Page 10 of Betrayed Alpha Mate

Maybe in the morning, I’ll wake up and forget what Emily does to me.

***

Who was I kidding?

I can’t ignore her looming presence in the corner of the room—even when the room is filled with our friends from black ops and their mates. Actually, being in a crowded room allows me to sneak a few glances at her, each one solidifying my realization since last night.

I can’t stay away from Emily anymore.

Is it a sinner’s fixation with something as pure and untainted as her that makes me evil? There’s no way I’m evil, even if I have addictive tendencies. I don’t want to take from her, but rather, I want to be of service, even if I become addicted to her while doing that. I want to be at her beck and call, wherever she needs me, just to see a smile on her face that’s wide enough to light up her eyes.

She smiles now as Delilah hugs her, but it doesn’t reach anywhere near her eyes.

“Sorry to barge in on you so early, bro,” Nicholas, the alpha of Crescent Moon down in Wells, pats my shoulder apologetically.

“Well, if you wanted to stroke my ego, it’s working,” I chuckle, slipping on my mask of nonchalance as I peel my eyes from Emily and give all my attention to Nicholas and Hunter. “You guys missed me so much. You had to come all this way to see me.”

Tyler laughs as he approaches us, sticking out his hand to greet me with our secret shake.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Sean,” he chuckles. “We saw enough of your face yesterday.”

“This face?” I snicker, framing my chin with a thumb and index finger as I wiggle my brows suggestively and grin. I’m probably laying it on thicker than usual, but after last night, I have to safeguard myself. “You could never get tired of this face, Ty-Ty!”

The guys throw fists at me, and soon, it’s just a lighthearted fest of playful punches and jabs between us until Delilah clears her throat.

She rolls her eyes at me as she steps forward for a hug, but there’s something in those warm hazel depths that seems suspicious of me. I shrug off the thought as I hug her, then pull away when I notice it again.

A frown flits over my face, but it’s gone when Dominic walks into the room. Something about his hard expression tells me that something is wrong.

Well, apart from the fact that our friends are visiting so early this morning. We just had a meeting in Wells yesterday, so I can only imagine that whatever brings them to Stowe so soon must be important.

“Yo, Dom!” I nod at the dark-haired Casanova as I approach him, trying to lighten his mood with a smile. “I would have expected another pregnancy announcement, but Cece hasn’t given birth yet, has she?”

Dominic narrows his eyes at me, but mischief is evident in the glint in his eyes. “Yeah, you fucker!” he greets me with a solid hug. “I think the last thing we need is another pregnancy announcement. Not until we defeat that bastard.”

“Yeah, I’m already concerned…” Donna, Nicholas’s mate and Dominic’s younger sister, murmurs tersely as she places her hand over her growing bump. Almost two months pregnant, she only has a month to go before she gives birth.

“I’m hardly any use to the coven while I’m in this condition.”

“It’s not a condition, sweetheart,” Nicholas purrs at his mate’s ear. “It’s a blessing, it’s a miracle.”

“And that’s why we’ll do whatever it takes to protect you, sister,” Delilah adds, then glances at the whole room when she says, “Protect all of you.”

Arianna steps forward with Gwen—the only witch who doesn’t have a wolf. She didn’t emerge as a witch from among the shifters, and isn’t a hybrid; Gwen was found in Oakland when we mistook her for someone working for the dark lord. We’d captured her and held her for questioning, only to discover that she’s one of five witches who will help us take down Merlin Grimes for good.

“As you all know…” Gwen begins tentatively, clutching a spellbook against her chest, her eyes flickering to Emily across the room.

I frown as an instinctive, innate sense of protectiveness comes over me, and I slowly edge my way toward Emily, despite knowing that Gwen is one of us; she can be trusted.

Why do I suddenly feel the need to protect her?

Why am I gravitating toward her?

I just hope it isn’t obvious as I stick to the wall and slowly make my way toward her.

“I had a vision a while back in which I saw five of us,” Gwen continues, nodding at the other witches grouped by the fireplace. “My vision allowed me to see Donna’s face, so that’s how we knew she was one of us.”

Arianna nods, taking over from Gwen. “But Gwen’s vision was more like a prophecy, and five Golden Tree Sisters are supposed to rid this world of Merlin Grimes, for good this time.”