Page 35 of Trust No Alpha
“No. But I think maybe I, too, know what it means to be alone. To be misjudged. So I’m offering. It makes sense, too, if you think about it. Hiding in plain sight. No one would think to look for you here.”
He was right, of course. No one would. Thorne’s house would be the last place my family would think I had gone to. A dangerous Alpha.
“I thank you for the offer.” It certainly solved a few of my immediate problems. “Maybe for a couple nights. I left in a hurry. I do need some time to think about my plans.” It was a little intimidating trying to think around him. He was so calm and organized. So confident. For someone labeled dangerous, he sure seemed to have himself under control.
Thorne put his mug to his lips. “That’s fine.”
“I can pay you. I have money.” I could rent his room. But I was still a prisoner. I would not be able to come and go as I pleased. On paper I had no rights. I did not belong to myself. I belonged to my father Varian Vandergale. And if he caught me, he’d bring me home and lock me away again. Or worse, consign me to one of the farms for the rest of my life. This arrangement with Thorne, though I didn’t know him, sounded a million times better.
“I don’t need money,” Thorne said.
“Well, I can help around here, maybe.”
Thorne raised one eyebrow.
“My father can never know I’m here.”
“I understand that.”
“I’m not dangerous. I promise,” I said.
Thorne let out a cool laugh. “Well, that’s one of us.”
My breath caught. But after our little discussion, I felt somewhat bolder than I had been since he’d found me in his shed. “Are you a danger to me?”
“Don’t worry. I take care of myself during my Burns. No harm will come to you.”
How he said it sounded ominous. Yet he didn’t seem like someone who would kill his mate. But right now I didn’t care. Anything was better than staying under lock and key under the ownership and power of Father, and the threat of Mathias. I wasn’t safe there. I wasn’t safe anywhere. But at least here, with Thorne, there was only Thorne. And as I assessed him over and over again in my mind, I decided that yes, if I had to, I could possibly take him in a fight.
Chapter Thirteen
Thorne
Thorne hadn’t expected Kris would be forthcoming right away. He knew he would have to be patient, and tame this runaway one day at a time. No one spilled all their secrets—if any—to a stranger.
Over time, he would fish until he learned the truth. But for now, he rather liked the idea of having a guest. He hadn’t realized how lonely he’d become. For over two decades, his habits had become ingrained, thoughtless. He never thought to change. But this honey-scented boy intrigued him, and brought a bit of a zing back to his step.
When he’d offered his room to Kris, he had not planned his words. They came out into the air as if fated. He had surprised himself. It further surprised him that when Kris agreed to stay a little thrill ran through Thorne’s body.
When Thorne said he wasn’t a danger to Kris, it had only been a half-truth. There was danger all right. This young man was a danger himself. To Thorne. Thorne saw threat written all over him. In that long golden hair he’d so nicely braided. In the deep dark eyes. In the nervous way his hands fisted and unfisted against everything he touched. The way Kris moved was liquid. And he wasn’t a slim small thing, either, but more like an equal to Thorne’s stature. Someone who could stand up to him, if need be. Someone whose mind appeared awake.
A couple times a week Thorne went to town for supplies. And sometimes a drink. He met a lot of drunks and a lot of Alphas who liked to talk big and swagger. That was what bars were for. But none appealed. Unlike Omega to Omega couplings, Alpha to Alpha relationships were not against the law. They just didn’t form the same kind of bond an Alpha and Omega could have. And since Alphas were natural tops, there usually wouldn’t be any of that kind of fucking going on unless the Alpha had that kink. Since Thorne had sworn off Omegas, his only prospect for sex was another Alpha.
But it never happened. He wasn’t attracted to his own kind.
But Kris was different. Alpha but something else as well.
It was the first time Thorne had felt anything stir him since Ian, and that memory was so long ago he’d almost forgotten the sensation.
So yes, there was danger here. Danger that Thorne might end up craving what he could not have. Danger that Kris might be the rare one in a very long time to break his heart.
*
Thorne entered the family room, which doubled as his study.
Kris looked up from where he sat on the couch, his tablet in his lap.
“I free-lance my tech skills to a few companies for extra income.” Thorne waved his hand toward his computer. “I’ve got a little work to do this morning.”
