Page 56 of Knocked Up By My Fated Alpha
Mounds of clothes—my clothes—were arranged artfully, obsessively, and color-coded around the room. And then there was Raven, flushed beet-red right in the middle of it all, the shirt she’d just stolen hanging off her shoulders. I let out a soft sound of surprise.
“You were the one stealing my clothes?”
Raven was nesting.
I’d read about nesting in pregnant wolves. When I found out Raven was carrying my child, I devoured everything I could get my hands on that could explain what the coming months would hold for her and how I could help out.
Nesting was a hoarding instinct—deep and primal. The pregnant wolf gathered whatever brought her comfort, safety, and familiarity. She built a haven for her unborn pup using scents that calmed her. But reading about it hadn’t prepared me for seeing Raven’s nest in person, especially not like this.
To see that my scent calmed and comforted Raven even when wewere fighting and I had been a spectacular ass made my heart ache. A small laugh, full of disbelief and an overwhelming sense of relief, escaped me as Raven continued to stare at me wide-eyed.
Maybe Raven wasn’t as closed off as I’d believed…not if she was still clinging to me in this way. Maybe she’d listen to me and accept my apologies, and we’d finally move beyond this.
Goddess, I hoped so. I missed her so damn much. I stepped forward.
“Rave—”
Raven broke into a sob.
Chapter Eighteen
Raven
Alpha Damien was at my side in seconds, his voice hoarse with worry.
“Raven, what’s wrong?”
My lips trembled, but words weren’t forthcoming, so I just sobbed harder. Cradling me like I was fragile porcelain, Alpha Damien pulled me into his arms, and I let him.
In fact, I did more than that. I crawled onto his lap, effectively straddling him as I buried my head in the crook between his shoulder and neck, desperately inhaling his intoxicating scent that had driven me to sneak into his rooms and steal his possessions.
Goddess, I’d never felt more embarrassed in my entire life.
Following my conversation with Elias, I’d decided to let Alpha Damien be and stop blurring the already shattered lines between us. But in the end, I’d broken my own rules. I’d yearned for him. Reached for him.
“Raven,” Alpha Damien’s voice was a low, thick, luscious rumble that stoked a flame within me. “Are you alright?”
No.
I hadn’t been alright since I’d learned about his full history withRielle and punched a dent in my room’s wall. But I didn’t say that. Rather, I pulled back enough to meet his golden gaze.
“You were laughing at me,” I accused, my voice small, tinged with mortification and almost petulant, the last of my tears drying on my cheeks. A genuine look of confusion settled on Alpha Damien’s face.
“Of course not.” He attempted to seem neutral. “I was just…relieved that you aren’t angry at me anymore.”
I narrowed my gaze in suspicion. Letting out a reluctant breath, a wry smile twitched to life at the edges of Alpha Damien’s lips.
“Alright. Fine. I was a bit amused,” he admitted.
“I knew it,” I huffed, my embarrassment returning with a vengeance as I quickly retracted completely from Alpha Damien and climbed out of his lap. But I didn’t get far.
“Raven.”
In the same breath that Alpha Damien called out to me, his arms went around my middle, embracing me from behind and halting my retreat.
“I’m sorry.” His words were a cool whisper against the sensitive skin of my neck. “I should have been more considerate of your feelings.”
I shivered, hating the way I was already coming undone, craving more of him like an addict. But Alpha Damien was already letting me go, shifting so that he was in front of me, and though I could feel his heated gaze on me, I couldn’t bring myself to meet it.
