My Cold-Blooded Alpha Came Home and Found His Younger Self Calling Me Wife Chapter 04

My Cold-Blooded Alpha Came Home and Found His Younger Self Calling Me Wife Chapter 04

At nine the next morning, I had just finished dressing for the gallery in Pioneer Square when the electronic lock at the front door clicked open. I froze. Adrian was home early.

The guest room door was still half open, and eighteen-year-old Adrian was walking out shirtless, drying his

hair with a towel.

“Hey! You don’t have a single thing here that can wear…’

Before he could finish, I rushed over and shoved him into the walk-in closet at the end of the hall.

“Don’t make a sound. He’s back.”

I lowered my voice in warning.

“You don’t want your future self thinking I betrayed our mate bond, do you?”

Young Adrian hated being hidden. Irritation sharpened his scent, but he stayed silent. I shut the door and returned to the living room.

The apartment door opened, and Adrian walked in with a suitcase behind him, his eyes bloodshot with

exhaustion.

He had flown through the night. Tossing his coat onto the couch, he came toward me one measured step at a time. His cedar scent grew stronger with every step, and his Alpha pressure rose with it.

The mate mark beneath my collarbone flared hot. This was the Adrian who had formed a bond with me.

“Where is he?”

He did not bother with a greeting. His voice was low and icy. Barely containing his anger, he scanned the space behind me.

The possibility of his mate betraying him disturbed him far more than he wanted to admit. Keeping my expression neutral, I casually picked up his coat.

“What man? That was my cousin talking near the TV.”

Adrian stopped in front of me and looked down at my face.

“Your cousin calls you ‘wifey’?”

“He lost a game and was being stupid.”

He stared at me for several seconds, then caught my chin and kissed me hard. There was no tenderness in it, only a forceful claim of possession.

His emotions tore through the mate bond, sending scorching heat from my collarbone toward my heart. I did not pull away. Instead, I gripped his shirt.

He probably thought he was punishing me. He had forgotten that, cold as our marriage was, we had always been physically compatible.

“Come to the bedroom,” I murmured. “I have something waiting for you.’

He was rarely home, and I had no intention of wasting the opportunity. Just as he bent to lift me, his gaze

landed on the rug beside the couch.

He stopped. Adrian bent down and picked up a student ID. The photo showed him at eighteen, wearing a

stubborn, defiant expression.

The card bore the name Adrian Blackwood, with Lakeside High listed beneath it. Shock crossed Adrian’s face, then confusion, then unmistakable fury.

He looked up at me, his voice rough with restrained anger.

“Evelyn, explain this. Where did you find a double who looks exactly like I did at eighteen and can even imitate my scent?”

Only then did I remember that young Adrian was still hiding in the walk-in closet.