บททั้งหมดของ THE OUTCAST’S ALPHA MATE: LOVE AND REDEMPTION: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

“No. Not really,” Reyland replied steadily.“What I mean is that I’m not exactly built for the life of our clan,” he continued, his voice calm and even, as if he were speaking words he had used many times.“It can be…frustrating to have everyone want things you can't give them,” he ended, again without any color to his tone.“I know what you mean,” Marian replied, sipping her cocoa as well, her eyes back on the fire.“It’s like…you want something, but the world keeps pushing other things at you,” she concluded, her voice growing distant.“Yes! Yes, that’s it!” he replied, his wholesome voice vibrating with uncharacteristic energy.“It’s not that you CAN’T contribute…it’s just that other people keep wanting MORE than you have or want to give,” he continued animatedly, putting his tea down and spreading out his hands, palms up, toward the ceiling.“Yeah,” she said firmly, in agreement, her green eyes shining as she gazed at him again.They stared at each other in a comfortable silence.

Dax knew his son well.Reyland was kind, which was his biggest problem, as far as Dax was concerned.As Marian had wept, Reyland’s pulse had quickened, his breathing had become erratic.His son had no scent, but he could smell the girl on him.Talked? That’s all? That’s a bad joke. Dax mused.But he has not lain with her.If he had, the scent would have been deeper, stronger.Also, he would never have sent her away.Not his son. Not his kind, caring, loving son.Never.He told himself as he watched the prince without a throne.But SOMETHING happened. I’m sure of it!Dax stared at his son as his mind worked.This girl is dangerous.Her mind is set on my son, again.But this time, it’s very different.I can’t let this happen. I don’t trust her.Her father may be in my hand, but that girl has always been wild.She is too dangerous!He insisted in his mind.His face darkened as he stared at Reyland.He knew that posture.As Marian left the room, Reyland had dropped his hand from his face

Bringing himself back to the present, Reyland pursed his lips and fixed a sorrowful gaze on the she-wolf weeping silently in front of him.Again. The second she-wolf for the day.“If we are mated, what would that life be for you? Forget about me. What would it be like for YOU?” he pressed, softening his tone; his palms open toward Anna as he posed his questions.“When you see those you love, how heavy would your heart be?”“Or do you plan to build a harem? Would it be secret, or would we discuss things, like we are now, so that you have a clear conscience when you start it up?” he continued animatedly as he waved his left, then his right arm, punctuating each scenario.“Then what would be next? If I am unable to impreg–” he pushed, his tone more insistent.“You are not unable, Rey,” Anna whispered, the tears falling freely now as she watched him put himself down, for her sake.He is always like this. Anna mused, her chest heavy, her breathing constricted.He always puts everyone else

Reyland laughed dryly.“Now I have proved things to you as well right? You’re disgusted,” he stated flatly.“I –” Anna protested weakly, the strain of the last few minutes weighing heavily on her heart and mind.“Don’t bother. I’m the one whose kindness is hurtful? Your hands are less painful than that look on your face a second ago. I assure you of that,” he continued dryly.What Reyland did not know, what he would not allow Anna to tell him, was that she had not been repulsed by him.She was aroused, and if he had been anything of a wolf, he would have known it clearly.Her face had crumpled because her mind was racing too fast, in too many directions.When her eyes had fallen on his response to their kiss, she had thought of the wolves he had mentioned earlier, so casually.She had thought of the time she had wasted not knowing how he tasted.Of how she had never seen just how blue his eyes were or how soft his skin was.She had been disgusted with herself.Not him.And now, as he

It had been raining heavily that autumn night, two years ago, when Marian had not returned on time to the pack grounds.She had returned at well past 2 a.m., sneaking in through the tree line instead of using the open path from the outer pack grounds into the pack compound.Her 1 a.m. curfew had passed, and she didn’t care to be interrogated by any guards.She stepped into the compound to find her father hanging from two trees at the edge of the compound.==========Large fires burning at the edge of the compound had caught her eye.Her heart had skipped, and instantly, a whip cracked.Her father’s voice reached her ears.Marian ran to the site.Dax had been waiting for her.He had set things up in such a way that she could not miss it – fire, in the rain, that high, no one could ignore that.He had felt her return and had felt her fear. The strike against her father had been done on purpo