Page 19 of Alpha's Arranged Mate

Only then did the Silverdale wolves join their own voices to the chorus.

Braxton gulped against the lump in his throat, knowing that there was just one thing left to do. He had to somehow convince Lottie that their match wasn’t simply in the best interests of their packs. It was fated. He could feel it deep in his gut. All he had to do was make her see it. How else could he hope to marry her?

Chapter 10 - Lottie

Mind still reeling from what had happened, Lottie laid upon her bed and stared at the ceiling. Even now she could still see Braxton's hurt face as she had admitted that she had not been the one to put her own name in the box. She thought on how quickly he had offered to go to Dash and call the entire thing off. What if all this time he had just been using her? What if he had only pretended to have feelings for her in order to get her to help him? Would he really go as far as marrying her just to get what he wanted? All of it made her sick. They were so caught up in a web of lies and conflicting control that Lottie felt as though she wasn't sure which way was up. She ought to have been happy. Any woman marrying the man she had feelings for should be happy, yet it was all tainted, overshadowed by how it had all come into being.

If she had not tried to help Braxton escape, this alliance might never have come into being. He would still likely be locked away in his cell, pleading to be allowed to see his children, and she would be a loveless she-wolf. But she would not be a traitor to her pack. and that was exactly how she felt as she lay there filled with longing.

Though on the face of things she would no longer be a traitor if she were to marry Braxton, she couldn’t imagine that her sister would ever speak to her again. Perhaps it was better if she didn’t marry him? How could she ever look her family in the face again if she were to marry a demon wolf?

She wished she had reacted differently in the woods that night. She wished she had allowed Braxton to take her in his arms. It would have been all too easy to melt into his embrace and allow herself to be caught up in the fact that they were to be married. Then what would her pack think? If she accepted him so willingly as her mate, it would not be long before one of her quick-witted packmates figured out it had been her to help him escape the first time.

She was so caught up in thoughts of all that had happened, seeing Ray's winking face all over again, that she barely heard the knock upon her bedroom door. The sound invaded her thoughts like an annoying bug buzzing about her head and she wanted to scream to be left alone.

Yet, she never got the chance.

It was only when the door burst open that Lottie remembered she hadn't locked it behind her. She sat bolt upright as her sister barged into the room. “What the hell are you playing at?”

“Me? What are you playing at? Barging in here like a bull in a china shop!” Lottie protested, hopping off the bed. “You can’t just let yourself in here!”

“You should have thought of that before you put your name in the damn box!” Macie snapped at her. She stood almost nose to nose with Lottie, her nostrils flaring angrily. “What were you thinking?”

Lottie held back the urge to tell her that it was not her who had put her name in the box, but Macie’s own mate who had done so. What good would it do to go and get him in trouble now? Besides, she kind of owed him, even if she hadn’t quite decided yet whether it was a good thing or not that he had put her name into the box.

She was still terribly conflicted on it all. On the one hand, she had felt something for Braxton for a very long time. Hell, she had helped him escape from Silverdale to return to his family, a family who had tried to wipe out the whole of their community. But on the other hand, she was a Silverdale, and she would always be loyal to her pack when it truly came down to choosing a side. At least, that was what she had always told herself.

Could she still say that now that she was set to be the wife of a demon wolf? She would always be a Silverdale at heart, but could she truly remain loyal to them when she was to marry the alpha of another pack? Surely that made the demon pack her pack now? At least, it would when she had married him.

Still, she remembered her sister’s reaction to it all. Would the deeprooted hate of the Silverdale’s against the demon wolves ever truly come to an end, even if she did marry him?

Lottie’s stomach churned and a lump formed in her throat. The throbbing sensation in her temples grew until she felt as though her head might explode and it spread behind her eyes, threatening to blind her with sheer pain.

“What does it matter now?” Lottie shrugged her shoulders. “My name was in the box, and it was my name that was drawn out of it. I am to marry the demon wolf, and that’s the end of it!”

“No, it cannot be!” Macie protested, shaking her head until her raven hair fell down around her face. It did little to hide her anger as she stepped ever closer and grabbed hold of Lottie’s arms. She shook vigorously until Lottie felt like her head might roll right off her neck. “You can’t marry a demon wolf! They are cruel and heartless!”

“You married a McCormack,” Lottie pointed out, her tone quite flat. She’d had enough of arguing with her sister.

“That is entirely different!” Macie protested, her fingers gripping ever tighter to Lottie’s arms. “The McCormacks have been part of the Silverdale pack for centuries beyond counting. They are rivals, not enemies!”

The lump in Lottie’s throat thickened. Of all the people, Macie had been the very last that Lottie would have expected to be so hateful. She had never really seemed interested in politics or power or the inner workings of the pack. Up until a few months earlier, she had simply been a I little wolf-pup who hadn’t even had her first transformation yet. And now she was gripping hold of Lottie as though she were old enough and wise enough to rip out Lottie’s throat for her betrayal.

“Need I remind you that there are already four other demon wolves within Silverdale’s pack?” Lottie pointed out, hoping to reach her sister the only way she knew how, with reason. Macie had always been so reasonable before, but perhaps her she-wolf’s unleashing had made her less so.

“Billy was a Silverdale before that bastard’s father got his hands on her!” Macie reminded Lottie, and Lottie struggled to hide the way she flinched at the aggression in her tone. The way she spoke about Braxton made Lottie want to rip her face off. It took everything in her not to do so and remind Macie that she was the eldest between the two of them. She might have demanded more respect if not for the fact she half-agreed with her sister. She had, after all, felt exactly the same way about the demon wolves until Braxton had allowed her to get to know him during their secret talks while she was on guard duty—talks in which he had managed to convince her to release him.

“Daemon and the others weren’t Silverdale, but they did save Emily from Travers, and they were the only thing that saved us all when the pack attacked the community,” Lottie pointed out. “They changed Silverdale for the better. And don’t forget all the other wolves who have been invited from other packs along the way, and the damn witches who have wormed their way in.”

Lottie’s heart clenched to hear herself say the words. Though she and the witches had never been friends, she did now consider them a part of the pack. How else were they all to get along? She was as loyal to them as she was any other member of their Silverdale family. Even the Silverdale residents who weren’t members of the pack still fell under its rule. All those supernaturals who chose to make Silverdale their home had to abide by pack law, so why was it so difficult for Macie to get her head around what was going on now?

Deep down Lottie knew the answer. It was because she was scared, not only scared for what her pack might think if they learned the truth about what Lottie had done, but also fearful for what might happen to Lottie if they did find out.

Lottie could see it blazing in her sister’s eyes just behind the anger and aggression that she was showing on the surface. It was the only thing stopping Lottie from doing something she might regret.

“None of them attacked Silverdale and tried to kill everyone within the walls,” Macie pointed out angrily, though some of the temper had cooled in her voice. Her grip loosened on Lottie, as though she knew she was fighting a losing battle.

“You know as well as I do that not every wolf who entered the gates that day was here by choice,” Lottie said, cocking her head to one side and raising an eyebrow.

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