Gabriella - Alpha Marked, Book II Read Online Free Page A

hadn’t asked to come to the Gathering. She hadn’t even
asked to find her mates. Nope, none of it. But since she hadn’t had
a choice in the matter, she’d resigned herself to mating two
wolves. Two wolves who, by all accounts, would love and cherish and
boink her from this day forward ’til death did them part.
    She strode into the living room and chose to
ignore the sight of her sister’s bra tossed over the back of the
couch as well as a pair of boxer briefs forgotten beneath one of
the club chairs. Apparently Scarlet and her mates had a little fun
while Gabby suffered through the Tests of Proximity. The clothing
served as a tangible reminder of what Gabby would never have.
    She wasn’t sure how long she remained locked
in her mind, but eventually the soft shuffle combined with wheezing
gasps told her that her sisters had finally made it up the stairs.
Part of her felt bad that they’d been forced to make their way to
the penthouse on foot, but the rest of her was too wracked by
anguish to worry for too long.
    Huffing out a breath, she spun and faced the
crowd that’d followed her. The nearby guards’ expressions shifted
from piteous to speculative and on to confused. And her sisters,
her loving, amazing, best sisters ever, looked ready to go
homicidal on someone. Well, someones.
    “That happened, right?” She directed the
question to the room at large, not expecting an answer. But she had
to ask just the same. “I mean, based on his behavior, I’m
ninety-nine percent sure the Lieutenant is one of my mates. I
figure the Captain is the other, since I got all hot and bothered
and my Mark reacted at breakfast. But the whole rejection thing
downstairs… That wasn’t some nightmare like when I used to dream
about going to school naked?” Gabby spun away from the group.
    “Um…” Whitney. Poor Whit wasn’t big with
confrontation.
    “I wasn’t just embarrassed in front of the entire fucking Gathering and rejected by my mates in front
of the entire fucking Gathering or anything, right?” She
took a slow breath. No sense in screaming the roof down. “Because
the point of the entire fucking Gathering is for wolves to
find mates!” So much for not screaming.
    “An Alpha Pair rejected you?” There was a
tone of utter disbelief in those words, and she swung her attention
around to a wide-eyed guard stationed along the wall.
    “Ixnay! Ixnay!” Scarlet half-whispered,
half-yelled at the guy, but Gabby had already heard him.
    “Yes!” She marched up to the wolf in
question—whom she decided to call Hello Sexy—and his eyes grew
wider with every foot closer she got to him. Cupping her breasts,
she jiggled the mounds. “Are my boobs too small? Is that it?” The
guard remained silent, and she looked over her shoulder, trying to
see her butt. Spinning, she presented him with her backside. “Maybe
it’s my ass. Is it too small? Or big? I bet we could bounce a
quarter off that shit.” She wiggled her ass and focused on Scarlet.
“Hey, gimme a quarter and give it to tall, furry, and silent here.
We’re gonna see if it bounces off my ass like peanuts bouncing off
of that wrestler’s man-titties when he did that pec tightening
dance thingy in that movie.”
    Whitney raised her hand like they were in
school. “Pec Pop of Lurve.”
    “Yes, that’s it! We’ll call this the ‘Butt
Bounce of Gabby Getting Rejected in Front of the Entire Fucking
Gathering ’.” She forced a grin to her lips, ignoring the
thumping pain in her heart.
    “Uh, I’ve got a quarter.” The deep, rolling
voice coming from the man behind her sank into her bones. Damn, if
she hadn’t found the two assholes she was meant to be with, she’d
throw herself at the altar of Hello Sexy.
    She peeked over her shoulder and flashed the
guard a smile. “Perfect. Get to bouncing, baby.”
    A deafening roar, followed by a snarl, echoed
off the walls, and she tore her attention from Hello Sexy to the
entryway.
    “Touch her and die!” The