Page 61 of Mating at Midnight: Book 1

Ramona waves her hand in front of her. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I could careless who the lowly Beta shares his bed with.”

“I am an Alpha,” Levi boasts. “Not a lowly Beta.”

Confused, Ramona glances at Bryant. “What? How is that possible?”

“That is no concern for you,” Bryant replies. “Levi is an Alpha, and you need to show him the respect of one.”

Ramona momentarily glares at Bryant before declaring, “You know what, I really don’t care. Are you really just going to stand there and do nothing after I’ve been assaulted? What kind of Alpha are you to let the mother of your son and a loyal member of your pack be subjected to this kind of abuse?”

Bryant clasps his hands in front of him, replying, “You seem to forget that we are on another’s Pack land and even if we weren’t, after what you just said...,” he tilts his head, “you deserved it. You brought that on yourself, Ramona.”

Startled by his words, Ramona begins to sob. “I can’t believe you would say that to me. I am your mate, Bryant.”

“Yes, you are the mate that the Gods chose for me, but I could never give you the title as long as I felt like you were the cause of the death of my twin sons and their mother. So, the way I see it, you are the mother of my son, not my mate.”

If words could cut bone deep, then Bryant’s would have sliced through Ramona’s skin like butter. Her fake tears cease to fall as she stares at Bryant with hostility. Ramona shakes off Megan before patting her face dry, standing taller as she raises her head higher. “I can’t believe that you are still harboring on shit that happened decades ago.”

With her eyes darkening, she continues, “You may not have given me the official title, but we all know I am your mate, but we are not here to discuss the dynamics of our relationship.”

She approaches Bryant with a repulsive demeanor. “I know where I stand in this family, but if it will make you sleep easier, yes, I was the one who arranged the deaths of that trifling Omega and her bastard children.” She points to Braxton. “Our son is the only one that matters. How would the lineage have been if he were born after siblings that were underneath him?” Her eyes darken, as she reveals, “Fenrir personally chose me to bring you to our side, and you have deflected everything I have done to do so. I thought once we had Braxton, you would change, but you haven’t.”

“And do you know why?” Bryant asks without his lips moving and he grabs Ramona’s neck. If Ramona is able to answer, the words are caught in her throat as Bryant squeezes harder. Heanswers his own question. “That’s because I am an Ancient, a soldier of Vidar.

The piercing howl slash scream that Bryant bellows has all of us covering our ears. Through the excruciating pain, I witness Bryant firmly wrap his hands around Ramona’s neck. As the howl continues, Ramona scratches at Bryant’s hands and wrists. Her claws extract, drawing blood but it’s not enough to stop him from tightening his hold. Her face is beyond beet red as Bryant’s wolf starts to show. His eyes change and his canines push through.

He pulls Ramona close to him, snarling, “You killed my sons and their mother because of your own delusional agenda.” Never letting up, he continues “All of my children born after Braxton are healthy without any problems and now, we know why?” If Ramona is able to answer his question, the words are caught in her throat as Bryant squeezes harder. He answers his own question. “That’s because I am an Ancient, a soldier of Vidar. You or anyone else could never make me turn my back on my one true Pack.”

Honestly, if I was a person looking in from the outside without knowing what was going on, I might have felt sympathy for Ramona as Bryant snapped her neck like a breadstick. He tilted his head back and roared to the Heavens as her body dropped to his feet.

“Ramona,” Megan shrieks, dropping to her knees. She shields her face with her hands as she cries.

With tears in his eyes, Bryant says to Braxton, “I’m sorry you had to see this, son.”

No matter after finding out his mother was on the wrong side, I felt the twinge of sadness Braxton had at the loss of his mother.

Instead of verbally replying to his father, Braxton nods his head.

With Ramona gone, this leaves Megan left to fend for herself.

She looks at Ramona’s remains, then says, “Whatever Ramona had going with you all has nothing to do with me or my baby.”

“That is not my child, and I think you were a part of a lot of what my mother had going on,” Braxton bellows.

A clicking sound behind us has everyone turning around. Elder Nelah stands there gracefully with daddy slightly behind her with Crown nestled against his chest.

My fight dissipates as Elder Nelah seems to hover over the ground, moving toward us. She passes Braxton and I along with Kenia and Levi before stopping a few feet in front of Megan and Ramona.

Damn I should have thought of this before I let my emotions get the best of me. If anyone can confirm if someone is pregnant, it’s definitely Elder Nelah. But...if she does prove that Megan is with child, how will Braxton and I go forward? Although I envisioned our child together as his first, I will never have him turn his back on his child. I’m all for him having a relationship with the baby, but with Megan; it’s a no for me.

She does the same thing she did with me earlier, sniffing the air before reaching out to touch Megan’s stomach. Megan jumps back, declaring, “I don’t want this voodoo witch touching me. For all we know, she’s probably trying to bring harm to me or my baby.”

Elder Nelah makes the clicking sound again as she does a strange motion with her right hand. Her palm faces Megan, then she slowly brings it into a fist.

“What the Hell?” Megan cries out just before her body goes still like a statue.

Whatever Elder Nelah did, it has rendered Megan speechless without any use of her appendages. Without any fight fromMegan, Elder Nelah presses her palm onto Megan’s stomach. Megan groans and moans, looking at Ramona.

Elder Nelah, laughs. “I can’t bring any harm to you or said baby since you are not with child.”

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