Marked By The Alpha's Rejection

's

not the kind that drinks champagne like it's

eel like I'm wrapped in someone else's life. The fabric clings to me in ways t

den liquid. Waiters pass by with silver trays, their arms stiff, their faces unreadabl

t belo

night. Blackwood Industries doesn't just run half the city-they pr

ish I coul

escape. My eyes land on a pair of tall glass doors at the far end of

oward it, slipping past the clum

ly under my touch,

s below, lights blinking in the dark, almost as if they're winking at me. I

from so

oth, but sharp. Like

tu

ony like he owns it. Like he owns the night. His suit is dark and p

s h

swept back in a way that looks both effortless and da

tant. Int

Black

er seen him in headlines or office portraits. The Alp

way my dress hugs my body. "I'm

that feels polite. It's intense. Like

ok like the o

"Maybe because I'm not." His lips twitch sligh

say, voice

er somehow. I feel it in my chest, in my bones. A strange

ld ste

do

rn," he says, n

. "How

into my company. Especially

't cruel. Just matter-of-fact. Sti

urning away to look at the city again.

Then, quietly, he says, "Nei

a second, there's something in hi

ickly. A mask drop

ir back. He steps even closer. Our arms al

hifts-an unfamiliar pull that tugs deep in my gut.I

out here, rea

h to say. "I guess I go

tching me closely. "T

nd heavy. The tension between us hums like e

ts his hand and brushes a s

racing down my spine. "You should go back i

t move. He do

iercing eyes-betray the wo

ybe I don't want to." Something flickers across his f

-he

next, he's there-his mouth on mine, steali

's been holding back for far too long and fin

e takes advantage, deepening t

way his hands found my waist, my

le hallway, we end up in one of the guest rooms upstairs. The

ak. Words ar

My heels slip off. My dress poo

e. I should have felt afraid-this man is cold, intimidating, the Alpha CEO wh

't see the ruthl

tremble slightly when t

s when our bodies finally meet

an lust. Mor

tween us, weaving something ancient and powerf

ency. Every breath, every touch, feels like

aves my lip

es through my bones. And when it happens...

nspoken. My chest tightens. My heartbeat syncs with

tether sna

pulling me toward him-not

a

s from somewhere deeper. Older. As if the s

eyes and

till. His lips parted like he'd ju

that," I

oice husky. "I didn

her

d in the aftermath of somet

meant to be one moment, a mistake, a

n't care abou

answers

was jus

d uncertainty, the bond humming beneath

terri

unden

ith bone-dee

ever be the