Alpha's Mate - Special Anniversary Extended Edition

Chapter Two

Alpha's Mate

Book One of the Siberian Volkov Pack Romance Series

Special Anniversary Extended Edition

Caryn Moya Block

Chapter Two

Violet Anderson's whole world had tilted and was out of focus. The sexiest man alive danced with her, and then told her to leave. She could still feel the warmth of his hands on her body branding her. It was crazy. Thinking about him made her hot. The man was haughty, and elegant, and infuriating. She wanted to kick him as much as she wanted to kiss him. She turned to her two best friends Margaret "Maggie" Brady and EllenJames.

"Let's go. I've had enough of tall, dark, and arrogant. I don't want to be around if he decides to come back."

"I don't know," Ellen said, cocking her head causing her blond hair to fall off one shoulder. "You two looked pretty good out there together."

"Yeah, Violet," Maggie said, twirling a red curl around her finger. "You seemed to be really cozy with him, and boy is he gorgeous or what? You sure you don't want to hang around?"

"You could always freeze him in place like you did the lion in Africa." Ellen giggled.

"Shhh, someone will hear you," Maggie said as she quickly glanced around the room. "That's supposed to be a secret."

"No one would believe it if they heard it," Ellen said. "Violet is a woman with a gift."

"Come on, you two. You've got an early flight, and I'm done celebrating. Especially with a man who disappears on you." Or worse tells you to leave. Should she stay to spite him? No, it was better to call it a night. She didn't want to dance with anyone else in the club. Maggie and Ellen looked at each other and shrugged.

"You're hopeless, Violet," Ellen complained.

"No, she's not, she's just choosy,"Maggie said. "Though if it was my choice, tall, dark, and handsome works for me. Did he mention any friends?"

"Sorry, it didn't come up," Violetsaid.

"Oooh, did something else come up? Do tell," Ellen said, giggling.

As Violet and her friends prepared to leave, she looked around. There were plenty of people on the dance floor. But Dmitry was nowhere in sight. What was that about? She felt a little disappointed. He was gorgeous, six feet tall with long black hair, and cobalt-blue eyes. He had broad shoulders, and she enjoyed feeling the six-pack abs under his silk shirt. His black leather pants were icing on the cake. And for a minute, she had felt ... something. But Violet didn't normally attract gorgeous men. She was too skinny, and long ago had given up wearing makeup.If a man was interested in her, he could see right away what he acquired. She didn't have time for a man anyway. She spent too many days in the middle of nowhere doing her job. Something told her Dmitry would take up all her time if she let him, definitely high maintenance, she was sure of it.

As they walked toward the exit, Violet wondered again why she had let her two best friends talk her into coming to this club. She knew they worried about her because she still grieved for her parents, who had been killed the previous year in a car accident with a drunk driver. Her friends were sincere in wanting to help her. She'd given in to them against her better judgment, thinking what harm could it do?

The vacation in Moscow was supposed to give her a new perspective. But she found it made her more aware of being alone. Not that being alone was bad. She often needed to getaway from others' thoughts. Violet, a professional wildlifephotographer, spent many hours in the wilderness. There she lowered her defenses without worrying what thoughts she might pick up. But since her parents' death, tenderness and a sense of belonging had been missing from her life.