I heard a fake annoying giggle, “God, Alpha Alexander can go all night.” Buck winced and I closed my eyes inhaling deeply. Ignore her, just ignore her. This was a thing I could do. She wasn’t the first to come down here and try to hurt me. It was fine. I was totally fine.
Someone gasped in reply, “He keeps everything so discreet though. I had no idea you were seeing each other. Or that he was with anyone at all. I’ve only heard people guessing which sex he’s interested in.” She should hang around here then. She’d hear all about the women he was into.
The woman who’d mentioned my mate laughed, “He invited me back to Black Mountain and introduced me to his family.Luna Elise was so sweet. She’s looking forward to having another sister in law.” Buck’s jaw dropped and pain radiated through my entire being.
Was he really taking a chosen mate this time? Others had suggested it but they didn’t usually mention his family. I was stunned that if he was taking a chosen it wasn’t going to be Cheyenne. The only solace that offered me was knowing she’d be pissed because she was so sure in her online journal it would be them in the end.
Why was he even taking a chosen mate at all? We could be happy. I would be the best mate to him, I really would. I would defeat all his enemies. I would stand in the void between the good and bad. I did it now, I just wanted to be near him while I was doing it. I didn’t have to be by his side with the allies. I knew they hated me. I’d be in the background, I could do that now. Heck, I was good at it at this point.
Another woman scoffed, “Please, he’s not taking you as a chosen mate.” I subtly looked over my shoulder at the woman my mate wanted. My heart sank because like the others, she was beautiful; flawless even.
She had no scars on her body like I did. She was blonde, of course. They all were. It was some sort of joke I was fated to him when I was clearly not his type. She was tall too, she could be a model. Most Werewolves could though.
She chuckled, “Oh, but he’s strongly considering it. I made that man see stars.” The woman I decided was cool asked, “And what about his fated mate? All the rumors I’ve heard are he wants his and would wait just like his dad did.” That was the rumor? Hope filled me before it was cruelly dashed.
Xander’s possible chosen mate shrugged, “Well, there was one girl who thought she was his, but he’s not into her though. He’s pretty desperate to have a mate in case she’s right. Hedoesn’t want her.” I’d rather be whipped, beaten, and left for dead than hear this.
Buck linked, “Melanie, don’t listen to her.” I waved him off and wiped a traitorous tear that fell. The barista sympathetically called, “Edward Davis’s order is up.” Yeah, she was from Black Path and knew I loved Xander, and that girl was talking about me.
Sadly, that comment got the attention of the group that had been talking about Xander. The she wolf chuckled, “That’s her actually. He showed me her picture. Can you imagine her as a Luna? Covered in blood, beaten up, and dirty. God, no wonder he doesn’t want her.” The theme of these visits were that he didn’t want me.
I’d just saved the lives of countless people. The side of me that clung to hope latched onto the fact that Xander had my picture, but I shoved that part of me away. He had it to remind him how desperate he was not to have me. He had it though. I wondered what picture it was.
The cool girl replied, “I mean, he’s pretty in the trenches himself. She might actually be perfect for him. Didn’t you hear their pack in here earlier? They were attacked, and I’ll bet she’s the one who stopped their pack from being taken over.”
The wannabe with my mate hit her arm, “I’m so much prettier.” She was. The cool girl argued, “You are both beautiful. Your attitude is giving her an edge though.” I’d be her new best friend. The other girl scoffed, “Well, he wants me. We are going to discuss contracts and I’m moving into his Luna suites while we hammer out the details.” I grabbed the order and ran out because I wasn’t certain what else you do to a shattered heart, but she was going to try.
I took deep breaths staring at my bike. Buck came up beside me. He bashfully offered, “Hey, he’s an idiot. She’s an airhead.” I wiped my tears, “You think I’m…” Buck interrupted, “You don’tknow what I think.” I admitted, “I could guess. Everyone down here hates me. I’m the enemy.”
He replied, “I don’t think you’re an enemy. I think you're highly intelligent, good at fighting, and the only person who makes my job easier. You know full well the past Female Lead Warrior never did a damn piece of paperwork. I know you judge me for keeping my head down and toeing the company line; however, I was the one doing all that stuff to keep this pack afloat before you came onto the leadership team.” I knew that. I was just shocked he was saying all this.
He added, “I think you’re very smart about almost everything. The thing you lack is street smarts. Some of us know how to keep on moving so we stay alive.” I studied him, “You knew I was taking that route before that concert. You knew they were going to attack Avery and that I’d get to her.”
He stared at me for several minutes. I’d said the same thing to him countless times, but he just huffed and changed the subject. I just wanted him to admit that he cared about Avery the way I knew he did. Maybe he could see I needed the answer tonight because he replied, “I also drove your motorcycle around so it would be out of gas, meaning you’d have to run.”
I gaped at him, and he grabbed most of the order except the coffee. I whispered, “I knew it… I freaking knew it! That would mean the world to her if you…” He cut me off, “She’s safer with you now that she’s of age. I did what I had to do to protect her and now she’s with the person who can make sure nothing touches her. All I have ever wanted is for Avery to be happy and safe, even if she has to hate me to do it.” He drove off before I could reply.
Flashback Ends
Addison pulled me out of my thoughts, “Well, bring Walker over here, Blair. We want to meet him too.” Walker frownedsaying, “We could get out of here. We could….” Blair cut him off, “I’ll have to meet you back here tonight. Then we can go to your pack.”
Walker offered, “I could come with you, and meet your family.” I jumped in, “Black Path doesn’t allow people inside the pack unless they are our pack members or allies. Or members of the Werewolf or Supernatural council.”
Walker snorted, “You don’t have that many of those. Allies that is.” I rolled my eyes, “I’m aware. Who would want to be our ally? Not smart people… that’s who.” Walker laughed, “Aren’t you just...” He trailed off. He was probably going to say rude. He finally finished, “interesting?” I shrugged.
Walker surmised, “You don’t like your own pack. That’s strangely clear. Yet you are their Female Lead Warrior.” I nodded, “Yes, well someone has to do their job in that pack. Lord knows it’s not the Alpha, Beta, or the Gamma. They wouldn’t know how to do their jobs if it smacked them in the face with a manual... I supposed I could slap them in the face with said manual…that would be funny.”
I tapped my chin saying, “It wouldn’t help though, but it WOULD make me feel better. That’s for sure…” Blair cut me off, “Let’s sit down.” Walker looked torn. He clearly wanted me to talk more. I went back to the kitchen to avoid doing that.
Mason linked me, “Blair found her mate.” I nodded. He looked sad when he replied, “You have a fight tonight already. I wish you’d let Hendrick or I come with you.” I couldn’t because they’d hate my strategy and talk me out of doing it.
I don’t really know what they thought when I came back hurt, but I knew if they saw how I fought they’d be hurt. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want what I was doing to hurt anyone, but they just didn’t understand the drive I had to do it.
They just didn’t understand that I deserved the pain from those fights. The Undergrounds had so many people whoshouldn’t be there, but I wasn’t one of them. Honestly, The Undergrounds were bigger than I’d originally thought. We got people out as we could.
Most often by letting people believe a fighter had died. It was not an uncomplicated process, but the more we pulled back at the layers… the more appeared. For all intents and purposes… the Rings were hiding, but they weren’t exactly dumb. In some ways, they definitely were. In others they were quite sophisticated.
Hendrick told me, “You know Alpha Ezra is coming tonight to see the McCann’s.” I rolled my eyes. Alpha Ezra was always visiting them for some reason or another. Honestly that Alpha Ezra frequented this pack was yet another reason I couldn’t believe Jason let me come here. Dad hated Alpha Ezra and often talked about avoiding him.
