Page 15 of Claimed By My Fiancé's Brother

“None of this matters anymore,” I bit out before turning away from him. “You’re already mated…and so am I.”

I tried moving around Dylan, but he lunged in front of me and backed me up against the wall.

“It matters to me. You chose him.” The softness in Dylan’s gaze was gone, and his words were hard and clipped. “I’ll never forgive you for this.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but the words died in my throat when the air in the hallway shifted, raising the hairs on the back of my neck.

“Get your hands off my mate.”

Dylan paused, his gaze lingering on mine before he turned to face his brother.

Alexander stood a few feet away, somehow even more forbidding than usual with that cruel set to his lips and deadly calm expression on his face.

If I thought Dylan was angry before, it had nothing on his emotions now. Dylan’s rage was so palpable I could feel it pressing against my skin.

“Stealing your brother’s mate during his bonding ceremony?” he snipped, his words oozing with venom. “Just when I thought you couldn’t stoop any lower.”

Alexander looked down at his brother, then dismissed him without deigning to give him a response.

“Come, Eleanor,” he commanded.

I wanted nothing more than to flip him the bird and walk in the opposite direction, but I felt responsible for this.

In my anger last night, I hadn’t considered how my actions would skew a relationship between two brothers that was already volatile due to the alpha title shift.

So I stepped away from Dylan and toward Alexander. Dylan didn’t try to stop us, but I knew this was far from over.

We were out of Dylan’s earshot when I noticed we weren’t heading in the direction of the house the Hawthornes had been placed in.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked, only for Alexander to ignore me once more. This time, I didn’t take it.

I pulled away from him, breaking his hold, but Alexander caught my arm again and tugged me closer to him.

So close that I could count his long dark eyelashes.

Alexander’s scent of amber and cinnamon washed over me, and Lara purred.

My mouth went dry and my senses narrowed until the only thing I was aware of was him.

“Alexander—” I said, trying to dispel the intensity of the moment, but my voice came out breathless.

Alexander’s hand settled on my waist, the contact sending shivers down my spine.

“It’s time for us to consummate our nuptials, isn’t it?” he whispered in my ear, his voice thick and heavy.

At the sound of those words, my entire body heated up and my cheeks burned.

I didn’t remember the rest of the walk. I was too distracted by Alexander constantly touching me, his fingers on my skin driving me so crazy that I knew if I eased my grip on Lara even a little, I’d jump him before we got to our destination.

Alexander’s hand fell from my lower back the moment we got to the room that had been set up for our mating, as per the rules of the Red Moon Pack.

I stepped in, unable to appreciate the lit candles, the rose petals on the bed, and the many romantic accents in the room.

No, all my focus was on the man in front of me.

I swallowed, trying to gather my words.

“This room is meant for Dylan and his mate,”I began, but Alexander turned to face me, the expression on his face unreadable.

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