The Alpha’s Fated Choice (Alpha's Fated Encounter Trilogy #1)

“I’m sure you’ll find somebody else in your next life. I want to be a shark.”

It’s a silly, hypothetical situation, but it still has me feeling miserable. Even in my imagination, I don’t want to risk my heart again.

“I don’t think I’ll find anybody quite like you,” Alex murmurs, his voice thick with emotion.

Why is he doing this? Why is he making this so hard for me?

I wrap my arms tighter around my knees. “I don’t want to meet you in my next life, Alex. I already regret meeting you in this one.”

My words are harsh, but he doesn’t understand the agony blazing inside me. Rejection. From every corner, I keep facing rejection. One day, I’m sure my heart will crumble to dust or simply explode from all this pain.

“I guess I deserve that.”

I hate the loneliness I hear in his voice. And the hurt. I don’t like that I put it there.

“So, what’s going to happen to Nathan now?” I ask, desperate to change the subject.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Alex replies. His voice is heavy. “I always knew he had a temper, but for him to explode like that is unprecedented. When he found out you and I slept together, he didn’t say a word. I should have noticed that, when everybody else was giving their two cents, it was odd that he was silent. It never occurred to me that he would go after you, try to get you out of the picture altogether.”

“He mentioned his sister.”

Alex runs his fingers through his hair, his expression tired. “Nathan’s sister, Lexie, was just born a year ago. His parents had been away on a mission during the massacre, so they’d survived unscathed. When they returned years later with their new baby, they resisted giving Lexie to the nursery. And they were executed for it. Lexie is all Nathan has left. I was never going to bring him on this mission, but he insisted.”

Suddenly, I find myself sympathizing with the boy—no matter how he acts or dresses, he can’t be more than eighteen years old. “You should go easy on him. It’s not like he actually managed to hurt me or anything.”

A cold note touches Alex’s voice. “He would have if I hadn’t stopped him.”

“But he didn’t. You got there in time. And I will watch my back from now on.”

He lets out a bitter laugh. “Right now, it feels like I cannot even trust my own people. You are the single most precious thing in my life, and they want to take you away from me.”

His words stun me. What did he just say?

I sneak a look at him, and he’s watching me, his gaze unwavering.

“You can’t say things like that to me, Alex. I don’t want you to lie to me.”

“It’s not a lie!” Alex raises his voice, sounding strained and upset. “You are precious to me. I know you dislike me, and I know it’s my own fault for putting you through something you never deserved. I don’t have any right to say these things to you or to feel this way or even to want to touch you. But I do. I would have ripped Nathan apart to save you, Sophia. I fully intended to kill him. If you hadn’t stopped me, he would be dead right now. He owes you his life, and he understands that now.”

“You should go back.” I want Alex away from me. I don’t want to think about his words and what they make me feel. I don’t want to yearn for him. However, instead of leaving as I asked, Alex wraps his arm around me and pulls me to his side.

“For a little while, let’s pretend everything is fine between us.” His voice is hoarse. “Let’s pretend I’m courting you, and we’re happy, and all is well in our world.”

I close my eyes, not fighting him. I want to pretend that I’m happy. That there’s nothing wrong in my world. That I’m not helping my own fated mate look for another female so they can leave me behind.

I want to pretend that I have a mate who adores me and whose presence is a balm on every wound I have ever sustained on my heart.

Silently, I lean against Alex, watching the calm lake.

Pretending.

*** **

By the time I get home, it’s quite late, and my heart feels bruised. Alex and I didn’t share any words, just sitting there on that bench for hours, till the sun finally set. And once it did, our little bubble of contentment burst like Cinderella’s magic at midnight.

I look at the wall clock, belatedly realizing that I had a shift at the bar tonight. My phone died at some point today, and when I plug it in to charge it, I see Elsa’s calls. At least twenty of them.

She is going to kill me tomorrow.