Free The Alpha's Unwanted Mate: (BWWM) Paranormal Romance Standalone by Ellie Valentina Page B

entire life but had never been able to place. Slowly, his lips moved over hers, sampling and stimulating. Clyde felt her pulse increase as she pressed against him, her nipples hardening to taut buds against his chest.
    He drank from her like a man starved, forgetting that his life was in shambles, that his pack might be on the verge of a war, and that this woman was completely wrong for him in every way. He wanted her – powerfully – even though he knew she hid her true self from him.
    When his tongue cleaved past her lips to tease her own, Angeline whimpered in his arms, arching against his chest in a silent plea for more. He nipped and sucked at her lower lip until she was clinging to him, breathless, her body an undulating mass of heat and need. Groaning, Clyde tasted her until he thought the feel of her soft form against him might drive him out of his mind.
    It took a good deal more effort than anything in recent memory, but he forced himself to release her, drawing back as he ended the kiss. Angeline stared up at him, his eyes dark with desire, and Clyde clenched the edge of the bed to keep from swooping down on her again. He could do no more when he wasn’t even certain she was fully conscious. He refused to take advantage of her that way, to do something both of them might later regret. For a moment, he merely gazed down upon her, waiting for the realization he knew was sure to come.
    Angeline’s eyes slowly cleared as lucidity leeched into her features. The soft smile she’d hosted moments earlier sobered as her eyes widened. “Oh…” The word left her breathless as she scrabbled upright, grabbing for the sheets.  “Oh Christ . I…” She couldn’t meet his gaze, her cheeks flaming as she stared devotedly down at the coverlet she held in her hands. “I thought I was still dreaming.”
    He didn’t know whether to take that as a compliment or as an insult. Clyde chose his words carefully. “I…apologize. I didn’t mean to startle you. I only heard you tossing and turning and thought…”
    “What did you think?” Her inquiry was the barest whisper.
    “I…thought you might need to be woken up.”
    Angeline drew her hands to her face to cover it, and when she next spoke, her words came out muffled. “I do need to wake up. This place…it confuses me, Clyde. It makes me question everything I ever thought to be true about your kind.”             
    It was the first earnest thing he’d heard from her since she’d entered his home. Clyde’s heart leaped into his throat at the admission, as he leaned forward to place a hand gently on her thigh. “Let me help you, Angeline. You said you wanted to learn. Let me teach you. There’s no need to be afraid.”
    The silence hung thick between them, fraught with uncertainty. At that moment, Clyde wanted nothing more than for Angeline to let him in. It would smooth things over between them, and they could begin to work on the relationship that would make them compatible mates.
    He could take her into his bed, and make sure that no other man ever entered her thoughts again. But her next words shattered his hope just as quickly as they had baited it. “I need you to leave.”
    Though the words were uttered low, Clyde’s sharp hearing was more than adept enough to her Angeline clearly. Her statement made him stiffen even as his heart twisted in his chest.
    “Are you sure,” He managed hoarsely, “that’s what you want?”
    “It’s what I need .” She returned, uttering the last word vehemently, her face still hidden in her hands. “Please…just go.”
    Silently, Clyde stood to leave her room, closing the door quietly behind him. He didn’t stop walking until he had left the cabin and made his way through the settlement. When he reached the edge of the forest, he shifted, his form lengthening and thickening into that of an immense, sable colored wolf with glowing silver eyes.
    He had tasted her, and she had turned him away. Clyde didn’t