Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
Xander chimed in. “I saw him go into the house earlier with that Asher dude.”
“Oh, no,” Lanie thought. “I’m feeling a lot of anger from him. Where are they? Do you see them?”
The three of us met in the center of the yard. Xander put an arm around Lanie, who looked like she’d been having a good time.
Her wolf rose, though, sobering her up quickly. She slipped an arm around my waist. To anyone watching, it would look like we all were just enjoying a conversation. I even took a casual bite of my sausage.
“Really, dude?” Xander muttered.
“They’re good,” I told him, chewing.
Lanie squeezed us both. “Asher and Mason were best friends. Close enough that I’m sure Asher would’ve been his Beta, if things were different.”
“Do you think he still wants Asher to be? Is that what they’re talking about right now?” Xander asked quickly.
Lanie shook her head. “I’m trying to see what I can feel from him. I’m sure they’ve had a lot to talk about.
We did just up and leave Stillwood without a word to anyone. I’m sure Asher’s pis sed off with him. And She trailed off. Heat rushed off her. She didn’t look us in the eye, but Xander and I shared a stare over the top of her head “Asher kind of liked me,” she said, adding quickly when Xander growled, “When I was Katie–
“Did you like him?” Xander’s voice rasped.
“I did” Lanie lifted her chin to stare him in the face “He was funny and kind, and he took me out even though I was pregnant with someone else’s baby”
“With my pup.” Xander growled “Don’t act like that was noble or anything” I told her with a frown. “You’re beautiful. Any man would be hannu to taka unui rast. He wasn’t drinn unii a fauna and veri ro ne s hit abut nwa him oratitude for heinn a decent guy.
“Both of you, stop,” she ordered with a Luna push. “I had no idea who I was, much less that you were my mates. Besides, I really liked Mason, instead. And since we all ended up here, exactly where the Goddess meant for us to be, there’s no point in you getting yourself all tangled up about it.”
Xander mumbled something but didn’t keep going with it.
Lanie closed her eyes, swaying a little bit. “Mason’s trying to explain things to him. Can you hear anything? Sense anything?”
“Nothing.”
“Xander said. “Not sure if he’s blocking or just too focused on what’s going on.
I concentrated. “They’re just talking, I think. I’m getting a sense of guilt, confusion, maybe a little impatience?”
“I’m only catching small bits and pieces of that,” Lanle added. “But if Mason’s in trouble, we should go find him.”
Mason–
“Check yourself!” I pushed my Alpha strength toward Asher in a series of short, sharp bursts. I wasn’t trying to overwhelm him, just get him to put his wolf away.
His biceps bulged, tearing his shirt as hair sprouted. I pulsed out another burst of energy, hoping he’d respond even though, technically, I wasn’t his Alpha.
It didn’t look like he considered me his best friend anymore, either.
Or even a friend at all.
For another half a minute or so, I was sure he wasn’t going to pull back. Colt snarled and thrashed inside me, eager to battle. I tried one last time to stop this “You’re right!” I shot out at him. “I’m the as shole. I don’t blame you for being pi ssed off with me. Hell, you don’t even have to forgive me. But I need you to listen to me, let me tell you what’s been happening, and then, if you’re still angry, you can tell me to f uck off again. You can punch me right in the face, I won’t even step out of the way.”
With painful slowness, Asher’s wolf retreated. He flexed his arms, looking down at the series of tears.
“You owe me a new fucking shirt.
“Done. Are you ready to have a conversation? We can go grab a beer.” I jerked my thumb toward the house. “Something stronger, if you want.”
At first, Asher looked like he was going to take me up on the offer. Then he looked past me. His lip curled.
“Oh, look,” he said with a sneer. “The gang’s all here Mason–
“I got this,” I sent out to my brother, Zane, and Lanie.
“We know you do. We’re just here in case you need us. We won’t interfere,” Xander thought in reply.
Asher’s mouth thinned. “Are you f ucking kidding me with this s hit? You’re mind linking with them? I’ve been trying to reach you for f ucking months. No wonder I couldn’t.”
off.
“It’s not something I something I planned.” I did my best to keep my voice calm, even though he was really pi ss ing me “No. I guess not. Because we had plans, dude. Me and you. You were going to take him out.” He jerked his chin toward Xander.
“And then you were going to be the Alpha, and I was going to be your Beta. That was the plan. I guess all of that meant nothing to you.”
I shook my head. That’s not true. You know I wanted that more than anything. I spent years of my life festering with hatred for my father and my brother. But-
“Your brother.” Asher’s sneer seemed more forced this time. “That’s what you’re calling him, huh?”
“It’s what he is,” I said as gently as I could. “All of this is f ucked up. You got that right. But he is my brother, and…
I took a breath and figured I’d just better get it all out in the open.
“Lanie is my mate. Our mate,” I added. “Me, Xander, and Zane.”
Asher’s head hung for a few seconds. His shoulders heaved with something that could’ve been laughter or so bs, it was too hard to tell which. When he looked at me, his expression was twisted with emotions I couldn’t determine.
“You have got to be f ucking joking. Right? This is some kind of setup for a prank show or something. Right? C’mon, dude.” His voice stretched into a low, thin whisper. “You can’t be serious.”
“I can’t apologize for finding my mate. For everything else, yeah. But not for that. You know that it’s not something I chose, especially not to hurt you.”
Asher shook his head. “Naw, dude. You made your choices, and you apparently forgot I existed. Okay, so you don’t get to choose your mate, but what about the rest of it? You’ve been back here in Stillwood for how long? And you never once reached out to me. In fact, if my sister hadn’t randomly run into Katie, or Lanie, or whoever the f uck she is, would we even be talking right now?”
“Mason?” Lanie pushed a question at me. “You okay?”
I realized they were all standing far enough away that they couldn’t really hear our conversation. They had to be sensing my distress, though. I didn’t want them to get involved and make it all worse.
“Fine.” Even through the link, my voice sounded sharp and harsh. “I got it. Just give us some space.
I added that as an afterthought, knowing none of this was Lanie’s fault.
In fact, there was no fault.
“Sh it happens, Asher, I feel like sh it about leaving you hanging, and that’s the truth. It was never my intention. But there’s been a lot of stuff going on.”
“Yeah. Sure. Okay.” Asher made a shoving motion at me with his hands, like he was pushing me away without actually touching me. “What the f uck ever. I’m out of here.”
“Don’t walk away from me, man.” The words came out harder than I’d meant them to, but dam n it, I was really f ucking over Asher’s attitude.
You’d think years of friendship wouldn’t be wiped out so quickly, but as he turned to leave, I saw the end of our relationship happening right in front of me. And that pis sed me off.
I grabbed for him, and this time, caught him hard enough to spin him around. “You have no f u cking clue about anything, so maybe take a f ucking second and listen to me! Everything I’ve done has been to make sure that everyone I care about-and yeah, you as shole, that includes you-is protected!”
Asher threw off my arm and snarled at me, advancing. We’d tussled in the past, sure, but his wolf was ready to take mine again.
Colt roared in my brain.
“I Don’t Need. Your. Protection!” Asher’s jaws snapped as his teeth lengthened.
“Listen-”
“To what? A bunch of f ucking excuse? That’s all you’ve got!” Asher shot at me. “If this is how you you think an Alpha’s supposed to lead, let me tell you something, friend, you’re a s hitty f u cking Alpha who d deserve the title.”
The red haze threatened to take me over. I actually felt like the world was sliding away under my fe That’s when a strong hand curled around my shoulder. The fingers squeezed firmly.
Once.
Twice.
I was able to catch my breath.
“Hey, man,” a warm male voice said to Asher, who was staring with wide eyes. “Nice to meet you. I’m Zane.”
And all at once, everything was calm.
Zane–
The muscles under my fingers relaxed. Not entirely-Mason was still alert and aware. But that powerful Alpha energy that had been pulsing out of him like fireworks being shot from a cannon had turned into a spray of sparklers Asher narrowed his eyes, looking back and forth from me to Mason. He took a few steps back, out of Mason’s reach. He still looked really pis sed off, but without the edge of Mason’s Alpha fury riling him up, it looked as though he might just calm down.
And that’s what we wanted. No harm, no mess, no big drama in front of everyone. Nobody asking questions we didn’t have the answers to. No attention drawn to our unusual quartet.
“Whatever, dude,” Asher said finally, but there wasn’t as much heat in his voice as there’d been even just a few minutes ago.
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?