Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
I guessed I’d have to do some running to find out.
Lanie–
One by one, each of my three mates left me. Three times, the door slammed hard enough to rattle the pictures on the walls. On the last slam, a flower vase on the dresser actually vibrated right off and onto the floor. And then I was alone in our giant bed, wondering what the f uck had just happened.
I swiped my tears away. Even me crying hadn’t stopped them from abandoning me. And why had they all been so angry in the first place? We’d all made love….and it had been fierce and wonderful and unlike anything we’d ever done.
I thought it had brought us together, but it seemed like it had only shoved us all entirely apart.
Was that my fault? I asked myself that question as I cleaned up the shattered vase. It was a as broken as my heart was trying to be. Would I have to toss my relationships into the trash the way I was throwing away this broken glass?
cold cloth Determined not to let myself fall into despair, I went to the bathroom and washed my face. I pressed a to my eyes to soften the swelling from my tears. Emotions that had been so high were fading now.
Tentatively, I tried to see if I could sense where they were. Zane had let his wolf out and was running. Xander’s aura felt like he was working out hard. The gym, maybe, or the training field. For Mason, I could only sense voices, maybe music.
The farther away my mates got in distance, the less upset I seemed to be feeling.
Something about that seemed like it should be important, but even though I wracked my brain, I couldn’t put my finger on why.
The best I could come up with was that I’d been filled with aggression after being a to compel Greyson, and that had manifested itself in my need for food and f ucking. Lust was an aggress emotion, and I’d spent it with my mates by taking control of our sex play in a way I’d never really done Being in charge, commanding all three of them and having them obey. ..all of that had left me delicio empty of anything but satisfaction. But somehow, had my aggressiveness transferred to Xander, Zane, an Mason? Was that why Mason had been so quick to jump down Xander’s throat about a comment that had been clearly meant to tease me, not to insult him? And then, they’d both turned on poor Zane, who’d only bee trying to be the Beta they needed.
“Da mn it,” I said aloud to my reflection.
If I’d known that bossing them around in the bedroom was going to lead to this, I would have….
I would have still done it, I realized with a frown.
It’s not even like I’d just wanted to take charge for giggles or a way to spice things up. It had been a raw, insistent need inside me that I doubted I could’ve ignored.
What a mess.
I was going to have to consult with my grandfather and Charlotte about this. A sinking feeling told me anyone to experience things just this way before.”
“Story of my life,” I muttered to myself as I started the shower water as hot as it would go.
If my mates were going to be gone for a while, I was going to take advantage of being alone in the bathroom and having some time all to myself. As I let the water pound my neck and shoulders, I became aware of how sore my muscles were. I ran my hands up and down my arms, but there were no bruises anywhere on me. Every ache was internal…like I’d run a marathon or climbed a mountain.
This was from more than the vigorous f ucking we’d done. A lot of the tension and aching centered at the base of my skull, kind of like a headache but also…not. Gingerly, I probed the area with my fingertips, but although they slipped on my wet skin, I couldn’t feel anything abnormal.
The pain tingled a bit, upward from the base of my skull and outward, around my head to curve behind my eyeballs. I blinked and tipped my head back to the let the shower spray over my face. I could see just fine, so that wasn’t a concern. And the pain was fading even as I tried to concentrate on it At least the pain in my head was. The pain in my heart still throbbed. I wasn’t even sure who to be mad at.
One thing I did know for sure. Wherever my arrogant pack of husbands had run off to, someone had to be responsible and go pick up our pups.
Mason–
My anger was fading with every I took away from our quarters, my Luna, my brother, and my Beta. From my entire life, really. By the time I got into the elevator and up a few floors, I felt like a giant idiot for being so pis sy with all of them. I could remember being so mad, but….it was like I couldn’t hold onto the rage.
I was going to have to apologize.
Some residual fury was still swirling around in my gut, though. The only thing that felt like it might help was a beer and a sandwich. How long ago had we all scarfed down that enormous meal with Lanie? Hours, and my stomach was empty now. Grabbing a meal would give me an excuse not to head back right away, too.
Instead of heading to Floor Eighty-Seven, I decided to visit the general dining hall. I grabbed my meal from the selections set up in the buffet and found a seat at a small table toward the back of the room. I didn’t feel much like talking to anyone, and I kept my back to the wall out of habit.
When I felt the hesitant probe of Lanie’s Luna energy trying to tap my location, I didn’t fight it, but I didn’t reach out toward it, either. I’d have to face the music soon enough, but I wanted to have some time alone first.
I loved my mate, my Luna, with everything I had inside of me…and if it was just the two of us, the way it had been back in the beginning, things would be different. Lanie, me, and Stella, our perfect little family unit.
Except it never had been. Not really. Stella wasn’t my pup by blood. She’d always belonged to my brother, the way Lanie had belonged to him first, too. I’d been able to get used to that. Find a way to love them both even if that meant sharing them.
But sharing my Luna with two other men was taking more out of me than I really wanted to admit.
If nothing else, the jeans I’d grabbed reminded me that hardly anything I had was truly mine alone. even my clothes. Before finding Lanie, I’d been a Rogue. That meant solitary, not part of a pack. I’d had fi of course, including Asher, who’d been a brother to me longer than Xander had. He’d have been my Beta i things hadn’t changed. Still, that had been a lot different than being bound to three other people who could where you were and what you were doing at all times. Even shielding could only do so much.
Was that why I was so quick to pick a fight with Xander? Close quarters? Brothers fought, or at least I’d always heard they did. I muttered a curse and drained my mug of dark beer.! wasn’t going to figure any of this out on my own, and I knew that was a good thing. I didn’t have to rely on myself for everything. I had a support system, even if it was currently pi ss ing me off.
“Mason?”
I looked up at the sound of Gabriela’s voice. She looked cautious, a plate of cake in one hand. I waved for her to join me. At first, I thought she wasn’t going to. Then she slid into the seat.
“Are you all right? Where’s everyone else?” she asked “Sorry, I didn’t mean… I can see that you’re not all right,” Gabriela said firmly. “What’s going on?”
I leaned back in the chair. This woman had every reason to hate me, but she’d only ever been kind to me. I was grateful for that.
“It’s been a weird day,” I admitted. “Started off weird with the testing thing Malachi had Lanie do, and it just ended up in a fight with me and Xander and Zane.”
Gabriela’s fork clanged against her plate, and she put it down on the table. “Testing? Lanie? What happened?”
I paused, studying her. Her voice had gone tight and tense, and although we weren’t connected through.
blood, I could still vaguely get a hint of her emotional aura.
“You didn’t know about it?” I asked her.
She shook her head. Her expression went grim. “Nobody told me about it. No.”
“Malachi was testing Lanie to see if she was able to exert any kind of mind control or compulsion talents.
He had her make Greyson try to hurt Charlotte…and it worked.”
Gabriela’s face twisted, but there was a knowledge in her eyes, too, that told me she wasn’t surprised.
Pain pulled down the corners of her mouth. She lowered her voice and leaned closer to me.
“So…what are we going to do to stop her?”
Gabriela–
Mason looked at me with both of his eyebrows raised. Then, they furrowed.
“Huh? Sto Stop her from doing what? Malachi stopped Greyson before he actually did anything bad, if that’s what you’re talking about.”
He’d looked upset and lost in thought when I first saw him from across the room, but now he only looked. confused. Well, so was I. Was it possible that what I’d thought I’d seen was not what it appeared to be?
Oh, how I prayed to the Moon Goddess that was the case.
“Malachi wanted Lanie to see if she could compel someone really hard, but he wouldn’t have let Greyson hurt his mate,” Mason–
said confidently. He took a long pull off his beer and added, “You thought she was out of control.”
I didn’t want to admit it, especially not to her mate, but I nodded. He shook his head and also leaned toward me. Mason pitched his voice low.
“I didn’t like it, and I can see you don’t, either,” he said. “I realize that Lanie is strong and special, And mostly, I’m cool with that.
But I’m not sure how I’m feeling about all this new stuff her grandfather is throwing out at us. Especially since it seems sometimes like he’s flying by the seat of his ancient pants.”
Alaugh choked out of me at Mason’s irreverence. “So…Lanie was doing that under the guidance of her grandfather? Not all on her own.”
“Nope.”
I leaned back in my chair with a sigh of relief that I could tell intrigued him. “If you knew it was all part of a test, why did you end up fighting about it?”
Mason groaned and rocked back for a second. He took another drink before he answered me, and I thought I could spy a hint of red creeping up from his collar. He cut his gaze from mine when he answered.
“After the test, Lanie was….worked up. Which ended up being great, but after…” He coughed into his fist and didn’t say more.
I laughed. “Mason, I know what the four of you get up to. I don’t need every last detail, believe me, but you don’t have to be embarrassed about it.”
He met my eyes. “Why have you always been so nice to me?”
This took me a second to answer. Truthfully, I wasn’t not quite sure how to answer him.
“You’re my son’s brother,” I eventually said. “Why by the Moon would I go out of my way to be cruel?”
We both knew all the reasons why I might have found it easier to hate Mason than to be kind. We didn’t really need to dissect them. I tried to let him see and feel my acceptance of him in my gaze, until finally, he nodded.
His voice was h oa rse when he replied. “Thanks.”
“So. The fight?”
Mason grumbled and ran both hands through his hair, standing it on end. He looked very much like my son when he did that…which meant there was more than a passing resemblance to their father.
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?