Page 13 of Rise of the Alpha

“Shut the fuck up! This is fucking serious, Jude!” I interrupt, yelling at him.

Z looks back and forth between the two of us, confused, before he asks.

“You have a mate? You kissed her? Which girl is this? Dammit, I leave you two alone for an hour and you come back mated?”

“You would know if you stayed around. Wylla is the hottie with the tight ass body and all the tattoos. Magnolia is the hot as fuck, gray-haired girl,” Jude tells him.

“Watch your fucking mouth. That’s my mate you’re talking about,” I grit out through clenched teeth. He’s walking a thin line after the way he danced with her already, having his hands all over her body, one meant for me and my wolf. Add in his fucking mouth and he’s about to get an ass beating.

Jude just falls back on his bed laughing, rolling side to side as he basks in his amusement at the fucked up situation. Z then takes a huge inhale of breath before putting a hand to his temple.This can’t be good.He looks pained before he even opens his mouth.

“Well then, you won’t like what I’m about to say. I’m only telling you this since we’ve been friends for years. Brothers really. My girl from the woods. Your mate, they’re one and the same.” His eyes are downcast at the last part; the fucker can’t even look me in the eye. He knows he’s in the wrong.

HELL. FUCKING. NO!

Jude’s laughter becomes hysterical as he rolls off the bed and falls on the floor, holding his stomach. He’s laughing so hard that his skin, which is usually a light fawn, is turning blue from him trying to catch his breath. Z tries to go on, but before he can even utter another syllable, I’m on him, punching him in his lying fucking mouth. Blood drips from the split in his lip.MINE!My wolf is snarling and snapping his teeth, wanting to rip Zeke’s throat out.

“You tasted my mate’s pussy before I did? You nestled those perfect tits before me? She doesn’t even know your kind of shifter exists!”Hell, I’m still trying to understand how she doesn’t, but it must have something to do with what Wylla said about her. “I’ll fucking kill you!” I roar at him. My body is vibrating in rage. I’m barely controlling my wolf’s need to shift at the moment.

We wrestle around on the ground for a bit before Z gets me in a restraint hold. My back is to his chest, as his legs are wrapped around me, pinning me, unable to escape. He’s speaking rapidly to me, his tone firm but full of remorse.

“Oh, it was all fine and dandy when she wasn’t your mate. You laughed if I recall. For the record, I liked her, but when I saw you staring at her tonight, I knew I didn’t stand a chance. That's why I left so quickly. Fuck you, man, for thinking I’d betray you like that and for busting my lip.”

I shrug and give him a fake apology.We’re shifters; we heal quickly.He releases me, and I spin around, going to punch his smug fucking face again. Pausing for a moment to stand up, I try to remind myself that this is one of my best fucking friends. My eyes never leave his and seeing the tortured look on his face, I know he’s punished himself enough already.

“Fine, I don’t like it, but you didn’t know, and I didn’t know she was my mate yet. Fuck, this is a mess.”

“What happened to make her run out on you after finding out that you're mates? I thought wolves were ecstatic when finding the one they were destined to be with?” Z asks as he sits back on his bed. He looks pained to even ask that, but he’s trying to make the best of this situation, same as me. I take a seat in the computer chair next to his bed, while Jude is sitting on the floor with his back against the bed, just watching the show.Bastard.

I tell him the whole thing from start to finish. How I kissed her, and she ran out, Wylla dragging us from the mixer and spelling me, the Exodus Pack, and what Wylla knew about her roommate. Z rubs a hand down his face after staring at me in shock.

“Fuck, dude, this is serious. We have to get her out of that pack,” Zeke says. The tone of his voice tells me he’s just as serious as I am about getting her away from that pack of crazies.

I sigh loudly and agree, but how am I supposed to do that when she won’t even talk to me? We chat a little longer about the mixer and the girls. It’s well into the early morning by the time we are slowing down the conversation and yawning in exhaustion.

“We should come at this in the morning with fresh eyes,” suggests Jude.

We agree and get into our beds to try to get some shuteye. Before I fall asleep, I need to say one more thing.

“Zeke?”

“Yeah, man?” he replies.

“I’m sorry I split your lip. My wolf is just riding me hard, and he’s getting harder to control. Any female would be lucky to have you by their side,” I tell him, and mean every word.

“Thanks, man. It’s okay, I’ve gotten worse in the cages,” he says with a chuckle.

With that, I close my eyes and fall asleep thinking about a gray-haired vixen riding my cock like a jockey and her being round with my child. Tomorrow will be better. I just know it. Wylla will have spoken to her, and she might be ready to talk to me.We can only hope.

Magnolia

I’mjustdozingoffwhen I hear the dinging of the elevator doors as they open. Lifting my head and glancing to the right, I see Wylla stepping out. Her eyes are down-turned as she bites her lip. She still hasn’t noticed me as she turns and makes her way to our room. I just sit here, my throat tight, afraid to make a sound. I don’t know why, other than she probably thinks I’m a fool from the way I acted earlier.

It doesn’t help that whenever I’m around this goddess of a woman, I can’t fucking think straight. In my head, I can be big and bad, expressing how I feel. But that's the thing, I could never be that way at home; I had to suppress my emotions and be the dutiful daughter who follows all the rules. In other words, be meek and not be heard. I don't want to be that way anymore. I want the powerful person inside of me to be set free.

She takes a moment to look up, her eyes laser-focused on me. “What the fuck are you doing out here?” she whispers-shouts at me, no doubt trying not to wake anyone who may be in their rooms.

Standing slowly, I look at her and let out a laugh. “Well, let’s see, you have the room key and I don’t know how to pick locks. So the hallway it was. I haven’t been here too long, maybe thirty minutes or so. What are you doing here? I thought you’d still be with the neighbor.” She moves to the door, pulls the key from her pocket, and places it in the lock, opening it.

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