The Forbidden Alpha

Ethan

I could practically see the smoke billowing from her nose. I had my reasons for choosing them both. By the time I noticed they were equals in strength, I’d already decided together they would keep her safe. If I’d chosen one as her guard, he would have only been able to be by her side half of the day. By choosing two, I succeeded in protecting her 24/7. I stand by my decision, if anything, I want a third guard. With three guards, they would be able to rotate and it would ensure they’d have a chance to rest in between shifts.

The silence on the way to the packhouse told me exactly what she was thinking. I saw her as my equal but with that asshole on the loose, I wasn’t going to leave her on her own. I needed her safe and I needed her protected when I was working away from home. When it came to her safety, I would do whatever it took, even if it caused a fight between us.

“Mate will understand,” Elijah said.

She still hadn’t spoken a word by the time we walked through the lobby. I wanted to ask her what she thought of the results but I knew she would speak to me when she was ready. Even Korra was giving Elijah the silent treatment. I’m a man, I’m an alpha but this woman who barely reached my chest had me wrapped around her tiny little fingers.

“Easy for you to say. You don’t care about her opinion. Does she look like she understands?” I asked. We both looked at her through the same eyes and yet only I saw how she felt. I couldn’t help but sigh.

“You can keep telling yourself I’m the bad guy but we both know who the real bad guy is. I do care about her opinion and her feelings but her safety is more important,” Elijah said. “You should feel the same.”

“The way she feels about me is important,” I said. Elijah snarled.

“Her feelings are irrelevant if she’s dead,” Elijah growled. “We don’t know where that piece of shit is and we shouldn’t take her dreams lightly. We haven’t been able to pick up his location and we haven’t made any progress on finding any clues from when he took Olivia.”

I didn’t respond to that. I wasn’t blind. I knew our efforts to track Shane had come up empty-handed. If it were up to Elijah, he would keep her locked up and guarded. He thought one way and had very little room to budge. We both loved her but we loved her in different ways. I knew he was right up to a point and that’s how I felt about the guards.

My mate walked through our door without a word; without a glance my way. I took a step in through the door and watched as she made her way to the table. I stayed by the door, leaning back against the closed door. I watched her ass as she walked away. She turned to face me and when I dragged my eyes up she had a scowl on her face. She had a wrinkle on her nose and a frown pulling down on both sides of her lips. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest. She was angry but Goddess she was the sexiest woman I’d ever seen. She sighed in frustration.

“I’m trying not to go psycho on you,” Adea said, her voice low and evenly paced. She was very close to losing her shit. I fought the automatic need to laugh. She was cute when she was angry.

“Why would you go “psycho” on me?” I asked. She pursed her lips and her eyes glowered. I knew I needed to be careful with what I said next. While I waited for the right words, I made my way over to her.

“In all honesty, I know you’re not happy with me,” I said. I leaned out with my right hand and tugged on her elbow.

“Nice to know you can admit when you’re wrong,” she said. She ignored my attempt at playing cute. “We agreed to a guard.”

Well.

“She’s got you there,” Elijah said.

“Yeah, I got that,” I grumbled to him.

“A guard, meaning one, not two,” she hissed. I released a long breath as she remained in place. I don’t want to fight. Tomorrow, she was finally going to be mine; completely.

“I don’t want to fight, My Queen,” I murmured as I wrapped my arms around her waist.

“I’m not some damsel in distress, Ethan,” she said.

“And I’m not Prince Charming,” I said. I pulled her flush against my chest, and despite her glare, I felt her body relax against me. She was soft where I was hard and Goddess, I’ve never loved someone as fiercely as I do her. I pressed a kiss to her forehead and she let out a breath.

“Guess there’s nothing I can do about it right now, is there?” She said with a sigh. I chuckled and flashed her one of my brightest smiles. She rolled her eyes at me and my palm twitched. “That may be true but I want you to know I’m not happy about it.”

“I know,” I murmured. I don’t deserve her but it was too late. She was mine and after tomorrow; every pack would know she was mine.

“Do you?” She asked, irritation lacing her voice.

“Yes,” I said as a smile tugged at the corner of my lip.

“And does that matter to you?” She asked quietly.

“Despite knowing that it’s better this way, yes, it does matter to me,” I said in a low voice. She was quiet for a few moments.

“Good,” she said. She reached up and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. She leaned forward onto the tips of her toes and I leaned down.. Our lips crashed together, my tongue darted forward, and she sighed granting me access.