Page 133 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

Ben stepped in front of her, and another male entered, grabbing Nicole and pulling her behind him. He had his claws out, and his pupils dilated with rage as he stared at her father.

“Who the hell are you?” Timothy growled, looking the male up and down with distaste.

“Alpha Alton Bauer of Vigne Della Luna,” he growled. “Your daughter’s mate.”

“Explain!” Timothy spat, glaring at his daughter under Alton’s arm.

“He was at the winery we went to for the bachelorette party,” Nicole said, her hands wrapping around Alton’s arm. “His pack owns it, and he was there checking on things.”

Alton’s body relaxed under his mate’s touch, his head turning just enough so he could glance at her over his shoulder. I blinked as I watched their interaction, watched as she cooled his rage with just her presence and touch.

“I went crazy running around the winery all afternoon trying to find her,” he said. “Her scent led me on a wild goose chase.”

Nicole’s lips twitched into a smile, and I couldn’t help but smile, too, seeing her so happy with her mate. Even though it caused a temporary snag with our plan, it would still be okay. We could let Timothy rant and rage and throw a fit for as long as needed until the council member arrived.

“And you just let him mark you?” Timothy asked, still glaring at Nicole. “Did you force her?” he added, stepping closer to Alton, getting up in his face.

But Alton didn’t flinch. His blue eyes just stared down at the shorter alpha in front of him. “I didn’t do anything to her that she didn’t ask me for,” Alton drawled, a self-satisfied smile on his lips. “And she asked me for it several times.”

Nicole’s eyes widened, and Benjamin blew out a breath, his hand running through his hair.

Timothy sputtered, his face turning deeper shades of red with each passing second as he worked through everything Alton insinuated. I couldn’t help but admire his determination and courage. Coming here unannounced with his mark on the daughter of another alpha on the day she was supposed to be mated to a different alpha. Brave, but possibly stupid. Unless Nicole had told him it was all a gimmick, all an act.

“You will reject him,” Timothy told Nicole once he’d grabbed hold of his temper, his voice low and leaving no room for argument, an alpha command laced into his words.

“I’m already marked, and so is he,” she told him, standing her ground, her grip tightening on Alton’s arm.

Timothy inhaled again, his face somehow growing even redder than before as he confirmed with his nose that not only was she marked, but that she’d marked Alton back.

“At the full moon,” he said, using the same tone as before, “we will have a council member come to the pack. They will perform the rejection ritual for couples who have already marked each other.”

“We will do no such thing,” Alton told him, moving backwards with Nicole. “You have no right to order her to do such a thing.”

“She is my daughter and my pack member!”

“She is MY mate and MY LUNA!” Alton roared. “You lost all ability to alpha command her the minute I put that mark on her neck,” he added smugly. “Nicole makes her own choices now.”

He pulled her under his arm and kissed her temple. “Come, my luna,” he said. “We need to get home to our pack.”

And with that, he walked her out of the conference room, not stopping to speak to anyone else.

Ben had his lips pursed together, a pained look on his face. I wasn’t sure if he was trying not to laugh or cry. Because I felt the same way. I wanted to cry in relief and laugh at the look on Timothy’s face as he realized he’d lost one of his pawns.

“YOU!” he roared as he turned towards me. “This is all YOUR fault! You Stones always have your hands in everything, always mucking up my plans! You did this so you could have a way out!”

“Yes, because I have an in with Selene and can talk to her whenever I want or ask her to suddenly make people mates,” I scoffed with a roll of my eyes. “There was no way for any of us to know she’d meet her true fated mate before this ceremony.”

“Don’t smart mouth me, boy,” he snarled, pointing at me. “You need to learn your place.”

I just stared at him, my face cold and emotionless. I wanted to wrap my hand around his stupid finger and bend it backwards until it broke. I wanted to twist his arm around his back until he learned that my place was above him, with him on the ground begging me for mercy.

My lycan nodded in my head, flashing me images of all the terrible things we could do to him if we had him in our clutches, each idea more cruel than the previous.

But I refrained. I held myself back. We needed to keep him here until whoever was coming from the palace arrived, and if I made a move to attack him, he’d leave.

He jabbed his finger towards me once more, and I held back a laugh so I wouldn’t provoke him further. He then turned and began pacing the room again, stroking his chin.

“So what do you propose we do now?” he asked.

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