Page 42 of Doubly Tied

Fucking hell.

The female was more into his title than she was his dick. Her sudden allegiance to Sam Greeves was troubling as well. His stepfather was a downright miserable prick. He’d made Brody’s mother’s life hell when he was young enough to cow to his elders. Once it was established Brody was the true and rightful Alpha, all bets were off. He’d tried to get his mother to divorce the cretin, but she’d refused to see him.

It’d been ten years since he’d been alone with the woman who’d birthed him. His mother had been so sweet and loving and full of life when he was a kid. Now, he hardly recognized her. She was a shell of her former self, and Brody mourned the loss keenly.

But he had to push all that out of his mind right now. Ani was fighting for the right to keep him and Mayne as mates. Lucky sons of bitches that they both were, the curvy blonde ball of fire loved them. She was determined to keep them too. He grinned and shook his head, feeling it deep within their matebond.

Now, he’d never heard of amatebondbeing severed by a challenge, but that wasn’t to say it had never been done. In fact, it was part of why he’d wanted to talk to Callan and Landry. The pair were the strongest Alpha and Omega he’d ever heard of. If there was a way to sever the tie between him, Ani, and Mayne to preserve both their mate’s and the Omega’s life in case things did not go their way, they would know it.

“You have both claimed her, then?” Landry asked, frowning as he did so.

Brody nodded. He was trembling with pent up rage at the very injustice of what was happening.

“I see,” Callan said. “It is nigh unheard of for a Shifter to issue challenge for a mate who has been both Fated and claimed.”

“Almost, Alpha, but it has been done?” Brody asked. This was his last chance to try and stop this madness, but the look on both male’s faces was not hopeful.

“Yes. Unfortunately, we have found a case where a Beta challenged a mated Triad for the right to claim the female as his mate. When the Omega fell under his claws, all three perished of what can only be described as broken heart syndrome.”

“Fuck!”

“We agree. This is not good news, but Sage assures me Ani is made of stronger stuff than it seems. Do not lose hope.”

Hope.

Brody clung to it with all his might. Sending waves of assurances and all his strength and love to his sweet Ani while she attempted something which even the best Wolves had a hard time doing.

Moving cattle from one spot to another seemed easy enough to the untrained eye, but a real cowboy knew how difficult the task could be. Each female had been given fifty head of cattle and had to move them a total of ten acres across grass, rocks, sand, and then down a small hill toward the watering hole.

Easy peasy.

His Wolf rumbled. There was nothing easy about this. Especially not for a city girl. Brody spat on the floor. He was madder than a wet hen. He turned around with a snarl on his lips when he felt someone draw near.

Fuck.

It was just Mayne.

“Easy now. What’s wrong?”

“It doesn’t make any sense, Mayne. Megan hasn’t so much as looked at me in years. Why the sudden interest?”

“You think someone put her up to this?”

“Hell fucking yes. And I think we both know who.”

The Omega growled, features sharpening with his Bear as he fished the answer out of Brody’s head. He was an emotional mess. Something completely new for the powerful Alpha Wolf.

Hell.

How could he not be?

This was all his fault.

His and Mayne’s.

They’d taken her from Moongate Island and mated her without her full knowledge and understanding. They brought her to their ranch and Pack, opened her up to Sam’s manipulations and Megan’s trickery.

Fuck.

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