Page 17 of The Alpha King's Mate

No one person needed this much space, but that thought was better kept in my head.

He stirred on his giant bed.

I started towards him—and he sat up as if struck by lightning. Ironic, since I was the one wearing a shock collar.

“Good morning,” I said brightly, forcing a wide smile I didn’t feel.

Oh no, Zira gasped. No.

The Alpha was sniffing the air like a man possessed. He flew off the bed. He was still in the air when he shifted. His fucking wolf was the size of a bear.

The tray dropped from my hands. Metal and porcelain clattered across the floor. The cup shattered, coffee spreading dark across the boards.

Then his wolf was on top of me. His growl was vicious, teeth and nose dragging over my face, my hair, my neck.

Zira reacted. She tried to shift. Electricity ripped through my neck and my body shuddered. She answered the attack by tryingagain. A higher voltage burst from the collar. This time the pain was crippling.

The wolf morphed back into the man. He gripped the collar and tore it from my throat, the clasp catching the back of my neck.

I groaned as my eyes closed.

The last thing I heard was his whisper.

Soft. Reverent.

“Mate.”

Chapter 8

Sorin

Pain unlike any other burst open in my chest. Malakh howled until my skull felt as if it would split. One word remained, in both of us.

Mate.

But her eyes had closed.

“No. No. No. No,” I said as I scooped her up and carried her to my bed.

I laid her limp body down and patted her cheek. Nothing. Her newly woken wolf had been fucking electrocuted—I’d seen the fear, the panic, as she tried to protect them both.

“Baby, wake up,” I whispered.

The thought of losing her now flung my head back, and I roared. As it died, Malakh took it up—a howl, long and full of pain.

I dragged Aliana into my lap and felt her neck for a pulse. There. She should recover. Heal. But what if her wolf was too weak?

People burst into my room.

“Get a doctor,” I yelled, my voice cracking.

They scattered.

Ember remained.

“She is your mate?”

I nodded, unable to look at her, and cradled Aliana closer.