Becoming the Alpha by Ivy Sinclair

CHAPTER ONE
    Lukas’s hand gripped mine as he turned to lead me across the lodge’s parking lot. I felt like a jangled ball of nerves and emotions threatened to overwhelm me at any moment. I kept playing back Lukas’s words over and over again in my head.
    “Today is the day that I am claiming what is mine. And that means everything.”
    There was a possessive note in his voice that took my breath away. Was it possible that there was something more to what Lukas wanted from me? I barely knew who he was anymore. The boy that I had known years ago had grown into a virile and complicated man; not that I expected anything different. I had changed in the last ten years too. And yet I had chained myself to Lukas’s wagon and gave in the first moment he said he needed me. That was infuriating, unsettling, and slightly exciting all at the same time.
    Lukas was the first boy who ever set my soul on fire, and truth be told, that fire had never stopped burning for him. When he took my virginity ten years ago, it was as if he sealed my heart from ever accepting another into it. I had tried. My college years were littered with feeble attempts to banish Lukas Kasper from my heart. It hadn’t worked then, and now that he had arrived back in my life, it definitely wasn’t working now.
    All of these thoughts collided in my mind. I couldn’t just tell him how I felt. It seemed stupid and sudden, which of course it was. I had to take a step back and breathe. I needed space to think about what this all meant, but we didn’t have time for that. Lukas was about to enter a bear match, whatever the hell that was, and he needed me at his side.
    Lukas stopped at the edge of the parking lot and frowned as he looked at the path in front of us leading into the woods. Then he looked down at my feet. I spent over an hour trying to decide what to wear when Lukas originally summoned me to White Oaks with his cryptic text message this morning. A meeting with the clan council was supposed to be the original intent of the visit, but I had no idea what was appropriate to wear for that. I finally settled on a pale blue sundress and white sandals thinking the outfit was fairly innocuous. The dress’s matching lightweight sweater was draped over my arm.
    “I didn’t know we were going hiking,” I said, reading his mind. “You gotta help a girl out if you knew that there was going to be a nature hike on the agenda.”
    “It’s not far,” Lukas said. “You never wore dresses in high school, and this is the second time I’ve seen you in a dress in the week since I’ve been back.”
    I wasn’t sure if I should be offended or not by the comment. “I did wear dresses back then,” I said. “You just never noticed.”
    Lukas shook his head as his eyes traveled down my body. I felt warmth creep across my skin following the path of his gaze. “Nope. I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have ever let you out of the house. The guys in school would have been all over you.”
    I crossed my arms and glared at him. “You wouldn’t have had a say in the matter. Or have you forgotten that you were neither my brother nor my boyfriend back then? And whatever it is we’re doing now is strictly business.” I couldn’t let him see how he affected me. Getting angry at him was easier.
    Lukas’s face darkened. I felt his hand squeeze mine. “I have a lot to make up for when it comes to you, Maren. I only wish I had done it sooner.”
    Why was he doing this to me? I needed to keep my wits about me, but there was a part of me that desperately wanted him to pick me up and find a quiet place among the trees to ravage me. I took a deep breath. “I didn’t think we had time for a walk down memory lane.”
    “We don’t,” he said. “The arena isn’t far. You think you can make it in those things?” He pointed at my shoes. “Or else, I can carry you.”
    The idea of being pressed up against Lukas’s bare chest was a little bit too much to handle at the moment. I