Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha
Chapter 16

My attention snapped to him. His eyes glowed with s****l intent, a continuous low rumble resonating from his chest.

I stared at him wide-eyed and snatched up my drink, swallowing it down, trying to relieve my suddenly parched throat.

“Down boy,” Mimi ordered him firmly.

I choked on my lemonade, coughing as I sputtered. I stared at Mimi in awe. I was now officially way past ‘like’ and well into ‘love’ with her.

“Leave that mating stuff for somewhere other than the kitchen,” she twittered.

Leander’s gleaming stare never left me, but he responded to her, “Don’t tempt me, Mimi. I’m not above making a very vivid point that I am in control.”

His words may have been meant for her, but there was no doubt I would have been an active participant in whatever action he constituted as making a vivid point.

Mimi tutted and rolled her eyes, going back to her task at hand of writing down her previously softly-spoken shopping list. I took another gulp of my drink, swallowing it down and went back to eating, suddenly replaceing the raised design on the white plate wildly fascinating.

After another moment or so, I still felt his intense gaze like warm fingers trailing along my skin. I squirmed. This was ridiculous, and I needed to put a stop to it. I looked up and grumbled, “Are you just going to stare at me while I eat? It’s creepy.”

Mimi snorted.

Leander had the audacity to chuckle.

I went back to my food. Apparently, it was a lost cause.

After several more minutes of awkward silence-me chewing and him staring-I was finished and sat back.

“Let’s go,” he said.

I exhaled, his words granting profound relief. Jumping down from the tall stool, I made my way after him. Ever followed silently behind. “Where are we going?”

“My bedroom,” he replied without even glancing over his shoulder at me. As if his answer was the most normal thing we’d done all day.

And there went my profound relief-right out of the window.

I ground to a halt, causing Ever to stumble into the back of me. I blurted out, “Hey!” and turned to face the Beta.

“Sorry. Just give me a warning next time you plan on discontinuing use of your legs,” he said wryly.

Leander turned around and looked at us both in annoyed confusion. He raised an eyebrow.

“I, I’m not going to your…bedroom.” Damn it. I intended for those words to come out strong and fierce. Instead, they were stuttered and breathy. Pull your shit together! I reprimanded myself.

Leander replied evenly, “You are. Now, you can, either walk or I can carry you. Which one will it be?”

The expression on his face told me he was deadly serious.

I looked around for an exit.

“Don’t even think about it,” his voice dropped low and dangerous.

Still, I stood rooted to the spot on the floor-until he took a very purposeful step in my direction. “Walk! I’ll walk,” I said hurriedly. The last thing I wanted was for him to wrap his arms around me again. The bond was hard enough to fight when we weren’t touching, and almost impossible when we were.

He smirked.

I had the insane urge to stick my tongue out at him but kept it in my mouth lest he took it as an invitation. I wouldn’t put it past him, not with all of that arrogant hotness going on.

We continued our trek through the house until we reached the top floor in the corner. He opened the door and ushered me through, turning to Ever. “I got it from here. Go home. Be back at 7AM.”

“Will do.” Ever turned on his heel and walked away.

I didn’t much care for the male, but suddenly, I desperately wanted him to return, anything so that I wouldn’t be stuck alone with the unstable, bordering on psychotic, Alpha.

Leander closed the door. Surprisingly, he didn’t even glance in my direction as he pointed to a room off the side, frowning. “Take a shower. You still have Dagger’s scent all over you.”

I shivered at the horrible memory of that male pinning me down. I quickly made my way toward the bathroom, muttering derisively under my breath, “I wonder why.”

If Leander heard me, he didn’t acknowledge it.

After I shut and made sure to lock the door, Leander called from the other side, “There are a T-shirt and shorts you can wear for tonight until we get proper clothing. And a little basket of toiletries. I’m not sure what Sydney included, but if you’re missing something, let me know, and I’ll have Sydney take care of.”

Hmm, I wondered who Sydney was. I peered down at the pretty little basket on the countertop. Inside, it contained a new toothbrush, comb, and brush for my hair, deodorant, and feminine products. I ground my teeth together. I wouldn’t need feminine products until after I mated and had my first heat. Which wasn’t happening. Period. End of story.

Turning around, I couldn’t help but draw in a low breath. The luxury bathroom was huge with a walk-in, clear-glass shower that could comfortably fit four people. The white marble countertop had two sinks with beautiful cabinetry below and more cabinets along the side wall.

But to the left of the space was the crowning glory -a ridiculously large bathtub, crafted from the same white marble as the countertop. It looked incredibly inviting. But I had no intention of remaining naked any longer than I had to, even for the benign purpose of bathing. So the shower it was.

After thoroughly washing all of the grime and dirt and nasty scents of other wolves off my body, I slipped Leander’s T-shirt over my head. It was large, hanging down to the middle of my thighs. I pressed the soft cotton to my nose. Shit. It smelled like him. A shiver ran up and down my spine. I pushed it back and looked back down at the counter. And glorious day, there was a pair of new lacy white panties!

I jerked the tag off. Thank you, Sydney, whoever you are. I wiggled into them. Lastly, I slipped on the soft boxer shorts over my panties. They were too big, but I didn’t mind having more of my flesh covered. I could just hold them closed.