Page 88 of Can't Be Love

“Good morning,” she said, much too cheerfully.

“You’re awake?” I grumbled.

“Couldn’t sleep,” she confessed.

“I didn’t even get breakfast in bed this morning,” I mumbled under my breath, causing her cheeks to match the color of her hair. If I were being honest, the taste of my beautiful mate first thing in the morning and waking up to her moans of approval had become far more addictive than the strongest coffee.

She leaned down and kissed me, and it wasn’t nearly enough, but I could sense her hesitance to escalate things beyond that. I looked over at the clock, surprised to see it was already eight o’clock. Her fight would begin in just two hours.

Every instinct in me told me to grab her and spend that time showing her how much I loved her while marking her with my scent and love bites to remind every other wolf that this one was mine, but she had other plans.

“I’m meeting Lizzy in half an hour to warm up, so we don’t have much time,” she said sadly. “I need you to know that, no matter what happens today, Thomas, you have to stay in that seat and not react. I’m not going to lose this battle. I’m not, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to come out entirely unscathed, either. Promise me. If the rules didn’t say you had to be there, I would ask you to stay away.”

Just like that, my little slugger bashed my heart into pieces once again. I had thought that after our bonding, she wouldn’t have that effect on me anymore, but there it was.

“You don’t want me there?” I asked. It was all I truly heard her say.

She rolled her eyes. “You only ever hear what you want to hear. That’s not what I said, and it’s not possible anyway.” She was stalling, trying to find the right words. This was Lily, anything en route to her brain shot out her mouth. She wasn’t restrained, especially with me, so why now? It was freaking me out a little.

“What is it?” I finally asked, unable to stand it any longer.

“Our bond is strengthening,” she said slowly. “I can feel it, Thomas. I can feel you. My wolf has started feeding off your emotions and I’m worried that if you start to freak out today, so will she. I’m used to being in perfect harmony with her. It’s one of my biggest battle strengths, but if she’s emotional because you are, I don’t know how that will affect our fighting. I didn’t really realize it until last night. I was wrong not to bring you to training. So I’m asking you to please try and remain calm, no matter what happens today. I’ll make it as quick as I can, but I have no doubt that word has already spread with how quickly I took Wyatt down. She’ll be waiting for that. She’ll be arrogant and think she’s got me. I have to alter my strategy again. She’s strong on the offensive, but she fights emotionally. I need her to lose her temper out there, and you need to sit there and let that happen. Do you understand me?”

I nodded. What she was asking was impossible. My wolf was already agitated just knowing she was going to be at risk, and I wasn’t strong enough to subdue him.

She climbed into bed and cuddled up against me. Peace washed over me, settling my wolf. We didn’t talk further, and despite the desire welling up in me, I didn’t act on it. I simply held her until the last second.

She wouldn’t let me say goodbye, only “see you later.” It broke my heart to watch her walk away. This stupid mating challenge went against everything sacred to our bond. It defied my wolf’s patience level and would test me as much as her. I needed to protect my mate. It was engrained into every ounce of my being. Why couldn’t the Grand Council understand that? The members making up the stupid rules never even faced the same challenges, because they didn’t bond or have families. It was one of their requirements as Grand Council members to supposedly allow for objectivity. There was no way they could fully understand what they were asking for.

I again solidified my position to challenge the rules. No wolf should ever have to go through this. There were already pack placement challenges. The idea that it was better for those challenges to come during early stages of mating was ridiculous. That was when our wolves were most vulnerable and irrational. I knew I couldn’t do it alone, but I would see to it that my children never had to suffer through this. It would be my highest agenda as Pack Alpha, and I was confident that my allied Alphas would fall in line on this one.

A knock at my door had me jumping out of bed and throwing on a pair of sweats to answer it. Austin, James, Clay, Emmett, and even Wyatt on crutches were standing there, a bag of food in Clay’s hand.

“Thought you could use the company this morning,” James said.

“You damn well better have a pot of coffee on,” Austin grumbled.

Clay hugged me when he passed by on his way in.

“We knew today was going to be hard. Just want you to know we got your back,” Emmett said.

“Trust me,” Wyatt said, frowning down at his casted leg. “Lily’s ready for this.”

“I know,” I sighed. “It just doesn’t make it any easier.”

Breakfast with the boys was just what I needed. Looking around me, I realized that I might have been abundantly blessed with sisters, but I also had five of the greatest brothers imaginable. They might not have been my blood brothers, but they were my life brothers, and they stayed by my side until the last second. If they could have joined me on the platform for the battle, I know they would have, but more stupid rules kept me segregated from the others. I was only grateful that as Alpha, my dad got to stand by my side, and I prayed that if I did anything stupid, he’d be strong enough to subdue me.

There was excitement in the air as the entire Pack came out to watch Lily fight Wanda. A small section had been marked off for the Larkens in an attempt to contain any old resentments that might arise in conflicts outside the arena. My wolf was growling in my head just having them in my territory.

When I got to the top of the platform overlooking the arena, Mom and Dad were already there, as were two of the Grand Council members and all four members of Dad’s Pack Council.

I had known Titus and Victor my entire life. They were allies of Collier and had served well in their time on the Grand Council. They were also the first two I planned to hit up with invalidating the challenges entirely, but I would need to bide my time for that one. It was a strategic matter that could take years to campaign enough support.

I shook the men’s hands, hugged each in turn, and thanked them for coming.

“Your father has warned us of your unique situation,” Titus said, the more diplomatic of the two. “We do hope there are no issues with today’s challenge.”

I knew it was both an affirmation and a warning.

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