The One 16
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Chapter 16: Questions
Sophie
I wake slowly, warm andfortable, with the scent of pine surrounding me. I love the scent of
pine. It reminds me of the pine trees surrounding my home.
My hand moves over something hard. It’s not a rock, it’s….. frown, running my hands over the hard
surface.
When I hear a man’s groan of pleasure I shoot up, or I try to. I realize I’m in the arms of a man and
not just any man, Alpha Hunter. My mate.
“Let go of me! What are you doing?” I scream, pushing away from him andnding on my butt.
“What? Huh?” he says, shaking his head as if shaking the sleep away. I make the mistake of looking
down and I can see that he’ s very much aroused.
“Oh no! No, no, no!” I yell, scooting away from him on my butt, ready to turn and shift into Hedda.
“Wait! Don’t go! I’m…” he jumps up, then looks down at his erection. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing I
can do about that. I wasying with you, you’re my mate, you were running your hands over my
chest, and it felt so good…” He holds his arms out to the side, shrugging. “I’m a man, it’s not like I
can hide it. I’m attracted to you, aroused by you. But I’m not going to hurt you. I would never force
myself on you.
“No, you’d just force your mark on me, and then force yourself on me,” I say, still scooting back.
“Look,” he says, putting his hands on his hips and as much as I don’t want to, I can’t help but
appreciate how utterly gorgeous this man is. He has thick, sandy blond hair, still mussed from
sleeping. His body….I have to press my legs together as I look over his body. There isn’t an ounce
of fat on this man. I know from touching him a moment ago, that his muscles are solid and rock
hard, and they cover his entire body. Every inch of him is muscr and powerful. Hedda begins
purring and I quickly cut her off.
I see his nostrils re. Da**it, he can smell my arousal. Well, arousal or no, I’m not going to let him
mate me in front of goddess knows how many people.
“Look,” he says again, this time crouching down. “If I was going to force my mate mark on you, I
could have done it at any pointst night.”
“There’s no one here to witness it, what would be the point?”
He growls at that, and I watch his hands turn into fists. “No one will ever see you like that. I told you
before. I’m a possessive man. I do not share. Ever. You are mine. You will only ever be mine. I
refuse to mark and mate you in front of anyone. If you want to kiss me in public, or let me kiss you
in public, fine. If you want to sit in myp in public, I’d love that. But I will never parade you naked,
never put you in any state of undress or partial undress where anyone can see you. You. Are.
Mine,” he snarls thest part, standing again.
I scramble to my feet, not wanting to be at a disadvantage of being on my a** in front of this man.
But, I have to admit, his
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words send shivers down my spine.
“Now, can we start by you telling me your name?” he asks.
I open my mouth, but he cuts me off. “You’re real name, this time.”
I shake my head at him.
“I already know you’re an Alpha. I can smell it. Hell, even a**hole Owen could smell it.”
“No, he didn’t. He just realized that his Alphamand didn’t work on me,” I tell him.
He gives an exasperated look. “Good to know he’s as s**d as I thought,” he says, which makes me
chuckle before I p my hand over my mouth.
It’s toote, he heard it. When he looks back up at me, his eyes have gone soft.
“If I had to guess, I’d go way, way out on a limb. Someone who I thought I would never see again,”
he says, his voice so soft I have to strain to listen.
I feel a wave of jealousy flow through me. Who is this woman who he thought he’d never see again,
the woman he obviously hopes to see again.
He looks at me with those grey eyes through his longshes. D**n him and his long, s**y eyshes.
“Who would you guess?” I ask, not sure I really want to know.
“Little Sophie Meyers.” My heart **ips a beat at the way he says.
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it. It’s as if he truly is desperate for me to be her.
“I’m not little anymore,” I say quietly.
“No, you’re not. I remember you being so happy, so excited the night I met you,” he says with a soft
smile on his face.
“Yeah, well, two years on my own, on the run, and a big dose of reality will wipe that right out of a
girl,” I say sarcastically.
“I can’t imagine how hard it’s been for you.” He says it so gently, with so much concern in his voice,
that it brings tears to my eyes..
I shrug, turn so I can wipe the s**d tears from my eyes.
“Where have you been all this time?” he asks me.
“I was hiding in a human town.”
“What happened, why did you leave that town?”
I shrug again. He gestures for me to sit, and I narrow my eyes at him. He puts his hand up in front
of him and then slowly sits down. “Please,” he says, gesturing for me to sit with him.
‘Hedda?’ I ask my wolf.
‘I like him.’
‘Yes, but can we trust that this isn’t a trap?”
She pushes forward, looking at him. He never once looks away. ‘Yes, I think we can trust him. At
least for now.’
When I sit, he smiles, pleased with my decision.
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Chapter 16: Questions
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“Tell me about what’s happened with you. Where did you go? Why did you leave?”
I
“First, I have a question for you,” say, crossing my arms. The motion makes me realize that I’m just
as naked as he is. It’s been a long time since I was naked like this in front of someone. I suddenly
feel very self-conscious.
I’m not sure what he sees on my face, but he puts his hands up again. “Give me one minute,” he
jumping to his feet. He
starts to turn and then turns back. “Don’t run. Please.”
I nod: I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard an Alpha say ‘please’ as many times as Alpha Hunter has
said it to me in thest 24 hours.
I hear some rustling nearby and he’s back in a few minutes. I’m shocked when he hands me
branches with leaves and shrubs on them.
“You look ufortable sitting here naked, so I thought you could use these to cover yourself, I got
myself one too, so you don’t have to see how excited I am to be talking to you,” he says, giving me
an embarrassed smile.
I stare at the branches for a moment, feeling my heart melting just a bit at his kindness.
“Thank you,” I say, covering myself. I feel better not being so exposed.
“You’re wee. Now, you had a question for me. You can ask me anything,” he says, covering
himself and settling in like we’re in an office or sitting room somewhere, catching up like old friends.
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Chapter 16 Questions
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I frown at him for a moment, trying to understand him. I can’t, so I decide I’ve got nothing to lose by
asking him my question, or rather, questions.
“You said you remember that night, the night we met?” I ask.
“Yes, your sister’s 18th birthday party.”
“Yes,” I say, looking down at my hands. “Why….why did you. hover around me that night? Why did
you dance with me and only let certain people dance with me?”
“To protect you. I could tell instantly that you had no idea what was going to happen. It didn’t matter
that Alpha Calvin is a good guy and I knew he’d do whatever he could to make the night easier forContent from N?velDr(a)ma.Org.
your sister. There are always some people, like Alpha- Owen for example, who get out of hand. You
were underage, but you were also quite na?ve. I warned your father about only letting you dance
with a few of the Alphas that night, and we took turns dancing with you.”
He smiles, looking away for a moment. “I remember you loved dancing, and you were very good at
it.”
I smile, blushing at the unexpected praise. “I remember thinking the same about you. You were a
very good dancer. I enjoyed dancing with you that night.”
I looks at me, the smile lingering on his face. “Is that your only question for me?”
I shake my head, not sure how to ask my next question.
“You want to know why I was watching you when your sister was being imed?”
Chapter 16 Questions
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I look up into his eyes. “Yes.”
it’s likely that “S
“I felt a pull to you that night. Shaw felt a pull to you, a need to protect you. I didn’t know it at the
time, but it’s quite possible it was the early stages of the mate bond. We are both Alphas so
feeling it early. I refuse to watch a woman be taken publicly like that. I don’t agree with it, and I have
no desire to have a conversation with a woman who can’t meet my eyes because I saw her in a
situation like that and now, she’s too embarrassed to even look at me, much less speak to me. I was
outside that room, so I could give your sister what little privacy I could offer her. That’s the first
reason.”
“And the second?” I ask.
“I was watching over you. I was making sure no one tried to sneak to your room while everyone was
watching your sister’s iming. I also helped your warrior get back to her room safely, but I came
right back to make sure you were safe. It was not my ce to tell you what would happen, but I
could see on your face how horrified you were. I wasn’t surprised to hear that you had run the next
morning.”
I look down, thinking through everything that he’s said. It changes the entire perspective that I’ve
had of him that night. I look back up at him, having one more burning question for him.
“Ask,” he says gently.
“Why are you here?” I whisper.
“You’re my mate. I want you. I want my mark on your neck. I want to make love to you and bind you
to me in all possible ways.”
Chapter 16: Questions
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“But not in public?” I rify.
“No, I want to do it privately, just you and me.”
“What about your pack members who don’t believe in a private iming? What about the other
packs who will fight against me being named your Luna?”
“Any pack member who does not ept you as my mate and their Luna, will find themselves
without a pack, at least until they find someone else to take them in. I will renounce myself as their
Alpha.”
“You would do that?” I ask, shocked.
“Yes, absolutely.”
“Why?”
“Because you are my mate. Because I am your Alpha. I am meant to protect you, and love you, and
care for you. And that is what I will do. No one will be above you in my life. No one. They may
sound like pretty words,” he says, using my phrase, “but they are words that I mean. They are from
my heart.”