Page 5 of The Careless Alpha

"My mate is thirteen years old," I snapped, setting the cup down harder than necessary. "What exactly am I supposed to do with that?"

"Respect her. Protect her. Act like the Alpha you're supposed to become instead of a horny teenager who can't keep it in his pants."

The criticism hit like a physical blow, and Ranger stirred restlessly in my mind. "I am protecting her. I'm keeping my distance until she's old enough to understand what a mate bond really means. I'm handling my needs discreetly."

"Discreetly,” Jackson snorted. “By discreetly, you mean fucking other women under her nose? In your bed, where she can see, smell, and hear them?Yourbed," he reiterated. “A bed you may well fuck her in, in future years, after countless other she-wolves.”

He had a point, but I wasn’t about to back down. "By being realistic about the situation." I ran a hand through my hair, frustration bleeding into my voice. "Look, I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to be mated to a child. But the Moon Goddess chose what she chose, and I'm dealing with it the best way I know how."

"The best way you know how is to humiliate her?"

"I'm not humiliating anyone. I'm living my life."

Jackson stared at me for a long moment, and I saw disappointment replace anger in his expression. Somehow, that was worse. Jackson was the one who was always supposed to have my back.

"Do you know what she asked me yesterday?" he said quietly.

I didn't want to know, but I could see he was going to tell me anyway.

"She asked if she was pretty enough to be your mate. If maybe she should start wearing makeup or doing something different with her hair." Jackson's voice was deadly calm. "A thirteen-year-old girl is wondering if she's not good enough for a man who's supposed to love her unconditionally."

The words hit like silver bullets, each one finding its mark with perfect precision. I thought about Annalise's face when she'd brought me dinner, the way she'd looked at Scarlett with something that might have been longing. The way she'd accepted Scarlett's subtle insults without defending herself.

"That's not..." I started, then stopped. Because it was exactly what was happening, wasn't it?

"She's not going anywhere, Marshall," Jackson continued. "She's your mate. That's not changing in five years or fifty years. But the way you treat her now is going to determine what kind of Luna she becomes and what kind of relationship you'll have."

"She's a child," I repeated, but the argument was losing strength.

"She's your mate. Your responsibility. Our pack’s future." Jackson finished his coffee and set the cup in the sink. "Figure out what that means to you before you destroy something precious."

He left me standing in the kitchen, staring into my coffee and feeling like I'd swallowed glass. Outside, I could hear Annaliselaughing with someone, probably one of the pack kids. The sound was bright and innocent, and everything I was supposed to be protecting.

Instead, I was thinking about how long it would be before Scarlett was free tonight.

You are better than this,Ranger said quietly.

Am I?

You should be.

But wanting to be better and actually being better were two different things. And the pack expected their future Alpha to act like a man, not a monk waiting for a little girl to grow up.

I finished my coffee and went to find Scarlett. Jackson's words followed me like ghosts, but I pushed them down with everything else I didn't want to think about.

The kid would understand.

Chapter 3

Annalise - Age 13

Ilearned to smile while my heart broke a little more each day.

The late winter wind howled against the windows of the Alpha house, rattling the glass like an angry spirit trying to get in. I pressed my nose to the cold pane, watching fat snowflakes swirl in the courtyard below. Marshall's birthday was today. He was turning twenty, and Luna Etta had been preparing for his celebration all week.

I'd been helping, of course. It was part of my Luna training, learning to organize pack events and make sure everyone felt welcome. But mostly I helped because it gave me something to do with my hands while I pretended not to notice that Marshall had been avoiding me for weeks.

"Annalise, dear, could you help me with the ice sculpture?" Luna Etta called from the kitchen. Her voice was warm as always, but I caught the edge of worry underneath. She'd been watching me carefully lately, the way mothers watched children who'd grown too quiet.