Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
“I can’t tell you yet,” Braden said, shooting me an annoying little grin in the rearview mirror. “That would ruin the surprise.”
Lanie–
“If we have no idea where we’re going, then why are we all stuffed in this car together?” Xander asked irritatedly.
I couldn’t help but smirk. He was so annoying sometimes.
I So why had I run up to him and hugged him like that? I was grateful that he’d saved us, yes, but honestly, I was also just happy to see him and Zane again, and so was Lily. She pranced around like crazy as soon as they’d come running up to us.
This was going to be fun…
I tried to catch Mason’s eye after the hug, but he would hardly look at me. I didn’t blame him. I knew he hadn’t been thrilled about returning to the mansion in the first place for this very reason he was worried I’d run back into Xander and Zane’s arms again.
S hit, that was the first thing I’d done. A hot pr ickle of shame ran down my neck, and I rubbed it self-consciously.
G ods, wherever we were going, I hoped it had enough space that Mason and I could be as far away from Xander and Zane as possible. Otherwise, they’d kill each other before the Council even had the chance.
“Because you can trust me,” Braden answered. “I have good reason to want Lanie’s safety, too, and it’s got nothing to do with wanting to get in her pants.”
Heat crept to my cheeks. What did that mean?
“Thanks for that, Braden,” I snapped.
“If this guy doesn’t shut the f uck up, I’m gonna jump up there and make him,” Xander mumbled. Mason–
rolled his eyes next to me.
“Wait” Braden suddenly said, “Where’d Aldon run off to?”
Aldon??
“Oh g ods, don’t tell me Aldon is your accomplice?” I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose with my fingers.
The man who’d been so heartless to me for what he claimed were good reasons. That didn’t change the fact that he’d chained me up and treated me like shit.
“He was trying to throw the Guards off our scent, so he ran away from us,” Zane said. “Pretty f ucking noble for as enile as shole. Still can’t believe he’s one of the good guys.”
Neither could 1. He’d really risked his own neck to break Xander and Zane out of prison and make sure we got away safely?
with hybrids.
They were shocked and horrified, to say the least.
“Aldon’s been helping me play both sides and get the information I need to figure out what the f uck Orion is up to,” Braden said.
“He seems to be the only Elder who actually cares about protecting the lives of she-wolves and hybrids.”
I wondered why that was. When every other male Elder seemed obsessed with exercising power over us. why did Aldon want to be a protector?
It suddenly hit me that we were quickly speeding away from Constantine territory, and my heart stopped.
“WAIT!” I cried. Braden skidded to a halt and pulled over. Everyone looked at me with expressions of concern.
“Aren’t we picking up my family first? “I asked desperately. “If Orion’s been using Selena to gather Information about me, then she and my mother are in danger.”
Braden twisted around to face me in the back seat.
“I’m keeping an eye on them,” he reassured me, pulling back onto the road. “They’re safer not seeing you. or knowing anything about where you’ve gone.”
“But what if the Guards or the Elders torture them?” asked. The thought was unimaginable.
“Orion and any Guards will be able to tell whether or not your sister is lying to them,” Braden said. “They have no reason to hurt her as long as she stays in the dark.”
I swallowed hard, fighting back tears. What could I say? I didn’t want to put my sister through the torture of having to meet with Orion, but I also couldn’t put Stella in more danger. It was an impossible situation.
Plus, leaving them behind meant not seeing them for who knew how long again. And I’d already had to say goodbye to Mindy back at the mansion. I told her to go back to her family’s place for the time being and take shelter there, but it was horrible leaving her behind.
It felt like I was constantly pushing away the people loved.
Mason laid his arm over my shoulder, pulling me closer even though we were already packed tightly together in the seat.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against his chest. When would things be normal again?
Finally, Braden slowed down and pulled off onto a winding dirt path. He came to a stop in front of a tiny cabin tucked far away into the woods.
It looked like it couldn’t be more than a couple of rooms. Guess having spaces of our own was wishful thinking…
As we all piled out of the car, I could tell the guys were worrying about the same thing, “Welcome to my enchanted abode,” Braden said. “This is where you’ll be hiding out.”
“Uhhh how many bedrooms does this place have? Mason asked, co cking an eyebrow.
“Just the one,” Braden said. “So you’ll have to get creative.”
Zane–
“Hell no. There’s gotta be another place we can stay, I said.
Not only were there three very small babies with us but also three men who were in love with the same f ucking she-wolf. The place would explode into chaos in about two seconds I’m not sharing a f u cking bedroom with these two.” Mason tossed his head toward us.
Lanie bit her lip an d looked nervously between all of us.
“There’s a couch and floor space,” Braden said. “How you split it up isn’t my problem.”
He started pulling luggage off the top of the car, including mine and Xander’s suitcases. A small spark of warmth bloomed in my chest imagining Lanie packing them for us.
“And there’s no other place you can go, so don’t ask again,” Braden said. “I had a witch cast a protective spell on the cabin anda small area of the land surrounding it. There’s an impenetrable dome around the whole thing.”
“How do you know about this place?” Lanie asked, looking around with wonder.
s real?
I looked around, too, but couldn’t see any sign of a spell. How could we trust that it that it was re “This is where I’ve been living while I’ve been spying on the Council’s little hybrid project,” Braden explained. “That way if they ever found out what I was doing, I’d have a place to hide out.”
He still hadn’t been especially clear on what “spying” meant. I had to assume he’d tell us everything we needed to know eventually, but it still seemed s tupid to trust him in the meantime.
Xander looked over at me. “You think he’s bul Ishi tting us?”
I shrugged. “Hard to say. I can’t sniff out a lie on a vampire.”
How convenient for Braden…
Xander stepped forward, crossing his arms. “Who cast the spell around the house?”
“Rhiannon, actually,” Braden answered.
they know What the f uck? Since when did each other like that?
“We met during the Great Wars,” Braden answered as if I’d asked the question out loud. “That’s how I know Gabriela, too.”
Xander’s eyes narrowed. “Now you’re just saying random bu Ilsh it,” he spat.
don’t know “He’s not,” Lanie said. We all turned to look at her. “Braden knows my mother, too. I don’t know why, but he does”
Lanie rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at her lips. “We were all work she-wolves during the Great Wars. The testing they’re doing now on Innocent hybrids started all the way back then.”
Wait a minute…so the Great Wars weren’t just a power struggle between factions of shifters. it was also about checking the Council’s power?
“That’s all a story for another day perhaps,” Braden said.
But Xander wasn’t ready to move on. “So in the wars..my mother was fighting for good?” he asked quietly.
Braden nodded. “She has been all along, even though your dad’s a royal a ss hole.”
Xander’s head dropped suddenly, and an emotion rolled off of him, so strong it was like a punch in the gut for me, too.
Regret.
Gabriela was doing her best to protect the weak, and we’d chased her away.
I looked over at Lanie. Her face was clouded with sadness. She was feeling his hurt, too.
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?