“If the girl you want, her name is Janna, right? If Janna chooses someone else, well, I can be your backup plan. I’m sure I will be a good mate.”
“Are you crushing on me, Sofia?” I didn’t know where the question came from.
Her eyes widened before she was able to hide her shock. “No. But I have limited options. I don’t know any other Alphas or Betas. I just want to be sure I won’t be abused.”
I could hear Sofia’s heartbeat and I knew she was lying.
“I thought you hated me?” I chuckled.
“I don’t hate you. I just… I just didn’t like that you played me for a fool that night. If I hated you, I would never be alone with you.”
“So you like me?” I was pushing my luck.
“Oh, Goddess, I didn’t know conversations would be so hard with you!” She exclaimed in exasperation.
I snickered and let go of her hand. And for some unknown reason, I suddenly felt empty. I turned my body slightly to look at her, and before I could stop myself, my hand was already reaching for her face, my knuckles trailing her cheek, slowly rubbing her soft skin. “I hope you’ll find your mate once you turn eighteen.”
“So you don’t have to be forced to claim me?” She said, rolling her eyes at me.
“No, not like that. I just don’t think anyone would be good enough for you, except your mate.”
“Don’t make me cry.” She bit her lower lip as she looked straight into my eyes.
I tried to smile and lighten the mood. “You can cry. I have broad shoulders and a comfortable chest. I could…”
I wasn’t able to finish my words when she suddenly leaned forward and slammed herself on me—her face and hands were on my chest, and I almost fell backward from the impact if I hadn’t been able to balance myself.
Her whole body shook as sobs escaped her throat. My arms coiled around her petite frame as my hand cupped the back of her head, holding her in place. And I just let her cry, but my heart was grieving with her.
Alpha Females. I never really cared about the Claiming. I saw it as it fit and was never bothered by this tradition. I even wanted to claim one for myself. But it was only now that I realized, while Sofia cried in my arms, the other side of it—the Alpha Females who didn’t want to be claimed.
I had no idea why Alpha Darvin wanted to send his sisters to the Claiming. But I didn’t want her to be claimed by someone else.
Maybe claiming Sofia wouldn’t be bad at all if it meant I could save her from her worst fears. Maybe we could make it work.
Chapter 89
RILEY.
Nadia was sitting sidewayson my lap as we played cards with my sisters, Katarina, Dawson, Sebastian, and Jenny. Darvin retired to bed early. While Caleb was trying his luck with Anya again, and since he hadn’t returned yet, I wanted to assume everything was going better between them.
My Beta, on the other hand, was in the playroom playing billiards with Sofia.
It was already past midnight when we all decided to settle in the entertainment room to watch some movies, but we ended up with card games.
I had no fucking idea how to play this one, so I just let Nadia play for us while I caressed her thighs and her stomach. Nadia was almost at her four-month mark of pregnancy and although her body frame didn’t change, she already had a small bump on her stomach, which just made her look sexier.
She said she needed to change out of her jumpsuit because it was restricting her movement, but I didn’t expect her to come down wearing one of my loose shirts and just leggings.
It was too simple, but she still looked sexy. But the truth was, I was overwhelmed by her display of affection for me—wearing my clothes when we still had guests around made me want to puff my chest and tell everyone my Luna adores me.
I was getting too emotional, but no one has made me feel happy to be me, except for Nadia. She surely knew how to make a fucker like me feel special.
“Help me decide which card we should throw.” Nadia’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I peeked at the cards she was showing me, but I had no idea what the game was about, so I just continued rubbing my palm on her thigh.
“Hmmm... this one!” I pointed to theace in her hand.
She giggled as she slapped the cards on my face gently. “It’s a high card. We can’t throw that away.”
