Awakening the Alpha by Harmony Raines Read Free Book Online

must have taken the quickest shower ever; her hair was still damp, hanging around her face in soft, natural curls. He wanted to run his fingers through it, feel the spun gold soft against his fingers, then stroke her cheek and kiss her lips.
    He settled for being pleased she had rushed to get back to him as quickly as possible, the flush in her cheeks a sign of her excitement. She was embracing this, which surprised him after she had run away last night.
    “Why did you run?” he asked, stirring the coffee and handing her a mug. “Not sure if you wanted sugar.”
    “No sugar.” Was she going to avoid his first question?
    Natalie went back out into the living room, going to the window and looking out. Or looking for something. “When did you find out about where I lived?”
    “This morning.” He came to stand behind her, looking where she was looking, but the street was empty.
    She turned, her body close to his. He could feel the heat from her body, wanting to touch her and let that electricity pass between them. But he wanted answers. Searching her face, he could see she was trying to figure out where to start. He gave her the time she needed.
    “The shock of seeing you made my past come back to me. A past I don’t necessarily want to remember.” She sipped her coffee, moving past him to sit down on the sofa. Natalie had sat to one side; was she inviting him to sit with her?
    Riley took it as a yes and eased himself down, resisting the temptation to sit too close. “I don’t care about your past. If there are things you don’t want to share, then that is fine with me.” Goodness knows there were things he didn’t want her to know about him, at least until they had time to get to know each other. Hopefully, she would fall in love with him and when she found out the news about him being part of the raiders, she would let it go. “It’s your future I care about.”
    She smiled weakly at him. “But if I come back to Wolf Valley, then my past will catch up with me.”
    He thought for a moment. He had promised his brother that he would help make the town safe from the threat brought on from Lance and Jed, which he was sure the former sheriff was behind. If he was the new alpha, he would have to fulfil that promise. Which meant she would have to face Wolf Valley at some point, but he would be there for her, giving her strength to face her demons.
    “Whatever you’ve done. Whatever happened, it’s OK.”
    “That’s just it. It’s not what I did, it’s what I didn’t do. When things went bad, I should have stayed around. Instead, I left.”
    “Then we can both make up for that. They are trying to rebuild Wolf Valley, rebuild the community.”
    “But what if my coming back makes it worse?”
    “And what if it doesn’t?” He decided to keep the part about him being a potential alpha to himself. Until he went back there and saw for himself, there was no use burdening her with it. What he didn’t know was whether having a mate was enough, or whether they had to have actually mated. Sex . He didn’t want to pressure her.
    Although his need to be with her, in bed with her, went further than wanting to know if it made him an alpha. The scent of her, the warmth of her body, all made his soul cry out to be with her, joined with her.
    But he had made a promise. On this visit at least, there was no going to bed, no making love to her. He let out a long breath; he needed to get out of there while he still held onto that resolve.
    “Why don’t we go for a run? We could take my car, go over to the mountain, and spend some time fooling around.”
    She looked out at the beautiful day. The autumn leaves were turning, the mountain would be at its most colourful, surely she couldn’t resist the pull of the outdoors. Her wolf would persuade her. At least he hoped she would.
    “OK. I’d like that.”
    He was up out of his seat as if someone had stuck a firecracker under him. Holding out his hand, he pulled her to him,