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

She has to be wrong.

Right?

*** **

It’s a soft groan of pain that wakes me up. For a moment, I stare at the ceiling in the dark room, dazed.

And then I hear it again. This time, I feel more alert. I know where I am. I’m in Sophia’s bedroom. She’s not here.

The sound of a heavy thud from the other side of the door has me rising from the bed.

I try to jump to my feet, but I fall back on the pillows. The pain is less, but it’s still there. Grabbing the edge of the bed, I push myself up to a standing position, my wolf growing anxious.

What is going on?

Sophia?!

I can hear her cursing softly, and then I catch the faintest scent of blood.

Sophia’s blood.

Alarm and fear hit me like a punch in the gut, and I throw open the bedroom door with renewed strength. My eyes widen in shock when I see her collapsed against the wall, her breathing uneven, her eyes glazed over in pain.

Chapter 17

Alex Stone

My wolf howls in fury at the sight of her. She has a large black eye, and there are bruises around her mouth and on her cheek.

“Sophia!”

I cover the distance between us, but she lets out a growl, lifting her hand, her voice rough. “I don’t need your help.”

Her breathing is shallow as she struggles to get to her feet. I grab her arm to support her; she pushes me away.

“I said I don’t need your help!” she snarls at me.

Pride. And anger.

There is a wealth of both emotions simmering behind her eyes.

Does she expect me to walk away? Turn a blind eye to her condition?

This time when I seize her hand, my grip is forceful. “You’re in no position to argue right now!”

She shoots me a hateful look, and my wolf freezes at the sight. Why? Why is she so mad at me? Why is she looking at me as if she considers me the very scum of the Earth?

I help her into the bedroom, ignoring the very precise curse words she’s aiming at me.

I can still feel the rawness inside my own abdomen, but I pay no attention to it. From the way Sophia is hobbling, her injuries may very well be located on other parts of her body in addition to what I can see.

“Do you have a first aid kit?”

“I don’t need—”

“I know,” I say impatiently. “You don’t need anybody’s help, especially mine. But you’re going to get it, so either you tell me where your first aid kit is or I go digging around your entire apartment till I find one. It’s your choice.”

From the look on her face, she would like nothing better than to give me a black eye to match her own.