Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>
And it was absolutely intoxicating. My mouth watered, and I wanted to lick the air to see if I could taste it.
More crunching, closer now.
A few yards away from me, a man emerged from the treeline, staring right at me.
Zane “Well, “Well, that went fantastic.”
“You sure you should have let her run off like that?” I asked.
Xander slumped into dark-brown leather couch in his office, laying his head back and looking up at the ceiling. “What the hell else could I have done? She’ll be back.” He scrubbed a hand up and down his face. “Plus, if I would have let the guard go after her to chase her down, it would have made it look like she was doing something wrong. And she wasn’t. She just wanted to get out of there, and can you blame her?”
I dropped onto the couch beside Xander and mirrored his position, looking up at the vaulted ceiling and focusing on a wooden beam running across it. “Nope. I would have wanted to get as far away as possible.”
We sighed in unison, not needing to verbalize how s hitty we felt.
She didn’t deserve to be humiliated like that.
But there’d been no other way to claim Alice.
We’d done what we had to for the woman we loved, and f uck anyone who wanted to fault us for that.
The look on Alice’s face when Xander made the announcement had been worth it. The love and happiness shining in her eyes had been the medicine we needed to make it all worth it.
“Did you see Alice’s face when you mentioned that we consummated the mating?”
Xander groaned. “I didn’t need to see it. I felt the daggers coming from her eyes. I’m not sure who she was more upset with-us or Lanie”
“Yeah, we’re going to have to make it up to her big time tonight. Hopefully, the whole mating bit will gain us some br ownie points,” I laughed.
“You would think. But we all know Alice likes to hold a grudge.”
There was a side to Alice that no one else saw. She seemed meek and mild to most, but there was a different side to her that she only revealed when you got close to her. She could be a bit manipulative and petty, but never over anything major.
In fact, it could be almost cute at times.
The tips of her ears would start to get red when she got upset if you weren’t playing into her hand, and Xander and I often made a game out of getting a rise out of her.
Of course, we always gave into her. Always planned on giving into her. It was just amusing sometimes to see the Tend she would go to in order to get what she wanted.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Elder Aldon burst through the study door, not bothering to knock.
Xander’s sigh was loud, and there was no double Aldon heard the annoyance in it.
F uck, I couldn’t wait to be rid of this guy.
Xander didn’t even bother to move from his place on the couch, instead just turning his head slightly to the right to look over at Aldon. “I’ve secured the mate we wanted in the first place. That’s what I’ve done.”
“Is that all?” Aldon scoffed. “You’ve now pointed out a loophole in the mating assignments that anyone can use. You’ve undermined decades of ritual and planning and procedures and, and “And what? If the High Council didn’t want people to have a way out, why write the footnote in there? I’ve done nothing wrong, and I’ve followed the law to the letter.”
“The footnote is specifically for- Aldon clamped his mouth shut.
Xander sat up straight and narrowed his eyes. “Specifically for what?”
“Specifically for dire situations.”
“Which would entail?”
The muscle in Aldon’s jaw ticked. “Unforeseen events.
“He’s hiding something.” I said.
“No s hit, Sherlock.”
Xander leaned back nonchalantly, clasped his hands over his stomach, and closed his eyes dismissively. “Well, then good. I’ve used it properly. Last night was an unforeseen unfortunate event.”
I kept my eyes on Aldon, and I was pretty sure his face couldn’t get any redder, his eyes practically about to bug out of his head. “Are you smelling toast, Aldon? Shall we get you a healer?”
“What?” he spluttered.
“You look like you’re about to have a stroke. I just want to make sure we get you medical attention in time. Would be a shame if you lost any of your motor skills.” I paused. “Like the ability to speak.”
Xander snorted before he could stop himself, then recovered and schooled his face again.
I was usually the one telling him to tread carefully, so no one was more shocked than I at my comments.
The last twenty-four hours was getting to me, apparently.
Xander stood, and I mimicked him, my d amn sixth sense when it came to him telling me that he was about to leave the room. “Elder Aldon, I have not broken any laws. I’m sorry you are upset regarding our taking of a second mate and 2/3
our inability to complete a claiming with Ms. Stanton. I’m happy to speak to the High Council about this.” Xande strode forward until he was at the office door, then he looked back at Aldon, standing there and seething. “Perhaps if the High Council is displeased that I have exercised this option, they should consider making some amendments. In the meantime, it’s time for my Beta and I to claim our new mate.”
Lanie
“Well, hello there, gorgeous.”
I quickly rolled over onto all fours and crouched low, baring my teeth and growling.
Smells delicious, Lily said to me.
Shh, I replied. Not the time to be sniffing out dinner.
Not that kind of delicious…
The man took a step closer, and I growled even lower.
Who the hell was this guy that he was walking toward a growling wolf?
His green eyes glimmered with something like amusement as he walked toward me, dressed in blue jeans, a white T-shirt with a flannel over it, and Timberland hiking boots. He wasn’t nearly as big as Xander and Zane, but there was a lot of lean muscle there, and I had no doubt he was strong. His black hair was expertly cut and styled, with slightly longer strands hanging over his forehead in a deliberately messy way.
Chiseled didn’t even begin to describe his face and his jawline, and had I seen him walking down the street, I definitely would have taken a second look. A third, even.
He took another step toward me, this time hold his hand out, palm up.
I kept my teeth bared and resisted the urge to back up.
I refused to show any weakness.
The leaves crunched under his weight, and his scent wafted around me as he flashed a disarming smile, showing perfect white teeth.
I growled another warning.
If he came any closer, I couldn’t make any promises as to what I would do to defend myself.
And since we were on wolf land, well, I hoped he didn’t have any loved ones who would miss him when he mysteriously disappeared.
I might be in s hit right now with Xander and Zane, but wolves took care of their own no matter what when it came to trespassers. “It’s okay. I know what you are, love.”
He stopped in front of me, squatting down on his haunches as all thoughts in my mind froze.
What did he just say?
“Shhhh.” He held out his hand again. “I mean you no harm. I was taking a walk through the woods and I smelled you.”
He smelled me? Again, what. The. F uck.
Lily took over and co cked my head to the side, her inquisitve nature coming through loud and clear.
“Ah, s hit. You can’t shift shift back and talk to me.” He looked around. “I’m guess you don’t have any clothes nearby.” He stood, unbuttoned his flannel, and took it off, revealing exactly what I expected was under the fabric-
a lean, muscular body that was hard to tell if it came naturally or from hours in the gym.
one.”
His outstretched hand thrust the flannel toward me.
“Here. Shift and put this on. I’ll turn my back to you, and I pinky promise I won’t peek. Not even a little He gently placed the flannel on the grass in front of me and turned around.
My heart sped up as I stared at the flannel, then his back, and then back to the flannel, frozen.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?