The Princess And The Alpha *Excerpt Only*

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It had been two days since Ryan marked me and the man still hadn't stopped apologizing. Part of me was annoyed with his constant moping, but part of me was also in the same category. It happened, the mark was on my neck and it had hurt worse than I could've imagined for a long time, but the swelling had gone down and I was simply emotionally bound to him now. No amount of crying or pouting could fix that. But I still did both of those things. Even though I couldn't change what had already happened I knew that there were going to be consequences I wasn't particularly ready to face.

I had figured that the pain had probably occurred because he was a rogue and his bite would be somewhat toxic to me. That would explain the acidic sensations I received when his teeth sank in to me. It was yet another reminder that we had come from different worlds and no distance, no amount of kilometers, could cure that.

"What are you thinking about?" Ryan asked while we were perched on the couch. We had been playing a board game but evidently I had dropped the ball as my focus was elsewhere.

"Nothing." I said.

"Please, you couldn't lie to me before I marked you, now it's just insulting." Ryan denied. His voice was teasing and light. But when I looked at those blue eyes I saw tension and worry. I honestly think he was just waiting for me to snap at him, tell him I completely and utterly loathed him for marking me.

"I'm just thinking about why the mark hurt as much as it did." I answered. I knew it would hurt his feelings a little, but it would be a much lighter blow than he was expecting. Plus, he was right, I did have a hard time lying to him.

"Do you think it's because I'm a rogue?"

I just nodded.

Ryan sighed, "Addy, I'm so sorry. Really I am."

"No," I shook my head, "I don't want to hear you apologize anymore. I know you're sorry. I know you never wanted to hurt me. I know that you would take back the whole thing if you could. But you can't. And that's okay. I mean, it's not like I was going to reject you anyway. It was bound to happen at some point."

At this Ryan relaxed slightly. He even managed to smile a bit.

"Your move." He murmured.

We continued to play board games until our brains melted. Then we progressed to card games which we gave up on quickly. After that we somehow made word searches competitive and we were nearly at each other's throats to find the hidden words in a matter of minutes. Eventually, that became boring too and we began drinking as we usually did. We never got terribly drunk, just tipsy enough for us both to forget about our realities.

We would talk about nothing in particular, slowly uncovering each other's secrets without feeling vulnerable. I would let Ryan hold me and he would always sigh happily when I actually allowed him to loop his arms around my waist. Then, when the moon would start to rise in the sky we would sleepily drag ourselves to bed and tumble under the covers. There, we occasionally shared a quiet kiss or I would trace the intricate lines of Ryan's complex tattoo.

But tonight, when Ryan rolled away from me, expecting me to run my fingers over his arm as I tried to figure out the meaning, I just pulled him back to me. I pressed my face against the skin of his back and kissed right between his shoulder blades. He shivered at the feather light contact, but I just rested my head on the pillow and drifted off into sleep.

When I woke up I was startled. I was immediately sitting upright in bed with an elevated heart rate and quiet gasps left my lips. I knew something was wrong, but I wasn't sure what it was. I held my breath for a moment and strained my ears to listen past Ryan's soft breathing beside me. My ears rang slightly from the alcohol, but I focused hard.

I heard nothing. Not a creak, not a squeak, not even a slightly draft of the wind. I figured I had gone crazy or had a bad dream that I had already forgotten.

Then I heard weight shift on the floor boards. I stayed still, listening hard for what it could be as my heart rate continued to rise. Then I heard a distinct metallic click.

Something or someone was in my home.

"Ryan." I hissed out. I grabbed his shoulder and gave him a slight shake.

He grunted and blinked a few times, disoriented. But as he opened his mouth to speak I quickly covered it with the palm of my hand. When he turned to look at me in surprise I just shook my head and held a single finger against my lips.

Then we heard the bedroom door handle jiggle slightly.

I was frozen, completely horrified and shocked. I had no idea who was on the other side of the door, but I knew that it was most likely someone I didn't want to see. We were running from so many people, it could've been my furious father, my bloody thirsty guards, or maybe someone from Ryan's pack who was set on murdering me so their leader would finally return home.

Ryan didn't freeze like I did. He was far more of a warrior than I could ever be. The second he heard the handle move he threw off the blankets and crouched into a fighting stance. I could tell he was listening as hard as he could, but no sounds followed. But the silence wasn't enough to soothe Ryan. He carefully began creeping towards the door.

A second later the door was flung open by the intruder and the first thing my eyes landed on was a gun.