The Code Of The Alpha

I woke up the next morning to the sound of birds singing. My eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the bright sunshine that seeped into the room from the windows behind the bed.

A gentle breeze created by the ceiling fan softly brushed my hair into my face, causing a chill to sweep over me. I pulled the comforter over my shoulders and sighed in contentment. My eyes opened again as I remembered what had happened.

I had been in Heat.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

I hadn’t realized it in the moment, likely because I was blinded by the sudden onset of pain. But I knew almost instinctively that’s what had happened.

Heat was rare-it occurred only after twenty-four hours had gone by of mates meeting each other and not consummating their bond. Most people didn’t make it to this point. The fact that Luca and I did, however, was probably due to our unfortunate and

unusual introduction. I couldn’t imagine sleeping with the guy right after he’d kidnapped me, no matter how much I wanted to.

I sat up in the bed.

Feeling a cold breeze, I looked down to see that I was completely naked. The towel I fell asleep in had fallen off at some point during my tossing and turning.

Gulping, I pulled the comforter back up to cover myself. As I did so, I noticed something on the floor beside the bed. I leaned over to see that Luca was sleeping on his back, partially covered by a blanket with his head resting on a pillow.

He looked so much more peaceful when he slept.

Luca’s sharp features were more relaxed-lips parted slightly and a jaw that was free of tension. It took me a few moments to get over just how beautiful of a human being he was.

Then it dawned on me that Luca hadn’t gone into Heat. Heat wasn’t gender discriminant. It happened to males and females alike, but only if you were sexually inexperienced I swallowed a knot in the back of my throat, realizing what this meant.

There was a folded gray t-shirt on the nightstand next to the bed that I grabbed and threw over my head. I got out of the bed quietly and grabbed the towel that had become entangled in the sheets.

I went into the bathroom and hung the towel up on a hook next to the shower, grabbing my dirty clothes from where they lay next to the bathtub.

As I was leaving his room, I heard Luca stir. It was only a few moments after I shut his bedroom door that I heard it open again.

He said my name and I froze, feeling a tug in my stomach hearing it tumble from his lips. I turned around and looked at him.

Luca rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his messy bed hair, still trying to wake up.

“Feel better?”

I nodded.

When I said nothing else, Luca’s eyebrows furrowed as he stared at me intently.

“What’s wrong? You didn’t sleep well?”

“I only slept for three hours,” I said.

“You didn’t have to wake up so early,” he told me.

“You could have slept longer.” I didn’t say anything else as I turned to make my way up to my room to change out of his t-shirt,

“Do you want breakfast?”

I stopped and turned around quickly to face him.

“Luca, I appreciate that you’re trying to be nice and considerate now that I’m here with you,” I said.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that you forced me to be here. If you don’t mind, I’d like a little bit of space.”

“Space?” He repeated.

“I feel like that’s all that I’ve given you. I can’t help that I needed you here.”

“But you could have helped it,” I interjected. “You could have left me in Oregon. Instead, you were selfish and you’ve dragged me here where I know absolutely no one.”

I drew in a deep breath.

“I serve no purpose here.” I said.

“You’re going to be a Luna,” he said defensively.

“That’s a hell of a purpose.”

“Lunas are ornamental at best. It looks like you’ve got on just fine here without one.”

“Does it not mean anything to you that you’re my mate?”

“It doesn’t seem like you needed me in that regard either,” I said pointedly.

“I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t go into Heat last

night.”

Luca’s face fell, his expression turning somber.

“Well?” I asked after a few moments of silence.

“You don’t have anything to add to that?”

“I didn’t want to have this conversation so soon after meeting you,” he admitted.

I shook my head before heading up the staircase.

“Wait,” Luca said, stopping me.

As he came to stand at the bottom of the staircase, I could tell he was debating on whether or not to continue.

“I’ve made a few mistakes,” he said slowly.

“A few?”

Luca’s jaw clenched.

“I’ll be thirty in two years,” he defended.

“Most people meet their mate anytime after their eighteenth birthday or before their twenty-fifth birthday. I genuinely had begun to think that I didn’t

have a mate.”

“Everyone has a mate,” I told him.

When he didn’t say anything else, I sighed.

“I waited for you,” I admitted.

“How would you feel if I hadn’t?”

“I wouldn’t like it.”

Feeling as though I had proved my point, I continued up the staircase, went into the guest room and shut the door behind me.