Page 10 of Alpha Mates

Julian’s eyes flare, his usual blue igniting to a white-hot core before he lunges, claws out. I catch his wrists before he can sink them into my eye sockets, and free my canines with a growl. Julian snarls right in my face as he brings his freed hand dangerously close to my neck.

“What was it you said today?” he sneers as he leans in. “That I better watch my back once you’re in charge?” His smile is a wicked, hateful thing over his snarl. “I suggest you heed your own words, Aiden, because I intend to put you in the ground.” He presses forward until our breaths mix. “And real thing or not, we both know my wolf is stronger than yours.”

Max growls at the challenge, and I free it as I return his leer. “Is that a promise?”

“Enough of this!” The boom of Julian’s father breaks our standstill, before hands grab us both and tear us apart. Despite the infuriating grip on my neck, I keep my eyes locked on Julian’s as his father drags him back, same as mine.

Only once I’m hauled outside and a physical wall separates us do I rip the hand from my neck and whip around to my father, who glares right back at me.

“What in Goddess’s name is wrong with you?” he shouts before he reins it into a violent hiss. “Fighting like a child when you’re about to become an alpha!”

“I’ve held back more than he deserves. Hedeservesto be skinned alive,” I growl through my still-bared canines. I shove away from him, pacing so I don’t go back in there and finish this.

“That’s enough,” he scolds, his temper flaring. “Julian has been through a lot.”

I see red as I stop and tear my shades free so he can see it for himself. “We’ve both been through a lot!”

The reminder forces my father’s gaze to the floor. As always, he can’t bring himself to look at me or what I am now. His rage dissipates, and mine follows, because I still haven’t figured out how to hold anger and disappointment at the same time.

“I’m not asking you to be friends,”he starts quietly. “I’m asking you to be cordial.”

I release a dry laugh as I start pacing again. Easy for him to say—he’s not the one who had to grow up with Julian Heil, the golden child. Always well-behaved, always polite, always respectful. Always fucking perfect. And as if that wasn’t enough, he’d presented as a white wolf after his first shift.

A fucking white wolf.

Yeah, wolves have evolved a long way since the Great War, but some things haven’t changed, including the power granted to those rare few who present with a white coat. When shifted, they’re the best of our kind—stronger, faster, superior in every way. And Julian took advantage of that strength the moment he got it.

I can still see my art room up in flames. My sole way to cope turned to ash within minutes. It was far worse than what I’d done to him. His hair grew back. My art couldn’t.

Not to mention, we gave it to Locks of Love, Max points out in a flagrant attempt to ease the mood.We made a cancer patient very happy.

It works. Even though it shouldn’t, it loosens my tightly clenched fists.

“Our packs are too close to entertain you and Julian’s rivalry,” my dadcontinues when he senses the tension leaving me. “A show of mutual trust is a promise not to attack each other and keep to our own lands.”

I know exactly what it means, that doesn’t mean I want to uphold it. The first thing I want to do as alpha is kill the one next door. But despite my never-ending hatred for Julian, I care about my pack. No matter what I snarl at Julian, I won’t let any of them get hurt if I can prevent it.

“Aiden.” My dad draws near, rubbing a hand over his beard with a poorly hidden grimace. I push my shades back into place, letting him breathe easier as he looks into the pitch-black lenses instead of at me.

“I can’t force you to like one another, but you need to let this hatred go,” he says as he peers at me. “I don’t want you to spend a lifetime hating one person. You already have … so much rage …” he whispers carefully. “Don’t let it lead you down an unrecognisable path.”

That same rage tries to spark, to come out in a roar and remind him why I have to deal with such things, but I keep it buried as always.

“Yes, Dr. Phil,” I reply instead, and he jumps on the out.

Lips splitting into a smile, he drops his hand on my shoulder, and squeezes. “Take a moment, and get back in there when you’re ready to finish this without another fight, okay?”

I force a nod and watch him go, focusing on his retreating back until I’m alone. That’s when I let myself truly relax. I suck in a deep breath as I look up to the skies in a bid to claim some of the calm up there.

I’m suddenly desperate to shift and run until the energy winding me up is all gone and I’m left boneless, but I can’t. So, I play my mantra over, reminding myself of what’s to come once this is all over.

My parents aren’t likely to stick around after the coronation. They’ll take some time to enjoy their new retirement, which means I’ll be free to do what I do best without their interference.

We have a lot of work to do if we’re going to be as strong as I know we can be, and I can’t wait to set those plans into motion. It’ll be tough, but I have Emitt, and the rest of it I can shoulder on my own … unless I find my mate.

That’s unlikely, though. Yeah, sure, when I turn eighteen, that splintered section of our souls, reserved solely for our mate, would awaken—and I’d be able to sense mine. But only if they were close.

With my luck and the life Goddess has given me, the odds were zilch.