ANASTASIA MULBERRY

"What do I owe the pleasure?" He greeted her with the deep baritone of his voice, still slightly groggy from sleep even though it was past ten in the morning and he was already at work in his office.

Not for the first time, Anastasia found it difficult to look away from the gorgeous specimen that was the Alpha of the Lupum Griseo pack. Even though he was dressed in a simple outfit which consisted of a white shirt and grey joggers – the shirt looking so creased that she wondered if he knew what an iron was – she struggled to get her mind out of the gutter, thinking back to the many times she had awoken in the middle of the night to the thought of this very Alpha doing very naughty things to her.

If Anastasia was a blusher, her face would have been beet red by now with all the less than holy thoughts running through her mind, all of them consisting of a butt ass naked Marcellus Storm.

It was just too bad that he already had a mate, though she couldn't help but wonder where the Luna was. Surely, she should be here running the pack along with him?

But what did she know? She'd barely spent any time in a pack, let alone enough to know how the power dynamics worked.

"Mary made you breakfast so I thought I'd bring it to you." She murmured quietly as she walked into his office and unceremoniously dropped the try down on his desk. When the water sloshed slightly over the sides, some of it even dropping into his coffee, she wanted to laugh but held it back.

"Well, I appreciate the gesture but it seems like you're here for more than just breakfast." Marcellus hummed quietly, watching her quietly as she huffed and nudged the tray closer to him, some of the water spilling again but by this point, she didn't care.

"Yes." She confirmed as she ignored the chairs in front of his desk and instead, rounded the room to head over to the sofa which looked far more comfortable and less painful on her back. "Why are you avoiding me?" She asked as she glanced around the room, taking in the minimal black and white of his office which was a little on the plain side, especially when compared to her love of colour and vibrancy.

"Who says I'm avoiding you?" Marcellus asked quietly, closing his laptop so as to give her his full attention.

"Me." She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, huffing lightly.

"Well, it appears you're mistaken, Anastasia."

"I don't think I am." She frowned while watching him through narrowed eyes, not at all falling for his innocent act. She had experienced first hand that the big bad Alpha was far from innocent and in fact, could be sinister when he needed to be.

However, his attitude had more annoyed her than scared her, almost as if she was certain that he wouldn't hurt her. The only thing Anastasia could pin it down to was the fact that he was an Alpha and had no interest in hurting a human like her, especially one as harmless as her.

"And why is that?"

She rolled her eyes and scowled deeply at his attempts at deflecting her questions. Frankly, he was starting to irritate her.

"I know you're avoiding me, so don't even try to deny it. But why are you skipping meals?"

A pregnant paused sounded between them as he stared at her, and when this continued for a further few moments, Anastasia sighed and turned her head to finally glance at him, finished taking in his office.

She was surprised to see the conflicted expression on his face but before she could ask about it, he beat her to it.

"How do you know I've been skipping meals?" Marcellus leaned back in his chair, a curious glint in his eyes as he watched her carefully.

"Mary told me you didn't eat dinner last night and I've been eating every meal at the pack house and not once have I seen you there."

"And how do you know I just haven't been eating later, or earlier for that matter?" He cocked a questioning brow, his lips stretching into a small grin; teasing her, daring her to prove him wrong. "How do you know I haven't been eating in my office? In fact, why are you paying such close attention to me? Sounds kind of stalkerish if you ask me."

"Okay, stop trying to turn this around on me." This time, Anastasia didn't bother repressing her eye roll, even going as far as to scowl deeply at the annoying man. "If you could just answer my question, I'll get out of your hair."

"And if I don't want you to get out of my hair?"

"Are you always this annoying?"

"And do you always work this hard to get your questions answered?"

"Question." Anastasia was quick to point out with a snicker, willing to take any and every opportunity to poke fun of him, especially if it ruined that smirk on his face that had really begun to irk her. "I only have one question and it should have a simple answer, so I don't know you're avoiding it. Perhaps the same reason that you're avoiding me?"

Not that she was all that surprised, but Marcellus hummed quietly as he continued to watch her with an intent look in his eyes, not once wavering from her heavily pregnant figure on the sofa. A neutral mask was in place over his face, almost as if he was trying to hide from her what was going on in his mind.

When this silence continued and Anastasia had finally reached the end of her short tether, Anastasia huffed and pushed herself up to her feet.

Marcellus was quick to spring to his feet and rush over to her side to help her out, but her scowl deepened and she held out a hand, stilling him in his movements, refusing his help.

"Let me help you." He insisted as he reached out for her again however, she was quick to dismiss him yet again.

Anastasia panted slightly and braced her arms on the sofa behind as she finally rose to her feet. When he continued to watch her with his hazel green eyes, she turned her back on him to take a few steps and put some distance between them. With how enraged she felt right now, she didn't trust herself to reach out and shove him in frustration and despite how playful and easy going he seemed right now, she was scared that he would retaliate such disrespect.

"I don't need your help." She spat as she turned around and braced her hips, craning her neck back to be able to look up at him due to the evident height difference.

Once again, the Alpha didn't answer and instead, continued watching her. The fact that he seemed concerned just angered her much more and when she couldn't hold herself back no longer, she finally exploded.

"Look, I know it probably wasn't your choice to have me here for my maternity leave, but Justas and Raphael insisted so don't think it was my idea either. I was more than happy to spend it in my house just like any other pregnant woman. I would have been perfectly fine and comfortable there." She paused to huff. "I know you're definitely avoiding me so don't even try to deny it. If you really don't want me here, there's no need for you to lie about it."

"I'm not lying about anything. I never said I didn't want you here." Marcellus was quick to push the words out of his mouth, needing her to understand where he was coming from however, she was far less appreciative of his gesture.

"Did your parents never teach you that it's rude to interrupt a person when they're talking?" She scowled deeply, glaring daggers at him. "You're purposely going out of your way and holding yourself up in your office just so you don't have to see me. That's literally the definition of avoiding someone! So, don't you dare try to deny it."

Anastasia paused to breathe heavily, this rant taking more out of her than she cared to admit. Thankfully this time, the Alpha wolf made no move to interrupt her, having already learnt his lesson the first time.

"I didn't even want to come here in the first place and it certainly wasn't my idea, so if you're going to continue acting like this, I'm just going to leave."

With the very intention of doing just as she had promised, Anastasia once again turned on her heels, but Marcellus was quick to call out to her.

"You don't want to be here?" He asked quietly, his voice strained.

Shaking her head in disbelief, she shot him a dark look from over her shoulder.

"That's all you got from all that I said?"

Marcellus pursed his lips and sighed, reaching a hand up to brush his fingers through his hair, desperately trying to piece together the right words before she really did leave for when she did, he doubted he would be able to convince her to come back.

"You shouldn't get so worked up like this. It can't be good for the baby, especially when you're this far into the pregnancy." He murmured quietly with a light frown on his face, his eyes dipping down to settle on her protruding stomach.

Anastasia scoffed. "Don't start acting like you're concerned now."

The Alpha wolf in front of her stilled, lowering his head slightly so his dark hair drooped into his eyes which were starting to take on a rich gold shade, though instead of appreciating the colour, she gulped and took a step back. Even though she knew he wouldn't hurt her, there was a dangerous glint in his eyes and a devilish curl of his mouth, almost as if her words had offended him.

"I was so concerned the other day when you were having Braxton hicks that I woke up the pack doctor just to make sure everything was okay." Marcellus stated clearly as he took a step closer to her, his hands fisting at his sides.

Anastasia gulped again as she stared up at him, having to crane her head back to make eye contact as he continued taking step forward until he was standing right in front of her, his toes flush against the tips of her fluffy slippers.

"You can't say that I'm not concerned or that I'm faking the feeling, so I suggest that you take your words back." He sounded aloud in a quiet murmur, though his words and tone of voice were far from relaxing.

Instead, the deep baritone sent a shiver down her spine and goosebumps all over her body.

"And what if I don't want to take them back?"

Marcellus remained quiet for a few moments, just silently appraising her, his eyes dipping down from the crown of her head all the way to her lips.

"Then you leave me no choice."

She had no idea what he meant but before she could ask him about it, his hands were on her hips, he was towering over her and his mouth was on hers.

"What the fuck are you doing?" She gasped against his hot mouth and needy tongue, pushing lightly on his chest in attempt of putting some distance between them.

"Kissing you." He murmured quietly and licked along the seems of her lower lip, teasing her. "You can push me away if you want to. I won't stop you."

As she stared up at him from under hooded eyes, Anastasia knew that he was a man of his word and if she were to push him away, he would indeed let her go. However, after the light, momentary pressure against her lips which now caused them to tingle, her arms reached up on their own accord and slid up his chest to loop around his neck, moaning slightly at the feel of the hard, defined body underneath her fingertips.

"Is that a no?" His lips twitched at the corners as his arms slid further another her waist, conscious of her pregnant state.

"Just kiss me." She all but growled at him as she tipped her head back, offering her lips to him, desperate for another taste of what would now be her new favourite flavour.

Marcellus didn't need to be told twice as he slanted his mouth over hers and did just that. He kissed her. She reached up on her tiptoes for better access, desperate for more of him.

What started off as something light and pleasant, quickly turned hot and heavy, his mouth bruising against hers as his tongue slid into the hot cavern of her mouth, seeking out hers. What was supposed to be a battle for dominance didn't last long as she pushed against his mouth before sinking her teeth into his bottom lip, sucking gently and moaning quietly.

It was only when she started to feel herself run out of breath that she pushed lightly against his chest despite wanting to remain locked lips with him.

Staring up at him from under hooded eyes, him blinking down at her with evident desire swirling around in his eyes and pressing into her below, Anastasia hated the fact that she regretted not even one moment of that kiss.

"You shouldn't have kissed me." She exhaled, panting slightly as her arms dropped from around his neck and returned to her sides.

When he noticed this, his grip around her waist loosened up, allowing her to walk out of his arms if she desired to. And even though she didn't want to be elsewhere right now, she took a step back, ignoring the conflicted expression on his face.

"Well then, you shouldn't have kissed me back."

Anastasia sighed and pursed her lips, allowing herself to stare up at him for another moment before turning her back on him and rushing out of his office and away from him, unable to comprehend the fact that she had just kissed the Alpha.

-

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Layla Knight

25.10.2020