The Alpha's Toy(35)

“Let go of the knife,” he said, reaching for it. Handing him back the knife, heat filled her cheeks.

“What the hell is wrong with me?” She touched her cheeks, wondering what the hell she’d done wrong.

“You’re going through something.” He stopped, looking down at the floor in front of him.

“What? What am I going through?” she asked, confused.

“My mother wasn’t wrong. We’re mated. Last night, I lost control.”

Mary stared at him. The silence in the room was deafening.

“There’s a lot of things you do not know,” Zeke said.

“Well why don’t you start telling me about all those things I don’t know.” She was tired of being kept in the dark about everything. Touching her neck, she felt the raised skin and wished there was something more she could do.

“I’ll tell you. Can we do the dishes without you trying to kill me?” he asked.

Glaring at him, she finished doing the dishes as he dried them before putting them away. When she was finished Mary walked over toward the windows staring out over the city. She wasn’t due back at work for another three weeks.

Running fingers through her hair, she tried to focus on the three weeks, but she was starting to think her time wasn’t nearly over.

“You’re not going to let me go after the month, are you?” she asked. She saw his reflection in the window.

“No, I’m not. I can’t let you go.”

Nodding, she felt tears sting her eyes. Mary knew she should be upset about his news, yet part of her was relieved to hear him not getting rid of her.

“What do you need to tell me?” she asked.

“I was the dog you saw down the alley,” he said. His arms wrapped around her waist holding onto her tightly.

“What?”

“I’m the one who smelled you, Mary. I was the large black dog that couldn’t resist you. I’d been scenting you for some time, and then you were coming out of the building and I couldn’t stop. I was the one who bit you,” Zeke said.

Her heart pounded as she recalled the black dog approaching. At the time she reached out, in an attempt to touch him. He’d struck, sinking his teeth into her arm. The pain had been excruciating. Afterward all she remembered were Roger and Dani. They’d taken her away from him.

“I had every intention of finding you. In fact, I never gave up trying to find you,” he said, surprising her.

“You were looking for me?” she asked.

“Yeah. I asked Roger and Dani if they’d ever seen you before. They always told me no. I could never smell you. We believe the injections you were given were an attempt to mask your scent. They fucking succeeded as well.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

****

The big question he’d been waiting for. Licking his lips, he folded his arms and stared at her. “You’re my destined mate, Mary.” He settled for the truth.

“What?”

“Our wolves recognize each other. You’re the woman I’m destined to spend the rest of my life with.”

“How is that possible?”

Stepping closer, he invaded her personal space. “You can feel your wolf wanting me, Mary. She knows me. Our wolves are a perfect match, and if you give me a chance I’ll prove to you that I’m the man for you.”

She shook her head turning back toward the windows. “This is all so confusing.”

Reaching out, he gripped her shoulders not wanting to let her go. What started out as her being his toy had developed into something far more. On the quest to find his sister he’d discovered the woman who’d settle his soul and tempt his body. “Give us a chance.”

“The first time we met you had killed the leaders of my pack.”

“They were using you as a fucking science experiment. The whole pack was as corrupt as their leaders,” he said, trying to reason with her.

“You were going to kill a teenager. Jessica is too fucking young to die.”

“I wouldn’t have killed her.” He admitted the truth to her.

She jerked, looking back at him. “What? Max told me this before. You don’t need to say anything.”

“Yes, I do need to say something. I’m not a monster, Mary. I wouldn’t have killed her. I’d have pushed her aside. She didn’t smell corrupt or anything like the rest of the pack. She smelled like you, innocent.”

He heard and felt her take a deep breath. “This is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me,” she said.

“I love you, Mary.” Zeke figured he should be the one to put the words out there. She could do with them what she wanted, but he wasn’t going to hide from his feelings.