Page 40 of Forced By the Alpha

“What happened?’ Beth asked, making to follow her in.

Emma held up an arm, blocking her way into the room. “I wasn’t talking to you, Rosewood, I was talking to Devon.”

Beth looked at Devon. He avoided her gaze. Something shifted inside her, a thread of unease winding its way up.

“Maybe you should give us a minute, Beth,” he said, still not looking at her.

Emma smirked, triumphant, and Beth was too shocked by Devon’s answer to protest until Emma had already shut the door in her face. She stood there in the hallway, staring at the closed office door, feeling like the biggest fool in the world.

She never should have given herself to Devon. She never should have opened herself up to him, physically or emotionally. He had played his part over the weekend and swayed her to mate with him, though it hadn't taken much if she were honest with herself. It was impossible to deny how badly she wanted him. Her body would react to him regardless of her head screaming no.

Beth braced herself, a hand on the wall, as she felt the swell of panic in her stomach. Her breaths came short and fast. The memory of the two of them, entwined and smiling, was now a knife to her pride. All it required was a moment with Emma to make Devon forget what he’d promised her, the way he’d told her they’d be in this together as a team.

Fighting the urge to go to her room and fling herself down on the bed, she leaned closer to the wall and pressed her ear against it. At first, their words were too muffled to make out. But Beth’s hearing was excellent, and as she calmed her breathing, she could hear them speaking, Devon’s deeper voice clearer than Emma’s.

“They did what?” He was angry, she could tell from the clipped ends of his words. She imagined him hunched over his desk, knuckles white.

The first part of Emma’s sentence was lost. “—best hunting ground. We’ve got practically nothing left, Dev. They’re driving us to the edge. We have to fight back, and we have to do it soon.”

They must be talking about the Rosewoods. Beth pictured the map hanging in Devon’s office. The territory markings had painted a bleak picture for the White Winters. It was a problem Beth was still trying to solve, as Devon was adamantly against relocating the White Winters entirely, to an uncontested area. He wanted to stay in this part of the forest for a reason, but he hadn’t yet explained it to Beth. More secrets. More reasons not to trust him.

She brought her attention back to the muffled conversation. Emma was talking again.

“Don't come back here with your pathetic talk of treaties and peace. After that humiliation last night, the pack won’t hear of it. And do you really think the Rosewoods are going to shake hands with you after you kidnapped one of their own? Be real about this. All that will happen if you meet up with them is they’ll try to kill you and have the advantage.”

He was trying, at least. He hadn’t thrown their plan aside entirely, only decided to leave Beth out of it. But why? What was he trying to hide from her? They could never be equals if he kept her out of discussions like this.

“I figured you’d like that part of the plan,” Devon replied. “A chance to do away with me without any blood on your hands.”

“Be serious, Dev. Nothing would make us look weaker than losing our alpha. What are we going to do? We need this land back. If we launch an assault on—“

“Enough, Em. I just got home. I need a minute to get my thoughts in order, and there’s nothing we need to do right now. Give me time, and I’ll call a meeting. Where’s Jonah?”

Beth backed away from the wall and headed for her room, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping when they came out of the office. She couldn’t imagine anything more mortifying, except maybe her mate refusing to let her in the room in the first place.

At the last minute, she changed her mind and headed down to the gym. She hadn’t been down there yet other than on Jonah’s first tour of the place, but the idea of working off some of her rage was appealing just then.

She peeked her head in and found it empty. A punching bag hung down from the ceiling, and a basket of hand wraps and gloves was beside it. Back home, she’d taken some kickboxing classes with Adria and had enjoyed them, and the idea of punching something was enticing.

Wrapping her hands with care, Beth stepped up and hit the bag, tentatively at first. In a moment, she was in a flow, letting each hit draw some of the anger from her body. How dare he exclude her like that? It gave more power to Emma, to the rest of the pack, and took it away from her.

She was the luna. If he wasn’t going to allow her to take that role on in truth, if he expected her to be nothing more than a figurehead, a mate in name alone, he would have another thing coming.Thunk, kick, whack.Each strike on the bag drove home her determination.

She couldn’t go back to the Rosewoods anymore. For better or worse, she was a White Winter now, which meant she’d carve her space out in the pack. Did Devon think he could drag her here, kidnap her, and then brush her aside once she mated with him?

Emma’s words early on came back to her.Broodmare.Beth growled as she hit the bag with a cross, then followed it up with a knee strike. Had that been Devon’s intention for her, and his affections nothing more than a means of achieving that goal?

She was sweating now, and the sting of salt in her eyes felt like a release. No more crying. No more weakness. But no matter how much she punched and, kicked and elbowed, she couldn’t shake the pang of sorrow that had nestled itself beneath her ribs. Betrayal. She had let Devon in, and he had disappointed her.

“Woah,” said a familiar voice from the doorway. Jonah came into view, eyebrows up in concern. “I’ve never seen you work out before, and uh, it’s a little scary. Hope it’s not my face you’re imagining on there.”

He stayed well back from her and Beth didn’t slow, though her muscles were starting to flag.

“Not yours,” she said, around heavy breaths, “Devon’s.”

“Uh oh. This weekend didn’t go well? I saw you two coming in and thought you looked almost happy. What happened?” He came up and held the bag for her, cushioning her blows.

“I gave myself to him, Jonah. I thought…” she choked back a sob, refusing to let the tears out, “I thought he meant it when he said we’d lead together.”

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