Page 69 of Alpha Exile

Once he's slipped out, I pace around to face Roarke, staring up into his blank expression. The gag is slack around his neck, so I untie it and set it aside. Then I stare down at his hands, and after a long moment, I untie the restraints there as well.

"I'm a hybrid with four werewolf mates under this roof," I murmur, rubbing my fingers along the red skin of his wrists. "There's not much you could do to me if you tried."

Taking a deep breath, I flip my phone screen towards his face, scrolling through various old photos taken years ago.

"This one is when you, me, and K went cliff diving up in the mountain range. Dad was so pissed—he said the water wasn't deep enough.

"This is you on your birthday. I think you were ten? My mom... Laura," I swallow at the reminder of the mother who wasn't truly mine, "she made you a cake out of the box and put little plastic dinosaurs on it, since she knew your family never bothered to do anything like that for you.

"We went to Halloween this one year in the human part of town. You dared me to wear—"

Suddenly he's moving. I'm barely able to glance up into his eyes before he's on me, his fingers digging into my waist, his breathing heavy. His lips peel back from his teeth, and I scramble for the knife at my hip, heart slamming into my chest.

But instead of attacking me, he crushes my body against his naked front and kisses me deeply.

His mouth is soft, all tongue and lips against mine, no sign of the fangs he kissed me with earlier. Something else from last time is present, though—as he presses his hips against me, I can't deny that he's hard, the length of his arousal sliding against my hip.

And his fingers are rough as they jerk my clothes off then reach for my breasts, tweaking my nipples. I gasp, thighs instinctively parting, and the belt around my hips jostles enough that my shorts slide down a few inches. Roarke's hand shoves itself beneath the fabric, reaching towards my warmth—

"Get the fuck off her!"

Suddenly Kieran is there, tearing Roarke away from me and hurtling him across the bathroom. He slams the door shut, shouting, "I've got this taken care of!"

Then he prowls across the tile towards Roarke, who has recovered from being thrown and is standing upright, staring at Kieran. His brows are drawn together, his blue eyes settling on Kieran with—with a look of recognition.

I gasp, watching Roarke sway on his feet as Kieran grabs his shoulders and snarls at him. "Stop! Just—stop it for a second."

Kieran glances over at me, face questioning, and I reach out for the mate bond.

The feeling of five of them flaring to life is so bright and perfect that tears come to my eyes. Approaching Roarke, I look up into his face and whisper, "Can you feel me?"

When I reach out to touch his cheek, though, he growls, pushing away from Kieran.

"Let him," I tell K, pushing his hands off Roarke's shoulders. "He wasn't hurting me. I wanted it."

"I could feel your distress," Kieran objects, though he steps back, looking Roarke up and down with a pained expression on his face. "This isn't him."

"I can feel him, though. And I can feel the bond."

It isn't the same as it was before. I can tell that now that I'm paying attention. The bright thread that connects me to Roarke is thin, wobbly, and barely strong enough to feel. I'm not even sure that it's his emotions I can sense through the bond—but I know the physical arousal is all his, that the desire for me is some part of him struggling to break free, because the angry spirit within him doesn't feel anything but rage.

"Feeling him isn't the same as him beingokay.He's not... himself." Kieran blows out a frustrated breath. "Look at him. Listen to him. He's—he's growling with every breath he takes."

He is. As I watch, his nostrils flare, his eyes roaming back and forth restlessly. Then he breathes out, chest shuddering, and a rumble leaves his chest.

The more I look at him, the more I see.

"Turn the light off," I tell Kieran, ignoring the puzzled look he shoots my way. "There are threads. I want to see them better."

He obeys me, pacing over to flick off the light.

A moment later I hear Finn's voice in the hallway. "Are the three of you okay?"

"We are!" I shout back. "I want to try something. I think it might help Roarke."

"Okay, well... I'll be out here if you need any help," he calls back. "We all are." A moment later he adds, "Not that I want to wash Roarke's ass for him. I mean, it's quite a nice ass, but—"

I hear Lance growl, "Shut. Up."

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