Chapter Three

Brax POV

She’s leaning forward, her hair thrown over one shoulder as she concentrates on it. She’s Alpha Julius’s daughter, his only daughter. She wasn’t who I expected when I was told this was the best place to come.

Raine... I thought it was a guy. Turns out it’s a woman, not just any woman either. She’s hovering over me, and for half an hour we’re silent, but I know her legs will hurt.

Yeah, she’s strong, but she’s avoiding sitting on me. “You know you can sit on me, I don’t bite,” I say. Okay, I do, but I’m trying not to, despite how much her scent calls to me.

Her eyes flick up. “I’m good.”

“Clearly, your thighs aren’t even trembling, but why hover when you can sit?” I ask.

She sighs and lowers herself. Her warmth hits me fast, and she goes back to work. My eyes trace the line of her throat, the way her vein pulses. I bite my tongue to stop the urge.

“So, do you have a name?” she asks.

“Brax.”

She hums. “And what do you do, Brax?”

“Right now, I’ve just finished training. I’m set to take over from my father.”

She looks at me for a second. “So how old are you?”

“Twenty-five.”

She hums quietly. “So in a year you’re set to take over,” she says.

“That’s correct.”

She nods but says nothing. “How about you?” I ask.

“Eighteen, still in school.”

Understandable. “And your future plans?” I ask.

“Well, the moment I turn twenty-one, I’m leaving. Besides that, I’ve not got anything else planned.”

Leaving? “For how long? Surely leaving means you won’t find your mate?”

“I know everyone there is to know here. If my mate’s here, it’s not happened yet.”

Now I wonder why she’s leaving.

“So, you’re set to take over from your father?”

I hum and she looks at me, waiting for more.

“My father is Alpha Caden,” I say, and she tenses. I watch the slow roll of her throat.

“That explains why you didn’t flinch at my brothers. Also, you lied about the biting.”

I laugh softly. “Do we really have that much of a bad reputation?” I ask.

“I’m surprised you came here, that’s the truth.”

“Well, I’m not the sort to hide away and be ashamed of who I was born as.”

She scoffs. “You chose, you’re not born that way.”

I lean forward and capture her chin, raising her head so she looks at me. “You see us as the monsters because we agreed to this, but we see it different. You have your mates, which we have, but the other side?” I sigh. “It’s far more powerful.” Like her, I can barely resist her.

I have to though, she’s not just any wolf. The room falls silent again, and I need to know what she’s thinking. “You’re not running,” I say.

“Why would I? If you were going to hurt me, you would have. Plus, I’m not some weak girl who can’t fight for herself.”

Cute, real fucking cute. Closing my eyes, I try to focus on anything but her scent, but it’s not working; my fangs are coming out more. I’ve never had someone near me like her, and every part of my body calls for her.

Crazy, I know that. Nothing I do will change the fact that this is forbidden. She won’t fit into my world, not a chance.

“I’ll give it another hour, then you need to book in to come back and have more done,” she says.

“Tomorrow?” I ask.

“If it’s before eight in the morning?” She looks at me.

“I can do six?” I suggest. Even if it’s only an hour I get with her, I’ll take it.

She nods and goes silent again. Then she sighs. “So, where have you been?”

“Training, of course, like many future Alphas do.”

She nods. “So you settled in then?” she asks.

“Everyone is the same as when I left. No one has changed,” I explain. There’s no settling in needed. I came back, spent time with the pack, introduced myself to those who were too young to remember me, and that’s it.

I’ve got things sorted for work tomorrow. All I need to do now is wait for my father to be satisfied and hand me over the pack. Which could be a year, it could be tomorrow, it just depends when he feels ready.

“So, you and Kal?” I say. I saw the way he was watching her from outside.

She raises her head. “There’s no me and Kal.”

Not what I heard. “Funny, before I saw you, I saw him, and he seemed mesmerized by you. Not to mention, everyone told me that Julius’s daughter is dating Kal.”

Her head shakes. “Well, whoever told you that lied. I’m not dating Kal, I’m not dating anyone.”

She sits back and looks down. “That will do for now. I’ll cover it. Do you know how to take care of it, keep it clean and such?”

“I’m good,” I say, as I move my arm behind my head. “So tomorrow, six?” I say.

She nods and climbs off me. “Yeah, then hopefully after tomorrow, I’ll have a working chair.”

Nodding, I grab my top, and she leans into me, covering the part she’s already done. “You can clean your chest; I’ve got the template, so I can reapply it.”

Nodding, I pull my top on. “See you later.” I wink and walk out. I’ll see her again in the morning.

I’m surprised she didn’t throw me out, or try anyway, she knows I’m a hybrid, and we’re not usually welcome around wolves. Getting back to the pack grounds, I walk in and my father looks at me.

“How did it go?”

He means me checking out the pack towards the east. I had a quick look.

He pauses and steps back. “You stink of wolf. What the hell were you doing?” He steps closer. “Not a hint of vampire in it.”

“Was getting the tattoo started,” I explain, and he stares.

“Who by?”

“I was told Raine was the best, turns out Raine is a woman.”

He tenses. “Stay the fuck away from that family.”

I laugh. “Seriously?”

“Yes, they are one of the main clean bloodlines of wolves, the stronger ones. They have links to witches, we can’t afford to have them getting involved in our lives.”

He’s talking like I’m about to ask them around for brunch. “I’m not stupid enough to mix things, we stay to our kind, they stay with theirs.”

He huffs and walks off. I say that but something about Raine is dragging me back. She’s a pure wolf, not a hybrid, and usually we don’t have mates once we’re hybrid, at least not with normal wolves.

So why the hell do I feel more for her?