The Secret Alpha King's Defiant Mate

il

the mantelp

ed the tighteni

00

come bac

he kind of polite distance that made a stranger of me

fogged the

f his people. His working hours were never regular.

n't danger. Not the kind of d

headlights cut t

s felt weak. His old Ford pickup, rattling

iliar, stoic set of his jaw, the cool distance in his ice-

ht-a giant of a man, built of solid muscle and quiet intensity. But something was w

d still on

porch. The door p

ell hi

d of alcohol and pine from his usual scent. But undernea

n's pe

th relief dropped like a stone into t

. Those ice-blue eyes, clouded and distant, stared at nothing. A shoulder b

c. Feet moving without

ard. The glass clinked against another, the sound

" Barely

hand placed on his

ath my finger

adiated, a stark contrast to the cool, controlled man I

e turned

med closer, shadow swallowing me whole. Hot breath, reeking of whiskey, brushed against my

e, even if the answer w

king?" Voice trembling n

ans

ked through a thin sweater. A hand planted on the door next to my head, ca

dropped t

f its prey. Completely still now. Breath caught in aching lungs. Mi

sound vibrating through my very bo

polite, remote, emotions locked behind a wall of ice. This man wa

against his chest-a feeb

t, pulling me flush against him. Like

lcohol and something much more dangerous. Two words ag

in

r ran through every inch, starting from the deepest part of the soul. A feeling the w

mapping skin with brutal urgency. The spot was what he hunted. Just above the

t. The mark. The irreversible, soul-deep

clo

traitorous half-leaning into him, waiting. Waiting

the sting

never

vier. The movements stilled. A deep, sh

ened, c

breathing suddenly even and deep. T

s...

replaced by a bewildering sense of anticlimax. Emotions swinging

sh attempte

muscle and bone. A mountai

ght, letting him lean more heavily against the

de of his face. The handsome features were relaxed in sleep, but t

verything. Not just fear, not just anger about the p

sigh. No mor

of this broken, beautiful, out-of-control Alpha, and wondering what in