Page 21

GRAHAM

I yanked my shorts on and grabbed a second pair. The Moon Goddess was a damned cunt. I growled again, more from self-directed anger, than from anything else. I’d been driven against the wall. She’d dropped my mate in my lap, and I’d thrown the gift back in her face for my pack—because of duty, and now my mate wouldn’t even look at me. I’d been doing the right thing. How could she not see that?

I exited my room and threw the second shorts at Whitlock, which he skillfully caught.

“Put some fucking clothes on,” I said, pacing in front of her door. He wasn’t as wound up as me because he’d gotten to fuck our mate. To hold her in the brief moment she hadn’t wanted to get away.

The smugness on his face enraged me. I could challenge him to join his pack to mine. We easily matched each other in strength, but I couldn’t sit back and let him try to take my female away.

“Alpha,” Bryan’s cautious voice echoed down the hall. He knew better than to come close. “The Elder is on his way.”

Whitlock followed me down the hall. He’d been unusually silent, but tension radiated from him. I propped the door open to keep an eye on the hall. No one would get to her door without me knowing.

“I know how we can handle this,” he said, breaking the blessed silence as I dropped into the desk chair.

“Enlighten me,” I said, dryly. He leaned next to the door, crossing an ankle over the other.

“You continue what was interrupted and take Hester as your chosen mate?—”

My barked laugh cut him off. His lip curled.

“You can’t have her,” he snapped. He scratched his neck.

“She belongs to me,” I hissed.

“Yet she claimed me.” He grinned. My gut dropped. Would I lose my mate? My heartbeat staggered and picked up pace. He would not take her from me.

His death would be the only way.

“An Omega,” a frail voice announced, entering the open door. “Is meant to have multiple mates.” The elder entered with Bryan behind him. He’d gotten him here quickly. “All that killing each other will do is damage the girl.”

And that’s what I didn’t want. My chest tightened more than it already was. She should be at my side, or in my arms. Or simply within view. She was my other half and some part of me had known it. I scratched my scalp.

How could I have ignored it?

I couldn’t let her get away. I’d made a mistake by asking her to be with me while I took a chosen mate, but what happened was in the past.

“Omegas were supposed to be extinct.” I wasn’t sure if I was asking a question.

“The Moon Goddess works in mysterious ways,” Yadir said, nodding. “I would not question such a blessing. You were chosen, Alphas.”

I gritted my teeth. My wolf tolerated Whitlock, but aggression simmered under the surface. Seeing anyone near Violet drove me to madness, but if I were to scale it, Whitlock was a jealousy easier to handle, which had everything to do with instincts.

“She’s a gift,” the elder continued, hushed. “If the stories are true, she will be able to help our declining numbers?—”

“She will not be used,” Whitlock snarled, straightening. For once, I was one hundred percent in agreement.

“Apologies, Alpha of Aspen Pack.” Yadir dipped his head submissively. Whitlock’s jaw clenched. Since he’d taken the pack from the prior Alpha through force, he’d earned a reputation. When his father had attempted to do the same to my pack and murdered my pack Alpha, I repaid in kind.

“And there is another thing to worry over.” Yadir’s gaze settled on me. “The interrupted mating.”

“It will not continue.”

“Understandably, Alpha,” Yadir murmured. “That still leaves both of you. It would be in her best interest for you to put aside this feud between you two.”

I bristled. I didn’t like it, but for my mate, I would try.

Whitlock sneered.

“And what, you expect my pack to merge with Beaumont’s?” He scoffed.

“It would be the most logical move,” Yadir said, nodding.

Whitlock barked out a laugh.

“I’m sure it would.” His angry gaze settled on me. “I’ll bow to you over my dead body.”

That could be arranged.

“We will have to undergo negotiations.”

“Maybe what you two need to worry about is making sure she stays,” Maggie said, peeking around the open door.

“Stay out of it,” I snarled.

She huffed.

“Whatever, keep arguing, but no one wants to hear your moody snarling.” She slammed the door, running off before I could put her in her place. Violet was a bad influence on her.

“Bryan, make sure my mate remains in her room.” The conversations we were about to have weren’t for others’ ears.

“My Beta is already there,” Whitlock interjected. We stared each other down and there was almost a dare in them as if he expected me to argue.

“Good,” I gritted out. “As for merging my pack with yours. It won’t happen.”

“Then we’re at an impasse.” Whitlock shrugged and raised an eyebrow.

Yadir blustered and put up his hands. “Now, now, let’s have a discussion of terms. There is no need to jump to decisions.”

Our discussions would only lead us in circles, but we would try for our mate.