Page 29 of Betrayed By the Alpha Wolf

“It is notIthat want to do anything. This was voted on by the remaining members of the Williams Pack. They wish to have their Alpha, and the pack members feel uncomfortable waiting much longer.”

“So, what? That’s it. Because they say all of a sudden, we’re having a fight to the death? That can’t be part of the rules.”

Choal glared at me. His wounds had healed, and clearly, he had forgotten all about how I’d saved his ass right along with the fading injuries. I clenched my jaw to keep myself from screaming obscenities at the man, and then Kaiden was at my side, putting a hand on my arm to keep me from flying off the handle.

“Aspen, we understand that the Williams want their Alpha. Of course, they do. But what happened to the traditional demands of the trials? We’ve been observant this entire time, and a change like this so suddenly goes against their own standing dictations.”

The older man, who had the unfortunate job of being the Williams mouthpiece, nodded solemnly, bowing his head toKaiden. My old buddy was actually an Alpha right now, and I could sense him sending out waves of concern along with a subtle calming energy.

He’d gotten the hang of his new tricks quickly, and I only hoped that if I were going to follow in the guy's footsteps, I’d do the same.

“I apologize, Alpha. I’m not entirely clear on what was discussed during the meeting of the pack because, as a neutral party, I was expected to abstain. From my understanding, the people of the pack are divided. Still, the majority lies with those who want a final trial.”

Kaiden sighed, wiping a hand down his face. Before I could say anything, he pulled me to the side of the room, whispering once we had a decent amount of space between us and the others.

“It’s Choal. He’s convinced the others in the pack to do this. He knows he wouldn’t be able to beat me in a fair fight,” I offered.

With a look in Choal’s direction, Kaiden nodded ever so slightly. “I’m sure you’re right. But there’s little we can do about it now. They voted, and without an Alpha to provide the final word, it’s just a majority ruling. I’m not sure there’s much we can say at this point. Are you well enough to fight?”

I shrugged Kaiden’s hand off my arm, eyeing him with a scowl. “I’m fine,Alpha. Kenzie took care of cleaning the injuries, and I’m all healed up.”

He swallowed hard, ducking his head momentarily.

We hadn’t really been given much chance to talk about the fact that his sister was my mate—something that was gettingharder and harder to ignore—and I knew the subject was still…oddfor him.

“How is she? I haven’t seen her, and Kit said she was pretty quiet during the car ride and the first trial.”

Well, what the hell was I supposed to say to that? Kaiden didn’t know that I’d originally rejected the mate claim. No one knew. And I wasn’t about to tell him now.

No, thank you. I’ve had enough shots to the balls to last a lifetime.

“She’s okay as far as I can tell. We haven’t had much time to talk.”

I had to assume that Kaiden knew that Kenzie and I had been seeing each other, and then it stopped, but it was entirely possible that we had not realized that we were mates back then. Still, I also knew that the guy had been suspicious about the abrupt end to Kenzie and me a few months back.

We’d also not talked about that.Because fuck no, that’s why.

Kaiden quirked a brow at me. “Isn’t Kenzie staying with you?”

Nodding, I sucked in a deep breath, doing my best to keep my expression neutral. “Umm, yeah. But I was healing and all, not really up for idle conversation when my skin was knitting itself back together.”

With a nod, Kaiden shook himself, like he was very ready to be done with this little chat as well.

“Right, okay. Well, I’ll see Kenzie soon. I just…yeah. It’s weird to think of her with someone, but I’m not a caveman, so I’m not going to get all ‘that’s my sister’ on you.”

That actually surprised me. “You’re not? Well, shit. I guess mated life really has settled you down.”

Kaiden laughed, clapping me on the shoulder. “Ah, you’ll see soon enough. But anyway, you sure you’re good to go? I have a feeling Choal is going to play dirty.”

I nodded, thrilled to be refocusing on the fight.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Umm…” I looked around me, noticing the distinct lack of Kenzie in the room. “You think they’re going to want to get started right now?”

We both looked over at Choal and the wolves standing behind him. They all wore a lovely collection of scowls and snarls.

“Yeah,” Kaiden dragged out and then turned back to me with a distinct “sucks to be you” expression.

“Right.”

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