Page 30 of New Blood (Werewolf Alliance #1)

A ustin stared at his brother, shock racing through his body, disbelief making his heart pound out of control. For a moment, he thought he was having a vivid nightmare. But Jude stood right in front of him in the flesh.

“Are you fucking serious?”

“She’s my mate,” Jude confirmed, looking way too happy and not at all guilty.

It was morning, and they were behind closed doors in the alpha’s office. After having found Danielle trying to sneak away the previous night, he’d expected Jude to discipline her and put her in her place, not mate with her on the spur of the moment.

“You’re fucking insane!” Austin huffed. “Do you have any idea what that means? The Alliance will be furious. You broke every single one of their rules.” He shoved a hand in his hair. “This will jeopardize everything we’ve worked for. How could you do that? How could you mate with Danielle?”

“I love her.”

“That’s impossible. You don’t even know her! You couldn’t just have fucked her and be done with it? No, you had to mate with her!”

He knocked his fist against Jude’s forehead.

“Anybody in there? Or did she completely scramble your brain?”

Jude snatched his wrist and glared at him.

“I said I love her. She’s my mate. What don’t you understand?”

Austin let out a breath. “I never expected that from you of all people.”

Jude shrugged. “When it hits you, it hits you. There’s no sense in fighting it.”

“Yeah, apparently not. Damn, I should’ve just ignored her last night and let her leave. Serves me right for being vigilant. But no, I had to do one last round to patrol the property! Damn it! If I hadn’t seen her then, we wouldn’t be in this mess right now.”

His brother chuckled unexpectantly. “Do you really think I wouldn’t have gone after her?”

Austin rolled his eyes. “Like I said, you’re an idiot!” Suddenly a question bubbled up out of nowhere. “And about Danielle leaving: why the fuck would she do that when you both realized that you were fated to mate? That’s fishy!”

Jude sighed. “She thought I’d go through with my plan to mate with Eve. She didn’t want to watch that. It would have been too painful. That’s why she decided to leave.”

“Well, at least she was smart about that. Which I can’t say of you. That makes you solely responsible for this mess.”

Jude grunted. “Damn it, Austin! No need to state the obvious.”

He took a long breath, contemplating the situation Jude had put them all in.

“How are we gonna unite the pack now? By rejecting Eve and mating with a female below her rank, you’ve offended not only her, but also her family, her brothers, everybody. It’s humiliating for them. You see that, don’t you?”

“Of course, I see that,” Jude snapped. “I’m not blind.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” Before his brother could get annoyed about his remark, Austin continued, “Never mind. Can’t change this now. A mating is forever. So what’s your plan now?”

“I was thinking, there’s more than one way to unite the pack. The alpha doesn’t necessarily have to mate with a Gallagher family member. It would also bind us if somebody else from the Werewolf Alliance mates with Eve.” Jude gave him an expectant look.

It took only a second before he realized what his brother was suggesting.

“No! No way! Not happening. I’m not gonna clean up your mess and mate with the ice princess.

I mean she’s pretty and all, but not even you could have missed that she managed to piss off Ransom on day one.

I mean that’s like pissing off the Dalai Lama! ”

“He told you, huh?”

“Not only me. He told all the others too, warning us not to get on her bad side. Apparently, that side is pretty frosty and dangerous.”

“He’s exaggerating.”

“Oh, yeah? So why didn’t you want her?”

Jude angled his head. “I believe we’ve already discussed why: because I recognized Danielle as my mate.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” He waved him off. “So what now? And don’t suggest that one of the others should mate with her. They’ll all say no.”

“Hmm.” Jude was silent for a moment, then he took a deep breath. “Well, we have a little time to think about how to proceed.”

“What are you saying?”

“We’re not announcing the mating yet.”

Again, surprise charged through him. “Why the hell not? You have to tell them now. It’s not fair to Eve to let her believe that you’ll mate with her. You’ve gotta face the music. There’s no chickening out. Trust me, bro. It’ll only make it worse.”

“I promised Danielle to wait.”

He couldn’t fathom that the request was from Danielle. As a low-ranked member of the pack, she should have every interest in announcing the change in her status. It would mean that she wouldn’t have to clean and cook anymore. An alpha’s mate didn’t have to serve others. Danielle would know that.

“Why?”

“Danielle wants to give the family time to grieve. She said it wasn’t fair to drop this on them just now. Not with so much still uncertain like William Gallagher’s ultimate fate.”

Austin raised his eyebrows. Danielle had just risen in his estimation.

Any other woman in her situation would have wanted to announce instantly that she was now in charge and maybe even let those pack members who might not have treated her well in the past know that she had power now and might retaliate. Everything became clearer now.

“No wonder you like her,” Austin said, for the first time happy about his brother’s choice. “She’s everything Eve is not.”

Jude nodded, his eyes shining with pride. “She is. And she’s mine.”

“What about the Alliance? When will you tell them?”

His brother grimaced. “Never would be preferable.”

“Not an option.”

“I know. I’ll tell them after we’ve announced it to the family.”

“Don’t wait too long,” he cautioned Jude. “News like that has a way of seeping out no matter how much you try to keep it a secret.”

“I’m aware of that. But Danielle needs time. It’s a big change for her.”

“Not only for her.”

“I know. So, do I have your word that you’ll keep this to yourself?”

“Of course, you do. I have your back.”

“Thanks, bro.” Jude pulled him into a brotherly hug.

Austin patted him on the back. “I’m always there to support you.”

He freed himself from his brother’s arms and nodded, then walked to the door. He opened it and left the office. Before he could pull the door shut, he bumped into Violet, who held a stack of folders in her arms.

She blushed and reared back. “Oops, sorry!”

“Apologies, I didn’t see you,” Austin said quickly and pulled the door shut fully behind him.

Had Violet been standing in front of the door for long? Had she been able to listen in on his conversation with Jude? Had she eavesdropped?

“Can I help you with anything?” he asked.

“Uhm… ahh…,” she stammered. “Oh, I was just looking for Jude.” She gestured to the files. “He wanted some additional reports that I didn’t have ready yesterday.”

She sounded nervous, and her face grew redder with every second. She looked even younger now than when he’d first met her. Maybe she was simply nervous around strangers.

“He’s in the office. Go right in,” Austin suggested with a friendly smile, while he made a mental note to mention this encounter to Jude.

He would also keep an eye on Violet to see if he could gather from her behavior whether she’d heard that Jude was mated to Danielle.