Page 15 of Claimed By the Alpha Wolves

He looks skeptical. “You didn’t see his face while he had his hand around your throat?”

I swallow thickly, avoiding his gaze, and he drops his voice down even lower. “Listen, I don’t know you, but I can promise you that by protecting this asshole, you’re only putting other omegas at risk.”

The thing is, he’s right, but even so, I must have some desire to continue breathing because I don’t want to share his name. Sharing his name may help others avoid him, in case he decides to kill again, but it’ll do a hell of a lot of harm to me. Not that I can say that to this alpha. He’d never understand.

I squeeze my eyes shut, taking a deep breath and shaking my head again. “I’m sorry,” I say, the words coming out with a sob. “I don’t know who it was.”

After a long pause, he says, “Alright. You don’t know who it is.” There’s a reluctant acceptance in his voice, but at least there’s acceptance. “What are you doing out of the ballroom, then?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” It’s bold, and I surprise myself by saying it.

There’s a moment of silence before he laughs. “If I’m being honest, I’m not really in the market for an omega, and going into the ballroom just to be accosted by a bunch of girls I won’t remember by the morning doesn’t sound like my kind of night.”

“Well,” I say, feeling myself calming at the sound of his gentle voice, “I’m not exactly in the market for an alpha, either.”

He meets my eyes, and I suck in a breath. It almost feels like our faces are getting closer, like the inches between us are shrinking as we look at one another. Which can’t at all be possible. Neither of us has moved.

“That’s a surprise,” he says quietly.

It shouldn’t be. If he doesn’t want an omega, it should stand to reason there are omegas that don’t want alphas. But then, I guess alphas don’t need omegas to be safe. When we go into heat, we’ll draw any shifters that might scent us, which has ended in some pretty bad ways for omegas.

“Why does that surprise you?” I ask.

He leans in closer and my heart races. But to my surprise, I don’t pull away, I just watch him. This strange alpha who radiates safety and calmness, who seems to want to be a protector rather than a villain.

“Excuse me!” someone says, and I jump away from the alpha, heart racing.

He turns and looks at a servant coming down the hallway. The man is old and has a scowl on his face.A beta.“You’re not supposed to be out here! All omegas are to stay in the ballroom.”

“Oh, I—” I start, but the alpha speaks over me, holding his hand up to the servant.

“She’s with me.”

“Sir,” the servant says, dropping his voice, “even if an omega is with you, they still should?—”

“She is with me.”

I cover my mouth as the servant stutters for a moment, before cowering and turning away. The alpha doesn’t even seem to notice my surprise. For once, it seems like it might be a good thing to have an alpha around, if they’ll get people to leave me alone. Which is a strange notion. I never thought I’d wantanyalpha around.

“Come on,” he says, getting to his feet with a long breath. “I’ll take you to your room.”

I stand and he holds his arm out for me to take, very gentlemanly. Slipping my hand onto his arm, we walk together in silence, and it feels nice. Like there’s a quiet understanding between two shifters who both prefer to be on their own.

“Which way?” he asks.

I point.

He switches our direction. “Going forward, it may be safer to stay with the other omegas. There’s safety within the pack.”

“I would if I knew it would keep me away from the alphas. Unfortunately, the alphas are going to be spending this time sniffing around the omegas…”

He smiles, and his smile is devastating. “Is that how you see it?”

I nod. “Wolves and sheep.”

“Omegas are hardly sheep,” he says, pausing at an intersection until I point again.

We head up the stairs and toward my room, me stopping him at the correct floor. His steps are slow and measured, as if he’s keeping in mind my much smaller height. But he’s probably not. That’s not an alpha thing to do.

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