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“Why... are we... fighting... over her?” I grunted with what little voice I could strain out. “You don’t... even want her. She’s... your enemy.”

His bite tightened, completely cutting off my airway, and for a moment, I really thought he was going to kill me.

But then he released his jaws and pulled back just enough to snarl down at me. I sucked in air, gasping and coughing as he kept me pinned beneath him. Slowly, his upper lip lowered over his fangs, his features relaxing.

“You’re right,” he growled, pushing himself off me and shifting back to his human form to stand over me. “This temptress is clouding our judgment, turning us against each other, and making us forget why we’re here. We can’t allow that.”

I shifted back too, still wheezing and gasping to catch my breath. I rolled onto my side and tried to push myself up. Jax offered me a hand, and I reluctantly took it and let him pull me up to my feet.

“Our duty is first and foremost to our pack,” he said, keeping my hand in his even after I stood. “And to each other. I don’t want to fight you, brother.”

His words humbled me, cooling the flame of jealous rage that had been broiling within me. Now human and rational again, I remembered how much I loved him.

“I don’t want to fight you, either,” I admitted shamefully. “I’m sorry for challenging you.”

He chuckled as he stepped back into his pants. “I’m sorry for nearly killing you. Aliya must have more magic than we thought.”

He would have had every right to kill me under pack law. I challenged him and lost. Challenging the Alpha was not something any wolf took lightly, and I never should have done it.

But this mate bond—or Aliya’s magic—had me losing my mind, descending into possessive jealousy and a determination to claim and protect my mate. It made me foolish and impulsive, two things neither of us could afford to be as pack leaders.

I sank onto the end of the bed and ran a hand through my hair. “What are we going to do about this? About her?”

He pushed his arms through the sleeves of his shirt and started to button it up. “I think there’s only one thing wecando.”

I cocked my head at him curiously.

“We have to remove her as a temptation,” he said with a shrug.

My heart squeezed in panic, and my mouth went dry. “What?”

“That girl is a threat to everything we’ve been fighting for our whole lives,” he said. “We’ve already seen how easily she turns us against each other, and we’re best friends.”

I shook my head, my chest filling with desperation. “But she didn’t do that. We did that to ourselves.”

“No, the mate bond did it to us,” he countered. “And as long as that bond exists, we can’t think or operate rationally. So, the only logical conclusion is to sever it.”

I stared at him in astonishment, but he refused to meet my gaze.

“You can’t even say the word, can you?” I accused.

He didn’t answer me.

“How do you expect toremove herif you can’t even say the word out loud?” I pushed, hoping to dissuade him from this horrible, ruinous thought.

Finally, he did look at me, his expression stony. “That’s why you’re going to do it.”

All blood drained from my face. “What?” I breathed.

“As your Alpha, I’m ordering you to kill that girl,” he said, authority ringing in his voice and reverberating through my bones.

I shook my head, shrinking away from him. “No. No, I can’t do that.”

He loomed over me menacingly, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. “Are you refusing an order from your Alpha?”

The pull of his power tightened like a leash around my neck, compelling me to submit. Fighting the command caused me physical pain, but the idea of killing the one person I was fated to protect hurt far worse.

He sat on the bed beside me and put his hand on mine, surprising me with his gentleness. “I know it hurts. I feel it too. But it will only hurt until it’s over. When she’s dead, this affliction will leave both of us.”