Page 100 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

NIGHT

Istepped out of the shower just as I heard the front door close. After a pause, my wolf began to pant. Bryn was back. I waited for her to enter the bedroom, and when she did, her eyes widened.

“Wow,” she said with a slight groan. “You need to put all this away. I don’t have time for that body right now.”

I laughed and walked over to her. Pulling her in for a kiss, I caught a whiff of my beta on her. I growled before I could stop myself.

She snorted and kissed the underside of my chin.

“Such a possessive mate,” she purred, slipping her hands over my neck.

She pulled me down and kissed my jaw, my cheek, and my ear, where she whispered, “It was my brother who kissed the top of my head, Night. You better keep those teeth to yourself or I’ll kick your ass. ”

Desire curled in my stomach. If the Alpha ceremony wasn’t so close, I’d have bedded the hell out of this woman right then and there. As things were, I slipped my hands over her hips and kissed her long and slow. She tasted sweet and hot and completely mine.

All too soon, she pulled away. Her hand found my cheek, her thumb pressing gently to my lips. “Down, boy,” she whispered.

Mm. I couldn’t get enough of this woman.

She stepped out of my embrace so she could change into the simple, earth-toned wrap Glenda had given her for the ceremony. I tried not to go wild at the sight of her smooth back and that perfect ass, but it was hard. So I focused on getting dressed.

“Were the Kings receptive to your help?” she asked. “I didn’t get to talk to you about it before we met with the council.”

“It went better than I was expecting. There was almost a fight, but I think it helped clear the air more than anything else.”

“Oh good!” At her happy tone, I had to turn around. She had wrapped the dress around her shoulders and waist, cinching it tight at her side to show off her curves. She tied the excess fabric of the wrap into a bow, the tail ends of it dropping to her ankles.

When I had seen the cloth draped over the bed, I hadn’t thought much of it. But now, seeing it on, I loved the way the deep brown fabric looked against my mate’s skin. It almost matched the chestnut color of her hair.

“Bryn,” I said gently.

She looked at me.

“I’d thought it would be impossible for me to forgive the Kings.

All my life, I believed I would hang on to the anger and vengeance that pushed me to become Alpha in the first place.

But after I met you, I don’t feel the same way.

It’s so weird to me to see how far I’ve come from the night we first met, but I want to work on being better for you, on letting it all go. ”

“Oh, Night.” She gave me a smile that I could wage—or end—a war for. “I love you.”

I reached for her hand, and she gave it freely. I kissed the back of her fingers, and she giggled. “Why don’t you tell me about your day? What did you do after I left?”

“Not much.” She pulled her hand out of mine and slipped past me to the bathroom. “I kind of just walked around to clear my head.”

“That makes sense. I know you have a ton on your mind.” I buttoned my pants and pulled on a button-up shirt.

I swore that when I took over as Alpha, I’d do anything I could to smooth out the worry I saw pulling her mouth into a frown as she used the mirror to help her put on makeup. “Do you have your pick for beta?”

“I do.” She paused, and then she said, “It’s going to be Tavi.”

I paused. I knew I shouldn’t have been so surprised.

She and my sister had been even closer than sisters ever since they met.

I wanted to be happy that Bryn would choose to give Tavi such an honor, but doubt gnawed at me.

Would she really be the best choice for the position?

Dr. Stan assured us that she was physically healthy, but there were lingering mental scars that might affect her ability to protect Bryn.

The position wouldn’t be permanent, and I believed that my mate knew what she was doing, but that doubt lingered.

“Does Tavi know?” I asked.

Bryn nodded. “We talked about her concerns. We both took them into consideration and weighed them against the position. We think it would be good for her recovery.”

I wanted to believe that my mate and sister had considered the weight of all of this, but neither of them were experienced with being an Alpha or a beta.

“I think it’s possible that having some responsibility might help keep her mind off things, but it could backfire, couldn’t it?”

“Anything could go wrong, but we trust each other, Night. She’s already acted as my beta in other ways.”

I blinked. “You mean her being at the meeting earlier today?”

“Yes. She helped me with that meeting, but she was also with me when I was trying to figure out how the reconstruction projects were going a couple of days ago. She’s had my back both times.”

I ran my hand through my hair, considering this new info. It did make me feel a bit better knowing that they’d tried Tavi in that role, but were a couple of test runs enough?

“Bryn, are you sure that she’s the best choice? Your beta is supposed to be your right hand. You need to be able to trust them more than you trust yourself.”

“I’ve thought about this a lot, Night. I’ve considered every other option—I’ve even considered having a King as my beta just as a show of goodwill. But I chose Tavi because of what you’ve said. I trust her implicitly, and I’m positive that she’s the only person for the job.”

I took in her words and tried to understand them. It still worried me, but I trusted my mate's judgment. If she said she’d thought this through, then I believed her.

I was still concerned about Tavi. She tended to bottle up her worries, especially when she was going through a tough time. I wanted to speak with her myself, just to make sure that she truly understood the gravity of becoming a beta.

“I hear you,” I said with a sigh. “And I trust you. I know Tavi is doing her best.”

Bryn finished up her makeup and turned to give me a hug. “She’s doing even better than that. Trust me.”

We walked hand in hand to the ceremony. Everyone was gathering in the eastern corner of the territory, where a large bonfire was already raging.

Behind us, the sun had started to set. I could see the Kings’ infirmary nearby, and I spotted a few faces peering through the windows.

I wondered how many of those injured were hurt in an altercation with my pack and how many of them had been hurt by Troy or Gregor.

As we walked through the crowd, we heard some whispers, some not too quiet, about Bryn not being good enough.

Some talked about her using witch magic to shift, though she had already told them how the shift happened.

I glanced at my mate and was pleased to find that she held her head high.

Looking at her, I would have believed that she couldn’t hear them at all.

I walked Bryn to a wooden platform and kissed her quickly before I went to find my people.

The Wargs were comparatively a much smaller group.

Not as many wolves had showed up as I would have liked, but the dozens who had were better than my most optimistic estimates.

They stood together, glancing from side to side, concerned that the Kings were staging an attack, but once I joined them, they relaxed.

They knew that I wouldn’t let anything happen to them under my watch.

Dom joined me, and Tavi stood on my other side. She stared up at the platform to watch Bryn cross the stage. I watched, too. My mate was so graceful as she moved, with the fire glowing across her skin. An angel.

“Bryn Hunter,” the Elders began, “your vows will be ironclad to the pack for the duration of your service. Speak them now.”

She took a deep breath and began to speak.

“To the pack, I vow to put my best first, to protect the pack, and to lead them justly. To the spirits of the pack mothers, I vow to be a caring leader, one who will love my pack as family, and to bring honor to the shifter community. To myself, I vow to stay healthy and strong, so I can fight to protect my people.” As she finished her vows, her eyes glowed that ethereal blue hue.

An Elder removed a ceremonial blade from his robes, one I’d had my people check thoroughly for poison, and sliced the palm of Bryn’s hand. She held the blood there for a moment so it could pool, and then fed it to the bonfire. It sizzled the moment it hit the flames.

My wolf and I both could have died happily knowing that this was the person we were tied to for the rest of our lives.

There was silence from both packs. The Wargs were filled with reverence, I could feel the pulse of it almost as surely as I felt the pulse of my own.

The Kings, however, were harder to gauge.

Most seemed determined to give away nothing with their expressions.

But there were just a few, the mothers and the young women in particular, who bit their lips or clutched their hands to their chests. They almost looked…hopeful.

“And who will be your beta? Your trusted right hand who will advise you through the happiest times and the hardest times of your service?”

She looked over at the crowd as she replied, “Octavia Black.”

There was a mixture of applause and dismayed gasps from the crowd.

It made sense; it was unheard of for a new Alpha to choose a beta from another pack, but there was nothing ordinary about this ceremony.

That said, I imagine it didn’t help that both their Alpha and their beta would be women.

Beside me, Dom gave a sharp gasp. I glanced at him, and found him practically vibrating with excitement.

Tavi walked carefully up the steps to stand next to Bryn.

“Octavia Black, do you swear eternal fealty to Bryn, your Alpha?”

She nodded, staring into the fire below. “I do.”

“Do you swear to protect your Alpha and your pack with your life for the duration of your service?”

“I do.”