Page 33 of The Forbidden Alpha

“It was. He had a situation… at the gates,” I managed to whisper, my heart still staggering. I looked around, desperate for Gabe, but the gray of his tux was nowhere. “Where’s Gabe?”

“Haven’t seen him since he disappeared with Lilith,” Nikki said as she waved a hand dismissively, already looking for more champagne. I looked around the room, the panic starting to claw at my throat. Gabe was gone. Ethan was… somewhere. And Shane.

My eyes swept the roiling sea of silk and muscle. Shane was nowhere in sight.

Usually, his presence was constant, a shadow I couldn’t shake. His absence felt worse.

Nikki waved a hand in front of my face. “He probably found a dark corner to break some furniture. Forget him—tell us what the Mad King said!”

“Mad King?” I murmured. My head had been in the clouds, but the title brought me crashing back to earth.

“That’s what they call him. We talked about him being new blood, remember? He hasn’t been Alpha long.” Something was off with Mavy, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“So? What did he say?” Nikki asked.

I couldn’t. “I need air,” I said, backing away from their frantic energy. “Just a minute. I’ll be right back, I promise.”

Mavy’s jaw tightened, her normal bubbly demeanor gone, but I brushed it off and slipped away from the heat of the ballroom.

“Fine. Don’t be long,” Nikki sighed. Her pout was the last thing I saw before I stepped out into the gardens.

I needed the cold night air to kill the heat Ethan had left on my skin. The moon hung heavy over the canyon. It was beautiful, lighting up the stone fountain and the manicured hedges, but I couldn’t appreciate it.

I’d never wanted to find my mate, but the Goddess didn’t listen. I was grappling with my future, the control I’d lose, but the way he’d looked at me left me breathless. He didn’t say anything about my wolf, or lack of wolf.

I walked toward the fountain, dabbing at a stray tear, careful not to ruin Nikki’s masterpiece. If I had my wolf, I could ask her what to do, but there was only silence. No matter how long I stayed out here, it wouldn’t make me any more ready for what was to come. I lifted my chin, and moved toward the door.

That’s when the shadows moved.

Out from the darkness of the stone arches, a figure stepped into the light. My body went cold, the blood draining from my limbs as panic seized my chest. I couldn’t find my voice.

Shane stepped into the silver light, his tuxedo jacket discarded, his black shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest, his shadow stretching across the fountain like a bloodstain. His jaw was set so tight I could see the muscle leaping in his cheek, and his eyes… they weren’t human. They were pits of gold. He slowly licked his lips, the motion deliberate, already tasting the fear rolling off me.

“Why?” Shane asked, his voice terrifyingly calm.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I was powerless; a lamb alone with a wolf.

Shane was before me in a heartbeat. Gold, murderous intent held me still. His Alpha aura surrounded me, encasing me. Heat radiated off him and in the next second, his hand fisted my throat and slammed me against the cement wall. I let out a gargled cry, my fingers clawing at the hand that was crushing my windpipe. His shoulders shook, neck cracking, knuckles whitening.

I slid down the rough cement, my knees hitting the dirt as he momentarily loosened his grip to sneer at me. I tried to gasp for air, but before I could even draw a full breath, Shane’s hand fisted in my hair to yank my head back. His other arm looped around my middle, hoisting me up until I was dangling against him, trapped between his heat and the cold wall.

“How many times do I have to say it?” he hissed. His gaze traveled down my body, lingering on the curve of my chest before he let out a growl. “You’re mine.”

He yanked the silk of my dress. The spaghetti straps snapped with a violent pop, and the bodice fell, leaving me bare to the waist in the moonlight.

“Shane,” I choked through the pain. There was no reprieve as my lungs ballooned with air.

Shane’s arm around my waist lifted me. He was a violation, his mouth a hot, bruising weight on my breast. My thighs clenched at the familiar touch and I cried out as teeth bit with the need for blood. He hauled my leg over his waist, and the sound of my palm cracking against his jaw echoed off the stone. I froze as his eyes found mine and he smirked.

“There she is.” He exhaled the words and I bit my lip, shoving against his chest.

He slapped me—an explosion of light that sent my head reeling. “I can hurt you too, Princess.”

When I turned my head to look at him, his shoulders rose with each breath. He struck me again, harder this time. My skull met the cement, and the world blurred. My vision went dark at the edges, and my strength vanished. I felt myself crumpling, but he caught me—not with a hand, but with a clawed grip that pierced my skin.

Shane had snapped. A low, distorted rattle vibrated in his chest, a rattle that wasn’t human. The scent of rain and wet fur exploded off him, suffocatingly thick. Something shifted beneath his skin as he rolled his head, his face contorting as his beast fought to tear through the skin. There were no limits now; the restraint he’d worn had been shredded by a feral, white-hot hate. He didn’t want to possess me anymore—he wanted to break me so no one else could have me.

“I’ve played your games. But watching you with him? I can only be patient for so long. I have nothing left to give. It’s time I take,” he bit out, his voice thick with delirious grief.