Page 43 of The Reluctant Alpha

"So, your solution is what? Pretend I don't exist? Push me away and hope I just give up and go home?" I stepped closer, jabbing a finger into his chest. "Newsflash, teddy bear. I'm already involved. Don't think I don't know why you and Kaylan were giving each other weird looks at my mom's, and he decided to go snooping around outside. You smelled something. I know you did."

His face paled. "Which is exactly why you need to distance yourself from me."

"That's not how this works! You don't get to decide that for me."

"As alpha—"

"You're not my alpha." The words burst out before I could stop them. "I'm not one of your bears you can order around. I'm a human who made the mistake of thinking you actually cared about me."

Bayer flinched as if I'd struck him. "This isn't about caring. It's about survival."

"No, it's about fear." My voice dropped, suddenly tired of the whole thing. Maybe we wouldn’t ever work. Maybe I was just wasting my time. Why did no one ever want me just for me?

"Danny—"

"No." I cut him off, stepping back. "I get it now. Last night was just...what? Stress relief? A way to pass the time before your heroic last stand?"

His eyes widened. "You know that's not true. Besides, Phoenix asked—" His lips snapped closed.

“Phoenix asked what?” I said slowly, carefully, hoping like hell my sudden suspicion was way off mark.

Bayer glanced away, like he couldn’t look at me.

“Why didn’t you go hunting last night, Bayer?” Because the first sniff of a revenant and Bayer would be charging out there first.

“I was protecting the packhouse.”

“From inside your bedroom?”

“I—

But I remembered Phoenix going to Bayer’s apartment after seeing me crying. I’d been up getting some tea when Matthew arrived with the news. Phoenix had just about ordered me to bed, and I’d refused.

“You didn’t stay here last night to protect the packhouse,” I said slowly. “You stayed because of me.” But not because he thought only he could keep me safe… “You stayed to stop me from following, from going to check on my mom, didn’t you?” Bayer didn’t reply, and pain sliced my chest.

“That’s what last night was about? You were ordered to distract me? Did your glorious leader know that involved fucking or was that just a fringe benefit of a job well done?”

"That's not fair," Bayer growled, his voice dropping dangerously low.

"Life's not fair," I snapped. "But you know what? I'm done." I turned to leave, then paused, unable to resist one final barb. "Good luck with your suicide mission, Bayer. I hope it's worth it."

I stormed away, not trusting myself to look back.

I heard him call my name once, but I kept walking, fury and pain propelling me forward. By the time I reached the packhouse, my anger had begun to cool, leaving behind a hollow ache in my chest. I found Emery in the kitchen, his expression shifting from curiosity to concern as he took in my face.

"That bad, huh?" he asked quietly.

"Worse," I muttered, dropping onto a barstool. "He fucked me last night under Phoenix’s orders."

Emery gasped. “What?”

“Phoenix told me to go to bed after I heard what had happened and needed to check on Mom, then he marched over to Bayer.” I looked at my friend. “We both know the pack was secure or Phoenix wouldn’t have left. And he admitted it.” My eyes burned.

“There’s no way Phoenix would have…”

“Ordered him to fuck me? Probably not. Phoenix would never ask his besties to do something they didn’t want.”

Emery sighed, sliding a mug of hot chocolate toward me. "I'm sorry, Danny. For what it's worth, I think Bayer's making a mistake."