All Chapters of Her Cursed Alpha : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Wendy’s POVI stand up, slipping from his grasp.I want to hold on to my anger. It's corrosive, but it gives me a sense of fire. And it’s better than the loneliness I’m feeling beneath it. “Is there anything else you need from me?” I ask. “We need to lay out some ground rules.” I feel defeated. Resigned to my fate. “Whatever you say.”“You can go anywhere within Dom Volka, except my office. Nothing else is off-limits to you.” Is he really so convinced I was in on whatever Dad was doing that he thinks I might be spying for him even now? “I have no interest in your office.” He gives me a skeptical look, but doesn’t push it. “Besides that, go wherever you want. Everyone here will treat you with the respect afforded to you as my mate.”“You realize how messed up this is, right?” I tell him. “Not just what you’re doing to me or my dad, but to your own pack.”“What wrong am I doing to my pack, exactly?” He sounds sincerely curious, which I don’t understand, because it seems obvious to

Desmond’s POV“I spent more than a few winters of polar nights in Alaska myself.” I take a drink, letting the acidity coat my throat. “Didn't come from a long line of shifters, though. No skiing under the aurora for me. Just running flat-out every full moon, waiting out the shift until I could come back to what amounted to home. At least it beat freezing to death. Or my father’s shotgun blast to the chest.” I let the silence drag a beat too long, unafraid to meet his eyes.“We all have our own family legacies.”The table quiets. This is the most I've ever given away of myself, of my past. I let the silence stretch, thick with tension. Lars takes a long gulp of beer. Javier stares at his plate like it’s suddenly grown ears. “But yeah.” I slip my dinner knife between my fingers. “Polar night. Real magical stuff.”Leaning back in my chair, I let the conversation around the table resume without me. I don't trust myself to glance at Wendy. I don't want to see disgust—or worse, pity—on he

Desmond’s POVThe second I shut the door, I suck in a lungful of her scent like it’s oxygen. There’s sweetness, complicated by stress. More than a flicker of desire in there too. It lights up every primitive instinct in my body.I want Wendy more than anything I've ever wanted in my life. And she won't even fucking look at me. A tense silence stretches between us. This meek shell of herself is making my chest hurt. “I’m going to take a shower,” I tell her. “Make yourself at home.”If she won’t let me near her, I need to get myself off to the thought of her. But when I try to jerk off in the shower, I think of how sad she looks and just… can’t. Guilt tangles with need, dragging claws down my spine. What kind of man gets off while his woman looks that sad? Fuck. I'm starting to feel guilty after all. The feeling is so strange and unwelcome that I rebel against it automatically. This has to be another tactic of hers. Wear me down so I’ll give her anything she wants. Give her any

Desmond’s POVJealousy is real. So is honesty.“Here’s another piece of wolf shifter intel for you,” I tell her.“Unbonded pack alphas are strongly encouraged to stay celibate until they find their mate."“You clearly missed that memo.”I meet her eyes, let her see how serious I am. “Since I took the mantle, I haven’t touched anyone but you.”A pause. “When did you become alpha?”“Four years ago.”She blinks. “You're messing with me.”“Four years. Nothing. No one. Until you walked into my life.”“You expect me to believe you broke four years of celibacy... for me?”She says it like it's absurd. As if she truly has no idea the power she holds over me.“It’s the truth.”I should still be furious at her. But with every moment in her presence, I'm finding it more and more difficult to hold on to that anger.There’s something calming about her proximity, a softness, a rightness, to sharing a bed with her. She must feel it too. We’re having an actual, civil conversation for the first time

Wendy’s POVWhen I wake in the morning, I’m not surprised to find myself alone. I should be happy Desmond left me alone. That’s what I wanted, after all. I turn over and stare at my pillow barricade. In the cold light of day, it seems so petulant. Just plain silly. It wasn’t that I was afraid he’d ravish me—as if a pillow barricade would stop him anyway—it was that I was afraid we would wake up tangled together, like we did that first morning together. Last night, before falling asleep, I had to think long and hard about what Desmond said. I hate to give him credit, but he’s right. Me hiding in his quarters is going to come off the wrong way to hispack mates, and they don’t deserve that. It’s bad enough I’m lying to them about who I really am to Desmond. I don’t want them thinking I’m prejudiced against them. After showering and getting dressed, I try calling my father. No answer. But at least my check-in text gets an “all good honey” reply ten minutes later. No “how are you” or