The One He Claimed

The One 19

Chapter 19 Unexpected Jealousy

Chapter 19: Unexpected Jealousy Hunter As soon as I’m far enough away to get control of my desire, I turn back, making sure that Sophie gets inside the walls of the hideout. F**k! That woman tastes better than she smells. I knew the mate bond was strong, but this…this is far beyond anything I could have anticipated. It’s taking everything in me to hold Shaw at bay and keep from marking her. I want her agreement first. I want to know that she is choosing me as her mate. I turn, running toward the front of the hideout. ‘She hasn’t rejected us again. Now that we know her real name, she could have and it would have been much more effective,’ Shaw says. ‘True. Hopefully, she’ll use this time to think about what I’ve said. I feel like I was getting through to her,’ I say as we make our way around the mountain. I intend to cut straight across the forest and run home again, but I catch Kinsley’s scent and pull up short. Shaw lifts our nose in the air and begins tracking her scent. I find her halfway between the parking lot and the hideout. “Hey Alpha,” she says, looking behind me. “Lucas said you came looking for someone. You’ve been gone all day, so I decided to bring the food out here, in case any new she-wolves arrive.” Chapter 19: Unexpected Jealousy I shift and stand, looking around and sniffing the air. “You shouldn’t be out here alone at night, Kinsley. Not all of these Alphas that are on the hunt will stop to see that you’re already marked before trying to take you.” 288 Wouchers “I know. Lucas wasn’t thrilled about me coming out here, so he’s waiting by the car. I told him I’d howl if I needed help. So…did you find who you were looking for?”

“I did. She’s in the hideout. We’ve…talked. I’m hoping she’ll let me mark her.” She looks at me a moment, a slow smile spreading across her face. “You found your mate?” I nod. “You’re a good man, Alpha Hunter.” “Come on, I’ll introduce you,” I say. She raises an eyebrow. “You want to introduce me to your mate?” “Yeah. I told her about you. Maybe you can put in a good word for me,” I say. She smiles at that and nods. “Anything I can do to help.” I take the food and follow her to the entrance. We both stop and lift our noses in the air, making sure there aren’t any Alphas or other ranked wolves in the area before she ducks inside. I carefully make my way through the narrow walls behind her. Having done this several times already, I have a better idea of V. Unexpected Jealousy how to get through. “Hey, I’m not going to hurt you,” I hear Kinsley say. I push faster, stepping up behind her. “Sophie…” I begin, watching as she steps out of the water, her eyes tracking from Kinsley to me and back before she growls, not at me, but at Kinsley. It’s a possessive growl and while I want to smile at her possessiveness, I don’t want her attacking my Beta female. I step in front of Kinsley, setting the food down and putting my hands up. “Sophie, this is Kinsley. I ran into her on my way back to my pack. She’s my Beta female, the one I told you about. She’ s the one who found this place and brings the food in every day.” I watch as she shakes her head as if clearing it. “I’m sorry, I don’ t know why…” “It’s okay. It’s the mate bond,” I say, trying to reassure her. “Sophie? Sophie Meyers?” Kinsley asks, shocked. “Yeah,” Sophie says, frowning. Kinsley turns to me. “Your mate is Sophie Meyers? The Legend?”

I press my lips tightly together. I hadn’t quite gotten that far in my discussion with Sophie. “What are you talking about? I’m not a legend.” “Oh, but you are! You didn’t know? EVERYONE knows who you Chapter 19: Unexpected Jealousy are. You started it all, the entire revolution! It’s all because of you,” Kinsley says excitedly. “Kinsley,” I say warningly, watching my mate. “She’s been away from the packs for two years. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her about the impact that her runhing had on the she-wolves.” “Oh…so you didn’t know?” Kinsley asks, her tone much more muted. “Penny said something, but I thought she had to be exaggerating,” Sophie says, and I can feel the nervousness coming off of her in waves. “We can talk about it over dinner. Kinsley, what did you bring tonight?” I ask her. “Uh…some pork chops, mashed potatoes, and green beans. They might still be warm,” she says, and I hear Sophie’s stomach rumble. “You can go, Kinsley. Tell Lucas that I won’t be home tonight. Can you plan to bring more food tomorrow morning?” “Yes, Alpha,” she says and turns to leave. “Before I go,” she says, turning back. “I want you to know, Sophie, that our Alpha is as genuine as he seems. He’s not the kind of man who lies to get what he wants. In my experience, he’s always truthful, he’s always respectful, and always kind. ….” she stops and I turn my head slightly to see her looking down at her clasped hands. “I was claimed publicly by my mate. Alpha Hunter was there, and I watched him leave the room before Lucas claimed me. Chapter 19: Unexpected Jealousy That’s the kind of man he is. He gives every woman the only . privacy he can and because of that, he’s had my loyalty from the moment I became his Beta female. My relationship with him has always been easier than my relationship with my own mate because of

it. Because I trust him to protect me in ways that I haven’t always trusted Lucas. We’re….working through that, but it’s still hard. I only tell you this so you’ll know, woman to woman, that I believe in and trust my Alpha. And I know that you can too. Give him a chance. You won’t be disappointed,” she says and turns to leave. “Thank you, Kinsley,” I say, touched by her words. “Yes, thank you,” Sophie says, looking back at me. 1 stay still, listening to make sure Kinsley doesn’t have any problem getting away from the hideout before I turn back to Sophie. “Ready to eat?” I ask her. “I’d like to get dressed first,” she says, pointing to her bag. “Yeah,” I say, dragging out the word. “I didn’t make it to the pack, so…” I gesture down at my naked body. She turns and looks at me over her shoulder as she crouches down to open her bag. I can see a smile twitching at her lips. “Want to wear something of mine?” “You’re a wee bit smaller than I am. I’m not sure you have anything that will fit me. But if it will make you feel better, I’ll take a shirt and lay it over my lap.” She turns back to her bag, but not before I see her blush. “I’ve Chapter 19: Unexpected Jealousy been away so long, I’ve gotten used to wearing clothing in front. of others,” she says, as if she’s embarrassed of herself. “I think that’s completely understandable, considering you were living in a human town. I also think it’s understandable since you know that I’m your mate, you know that I’m attracted to you and as hard as I’m trying not to drool over your gorgeous body, I’ m probably not doing a very good job,” I say honestly. She barks out a laugh. It’s unexpected, but it makes heart soar that I was able to make her laugh. Rather than grabbing clothes, she stands and turns to me. “Well then, perhaps I should stay naked so that you’re as uncomfortable during this dinner as I am.”

1 have to bite my tongue to keep the growl from leaving my mouth. There’s no way I’ll be able to hide my excitement at being here with her and if she’s naked, that will only make it worse. “As long as I don’t make you any more uncomfortable,” I say, gesturing at the evidence of my arousal for her. She looks down and whether she means to or not, she licks her lips, making my already hard c**k twitch. She blinks her surprise and looks back up at me. I know my eyes are dark with desire for her and I swallow, closing my eyes and trying to get a grip on my emotions. I’m an Alpha, I’m supposed to always be in control, but this little slip of a girl is about to make me loose every carefully held shred of self- control that I have. “How about we eat,” I grit out, my eyes still closed. Unexpected Jealousy “If it’s easier for you, I can put clothes on,” she says. “No. It won’t help. I now have the image of your beautiful body burned into my brain and even if I could forget it, Shaw definitely won’t.” “You think I’m beautiful?” I look at her, looking over her body slowly, watching as her face turns a darker shade of red as I take my time. “Can I be honest?” I ask. She nods, hesitantly. “You’re perfect, except for one thing.” She frowns. “What’s that?” “I prefer your chocolate brown hair to this red hair you’ve got now.” She reaches up to touch her hair. “That was a disguise.” A

“So, it wasn’t a preference? You don’t prefer the red?” She crinkles her nose. “No. But going blond was a lot of effort and I had to dye it more often. It was harder on my hair, drying it out, so I switched to red. I was hoping that the color change would make some of the ranked members question if I was really Sophie Meyers. Speaking of, how did you know it was me?” gesture for her to sit, and I reach down and pick up the bag of food that Kinsley brought. Chapter 19 Unexpected Jealousy 288 Mouchers. “I’ll tell you while we eat,” I say, moving to sit across from her, using the stone table to lay out the food. When I’m done, I make sure that she starts eating before I do. I watch as her eyes roll back into her head as she shovels in two more bites of food before looking at me. Shaw begins purring loudly, loud enough for her to hear. “What?” “My wolf and I like the feeling of taking care of you, my mate.” She blushes again and I take a chance, reaching out to stroke my knuckles over her cheek. I’m thrilled when she leans into my touch. When she catches herself, she pulls away, looking down. “You should eat, too.” “Yes,” I say, digging into the food.