Page 45 of Alpha's Bullied Mate
“What stays in the pack remains in the pack,” Aidan murmured.
“Exactly.”
“Then let’s hope he’s sticking to that philosophy and not planning to make a scene. My plan is to have you out while the rest of the pack keep an eye out here.”
“Want me all to yourself, Alpha?” I asked sweetly, going up on my tiptoes to messily kiss his jaw. Already, the champagne was making me sway a little. It was strong, and I’d downed two quickly. When the tray next passed, I reached for my third, while Aidan snagged another two to match me.
“Don’t call me that here unless you wantmeto make a scene.”
“Yeah?” I giggled.
“Yeah,” he answered. “I’d have you right there on that banquet table, Dakota. Don’t test me.”
“Oh thatisa scene,” I cooed, and pulled him over to the table, where our name cards were right next to each other. “Right here, yes? You’d bend me over? Push up my dress? In front ofallthese people?”
Aidan’s hand on my waist tightened. “Careful with those threats. I’m not the upstanding man the mayor thinks I am.”
“No,” I drawled. “You’re the bad boy. The big tough guy.”
“I was big enough for you the other night.” He gave me a wicked grin, and my stomach swooped.
I was about to return the flirting, to challenge him further, when I noticed someone I recognized getting nearer to us, reading the name cards. I cocked my head, trying to place her. The name didn’t come to me, but when she stopped onmy left and pulled out her chair, I finally placed her. She was Thalia’s best friend, the one I’d met at the Mating Ceremony last year.
“Sasha,” I said aloud. “It’s Sasha, right?”
Aidan’s grip tightened for different reasons now.
Sasha turned around. She wore a stunning silk black dress, all ruched and pinned to fall to the floor. Her dark black hair was curled back, exposing cat-like eyes. She was a shifter, too. I couldn’t remember if she was a wolf or another species, but it was her who’d gotten Thalia involved with Kato, not knowing the depths of his plan to eliminate Fenrys.
“Hey!” she said, hugging me close as if we were friends. “Dakota, right?”
“Right,” I answered.
“Oh, honey, you’ve caused quite a stir back in your old pack.”
I felt faint at the descriptor. “Old?”
“Yeah, Aidan’s pack is your new one, right?” When I didn’t answer, Sasha pulled out her chair, glancing down. Aidan ghosted his mouth along the shell of my ear.
“Careful what you say,” he growled a warning, sending shivers down my spine. We took our seats.
“So, basically, back in Fenrys’s pack—wait, youhaveleft, right?”
Swallowing, Dakota nodded. Why was she nodding? She hadn’t. She wanted to go home. She wanted to stay. She wanted Thalia and Conall and Theo and Lyna and familiarity. She wanted Aidan, Ryan, Declan, Jason, and everyone who sparred and bet and made her feel at home. She loathed to admit it butthe Oak Hill pack made her feel more at home than anything ever had.
“That’s what Thalia thought,” Sasha told her.
“Wait—what?”
“When Conall returned, he called a pack meeting. Fenrys and Thalia came. They were already making plans to find you because Lyna had picked up your scent on the border patrol. But when they investigated, Thalia said there were no signs of trouble. They figured there'd be signs if something had happened, right? And then it was reported to Conall that you were unhappy with them. I mean, you joined for Thalia, and she was barely there this past year. It makes sense, right?”
“Right,” I mumbled, grabbing my champagne flute and downing it. It hit me then all I’d eaten was a bag of chips at lunch with Aidan after we’d showered earlier. The drink nestled warmly in my stomach, and it was starting to go to my head. Sasha kept talking but I heard less and less, thinking about Fenrys’s pack, thinking about Thalia accepting me being gone, thinking about none of them trying to come back again for me. Thinking about them believing Aidan.
But hadn’t I believed him as well?
I had gotten so comfortable that I’d let myself forget the circumstances I’d been taken under. But Jason and Declan had taken me in a way that prevented me from struggling. Had they done it to make it look this exact way? I felt a hand rest on my thigh, fingers curling around the inside through the slit in my dress. The cold silver of his watch pressed against my bare thigh. I relaxed, even though I shouldn’t have, not when it was Aidan who’d orchestrated my whole capture.
“Are they… Happy I’m gone?” I couldn’t help but ask.
