I grab her arm, eyeing her sharply. I can feel the blood in my veins boiling. Danica is struggling to get the upper hand to rip the world apart from being hurt by her mate, from being embarrassed and angry. She is an alpha wolf and a very dominant one. “Harmony, no one can ever know about this! Promise me.”
Harmony is strong and confident, but she knows when to submit. She shows me her neck to me immediately. “Of course, Alpha,” she promises.
For a moment, there is silence between us before Harmony breaks it again. Maybe it’s because she is a true beta. After all, she really knows how to read the mood and how to change it. “Food?” she smiles slightly, raising her voice now for the others to hear it. “I feel like burgers and fries!”
“They have new sandwiches too,” Garret hollers from the bar.
I raise my brows. “What kind of sandwiches?”
“Chicken, cheese, and avocado,” he explains.
“You always get me, Garret,” I tease. He is an old friend of my father and me, and one of the guys I can feel comfortable around without giving him the wrong idea. Also, I know he is happy with his mate Elias and very loyal. Elias only joined our pack a few years ago, but easily worked himself up the ranks. He is younger than Garret and rather earnest for his age, but he is kind, fair, and extremely good at what he does.
Garret and Elias exchange a gaze and smile at each other before Garret gives me a silly victory sign and orders a sandwich for me.
“Next time, let’s go to a steak place,” Harmony suggests. “I’m so sick of these hipster places! What happened to some simple fries and beer?”
I can’t help but smile at her words. “Are you really Annie’s sister?”
She laughs. “I think the hipster places are more Annie’s friends’ preference than hers. You are in her circle of friends, you’d know.”
I chuckle. “I honestly don’t mind either, as long as the food is good. Annie and I share that sentiment. The choice for a place is up to the others.”
“When are you meeting them again?”
“Weekend, two weeks from now,” I tell her. “For our regular meeting.” At least this will give me some distraction. I try to remain angry, to live off Danica’s anger and her hurt pride because it spurs me on. If it weren’t for her, I would just curl up in my bed and cry.
I wish I could tell someone, but I can’t.
Harmony looks at me again. She caught on to my feelings once more; she is intuitive like that, everyone in her family is. That’s why she is such a fantastic beta, it’s not just strength alone. I wonder how long I will be able to hide the truth from her, and how long I want to hide it.
*MARIUS*
Out of all possible women, it has to be her. Celine fucking Anderson! I almost spit out her name, even in my thoughts. My luna’s friend, one of her best friends on top of that. She is a freaking ally to my brother, who just happens to be my alpha. This has catastrophe written all over it.
I don’t want a mate, never wanted one. The plan was to reject my mate the moment I met her, there was no other option for me. Whoever it is, reject them and leave. Rip the bandage off fast. It will hurt for a moment and then be over.
But I can’t fucking reject her. She has a name, she has friends in my pack, she is not a fucking stranger. My older brother Liam, as my alpha would have my head for it. My parents, the Alpha and Luna of Silverlake, would have my head. As open-minded as they are in other areas—I mean, my father allowed Liam and Annie to become alpha and luna of a different pack, although he has trained Liam to take over Silverlake since he was born! My family would never accept a family member rejecting their fated mate without a reason.
The mate bond is sacred to them. Liam didn’t even bat an eye when he met his mate Annie and found out she was an omega. He was head over heels for a little, weak omega she-wolf.
Our Luna is not weak, she has kickass gifts,my lycan wolf Cyrus intervenes. He is pissed, ever since we met Celine, and I decided not to approach her.Not approach her? You ran from her like a fucking coward,he hisses.And our Luna managed to free herself from her kidnappers. She helped to set Liam free when the old fuckhead alpha of this pack held him captive. They freed Red Claw together and became their alpha and luna. If she is weak, what the heck are you then?
A flash of guilt hits me for having insulted Annie like that. She never did anything to me; she just happened to be my brother’s mate. I have never belittled any wolf for their rank… I don’t know why everything riles me up recently. Sometimes I don’t understand myself anymore.
My Luna would be seriously upset and disappointed if she knew I was mated to Celine and chose to ignore her. Out of all the possible women the Moon Goddess had to match me with, this is the worst choice possible. She has this cold aura sometimes, she doesn’t even smile. Why on earth does she never smile at anyone!?
Maybe because her mother was killed by rogues when she was a young girl,Cyrus snarls.Or because she is mated to us!? I wouldn’t smile either if I were our mate.
I choose to ignore him. Cyrus and I have never had the best relationship. It’s a love-hate thing. He tends to call me out all the time for disobeying my father back in the days when I was still living at Silverlake, for pushing my siblings away, for disobeying my new alpha, my brother, for insulting my luna. He seems to be pissed all the time. One thing we share.
Normally he comes around eventually and picks me up again, but I have a slight feeling this time it’s different. He wants Celine, and I don’t. I wonder what it means for Cyrus and me in the long run, but I can’t care about that. I just can’t.
The new plan is to have her reject me. It’s going to be simple. I don’t care anyway, so if she cries and sobs at my behavior toward her, I won’t mind. I’m prepared. She can reject me and go for a chosen mate. She is Celine, after all, the apple in Alpha Cedric’s eye, his successor.
The first she-wolf in many, many years to lead a pack.
The refined cold beauty with her perfect athletic body and those... beautiful blue eyes. The elegant and dignified lady everyone seems to have the hots for.