Todos os capítulos de Alpha Maddox's Mortal Temptation : Capítulo 191 - Capítulo 200

THE COARSE CARESS OF A PALM AGAINST MY CHEEK WAKES ME up, a strand of hair tucked behind my ear. My eyes flutter open and search for the dashboard clock. I napped for over three hours.“Holy shit.”“Told you. Sleep deprived.” Zane’s hand is gripping my headrest, so far from my face, I must have dreamed of his touch.Which is on-brand for my recent maelstrom of psychosexual neuroses. The fact that my stomach is not twisting and turning, even though I’ve been abhorring all forms of physical contact, is proof of it.“Where are we?” I ask, sliding out of the car. A few hundred feet from us, past the evergreen shrubbery peppering the shoreline and a sandy beach that looks untouched by man, there’s a lake. Or . . .I inhale once, deeply. Again. Salt. Sea. “Is that a river? The coast?”“An estuary. If you follow the shore all the way north to the end of the inlet, that’s where the ocean starts. Follow me.”He walks uphill, opposite to the water. I linger for a moment, listening to the seagul

We no longer are.”Oh.I evade a few more punches and try a low attack, but she gets me with a leg kick. I fall on my ass but manage to roll back up before she can . . . I don’t know. When does this stop? Pinfall? Knockout? First blood? She’s not going to kill me, right?“You didn’t break up because of the mate thing, right?” I ask, already panting a little.“As if. You’re not the hub of reality.” She snorts. “It was a million years ago, and there was no breaking up. The fucking ground was falling from under our feet.” She aims a cross at my head, which I barely slip.I counter with a jab to her ribs, quickly followed by a light kick.I land both. And they must hurt— if not her flesh, her pride. Brenna glares, and that’s when she begins to fight in earnest. I half expect the way she grabs my shoulders, and even her knee to my stomach. I block the latter, but she takes me down with a body lock that . . .Fucking ouch.“Listen.” She pins me to the mat. Holds me down as she whispers r

“Not much.” His voice is rough edged. He swallows. It takes him a bit of time and a lot of effort to lift his eyes to mine. “Sometimes, when the block is mental, it can help. Being guided.”“You mean, being commanded by an Alpha? It didn’t work, though. What does that say?”“That there are other reasons at play.” He wets his lips. Takes a step back and then inhales deeply. Like the air around me is toxic, and he needs a break. “It was worth a try.”“Why do I look like I just spent twelve hours in labor?”“Because your body was trying to shift. Which is a strenuous and energy-intensive activity.”“I didn’t, though.”“Your cells still worked for it.”I push back my damp, lanky hair. “Maybe I won’t be able to do it again. Shifting, I mean.” Even if Dr. Henshaw said that people with CSD usually can shift almost till the end. How fun, to be the exception to the rule.“Then you won’t.” He shrugs. The ropes of muscles in his shoulders seem to say, I couldn’t care less. “As long as I know wha

“Perfect.”So, jeans. Sweats. Thermal shirts, sweaters, a heavy jacket. Carter’s store is great, and I don’t want to impose any more than I already am, so I agree to whatever he has me trying on, even though my skin has been very sensitive for weeks, and the denim and wool scrape against it like emery boards.The texture of fleece makes me wish there were enough traffic for me to walk into. A normal evolution of your condition, said Dr. Henshaw. Make sure you dress to minimize your sensory issues.I used to be fastidious about my appearance. I spent a huge chunk of my first few paychecks on building a wardrobe, and I miss it— the professional grays and beiges, blue hues, strategic little splashes of color.My power blouses, Seraphine called them. Power slacks, power blazers, power turtlenecks. That’s exactly what they were: me, asserting the little power I had scrounged for myself. After years of hand- me- downs and uniforms that never fit my ever-changing teenage body, I used to take

THEY START ARRIVING IN THE LATE AFTERNOON.I spend several hours cross-legged on the couch, trying to reconstruct my lost letters, until the door bursts open. Two men walk inside like they were just handed the deed to the place.They’re both tall, both well muscled, and both completely naked.“Oh, Anna. What’s up?” the first says.The second just grins, waves at me, and bends over to stretch his hamstrings, giving me a thorough view of his butthole. “I slept wrong last night,” he moans. “Everything hurts.”“Is that why you were so slow?”“Fuck off. At least I have an excuse.”I blink, wondering if this is a new symptom of CSD: vivid dreams of naked men bickering in Zane’s living room. That’s when an ash-colored wolf with thick fur and green eyes trots inside, comes to stand between me and the two men, and growls in their direction. In a quick symphony of bones cracking, keratin shrinking, and muscles unfolding, it transforms into a familiar shape.Amanda.Naked, of course. And pissed