It's not about how hot the fire is.

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Different metals react differently to heat. Some, like gold and aluminum will melt at a low heat and others like iron and steel required immense heat to melt. However people were different and Shey Lazera wondered how hot the fire would need to get before she burned up and ceased to be.

Shey had been rejected. She was no stranger to it. Her own mother had suffered rejection more than once. The first time had been her grandfather casting her mother out of her rightful place as his heir. He was stuck in the Old Ways, refusing to allow a female to become his successor. Then Shey had been born through fire. A rejection had forced her mother to give birth to her prematurely.

So it came as no surprise to her that she was not destined to have a mate. She had been rejected so many times she almost enjoyed the fire, the burning that covered her body. Each wave of fire separating her and her wolf, each wave chipping away at her wolf's spirit until she was barely noticeable anymore, her power diminished.

She was viewed as weak by the Alphas who had the misfortune of pairing with her. As a result she was rejected by each and every one she came into contact with. That is why she wandered aimlessly through the neutral highways, avoiding the Hunters trying to put her into their system.

So she was rather pissed when she stumbled into a territory, fucked up an escape attempt and was drug soaking wet in front of yet another Alpha. She was surprised to feel his weakness. He was not the firstborn yet he held the position of Alpha. What surprised her was his adamant refusal to reject her like she wanted.

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It's about what you are made of.

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Luka Sterling had been forced into the Alpha position after an accident killed his two older brothers and his father. He had taken up the mantle to take it off of his fragile mother but he knew it did not belong to him. He was a weak Alpha that had needed constant training just to be ready in case anyone tried to take his claim as Alpha.

He surrounded himself with only those he trusted. Very few people fit that description. His two guardians, Ezekiel and Michael, were his only friends and they were wilds. They spent all of their time in wolf form but they protected him fiercely and loyally. He was a weak Alpha with no true Beta or mate. He had been rejected once and that had been enough for him to not try again.

So he was more than surprised and more than irritated when members of his patrol drug a half drowned dark haired beauty with green eyes as cold as ice, into his office. He hadn't wanted a mate and his first thought was to reject her until she opened her rosy lips and demanded he do just that.

Something about the practically human spitfire made him want to dominate her, to force her to submit under his demands but every time she opened her mouth nothing but fire and derision slipped out. She taunted him to give in and let her burn. Something he found himself unwilling to do just to watch her face twist with irritation and rage. His dark haired beauty seemed to crave the burn only his rejection could give her and he found it left a sour taste in his mouth.

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What are you made of?

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Luka struggles to hold onto his Alpha position while he clings to a woman who seemingly wants nothing to do with him but for him to burn her alive with a rejection. He holds her tighter because as she taunts him and pushes him to the very edge of his control, he finds he wants her to burn for him in a completely different way.

Shey tries her hardest to push Luka away but her Alpha mate seems perfectly content with vexing her plans. She can feel them spiralling down into a path she isn't sure she is ready for but he is dragging her down regardless. He is demanding her compliance and her trust as he holds out his hand as he prepares for them to jump over a cliff into the unknown.

Only together they can find a balance and equilibrium. She needs Luka to show her that she is worthy of love and Luka needs her to show him just how much of an Alpha he was meant to be.

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