Crossed Fates by Lexi C. Foss

Alaric

Makayla placedher hands on her hips, the sweatpants a near-perfect fit. However, now that we were alone, I sort of preferred the towel. “Your mate?”

I lifted a shoulder. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to do anything about it, but yeah, Makayla, you’re my mate.” Something we’d already established.

“And that means I can’t be with another guy in your pack?”

“His interest in you has nothing to do with you and everything to do with pissing me off.” I didn’t mean for that to sound like a hit to her ego, so I quickly clarified with, “It’s a direct insult to ogle you the way that he did, and he knows it. And he’s done it twice now.”

She frowned. “Twice?”

“First at Tyler’s house, and again in my house.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” I ran a hand over my face and shook my head. “Sorry. I’m not trying to take this all out on you. It’s just…”

“A lot?” she suggested, leaning against my foyer wall.

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s a lot.” I glanced around her at my kitchen. “And I’m starving.”

“Me, too,” she admitted, her eyes running over me.

I arched a brow.

She swallowed. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Sure you didn’t.” I prowled toward her and nipped the air in front of her lips. “But I wasn’t kidding. I need food.” Then I could think about sex. Maybe. Actually, probably not. Definitely not.

Shit. Just… focus on one thing at a time.

Makayla followed me into the kitchen, a question lurking in her pretty eyes.

“What do you want to ask me?” I wondered out loud as I started going through my fridge.

“I’m just…” She trailed off as she took over one of the stools beside my counter bar. There were two, but seated on the dining room side, allowing the chef in the kitchen to see the dining and living area beyond. An open floor plan, my mother would call it. For entertaining.

Because I liked entertaining people. I nearly rolled my eyes at the thought.

“Do you think someone like Hardt would be a good alpha to your pack?” Makayla finally asked, the words coming out in a rush almost as though she’d had to talk herself into voicing them.

I snorted. “Absolutely fucking not.” I didn’t even need to think about the answer. It was the most obvious one to voice. “Why, do you?”

“I… actually, no.”

I looked over the door of the fridge to find her frowning. My brow furrowed in response. “Did he say something to you?” I’d only left them alone for a minute, but he’d clearly followed her into the living area. And the jackass had been grinning when I’d returned.

“Not exactly. Well, yes. I mean, no. I mean…” She shook her head, a growl leaving her mouth that had me fighting the urge to grin.

It was the first time I’d seen her at a loss for words, and I found the reveal a bit charming. It made her more human. Or just, more accurately, relatable.

“He wanted to know if the two of us would be staying. I figured he meant the two of us”—she pointed a finger back and forth between us—“so I told him no and that I will be going home.”

And that killed my amusement.

I will be going home.

Of course she would be, but the way she said it with certainty had me wondering what the hell I would do when she left. Unless she wasn’t my true fated mate. Maybe the jumping between realms had somehow crossed our fates?

“He was—well, very pleased,” she continued. “And I realize now that he wasn’t asking about us as a couple so much as asking about you.”

“Because he wants to be alpha.”

“Yeah.”

I shut the fridge, having let half the cold air out already without really paying attention to the contents.

“There’s a casserole in there,” Makayla said, gesturing to the closed door. “If you’re looking for something easy, I mean. Someone dropped it off earlier with instructions on how to heat it.” Her lips pinched. “Savannah, I think?”

“Tyler’s girlfriend.” Or I assumed that was what he’d called her. They weren’t mates, just… close. “My mom probably made it for Savannah, but she would want me to have it to make sure I ate something.” I shook my head, my smile sad. “She’s always looking out for everyone except for herself.” I made a mental note to visit her tomorrow. She was probably one of the few packmates I still somewhat knew because of her ties to my brother.

“She was his girlfriend, not his mate?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Neither of them had been duped by fate yet.” I winked at her to soften the insult. “They chose each other.”

“What would have happened if fate duped them later?” A familiar twinge of humor danced in her eyes as she repeated my playful word.

“They would have broken up.” Which I expected would have sucked for them. Thankfully, I didn’t have that problem now since I’d opted not to date exclusively with anyone. My job hadn’t really allowed for intense relationships.

“Just like that?” Makayla asked as she pushed off the stool to join me in the kitchen.

I watched as she opened the fridge to pull out the casserole, apparently deciding that she needed to take charge. I didn’t argue, especially when she bent to place it in the oven. The woman was fine even in a pair of sweats and a T-shirt.

“For a Bitten wolf, a man can’t perform for anyone other than his mate,” I said, addressing her question regarding Tyler and Savannah and what would have happened if one of them had found their destined mate. “So, they wouldn’t have had a choice.”

Makayla stilled with her ass in the air, making me want to tap her with my palm.

I knew it was my reveal that gave her pause—the fact that I’d just admitted she’d be the only one capable of satisfying me ever again—but I enjoyed her reaction too much to really think through what it all meant.

Locking her up in a cage was becoming more and more appealing.

She gathered her thoughts after another handful of seconds, then straightened to fuss with the oven. She had a little instruction card clenched in her fist when she finally turned to face me. “So you’ll never be able to…?”

“Fuck another woman?” I finished for her. “Nope.” It came out a lot calmer than I felt. Maybe because I was too exhausted and hungry to focus on it right now.

Or maybe because it was just life.

“What about a man?”

I blinked at her. “What?”

“You said you can’t fuck another woman, so what about a man?”

I chuckled. “I can’t perform sexually with anyone except you, Makayla,” I rephrased. “Assuming you’re my true fated mate.” I considered her for a moment. “You’re not from my world. Maybe there’s another version of you running around this realm.” I arched a brow and smirked. “A more docile, subservient you.”

She snorted. “Not fucking likely.”

I waggled my brows. “That could be fun. Two of you in my bed.”

“You couldn’t handle even one of me in your bed, let alone two,” she shot back.

“Oh?” I cornered her in the kitchen, pressing her up against the counter by the oven. “You sure about that, mate?”

Her humor disappeared behind a wave of heat, her pupils dilating with interest. I brushed my lips against hers, tasting and teasing, and testing her resolve.

She responded with a light brush of her own.

Then a firmer kiss, one underlined in want.

I gripped her hip, holding her to me as I returned the embrace, my tongue dancing along the seam of her mouth, seeking entry. She parted for me like a good little wolf and allowed me to explore her with open curiosity.

This was different from before.

Less urgent.

Almost… sweeter.

A subtle exploration, a coaxing, a softening in resolves.

“Alaric,” she whispered.

“Makayla,” I returned, inhaling her addictive scent.

She swallowed, her eyes closed as she relaxed into me. We didn’t push boundaries or demand more, just held on to one another, our wolves providing unspoken comfort as we remained locked in an intimate position.

It felt like seconds passed when the oven beeped to announce it was up to temperature. Then Makayla released me and stepped away. I allowed it because I needed the space. I needed my control. Shit, I needed my damn brain.

She’d just… obliterated me with a subtle touch.

My walls all tumbled down at her feet, leaving me open and vulnerable in a way that I didn’t understand. I quickly worked to restore them, but somehow I knew she’d left herself a backdoor entrance. She’d be able to destroy me again with another little flick of her tongue.

And that scared the shit out of me.

“It’s been a really long day,” I said, my voice gruff. “After we eat, we need to sleep.”

“Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “Yeah.”

“Good,” I replied, unsure of what I actually meant by that. It just sounded right, so I paired it with a nod.

Then I prepared the table.

Waited for the food to finish.

And ate with Makayla in silence.

By the end of our meal, my shoulders were no longer lined with tension and I was starting to feel like myself again. Which made it easy to say good night to Makayla without issuing an invitation for something more. She muttered a similar response. Then we locked ourselves inside our respective bedrooms.

And didn’t speak for the rest of the night.