Page 8 of Brutal Alpha’s Sold Mate (Starfire Hollow Alphas #4)

Walking into the banquet hall feels like stepping onto a battlefield. Only, the weapons are smiles and polite claps instead of fangs and claws. The room is alive with the voices of my packmates, and the wooden beams above us are strung with lights that send a warm light over everything.

In the gilded heart of the Black Cauldron territory, the ballroom is ablaze with the kind of anticipation you can almost taste. The room pulses with the energy of the pack—my pack—gathered to celebrate, or at least pretend to celebrate, something I’m still wrestling to fully grasp.

Jacob, ever the charmer, has taken the role of host to heart, ensuring everyone sees just how delighted he is by my recent union.

He parades around the room with Kai, his arm securely wrapped around her waist. His laughter booms louder than anyone else’s now that he’s dragged her onto the dance floor.

The sight grates on me, and a slow burn in my chest is growing harder to ignore with every spin and dip they make.

Kai, for her part, is a study in controlled patience. Her smile is flawless, her nods perfectly timed, but there’s a tightness around her eyes that tells a different story. She’s playing her part well. Too well, which only pisses me off more because she sure as hell doesn’t play that nice with me.

As Jacob twirls her around again, I catch snippets of conversations from the pack members around us. “She’s quite something,” one remarks with a note of respect in his voice. “Not what I expected Theo to bring home,” another whispers, not bothering to hide her curiosity.

Leonard leans closer to whisper, “Keep your friends close, Theo, and your potential enemies closer,” he advises. “Your brother’s making a show. Don’t give him the satisfaction of seeing you lose your cool.”

I nod, though every muscle in my body screams to pull Kai away from Jacob’s too-familiar grasp.

“He’s not just making a show,” I point out, watching as Jacob dips Kai, and she throws her head back in laughter, a sound that doesn’t quite match the wariness in her eyes.

“He’s trying to plant doubt about who she really belongs to. ”

“Then remind him whose territory it really is,” Leonard suggests with a smirk playing on his lips as if he enjoys this dance of dominance as much as the one unfolding before us.

The lively tune ends, and for a moment, the room holds its breath. Jacob’s eyes meet mine across the floor. There’s a challenge clear in his grin. Kai looks between us, a frown momentarily breaking through her perfect facade.

As the band picks up a slower, more somber tune, I see my moment. I push through the crowd, which parts for me. Their whispers create a wake behind me, and each step feels like I’m walking through water. When I reach them, Jacob is saying something low to Kai, his hand dangerously low on her back.

He releases Kai once he notices I’m standing there, but his hand lingers until the last possible second—an intentional show of possession that has my wolf pacing dangerously close to the surface.

“May I?” I ask, extending a hand to Kai, not bothering to glance at Jacob. It’s not a question, really. More of a reclaiming.

Kai looks from my hand to my face. There’s a storm brewing in her eyes, and for a second, I think she might refuse me in front of everyone. But then, slowly, she places her hand in mine and lets me draw her close.

As we find the rhythm, I pull her a bit tighter than necessary. She stiffens in my arms, and there’s a defiance in her posture that wasn’t there when she danced with Jacob.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, keeping my voice a low whisper that gets lost in the swell of strings and woodwinds.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Her voice is equally soft, but sharp like a blade hidden beneath silk. “You look like you’re about to declare war.”

“I just might,” I confess, and my grip on her tightens just a fraction. “After what Jacob just pulled.”

She scoffs and pulls back to meet my gaze. “Is that what this is about? Your brother dances with me, and suddenly it’s an act of war?”

“It’s not about the dance,” I clarify, steering her smoothly around a particularly enthusiastic couple. “It’s about respect. Something Jacob’s always struggled with.”

Kai’s eyes search mine, looking for something I’m not sure I want her to find. “And you think dragging me around the dance floor is going to teach him that?”

“It’s not about Jacob,” I admit. “It’s about me not liking to see you with him.”

Her laugh is short, more of a scoff. “Because you care so much about who I dance with?”

“Because my brother would use you to stab me in the back without so much as thinking twice about it.”

Her step falters just a bit, and for a moment, we’re out of sync. “That’s rich, considering what you’re planning,” she says.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She forces a laugh, and it feels like she’s mocking me more than anything else. “Jacob told me everything. The real plan to officially become alpha. Quite the bedtime story, if you ask me.”

I glance over my shoulder, spotting Jacob leaning against one of the carved wooden pillars, looking damn smug as he watches us. “You shouldn’t believe everything that comes out of Jacob’s mouth.”

Kai presses her palm to my chest to create more distance. “So he lied about you killing your brothers and everyone loyal to them in order to conquer the rest of this territory? He lied about that being your plan all along?”

Now it’s me who trips, forcing the pair of us to stumble. It’s enough to draw the interest of a few onlookers. People start whispering, but I pretend not to notice. Kai’s eyes blaze, demanding an answer.

“It’s more complicated than that. A friendly handshake and a surrender just isn’t possible. My brothers—both of them—are dangerous. We’re not going to solve this with a polite negotiation over tea.”

“So that’s a yes,” she bites back. “You really plan to kill them to get what you want.”

I grit my teeth, wrestling with the words I don’t want to say out loud. “It’s not my first course of action, but if it comes to that, I’m prepared. I’m not going to let them rip the pack apart. If they insist on going to war, I’ll do what I have to do to protect what’s mine.”

She wrenches her arm free of my grip, and we’re no longer dancing but standing in the center of a swirling crowd, locked in a standoff. “How is that any different from what Malcolm and Wiley do?” she demands.

My brows knit. “Malcolm and Wiley?”

Her gaze moves between me and the spectators, as if she’s weighing whether or not to air this in front of everyone. When she does speak, her voice is venomous and loaded. “Don’t act like you don’t know what kind of men you made a deal with.”

“I don’t,” I insist. “One of my elders put us in contact.”

“So, you purchased a wife from a couple of assholes and didn’t even bother to check them out yourself?” she scoffs. “You have got to be kidding me.”

She spins to storm off, but I catch her wrist. “Enlighten me, Kai. What exactly is so horrible about those two?”

Her body visibility trembles before she whips her head back to look at me.

“They abduct females—witches, shifters, it doesn’t matter—to sell them or use them for their demon dealings.

They don’t see people as people. They see them as commodities.

And you—” she jabs a finger against my chest “—are acting just like them, planning to kill your brothers as if they’re nothing more than obstacles. ”

A surge of unfamiliar guilt flares in my gut. If I had known the sort of business that duo engages in… my wolf claws at my insides, demanding to break free to get vengeance for what they’ve done to my mate.

“That’s not the same thing,” is all I can manage.

“Really? Because to me, it looks pretty damn similar.”

I swallow the retort burning on my tongue and inhale, trying to steady my breathing.

“I’m not enslaving anyone,” I insist, keeping my voice low so only she can hear me.

“And I’m certainly not funneling witches to demons.

This is the first time I’m hearing about Malcolm and Wiley’s operations.

If you know something about them, you should’ve told me. ”

She folds her arms, halting any attempt I make at continuing this farce of a dance. We stand there in the middle of the floor, the other couples giving us a wide berth as they realize something more interesting than a waltz is unfolding.

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think you’d care,” Kai admits. “You bought me—literally—so for all I knew, you were in on it.”

Anger spikes, half of it aimed at myself for giving her that impression and half at her for jumping to conclusions. “I’m not involved with those scumbags. My father kept us isolated, remember? I only recently heard the names Malcolm and Wiley because of Leonard’s contact. If I’d known—”

“If you’d known, what? You wouldn’t have done business with them?”

“Exactly.”

She lifts her chin. “Then prove it. Release me from this arrangement.”

Heat flushes the back of my neck as I glare at her, ignoring the sidelong glances from the crowd. “It’s not that simple. I’m not a monster, Kai. I have to protect my pack first. That’s my job. If Reed and Jacob won’t let me protect it without bloodshed, then this is the only choice I have.”

“Listen to yourself,” she whispers. “You really believe one of the only ways to save your people is by forcing a she-wolf into marriage and then going on a rampage through your own family.”

“Family?” I huff a humorless laugh. “Reed and Jacob haven’t acted like family in years.

Reed’s so full of anger, he’d tear down everything just for the sake of it.

And Jacob? He’s cunning, manipulative, and thrives on stirring the pot.

You see him all smiles, but trust me, behind your back, he’s plotting the next big betrayal. ”