Accidental Surrogate for Alpha

Ella

My eyes jerk open, and I surge up in bed.

A moment ago Sinclair was buried inside me – in more ways than one. My hand frantically clamps

down on the spot where my neck meets my shoulder. I can still feel Sinclair’s fangs slicing into my

flesh, but there doesn’t seem to be a wound in reality.

I’m not bleeding, and it doesn’t hurt – though it hadn’t hurt in the dream either. All of a sudden I’m

remembering Sinclair’s ominous words about how a mating mark wouldn’t hurt if it was timed right, and

now I understand all too well.

I’m still on an emotional high from the dream, I can’t believe I became a wolf! It had been the most

incredible feeling, unlike anything I could have imagined. And then there was Sinclair. My body is

flushed with heat, and my heart is still pounding.

It felt so real, and I’m so glad that we stole that moment.

At the same time, I wonder if the sex was only so good because it was a fantasy? It had to be, there’s

no way anyone could actually be that amazing in real life… right?

The more I think about it, reliving every touch, every word we spoke, I quickly find myself crashing back

down to earth. I’m so grateful and ecstatic that it happened, but I’m very quickly feeling depressed that

it’s over. Before those feelings can truly take hold, however, I hear pounding footsteps. In the blink of

an eye Sinclair is there, standing in the doorway and raking his eyes over me in concern.

“Ella” my name is a relieved sigh on his lips. I realize that he must have fallen asleep in his study,

rather than coming to bed – but he’s here now. He crosses the floor quickly, reaching for me as soon as

he’s close enough. “Are you alright? You disappeared from the dream so quickly!”

I nod weakly, my face framed in his hands. I’m still feeling sad that our stolen night has come to an end,

but I don’t want Sinclair to know just how pitiful I’m feeling. “I don’t know what happened, one moment

we were…” I trail off, flushing, “and the next I was here.”

“Goddess, I can’t believe this. Come here” Sinclair settles on the bed, pulling me into his lap. He

presses a lingering kiss to my upturned mouth, then rests his forehead against mine, gazing lovingly

into my eyes. “My poor little mate, you didn’t even get a chance to come back down to earth.”

Pain blooms in my chest to hear him calling me his mate, but I snuggle in, eager to steal a few extra

moments of affection. “Well maybe if you hadn’t ravished me so completely I wouldn’t need so much

recovery time.”

“Surely you aren’t complaining about too much pleasure?” Sinclair teases, kissing me again. “If you

weren’t such an insatiable little thing then I wouldn’t have had to work so hard to satisfy you.”

I start to laugh at his ridiculous statement, but just as quickly, it verges on a sob. “Don’t.” I plead, “I’m

already struggling to cope with the fact that it’s over.”

“Over?” Sinclair repeats. “What are you talking about?” He pulls back far enough to stare down at me in

disbelief. “Stars, Ella don’t you realize what this means?”

“It doesn’t mean anything.” I argue. “It was just a dream, that was the point. A way for us to get closure

without complicating things in the real world.”

“Ella, you shifted, you became a wolf! That wouldn’t have been possible if you were truly a human.” He

reasons, as if it should be obvious.

“But I am a human.” I remind him, feeling increasingly frustrated.

To my utter shock, Sinclair’s face lights up like a firework. He’s grinning down at me so widely it’s

difficult not to return the expression, “No baby, I don’t think you are. I was too caught up in claiming you

in the dream, but now that my wolf is satisfied I can think a bit more clearly. Don’t you see – this would

explain everything: the reason I was so interested in you before you even became pregnant; the fact

that you were able to conceive my child; how obstinate my wolf has been about claiming you; your

smell; how wolfish your behavior is.” He continues excitedly. “I’ve been attributing everything to the

baby because I didn’t have any other explanation, but now it finally makes sense.”

“What makes sense?” I exclaim, not following his logic at all. It seems like he’s operating with far more

information than I possess myself. “And what do you mean you were interested in me before, and that

your wolf wanted to claim me?”

Sinclair chuckles, and I have to fight the urge to growl at him. “I’m sorry sweetheart, I forgot you didn’t

know. Yes, I always noticed you- it was annoyingly distracting every time I caught sight of you in the

neighborhood. Every time I did, I’d end up thinking about you for hours afterwards, and I even started

hoping I would run into you and the kids. I never did anything about it because I thought you were

human.”

“Then why the hell were you such a jerk to me about Cora, and when we found out I was pregnant?” I

demand grumpily.

Sinclair exhales heavily. “I was in a bad place. I’m not proud of the way I acted, and I know there’s no

excuse for it. I can only say that I was an idiot. But my wolf is the reason I agreed to your plans in the

first place, that’s what I meant when I said I’ve been holding him back. He wanted you for his own long

before I was willing to acknowledge my feelings for you.”

“I still can’t believe you love me.”I whisper, feeling shy now. I told myself those sentiments would stay in

the dream, but there’s a very silly, insecure part of me that needs to hear it again. As if I’m afraid the

dream was just my imagination, even though I know it wasn’t.

Sinclair’s expression softens, his eye crinkling at the edges. “How could I not?” He croons, making me

melt. “You’re everything I could hope for in amate, Ella.” I’m thrilled to hear these words, but I’m also

confused. I know I’m being very slow on the uptake, and it’s hard not to feel stupid, but I simply don’t

understand what he’s on about. I would know if I wasn’t human, wouldn’t I? Seeing my expression,

some of the elation fades from Sinclair’s features. “I should have looked into this ages ago. but I

suppose hindsight is 20/20. In very rare cases, it’s possible for wolves to be hidden, buried so that a

person doesn’t even know it’s there.”

“How?” I press eagerly, seeming to need this answer as badly as I need to breathe.

Sinclair removes one of his hands from my body in order to rub the back of his neck, and I find myself

glaring at the movement, affronted that he took away the comfort of his touch. Sinclair catches the look

on my face and arches a foreboding brow, forcing me to soften and avert my gaze. It feels the way it

had when I showed him my belly in the dream, and I understand that something inside me is

instinctively responding to his dominance.

Only once I’ve submit, does he continue. “The strange thing about all this is that normally when a wolf

is dormant, it’s manifested in children who were separated from both their family and the pack. They

grow up thinking they’re human, but when they reach puberty and go through their first shift, their wolf

drives them to find their own kind.” He grimaces. “We call it dormant, but really it’s just when a child is

too disconnected to know why they’re different. When they eventually figure it out a young teenager

shows up at a pack’s doorstep – confused and traumatized to be sure, but finally understanding why

they’ve always been an outsider among humans. I’ve never heard of a case where someone reached

adulthood without their wolf manifesting.”

“But you think that’s what’s happened to me?” I clarify, needing to hear him say it. “You think I’m a wolf,

and somehow that part of me just hasn’t been able to come out?”

“Yes, trouble.” Sinclair beams, all the confusion and mystery forgotten for a moment. When he looks at

me this way I feel like I’m the center of his entire universe, and ‘Il be damned if it isn’t addictive. “I don’t

know how or why yet, but it’s fairly clear to me that you’re the one I’ve been waiting for all along. The

Goddess sent you to carry this pup because you’re my second chance mate.”

His hand moves to my belly, and Rafe kicks in reply. “You can be my Luna. We can finally be together –

and not only in our dreams.”

“Really?” I squeak, not wanting to believe my ears, just in case they’re wrong.

“Really.” He confirms. “We’re going to figure out how this happened, and then we’re going to wake your

wolf for real.”