The Alpha's Heart (Wilde Creek Two) by R. E. Butler Page B

of an asshole.  Mia had gone to Brynn’s home and gathered clothes and toiletries for her.  She hadn’t really been happy about it, but after a stern warning from her brother, Malachi, she hadn’t said anything.
    Three she-wolves who were his dad’s age went to Acksel’s house and cleaned up, making sure the bed was made in the master and the fridge stocked with food that was more appropriate for a pregnant human female.  As he carried Brynn into the bedroom, he was inwardly pleased to see that one of the females had put a vase of pink roses on the dresser.
    Brynn stiffened when she saw the bed.  Acksel tugged the covers back with one hand, laid her down, and covered her.  She wiggled up to a seated position, her hands gripping the covers.  “Don’t think you can just be nice suddenly and I’m going to let you into my life, Acksel.  You promised me clothes, so get them for me and let me go home.”
    He sat on the edge of the bed and resisted the urge to pull her into his lap and kiss the fight out of her.
    “We’ve got some things to talk about.”
    “So you’re also a liar?  First you show up at my door dead drunk, then you…you know, and then you disappear.  Six freaking weeks I try to get you on the phone and you ignore me.  Now that you know I’m pregnant, suddenly you’re all about the baby.  Well, fuck you, Acksel.  If you want to be part of the baby’s life, I’ll let you know when he or she is born and we’ll set up some kind of visitation schedule so we never have to see each other.”
    Confusion skated through him.  “What?”
    “Don’t act like you want to be with me just because I’m pregnant.”  Tears glittered in her eyes suddenly.  “I won’t chain myself to you just because we both made a mistake.  Let me go.  Please, let me go.”
    She dropped her head into her hands and took in a deep, trembling breath.
    Guilt swamped him.
    “That’s not going to happen, Brynn.  I know you don’t believe me, but I wanted to be with you.  You’re not a wolf, so you don’t understand how the pack works.  I couldn’t just bring you home with me after our night together.  I had just recently declared that wolves and humans could mate together and stay in the pack.  To bring you in as my mate so quickly would have caused an uproar.  You would have had a target on your back, been seen as my Achilles’ heel.”
    Her hands lowered but she didn’t raise her head.
    “I know you were taken and hurt and I’m so sorry that happened.  I wish I could have protected you.  I thought I was doing the right thing.  I thought that staying away from you would let you have a safe, normal life.  If I had brought you into my life immediately, you would have had to defend yourself against the females who wanted to prove that they were better suited to be an alpha’s mate than you.”
    “You’re not going to let me leave, are you?”
    “You’re not a prisoner, Brynn.  But I do want you to stay with me so I can take care of you.”
    “I need to go to work.  I want to go home.”
    “Your boss knows what happened and you have the rest of the week off work to recuperate.  As far as going home, if you stay with me for a few days willingly, I’ll let you go home if you want.  Give me a chance to tell you what I need to tell you.  Don’t shut me out the way that I did to you.”
    She was quiet for long enough that he almost dropped to his knees and began begging.  But then she looked at him.  “Tell me why you came to my house in the first place.”
    “Because I smelled you.  Your scent.  It made me nuts.”  He didn’t remember much about that night prior to passing out except that he smelled cinnamon and knew it was the scent of his mate.  But when he woke up later on her couch, he could think of nothing but making love to her.  Maybe he had been a little hungover at that point and his control wasn’t what it should have been — maybe if he’d been a little more sober