Page 55 of Betrayed Alpha Mate

“You know what? I’m gonna just go with it, whatever it is.”

Sean gasps as he closes the door behind us. “Who are you, and what did you do to Emily Hudson?”

We both end up laughing as we step off the porch and down the path leading away from Sean’s house. A comfortable silence soon takes over when we step onto the street illuminated by the moon and the stars hanging in the sky tonight, like fairy lights dressing a special occasion that neither of us can name.

He didn’t call it a date, and neither should I. But as we near a familiar spot in town, my heart does a little flip as it remembers the last time we’d been to the diner together.

“Pete’s Diner…?” I whisper in surprise, and Sean nods, rubbing a hand at the back of his head.

“Yeah. Remember how we used to come here when you were living with us?”

“Uncle Pete would keep the place open especially for our late nights,” I giggle. “He wouldn’t leave until we were done.”

Sean shoves his hand into his pocket and pulls out a set of keys. “Well, being the alpha now has its perks,” he chuckles, flipping the keys into his palm. “He’s left the place to us tonight.”

I nod thoughtfully, appreciating the gesture as Sean swings the diner’s door open.

“After you, madam,” he says with an outstretched arm, and I stop on the threshold.

“Please don’t call me that,” I giggle, rolling my eyes.

Sean straightens up as he pulls the door closed behind us, coming up so close that his lips are a mere inch from mine, his eyes boring into my soul.

“What should I call you, then?” he drawls, a hint of seduction in his tone that sets my heart alight.

“Er—Em-Emily is just fine…” I mumble dumbfoundedly, my mind going blank again, airways full of his intoxicating scent.

Sean wears a charming smirk as he straightens up, then points to the farthest table at a window. “Our table has already been set,” he says, and I follow him through the diner that should be closed on a Monday night. But it’s like Sean said, there are perks to being the alpha of Silverfang.

And there are perks to being the alpha’s luna if he treats me like royalty.

My heart skips a beat when Sean does something sweet, even if it’s small. When he pulls out my chair for me, and when he lifts the dome cover off the tray in the center of the table to reveal the delicious grilled meats prepared for our private dinner, and when he pours wine into my glass…

I’m left swooning, my toes curling inside my pumps as if he already has me in his arms.

“I have a confession to make…” Sean says when we’re halfway through our dinner.

I pick up my napkin and dab the corners of my lips, skeptically arching a brow. “Don’t tell me you kissed me while I was sleeping,” I blurt out without thinking, and Sean bursts out laughing, his ears turning red.

I feel a blush crawl up my cheeks, and I purse my lips to stop myself from saying anything else embarrassing.

“Yeah, who are you again? And what have you done with Emily Hudson?”

“Sean!” I exclaim, and he begins to slow down his laughter, his cool eyes meeting mine.

“Joking!” he admits, lifting his hands in a show of surrender. “But no, I promise I didn’t kiss you again.” His expression turns serious, and his eyes become intense as he stares at me fiercely. “I won’t do it again without your permission, of course.”

I gulp hard, fingers trembling on my fork as I reach for another bite of meat. But as I pierce the spikes into the piece of rib, it’s like my soul is penetrated by a sharp stake that arrests my vision and my ability to move.

No…

No!

It’s happening again. It’s another vision, another one of the Harrower’s psychic attacks. I’m still in the diner, seated across from Sean, but the air around us has shifted; it’s turned icy cold, and the lights have dimmed in the place. Sean’s lips are moving, but his voice is muffled, and I can’t make out a word he’s saying. Shadows are cast over his face, dancing like smoke behind him.

I try to move; I try to warn him, but I’m a spectator of the horror that occurs when the dark tendrils of smoke wrap around Sean’s neck. He stops speaking, his muffled voice now wrangled, his eyes bulging out of his sockets, and all I can do is watch in horror, unmoving, unable to do anything to stop this from happening. Tears cloud my vision, but it’s only to cast a veil on the horror of watching Sean’s head being ripped off his shoulders by dark clouds of smoke.

“Emily!”