feel it because a growl leaves his chest.

“I didn’t want that,” he says, his voice deep and strong.

“A mate who matched you?” Every alpha male I’ve met has been paired with an alpha female. That’s why I didn’t understand our mating and how it could happen.

“That doesn’t sound like me. Not much of a match.” He leans forward, doing the nose rub again. This time it tickles a little, and a small giggle spills from my lips.

“See? That’s what I want. I want you, and every time you got close to me, it was like a bitter reminder of what I’d never have. I wanted it. Wanted you from the very beginning. I also knew it was wrong to long for one who wasn’t my mate. Here I was, spending my nights dreaming about you. Falling asleep with you. Checking in on you.” He leans in, his lips a breath from mine “Doing fake house checks when you were at school just so I could sit in your room and smell you while you were gone.”

“You went into my room?” I don’t know why out of all the stuff he said that was the question that popped up first.

“Mainly when I got to the edge. Pack shit got to be too hard, and I needed to be calmed. Yeah.” He shrugs his big shoulders like it’s no big deal. “I’d tell your stepmom it was normal. I was just checking in on you, but I’d just sit. And try to calm down.”

“Did it work?” My words come out as a whisper.

“Every time.”

“Then why were you such a jerk to me all the time?” I pull back, smacking his arm.

“I was never mean to you,” he growls, like I offended him.

“Never mean to me? Really? You randomly text me, bossing me around, all the time. Last month at the fair you said I wasn’t like everyone and embarrassed me in front of the pack.”

“You aren’t like everyone else.” His brows draw together like this is something I should know. “I knew that from the moment I laid eyes on you, and not because you were a bear shifter, Winnie. I don’t know why I knew you were different, I just felt it. Everything about you is soft and sweet and I want it. My wolf wants to just curl around you and soak it in. Relish the comfort. I feel starved of it.”

His hands start to roam my body, sliding down my sides and over my hips.

“Everything I do is for this pack and what I think is best for it. Even when I was pushing you away, I thought it was best for you. I’m starting to think I can’t do anything right. I fucked up with Gwen and now you. I seem to be doing more damage than good.”

My heart breaks for him at the confession because what he’s saying is true. Everything he does is for the pack. Gwen even said today that she’d never seen Stone do anything for himself. I can’t imagine working so hard for something and thinking you’re still not doing it right.

All this time he’s wanted me. Maybe I can be the one to finally give the alpha something of his own.