Rebirth of the Alpha's Slave Mate (Samantha and Kade) novel Chapter 39

Chapter 39

But truthfully, I wasn’t sure if I had it in this body. I’d become so used to it throughout my life that I rarely thought about it, if at all. And I certainly hadn’t thought to check for it when I woke up in this new body.

What if it was still there? I couldn’t let Kade see it; he would know who I really was then, and he’d force me to go back to Crescent Hollow. Or maybe he’d just kill me for everything and be done with it.

Either way, it wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

So when Kade began to move toward me, I took a step back. The backs of my thighs hit the edge of my bed. My heart skipped a beat as Kade reached for me, as if that tiny shred of instinct in me wanted my mate to touch me, but I kept my expression fierce and slapped his hand away.

“You call yourself an Alpha, and yet you barge into a girl’s room and try to force her to strip?” I hissed.

Kade stared at me for a moment before he curtly replied, “My mate is an enemy of Crescent Hollow pack. If that’s you, then I have every right to know.”

An enemy.

That was what he still thought of me after all this time. Even in death, he couldn’t be bothered to look into what had truly happened that night all those years ago.

I supposed, for the briefest of moments, I’d also naively hoped that my family might come to their senses when I died and tell Kade the truth. I’d hoped wrong, of course. Why should I think that my own biological mother would do anything to stand up for me after all of the injustices I’d faced? Foolish.

“All I ask is that you calmly show me your spine,” Kade said, jaw feathering with the effort to restrain himself. “If you’re so confident that you’re not the one I’m looking for, then what is there to worry about?”

“What is there to worry about?” I scoffed and folded my arms across my chest. “You’re a strange man I don’t know -I only know about your reputation as a bitter, hateful warmonger. Who’s to say you’re not going to try and rape me?”

Kade almost seemed to flinch at that word: rape.

“I would never do that,” he growled.

I lifted my chin, thinking back on all the nights when he had made love to me in Crescent Hollow. “Making love”, I supposed, wasn’t the right word for it; it had been cruel and cold, not warm and loving. The worst torment of all was being intimate with my mate and knowing that he truly hated me.

But deep down, I also knew it wasn’t rape. I’d wanted it. Oh, how badly I had craved those nights, those rare nights when I got to feel his hands on me, even when they left red prints on my ass,

Those nights were the worst punishment of all, but they were also the only true reprieve I got from the real pain.

I hated that my stupid heart fluttered just at the thought, even now, after everything he had put me through. I hated that I still wanted him. Hated that my wolf was surging against the mental bonds I’d restrained her with.

Still, I kept my voice steady as I said, “I’m not showing you an inch of my skin.”

Kade tilted his head. “You say I’m a hateful warmonger; you don’t want me to live up to that reputation and start a conflict with Nightshade pack, do you? No one wants that.”

My throat constricted. Of course I didn’t want that. I’d already brought enough trouble to the pack that had

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Chapter 39

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accepted me so willingly when no one else would; how could I cause more strife?

But that didn’t mean I could let Kade see my spine. Not until I knew for certain whether that mark was there or not. Or preferably not ever.

So when Kade took another step toward me and reached for me, even as my wolf screamed to let him touch me, I slapped him across the face.

Hard.

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