Page 34 of Sawyer

Did I just say skedaddle? Embarrassment floods through me.

The alpha just stands there, still smiling down at me as though I’m the most amusing creature he’s ever met in his entire life. I’ve never met an alpha with perfect features, but he has them. Sure, most would say the fates created alphas as sex symbols for all designations, but Tomi ruined that for me.

This man though? He’s beautiful. His dark hair sweeps across his head in gentle waves I want to mess up, and his blue eyes peer down at me with a hint of storminess that reminds me of a hurricane. His nose is slightly crooked, making me wonder who would ever dare to distort a perfect face, and his pouty, kissable lips smirk at me in amusement at my perusal.

The most important aspect is the fact that he doesn’t have a single bond mark. No bites from other alphas, not a single one. This might not mean much, but bonded packs love to mark each other.

A lot.

“Perfection.” Mortification rushes through me so fast that I would have fallen over if he wasn’t holding me up.

“Hello, Sawyer,” he says. Damn me, but even his voice sounds like chocolate.

“Hello,” I reply like a fool before my brain catches up and throws a red flag. “Wait, how do you know my name?”

“You are a reporter,” he murmurs. “The newspaper splashed your face everywhere. I’m also pretty sure I saw you smiling at me from the side of a transit bus.”

“Oh.” How could I forget that?

He doesn’t let go as he asks, “Are you leaving?”

“Oh, yes.” I brighten and wonder when I reverted to acting like a starstruck, lovesick fool. “So I’ll just be going,” I say hopefully, because he’s still holding me.

“See,” he begins, and his voice and entire presence is so damn kind that I almost miss what he says next, “I’d let you go, but you smell like Sin.”

My face falls when I realize I don’t think he’s saying I smell like sin but Sin.

“So, here’s the thing,” I start and watch as amusement transforms his face into something impossibly beautiful, which isn’t fair. Alphas should not be so damn attractive. “I was working on a story, and this big bear came along.”

“Where were you that had bears?” His brows furrow just a fraction.

“Oak Mountains,” I reply, because bears are in the Oak Mountains. At least, I’m pretty sure they are. Damn, I should have said wolf, because that is far more believable. “And there I was, searching for my next story.”

“In a forest?” he asks disbelievingly, as he should, because I could have gone with any other story or at least something more believable, like an oil spill.

“Yes, there were reports of fairy lights.”

“Fairy lights?”

I’m losing him. “See, that’s what I said. No one ever believes in fairy tales anymore.” I snort. “Can you imagine?”

“I happen to love fairy tales.” He lifts one dark brow. “And stories about superheroes.”

“Okay, Superman.” Abort, abort. “Well, I mean, witnesses said there were fairy lights. Whether or not I believe that is not the point here.”

“And what is the point?”

“The bear, keep up.” I roll my eyes at him. “Anyway, there I was, searching for fairy lights.”

“Alone?” This seems to bother him.

“Yes,” I reply.

He grunts and purses his lips in disapproval. Fates save me from protective alphas. “Carry on.”

“As I was saying, there I was, and I hear this roar, and I get so scared, I fall down and twist my ankle. Luckily for me, Sin scared the wolf off.”

“I thought you said bear.”

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