Free Alpha Son by Brenna Lyons Page A

hoped not.
    He sighed and rubbed a hand along his lower lip and jaw. "I was wrong."
    She raised an eyebrow in surprise. "About?"
    Tyler ground his teeth, but he nodded. "You're due a full apology. I know that. So...yes, what I said about you...about lowborn wolves in general... It was wrong. I was willful and arrogant and hurtful. I can't lead if I don't respect all wolves equally."
    "I'm...stunned, to tell the truth." She was. "Thank you."
    "Don't thank me. I'm trying to make right the things I've screwed up."
    "Good start," she admitted. Grudgingly. She could almost grow to like this Alpha Tyler, though previous encounters with him still stung.
    He stood there, seemingly waiting for something she couldn't name.
    "Was there something else you wanted?"
    "Yes. No. Sort of." He took a calming breath. "Not the right time. Do you mind if I talk to you later? Another time?"
    Julianna tried to come to grips with this new, unsettling side of him. She'd never seen an Alpha so tongue tied. "Sure. You can talk to me another time." But why?
    Tyler nodded and strolled away, more at ease than she'd ever seen him.
    "So what was that all about?" Veronique asked, appearing from the distance as he disappeared the opposite direction.
    "I have no idea." But I may find out when he returns to talk to me again.
    "What did he say?" Vanessa asked. She was shadowing her twin, as usual.
    "He apologized."
    "Just like that?" they asked together.
    "Just. Like. That."
     
    * * * *
    Four days later
     
    Julianna slowed her steps, discomfited, though she couldn't put her finger on why she would be. Warmth at her back startled her. Before she could react, his scent reached her.
    "Alpha Tyler."
    His breath teased at her cheek. "I told you to call me Tyler, I believe."
    She licked her lips, trying to calm her thundering heart. "Did you want something in particular?" I will not call him Tyler.
    He inhaled deeply.
    Taking in my scent. It aroused her. This isn't smart. This is Alpha Tyler. He's not to be trusted.
    Julianna glanced around, relieved to see that no one else was in this section of garden. Then again, it was after nightfall.
    "You." There was no hesitation in the reply.
    Neither was there in hers. "So that's what the big apology scene was about." Her stomach ached at the truth of it.
    I don't know the truth of it. Was he hoping his attraction to her was a fleeting thing, and he wanted to scratch the itch and toss her away? Or was he fully aware of what they were to each other, and he finally gave in and decided to accept his fate ?
    I'm not sure I'm willing to help him with either.
    He turned her toward him, and Julianna braced herself for his anger at being called out. It wasn't forthcoming. He shook his head, his color less than robust. His expression said she'd wounded him. It was almost enough to spur her to comforting him.
    Almost.
    "No. Not at all. You know I've apologized to more than you. I've... I won't say I've changed, so much as I've stopped letting the other alphas define my actions for me. Please believe me, I was never comfortable with acting that way."
    "Then why did you?"
    "I made a mistake."
    She straightened her backpack and prepared to leave. "Yes. You did."
    "More than one, but a few major ones. And I never knew how to fix them."
    "You don't have to fix it. Consider yourself forgiven." Julianna nearly choked on the words, but she spit them out when she wanted to spit in his face. No. I don't, and that's the worst of it.
    "I'm not, and we both know it."
    She couldn't argue that. "A wolf never forgets." It was one of her father's favorite sayings.
    He sighed. "I should never have chosen Darian as my den brother."
    "Then why did you?"
    "I don't know." For a moment, he looked lost and forlorn.
    "I don't believe that." What caused this certainty was a mystery, but Julianna didn't question it.
    Tyler shifted his feet, looking not one milligram the Alpha he was. "I was awkward. I guess a lot of guys are at that age. He was...larger than