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

I stay where I am, but I want to go back to bed. I don’t want to face the world today. My bed would be the most comfortable space for me at the moment—and the safest.

When I hear a soft thud in front of me, I lift my head and see a piping hot cup of coffee on the coffee table.

Elsa sits down on the three-seater couch adjacent to my chair, her own cup in her hand.

“Drink,” she orders.

Can she really tell me what to do in my own apartment? I wonder hazily. I’m not stupid enough to ask that, though; I don’t want to get my ass handed to me.

I sip the coffee, and the hot liquid wakes me up a little bit more.

My eyes remain focused on the coffee table. I’m not ready to initiate a conversation just yet. It seems that Elsa is of the same mind.

We drink in silence for a couple of minutes. Then I hear her put her cup down, and I know she’s looking at me. Warily, I set down my own cup and meet her gaze. “So, why are you here?”

“I went to the bar early this morning.” Elsa is wearing an uneasy expression. “I was going through the security footage from yesterday when I saw something from last night.”

I freeze.

She must’ve seen the panic on my face because she immediately says, “I just want to know if you’re okay.”

“Okay?” The word sounds funny on my tongue as I deflate. “I don’t think I’ve been okay for the last couple of weeks.”

Not since I first laid eyes on Alex Stone.

Elsa’s tone is serious. “Is that man harassing you?”

I shake my head. “I wouldn’t call it harassment per se.”

“Are you sure?” my boss demands. “Because if he is, Sophia, I can ban him from the Dancing Bear.”

“Really?” I study her, not sure if she means it or not. “He and his companions eat a lot, you know. Banning them would mean losing money. And I know how much you like money.”

She lets out a dry chuckle. “That’s one way to put it, but if one of my people is being harassed, I’m not going to sit around and watch it happen.”

I want to say that he is harassing me, but is he really? I just want him to stay away from me, and this would be an ideal way to make that happen. But it’s not as if I’m in the bar around the clock; he’d find other ways of running into me if that’s what he wants to do. I can’t escape this man—not even in the cage fighting arena. And even though I tried to run away the other night, I simply don’t have enough money yet.

“It doesn’t matter what you do,” I tell Elsa. “You can’t get rid of him.”

I run my fingers through my hair wearily.

Elsa leans forward. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on? You’re always on edge around him. It’s not like I haven’t noticed your interactions.”

I could lie to her, but what would be the point?

“Alex Stone is my fated mate,” I admit quietly. At Elsa’s sharp intake of breath, I add, “He doesn’t want me, though. Apparently, I’m not his type. But he also doesn’t seem to want anybody else paying attention to me, so he is hell-bent on making my life miserable. So, that’s what’s been going on.”

Elsa’s face is pale, and I wonder why she looks more worried than I feel.

“Are you—?”

I cut her off. “Yes, I’m sure.”

She gets to her feet and makes as if she’s about to leave, but then she stops and turns to look at me again. “He rejected you?”

“Yes.”

“Then, why did he kiss you?”