Page 27 of My Possessive Alpha

My brows furrowed as I concentrated on one scent in particular—it was stronger and emanated power only possessed by an alpha. Not only were betas present, but their leader had been too.

Immediately enraged by the discovery, my blood boiled beneath my skin, and I clenched my jaw as I met Roman’s gaze. “This had to be Jack and his followers. Potentially even her parents.”

“You think he’s brave enough to storm in and face you head-on?”

Scrubbing a hand down my face, I sighed. “I can’t say he isn’t. He’s a quack and a creep, but other than that, I don’t know enough about him. If he came this far, I imagine he doesn’t intend on letting this go.”

Roman nodded, looking through the trees around us. “He could be prepared to start monitoring us and waiting for the right moment to strike.”

“It’s possible. Regardless of his next move, he’ll be after Lydia,” I murmured, clenching a fist to temper that anger. “Once an alpha is set on his potential mate, it’s nearly impossible tobreak that fixation. He might already know that Lydia has been claimed, or he’s still yet to discover that fact. Either way, he knows where we are.”

“What’s our next move then?”

Taking a breath to keep myself level, I allowed those protective instincts to take over. “Keep a close eye on the situation, and make sure we have more wolves patrolling the perimeter. Alert me if you scent them again. The sooner we can get a grip on the situation, the better.”

Understanding what was expected of him, Roman immediately began for the main grounds. “I’ll let the others know.”

I gave him an acknowledging nod and watched momentarily as he broke into a jog, leaving me alone in the woods.

Breathing in that scent again, I made sure to memorize it as best as I could, should I ever need to identify Jack quickly. So long as I knew that scent, I couldn’t be blindsided by him. If I were to catch as much as the faintest whiff of it, I’d be on his path at a moment’s notice.

Before, Jack seemed like nothing more than an antagonistic entity from Lydia’s stories that she recounted for me. Almost like he never truly existed since I didn’t know him myself. But after becoming aware of his presence so close to my territory, he was more real than ever.

At that moment, he felt like an actual threat, not just a driving force in Lydia leaving her old pack behind. He was someone I needed to be on guard for—to make sure that he never had the chance to get close to her.

The thought was enough to stir a sense of disgust and dread in my chest.

Even if we were still understanding things, Lydia was my mate, and if anyone tried to get in the way of it, I knew I would have no issue defending what was mine. Given the situation, someone like Jack deserved to be put in his place and reminded of how strong the force of a mate bond could be.

Taking in my surroundings with a discerning eye, arms crossed, I immediately knew I couldn’t tell Lydia yet. As much as I wanted to be completely honest with her about all things, I didn’t want to worry her.

She had been working on adjusting, and I didn’t want to jeopardize that.

In the meantime, as long as I took care of the situation, there was no point in dragging her into it.

It was between me and Jack, and so long as he tried anything, nothing could stop me from guarding my mate and our bond.

Chapter 16 - Lydia

Even if our bond was still fairly new, I could read Sebastian like a book.

Whether it was due to our connection or if he just made it incredibly obvious, I couldn’t ignore how protective he seemed over the last while.

With time, I managed to gain a sense of normalcy in the pack, and every day was getting easier for me. Everyone was welcoming and didn’t treat me any differently, and it was nice to be around warmer, familiar faces again.

His new, more intense protective streak was getting harder to ignore. While he wasn’t being too stifling exactly, he started making sure that if he weren’t with me, then at least Zoe would be. He often asked me my plans for the day, and if he had the time, he’d come with me wherever I wanted to go.

While it was endearing, and I enjoyed spending that time together, it did catch my attention and curiosity. It made me wonder what caused that sudden shift, but I wasn’t willing to complain.

The chance to reconnect with both Sebastian and Zoe was too nice to pass up.

“You have to try the white chocolate chai here,” she said as we entered the coffee shop and stepped toward the counter. “I don’t know how they do it, but it’s phenomenal.”

Smiling at her enthusiasm and at how nice our day had already been, I nodded. “Count me in then.”

Zoe placed the order for us, and we were soon handed our drinks. During our visit, I took in the coffee shop’s warm atmosphere and appreciated how relaxed everyone inside seemed.

While life in my old pack wasn’t necessarily chaotic, we didn’t have any places like this where we could meander around and talk with the others. If it wasn’t essential, then our territory didn’t have it. Jack was always very specific about what we could and couldn’t do, and he typically had a heavy hand over what we consumed.

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