Still in a state of shock, Mara stood straight revealing the rest of herself while the man continued to bore his eyes into hers. She was helpless to break his gaze. The aura around him was powerful. So much so it felt like it was tangible and would consume her if she got to close.

Physically he looked like one you did not want to fuck with. Well over six feet in height he was probably one of the largest men she’d ever seen. There was no doubt about it. He was a pureblooded Alpha. She had never seen one up close before, or at all actually. He was stunning... literally ...she was stunned ...like couldn’t move at all.

They’d been caught red-handed, so fucked. She couldn’t help but wonder if maybe this one time they should have listened and done as they were told. Now she was stuck on a roof with a giant stranger staring into her eyes as if he could see her soul or read her thoughts.

He wasn’t scary though. As a matter of fact, he was quite attractive. His dirty blond hair was cut short but she could tell it was curly. His eyes were a golden color that seemed to be a perfect match for his hair.

He had a well defined face and jawline that made her think this was a statue someone had carved the perfect male into and then magically transformed it into flesh and blood. His rippling muscles were on display through his tight black shirt like they were daring anyone to come and pick a fight.

Honestly, if you looked up ‘divine male with the body of a god and a visage of the devil’ his picture would most likely be on display. Did all Alphas look like this?

She was becoming increasingly aware that she and Kota should probably just run back to their room, but the pull of his gaze only became stronger. Finally, he broke the trance to rake his eyes over her body. She had never been looked at this way before, she felt extremely … exposed. Kota was the one who loved the attention and was usually the center of it, not her.

After he was done consuming her with his eyes he went straight back to the glaring gaze that had her mesmerized only moments before. She quickly darted her eyes away to avoid being trapped again. She caught sight of Kota who’d also come out and inched closer to her.

“Leave us” It was an order, one that clearly needed to be followed.

“Yup. You got it, leaving now!” Kota chirped in response. Grabbing my hand we turned and all but ran back to the hatch. Kota opened the hatch to find their dad already waiting for them. Fuming. Kota began descending the ladder, but before Mara could follow she was cut off by the mystery man who seemed to materialize right in front of her blocking the hatch.

“Not you.” another deadpan order.

She swallowed so hard she visibly gulped.

Yikes. Sure stepped in it this time.

A sense of foreboding washed over her. She desperately looked to Kota and her dad already standing in the hallway beneath them. Her face pleaded with them, seeming to say ‘Don’t leave me here’.

Kota began to climb up again but their father grasped her arm refusing to let her up. Wtf!? What is he doing? He’s just going to leave me here with this guy? The man turned toward Kota and her dad and gave a curt nod. Their dad began folding the ladder up to close the hatch.

Alone, all alone with someone who could be a psychopath for all she knew. There was a sudden sting inside her chest. How easily had her adoptive father given her up to save his real daughter. She was always an outsider but she never felt it with them. Until now.

Tears began to well up in her eyes but she pushed them back. There were more pressing matters to attend to.

She slowly lifted her face to his, careful not to make direct eye contact. Since neither of them was speaking she figured now was the time to make nice if possible.

Then make like lightning and bolt.

If she could make it closer to the edge of the roof, there was a low point she could jump off from.

“Listen, I’m so, so sorry for uh...well...you know,” she pointed to where they had been spying earlier. She began meticulously moving back away from him trying to line up her movements with her words so as not to seem obvious.

“We didn’t mean to interrupt your meeting or anything,” another step back. “ We were just so curious,” step back. “Nothing ever really happens here and .. um... well we really didn’t see the harm in checking things out from a distance,“. Just a few more steps and she’d be close enough to escape.

“So yeah… ah...” she was running out of things to say and her heart was pounding so hard she could hear the pulse in her ears. He hadn’t stepped closer to her even as she increased the space between them. It was almost as if he was watching her, just to see what she might do.

Finally close enough.

“Please don't be mad!” She gave a half hearted plea then promptly turned and leaped to the ground.