Page 26 of Brutal Alpha

My wolf didn’t like that statement. He was still trying to drag me back to Julia’s sickbed, desperate to lick her wounds. I ignored him. He needed to get over it.

“Sure,” said Leo. Then, as if he was commenting on the weather: “If you hadn’t slept together at the Solstice, I might believe you.”

I could try to deny it, but the expression on Leo’s face told me that any attempt would be futile. He didn’t look like he was about to chew me out for it—quite the opposite.

“You’re not supposed to know that,” I sighed, resigned.

“Her scent was all over you when you came back from the fire, buddy,” he said, smug. “It wasn’t subtle. Guess that apology went well.”

“Until it didn’t.”

Leo frowned.

“What happened? We woke up in the morning and you guys were gone. We thought you’d just headed back to Lapine early.”

I hesitated. Julia would be mortified to know that I’d told someone about her theory, but it was only the truth.

“After we—after we slept together, she said we were mates. I told her that it was just—that we’d just been caught up in the moment. We fought about it,” I admitted. I’d expected him to be incredulous, but he only looked evenly back at me, curious and calm.

“You don’t think you’re mates?”

“We can’t be.” Why did no one understand this simple fact of biology? I was sick of explaining it. “The bond kicks in at first touch after you’re both of shifting age. It’s been five years—six, maybe—since Julia’s first shift. We’ve touched plenty since then.”

Leo only waggled his eyebrows at me, like a child.

“Oh really?”

“Shut up. Not like that.”

“I’m just messing with you. Did she say why she thinks youaremates?”

“It was—I mean, it was pretty intense.” That was putting it mildly, but Leo didn’t need to know that. He was a romantic. He’d get the wrong idea. “I did feel… drawn to her, I guess. But why wouldn’t I be? She might be a pain in my ass, but she’s still—”

“A knockout, sure,” Leo finished for me, and my wolf’s attention was suddenly all on him, his fur bristling, a low growl building in my chest. It was a stupid reaction. Julia was a beautiful woman, and people were going to notice that. Other males were going to notice that.

Unfortunately, Julia’s beauty wasn’t all that Leo had noticed. He’d also noticed the sudden tension in my jaw, the visible effort it took me to keep my wolf in check.

“Interesting,” he said. “Well, nice chatting with you. I’m gonna go check out how she’s doing, see if she needs anything. A drink, some painkillers, another one of my shirts.”

This time, the growl was in my throat and vibrating through my teeth before I could hold it back. Leo didn’t dignify it with a growl of his own; he only smiled.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought.”

“You’re delusional,” I snapped. Leo knew as well as anyone that mine and Julia’s relationship had been strained for years. Why he thought we could ever be fated mates was beyond me.

“I’m just saying,” Leo continued, “that the last time one of my friends turned up on my island out of the blue, running from Arbor hunters with a woman in tow, he didn’t really like having me close to her either. This expression right here?” He waved his finger in an irritating circle in front of my face. “It’s the same expression that was on Cal’s face when Alyssa first smiled at me.”

I slapped his hand away.

“That’s different. She’s my best friend’s little sister. I’m protective of her.”

“And you think she needs protecting from me?” He slapped a hand against his chest in mock offense, but his green eyes did not leave mine, demanding an answer.

“No,” I admitted through gritted teeth.

Leo, the bastard, said nothing. He left that response hanging in the air between us, as if he’d just presented the court with damning evidence of my guilt.

“Look—” I began, but I was allowed no more time for my defense because one of Leo’s Betas was bursting through the front door.

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