Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
“What if they’re not innocents?” My brother thought in a practical tone.
“That’s what we need to determine.”
“Who are the people who live in Standard that don’t know about Brightsky?” I asked the council. They all looked uncomfortable, squirming around in their seats and refusing to look at me. Not a one of them answered me. I sighed. “They don’t all know about the enclave, do they?”
“No,” said Charlotte.
“How many do know?”
She didn’t reply. I sighed again, and this time, my voice had an edge of command in it. They were all really starting to pi ss me off. They might not respect me just because I was an Alpha…but they would learn to respect me. “How many sources do you have?”
“Three,” Malachi said finally.
I sat back in my chair. “And how many other residents are there?”
“A couple of hundred. No more than that,” Melina said.
“But you’re willing to sacrifice every one of those lives on the off chance that some new people are a threat?”
My voice lowered to a growl, and my wolf flashed in my gaze. “That’s the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard.”
“You have an awful lot of concern for a bunch of people you don’t know,” Malachi said.
For the first time since the leadership council had reconvened, Jacques spoke up. I hadn’t had much interaction with Melina’s husband, so I was more than a little wary when the air cra ckled around him.
She’d said he was a warlock, but I couldn’t tell if he was showing emotion or actually trying to spellcast.
“Let him try it,” my brother sent through the mind link, picking up on my thought.
“Who even is this guy?” Jacques’s voice sounded like the pop and cr ackle of logs splitting in a fire. It set my telethon edge.
“Malachi, with all due respect, I get that he’s mated to your kin, but seriously; who is he? Or should I say, who does he think he is?”
“lm Xander Constantine, Alpha of the Constantine pack, son to Orion.” My lip curled back over my sharp canines, and my wolf blazed in my eyes. “Who the f uck are you?”
“Someone who’s lived in this enclave a hell of a lot longer than you have,” he shot back.
“Too bad the entire world isn’t this enclave,” I said with a sneer. “Because it’s totally obvious to me that for all of you at Brightsky, you are completely out of touch.”
Mason’s Alpha energy swirled and knotted with mine.
He didn’t say anything though. He just gave me a nod of agreement.
Melina stood up. “I agree with my husband. We aren’t bound by anything you or your brother have to say.
Malachi is right. The arrival of these new people in Standard constitutes a threat. I say we should pull our sources at once. Bring them back to Brightsky. Then we cut the power to Standard.”
“It’s the middle of winter in Alaska. Without power, those people will be dead within a day,” Mason bit out the words around a growl. “That’s murder!”
I stood to match her energy. “You don’t even know if any of those people are snooping around or doing anything suspicious. Do you? Have your sources reported anything like that?”
Melina flinched and cut her gaze from mine. She sat back down and muttered a reply. “They just reported the arrival of new residents. Nothing else.”
“Well,” I said, also taking my seat. “All I’m saying is that maybe, just maybe, instead of going off half-co cked, you have your sources monitor the situation. It doesn’t have to be forever, but at least another day or two. See if there’s anythi ng suspicious other than their simple existence before you go wiping out an entire town.”
wolf.”
Malachi snorted. “I have to say, this temperance is not what I would have expected. Not from an Alpha “When you bite without looking first, you tend to end up with a mouthful of something that makes you sick,” I told him. “Better to make sure of your prey before you try to eat it.”
The vampire laughed. The tension in the room eased, but only a little. The warlock was still giving me the stink-eye. So was his wife. Charlotte, on the other hand, gave me a grateful look.
Mason and I were going to have to have a conversation with her.
Lanie–
Zane had returned from his brief, private conversation with Greyson looking a little strange. When he pulled me into his arms for a kiss, though, I accepted it gratefully. We kissed and hugged every single day, but I was really needing the comfort of his embrace right now. With our other two mates away, it was just the two of us.
I was surprised at how nice that felt. With Zane, I never felt like I had to fight to prove my strength. He was always there to support me. Oh, sure, Xander and Mason loved me, and I loved them. But they were Alphas, and they would probably always balk a little bit when they had to let me be as strong as I knew I could be.
Not that I felt very strong right now. Tucked up in Zane’s arms, I looked down at the children eating so happily. Alaina and Isaac had grown even more and could use silverware like they’d been doing it for years. Stella daintily separated her vegetables from her meat and the Applesauce in small containers. It would be easy to convince myself nothing could disrupt this happy little scene.
Zane tipped my chin up for another kiss. “Hungry?”
“Not really. I’d love that glass of wine though. We can let them eat while we sit on the couch.”
“They’ll make a mess,” he said with a laugh.
“And we’ll clean it up,” I told him. “Together. Isn’t that what you and I do?”
He stared at me for a long moment before a slow smile quirked the corners of his lips. “Yes. That’s exactly what we do. You go sit, love. I’ll bring the wine.”
I settled into the comfortable couch with a sigh. My mind was still whirling with the book I’d found, what I’d learned, and all the empty places ready to be filled with what I still did not know. I took the glass my mate handed me and took a long, slow, and grateful sip.
I sighed. “This is good. Brightsky sure has the best of everything.”
“Yeah.” Zane’s voice lacked enthusiasm.
I scooted closer to put my legs on his lap. I put my head on his shoulder for a few seconds, careful not to spill the wine. “You don’t like it here.”
“I like it here. I just…” he trailed off and rested his head on mine.
Both of us were keeping our voices low, mindful of the children not so far away. I knew I should tell him that I suspected Stella could hear us even if we whispered.
quiet.
Maybe even if we simply thought to each other. But in that moment, all I wanted to do was enjoy the The silence between the strike of lightning and the crash of thunder.
“Greyson said something to me that’s been on my mind,” Zane said.
i moved so I could look at him. “What was it?”
Zane frowned and swirled his wine around in the glass before taking a sip. He swallowed and licked his lips, not looking at me. “I’m not sure how I feel about it, that’s all.”
“Zane,” I said quietly. Gently. “What did Greyson say?”
“We were talking about Charlotte. And you. Being hybrids. What that all meant, what I should be ready to do to support you.”
I waited, but he didn’t say more. “And? That makes you nervous? I know it was hard seeing me do that test my grandfather wanted. But-”
“No, Greyson said he was cool with it. If he is, I have to be, right?” Zane chuckled and shook his head. His smile twisted as he cut me a sideways glance. “He warned me there’d be a lot of surprises. And I have to agree with that. Since the moment the council gave you to me…to us…Lanie, everything about you has been one surprise after another.”
We both laughed at that.
“It’s true,” I admitted. “I’m surprised you haven’t all run away screaming. Thank you for loving me even though I’m the reason your entire life is in a shambles.”
Zane’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t say that. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
I hesitated, thinking of Alice. “You didn’t always feel that way.”
“I do now, and that’s what matters. Lanie, I love you more than I thought would be possible. I would do anything for you, anything to make you happy. To serve you.” Zane cleared his throat. “I mean that.”
I studied him as a pulse of Beta energy nudged at me.
“I love you, too. But I think I’m not quite catching your meaning.”
“The other day, when you were in charge…you know.”
He laughed self-consciously.
Heat flooded me, hard and fierce. “Ohhh.”
I put a hand to my cheek, feeling the blush rising. I cast a glance at the children, still eating. Okay, so they were playing with their pizza a bit. I’d deal with them in a minute.
“I think I know what you mean,” I said and let my gaze pin his. “And, just so we’re clear… liked that, too.
Mason–
I admired my brother’s determination, and I was right there along with him. Of the two of us, though, I figured I was the one with a little bit more…finesse.
When I stood up, Jacques grumbled, but Melina shot him a look. He quieted down. Malachi leaned back in his chair with a wry smile. He flicked his fingers at me for permission to speak.
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?