Alphas burden

He scans the trail as if he’s looking for any threat of danger. I roll my eyes, then tie my bundle to my bag and start walking back. He catches my arm and whirls me around, intent blue eyes searching my face.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To spend the night in a holding cell for breaking your suffocating rules, I assume.” I jerk out of his grasp with a huff. “I’m not sorry, either. I’ll do it again.”

He swipes a hand over his face with a grumble. I fold my arms, not sure what’s come over me. My wolf’s in my corner, though. She’s not impressed he ignored us when we walked around the commons today.

“You’re not going anywhere without an escort,” he says.

“I can handle myself.”

“You’re a female, alone after nightfall. Out of the question.”

I glare at him. “You didn’t care before if I was by myself. I’ve been doing just fine for the last seven years.”

His mouth presses into a hard line, accentuating the sharpness of his jaw.

“Shift,” I suggest.

His head jerks and his brows furrow. “What? Why?”

“If you won’t leave me be, then stalk me in your fur. I prefer your wolf’s company to yours. He’s far more tolerable to be around.”

The corners of his eyes tighten before he tears them from me to glare past my shoulder. “You like my wolf.”

I don’t think the puzzled mutter is meant for my ears. “It doesn’t have to be you at all. Not if I don’t want it to be. I’ll just wait here for Liam to come back.”

At the mention of Liam, he’s on me, backing me against the nearest tree. He plants a hand on either side of my head. Something hot and pleasurable tugs low in my gut at his proximity, leaving me breathless even though I’m angry with him.

“Damn it, Avery, there are rules for a reason. You can’t just do as you fucking please,” he thunders. “No one else but me is around to escort you. Do as I say because I’m your alpha, and you will respect my orders.”

I swallow and stare him down. His bare chest brushes against me, heat rolling off him in waves leaving me lightheaded. My pulse thrums for all the wrong reasons.

He’s the one who rejected our bond…yet he won’t let another male near me, as if I’m his.

Caden would have to claim me as his mate if he wanted to make me his.

“Careful, Alpha,” I warn with a cold tone to guard against the flutter in my heart. “All your rules are starting to tread a little too close to old pack views you pretend we’ve moved past.”