Page 2 of Cruel Alpha

He seemed genuine, and because things couldn’t get much weirder, I nodded.

“I guess I could drop by for an hour.”

I had never regretted anything more. The air in the room was thick with musk and the sweet tang of alcohol. A few freshly mated pairs had snuck off into corners and were attached at the mouth, hands wandering—a few unmated pairs, too. No one had spoken to me all evening, which I realized was a blessing as Melanie Simons caught sight of me. In her heels, she was almost a head taller than me, blonde and slim in a golden crop top that showed off her toned belly.

“Wow, I love your dress,” she said, smiling wide and insincere. It was the kind of compliment that sounded sweet but was laced with poison. “It’s, like, sobraveof you to wear that style.”

And there it was.

“Thanks,” I said through gritted teeth, wishing that the ground would swallow me up. I wished that I had thought to bring a hoodie or a flannel orsomethingto cover myself with; the heat of the summer night had made me think I wouldn’t need one when I left the house, forgetting that nothing was colder than my classmates’ cruelty. Melanie helped herself to some more punch from the bowl on the table next to me and gave me a cutesy little wave as she went to rejoin her friends.

I should just go. Despite his insistence that I attend, Caleb had ignored me since I’d arrived. It had been stupid of me to think that he might have grown up a little on his year away. I’d spent an hour on my makeup and worn thisstupiddress for what? For the hope that a guy who had been nothing but an asshole the entire time I’d known him might finally pull his head out of his ass and realize we were meant to be? Yeah, I was leaving.

I chugged the rest of my punch with a wince and abruptly realized that I needed to pee. It was almost an hour’s walk from Caleb’s fancy house in the center of town to the modest cottage my family occupied on the outskirts, and I wasn’t going to walk it with a full bladder. Putting my empty cup down on the table, I left my sad little spot in search of the bathroom. I had never been in the Thornes’ house before, and the place was huge. Caleb must have invited the entire senior class, as well as everyone who’d graduated alongside him last year, because the ground floor was packed. I was never going to find a bathroom down here, so I made for the stairs.

It took a few tries before I found the right door—why a family of four needed so many bedrooms, I would never know—but eventually, I was able to relieve myself. Taking one last look at my sorry excuse for a party outfit in the mirror above the sink, I reminded myself that all I had to do now was make it through the throng and out the front door.

If only it had been so simple. When I opened the bathroom door, there was Caleb lounging against a wall like he owned the place—which, I suppose, he did.

“I was looking for you,” he said, and I rolled my eyes.

“No, you weren’t. I’ve been here for an hour and you’ve barely looked in my direction. I’m going home.”

“Don’t.” For a second, the arrogant, affected tone of his voice dropped, and he really sounded as though he wanted me to stay. A second later, I thought I must have imagined it, because he smirked as he continued, “I didn’t even get a chance to admire that dress on you.”

“Shut up,” I muttered, even as my cheeks flushed pink. I could take the teasing from everyone but him; he was mymate,the one person who was supposed to love me, or at leastdesireme, no matter what.

“What? What did I say?” He looked genuinely confused. “You just—you look good.” He looked suddenly lost, like the boy he was, not the man he pretended to be. He looked like a boy giving a compliment to a pretty girl, nervous and a little bashful.

“Oh,” I said, feeling the flush move down to my chest. His eyes followed it. “Thanks.”

“Do you wanna see the photos from my trip?”

The change of subject was sudden, and I should have said no. I should have gone back downstairs and out the door. I didn’t. I didn’t, because I’d dreamed of leaving Lapine since I first understood what an outcast was. I didn’t, because, after a year of distance, I was out of practice resisting the pull between Caleb and me; my wolf might want him, but I sure as shit didn’t, and the feeling was more than mutual.

I nodded, hating the warmth that burst to life in my stomach as he smiled—really smiled, no hint of that practiced smirk—allowing him to lead me down the hallway to his room. Inside, it was not what I had expected; not a dirty shirt or a crusty sock in sight, just clean white walls and a bed made with military precision. There were a few books on a shelf and a desk in the corner, and I wouldn’t have thought anyone reallylivedhere without the single corkboard covered with photographs hanging on the far wall.

Caleb said nothing as I walked up to it, examining each image with a hunger I didn’t even try to hide. Some were landscapes depicting unfamiliar mountains, forests, and beaches. Others were portraits of people at work, doing tasks that no one on Lapine had ever done; mining and farming and smithing, using what their island gave them in the same way that Lapine used our sprawling quarries. The last category of images was more intimate: pictures of Caleb with his arm around other guys his age, guys I didn’t recognize but who must be the heirs of other Packs.

“Who is this?” I asked, pointing to a picture of Caleb arm-wrestling a shifter with deep red hair and a wide smile.

“That’s Leo,” he said with a smile of his own, “he’s already Alpha over at Argent.”

“Wow.” Leo looked so boyish and carefree, but I knew he must be anything but.

“Yeah. Ethan, too.” The second guy he pointed out looked the part, all serious and brooding, even posing for a photograph. Though we’d never met, I recognized him from several visits that the Ferris Alpha had paid to Lapine. As our closest allies, it made sense that Caleb and Ethan would be friends. “He’s kind of like a big brother to me,” Caleb admitted.

Caleb pointed out several other Alpha Heirs, but their names all blurred together as he talked about his time away from Lapine. He seemed free and unguarded for the first time since I’d known him, and it was a good look on him. The bond between us—always present, if not always acknowledged—felt light and warm in a way it never had before. He must have felt it, too, because he turned back to me suddenly.

“It was good to get away from Lapine,” he said. He was looking at me very intently, and I could think of nothing to say except, “I bet.”

“I missed you, though,” he said, and my heart—the traitor—skipped a beat.

“You did not.”

“I did,” he reached out to take my hand, and I gasped at the electricity of his skin on mine. It was such a simple touch, but the thrill of it went all the way through me, the bond demanding more. “Alyssa, I—not seeing you every day was driving me crazy.”

“Who are you, and what have you done with Caleb?” I tried to joke, but my voice came out breathy and too high. He frowned.

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