Page 43 of The Alpha’s Chosen Mate

There can’t be. It’s impossible. She is mine. I know she’s mine.

But what if she doesn’t want me? What if, when she realizes I’m not her mate, she decides I’m not enough?

“Is it time?” Emily’s hesitant voice pierces through my heart, adding to my sorrow and fear.

“No.”

My response is anything but convincing. My voice is tight. Wavering. Emotional. And she notices.

She lifts herself from my chest, and time moves in slow motion as she turns towards the clock.

“Oh.” The word leaves her lips on an exhale.

“Maybe the clock is wrong,” I suggest, even though I don’t believe the lie I try to tell us.

“I wanted it to be you. I was so sure. I—”

“Emily.” I put one finger over her lips. “Before you say anything else… Just…” I search for the right words, lost in the foggy gray sadness of her eyes, a sadness I know is mirrored in mine. “I don’t care that there’s no bond between us. No—” I laugh, shaking my head, because that’s not true. It’s not true at all. “See, that’s what’s wrong, right? There is a bond between us. Something that’s more than the mate bond. Something we built through literal blood, sweat, and tears. We may not be fated mates, but so what? Fuck the mate bond. Fuck Selene. Selene is wrong. She got it wrong. Because there is no way there is anyone else out there who is more perfect for me than you.”

Emily’s eyes fill with tears as I speak. Not once does she try to interrupt me. She listens and waits. And somehow that makes me more nervous. What is she thinking? How is she feeling? What do those tears mean? Are they tears of sadness because she knows this is goodbye? Or tears of relief because she knows it doesn’t matter to me?

I hate that I can’t read her thoughts or sense her emotions.

“I choose you, Em. I choose this. Us. You and me, and our little one on the way. I want all of it, and I want it with you and only you. I want love, and a life where it’s us against the world. I will give all of that to you and more. But if you don’t…if you don’t want that, then I will walk away. I will do what’s needed—what’s right—as the father of your baby, but I will not pressure you into any decision. Ever.” A tear streams down my cheek, and while the alpha in me hates that I’m so vulnerable right now, the rest of me doesn’t care that she’s seeing this side of me. The side I’ll only ever show to her. “I’m yours, Em. If you want me.”

I bare my throat to her. I offer myself to her, to choose or reject. I submit to her. Only her. Always her.

Time seems to slow again as I wait with my eyes shut. I can’t bear to look at her or at the clock that betrayed us or at the stars twinkling in the night sky or the cursed moon that denied us our fate. More tears join the first, and just when I think I can’t take the wait any longer, just when I think she’s choosing to leave me, Emily leans forward, her palms flat against my chest.

“I choose you too, Harrison.”

Before I can respond, she wraps her mouth around my throat and sinks her teeth into my neck. The brief bite of pain is nothing compared to the overwhelming pleasure I feel as she marks me. My dick hardens instantly. I grunt, leaning forward into her bite, and my hips thrust up against her. She buries her canines deeper, and I grit my teeth as she lifts onto her knees, moves the sheet, positions her pussy over my dick, and sinks down onto it.

“Fuck, Emily.” My entire body is tense with pure euphoria, tense with the effort it takes to withhold my orgasm.

“Mine.” She growls the word into my mind as she slides up my dick and then slams her hips back down. “My mate. My alpha.”

“Yes.” I sigh the word. It’s no more than a hiss between my teeth. “I’m all yours, Em. Yours and only yours.”

My lycan roars his pleasure at her overt claiming of us. There’s no hesitation from her. None. She wants this—me—as much as I want her.

I take her hips in my hands as she pumps more of her venom into me to solidify her claim. I help Emily move, lifting her high and then lowering her, thrusting my hips up into her pussy so my dick goes as deep as it can. Harder and harder, faster and faster, until the momentum and force make her release me from her bite.

She arches, head thrown back and tits thrust forward as she removes my shirt from her body. I dive for her breasts, kissing one, then the other, and back again. I scrape my teeth along her sensitive nipples as I pull away, flicking the tips with my tongue. Her hips roll enthusiastically, making her breasts bounce, and I lean back just enough to watch and enjoy how beautiful she is when she’s like this. Free. Strong. Uninhibited. And all fucking mine.

“Look at you.” I palm one breast, squeezing it in time with her rolling hips, and my eyes drift down to where we’re joined. “Look at us,” I groan. “So fucking perfect together. Made for each other.” My hand drifts down her abdomen to her clit as I lean forward to kiss her neck. “You’re so beautiful,” I whisper against her skin. “I love you, Emily. I love you so much.”

She clings to my shoulders as I suck on her neck, readying it for my bite. My gums itch and my fangs descend, but I wait. I wait as I trace little circles on her clit. I wait as her nipples tease my chest, giving me as much pleasure as I’m giving them. She rocks harder against me, hips moving faster, every movement growing more frantic as she climbs closer to ecstasy. And when she’s right there, when she’s about to crest, I sink my teeth into her soft skin.

Light flashes behind my eyes. Emily shouts out her climax, sliding her body against mine in smooth strokes to lengthen her orgasm. She moves through each wave, lost in an ocean of euphoria. When she finally slows, she leans forward and sinks her teeth into my neck once more, deepening my mark. I roar in ecstasy, releasing her neck. Before I fully yield to my orgasm, I flip our position so she’s beneath me, and I bite her again. Harder this time. My tongue swirls over her mark as I pump my venom into her, and she pumps hers into me, both of us ensuring our marks last forever. I slam into her repeatedly until my dick pulses and I finally succumb to the most intense, delicious, soul-shattering orgasm I’ve ever experienced.

Our movements slow until we’re both completely still. With each second that passes, I sense our bond forming, settling into place, and completing.

Tiny flares of pleasure spark along my skin. Nothing as intense as I’ve heard about from those with fated mates, but there nonetheless. I cling to each one, willing them to ignite into the explosive fireworks I’ve heard so much about. But even though they don’t, love flows out of me and through me. Pure, intense, undiluted love. I sense no other emotion from Emily, like I would if we were fated mates, but I don’t care. If this bond—this minuscule but powerful bond—is all we ever have, it is more than enough for me. Because we chose this. We created this on our own. And I won’t let anyone take it away from me.

Ever.