Page 3 of Alpha's Arranged Mate

“I could say the same to you, Charlotte!”

Lottie growled under her breath at her sister. Only her parents ever called her by her full name, whenever they deemed that she had done something wrong, and she couldn’t remember them ever having done so since she was a pup.

“Watch your mouth, Macie,” she warned her sister, baring her teeth. “You’re still my baby sister whether you’ve finally connected with your inner she-wolf or not.”

Macie had been a right pain in her ass ever since the first full moon in which she had finally managed to shift for the first time, far later than any other she-wolf in their pack. Though that had coincided with her helping a demon wolf escape, Lottie was certain that couldn’t have anything to do with her sister’s newfound attitude.

“This has nothing to do with her, and you know it!” Macie hissed at her. She pulled back, her hands tightened into fists at her sides before she threw a finger in the direction of the basement door and demanded, “What were you doing down there, again?”

Lottie cringed. She hadn’t realized her sister had noticed her sneaking off down into the basement. She continued to tell herself that she hadn’t done it that many times, but even she was having a hard time of believing it.

“It’s none of your business,” she snapped back, half-turning to head for the dining room. Her stomach was growling louder than ever, and she was more than happy to use it as an excuse to get away from this uncomfortable conversation.

Before she could do so, Macie grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her back around to face her. Shorter than Lottie, Macie wasn’t overly threatening, but it was clear she was attempting to be when she bared her teeth again.

“Lottie, come on! Use your brain for once,” Macie demanded, her grip tightening on Lottie’s arm. She leaned in and lowered her voice as she hissed into Lottie’s ear. “If anyone finds out what you did last week—”

Lottie snatched her hand away at that. There was no way she was going to allow her little sister to talk to her like that.

“I didn’t do anything, Macie,” she said through gritted teeth, though it was clear from her sister’s expression that neither of them believed her.

Macie cocked her head to one side and sighed deeply. The concern on her face pained Lottie, and she had to tense every muscle in her entire body to protect herself from it. “Lottie, you know what will happen if you get caught. You could be exiled or…worse.”

Lottie gulped. Her sister was right. She knew it as well as Macie did, but she would never admit it. Shaking her head, she whispered under her breath. “Just leave it, would you?”

What did it truly matter what she had done last week? She wouldn’t be the first wolf in the pack to help someone outside of their community. Dash had married the daughter of a traitor, his second had married the alpha’s ex-girlfriend, their best friend had married a witch. Hell, that witch’s sister had joined the pack along with the demon wolf who had helped them to save all of Silverdale from his own pack, not to mention the two demon wolves he had brought along with him. Even Macie herself had married a McCormack wolf, a direct rival of the Silverdale family inside the pack itself. Not to mention Dash’s sister having married a member of the fae royal family several years earlier.

Everywhere she looked, there were alliances being made, so why couldn’t she have hers?

Because you betrayed your pack to free him from their dungeons, she reminded herself, shivering at the thought of how easy it had been for her to steal the keys and release the demon wolf who was now once more locked away beneath their feet, being tortured to give her up as the traitor amongst the pack.

Every day she awoke wondering whether it would be the day her family finally turned on her. Maybe that was the real reason why she kept finding herself going down to the dungeon door, wondering whether she ought to try again, but this time escape right along with him.

“Would you quit your worrying?” she demanded, straightening up and glowering at her sister. She’d had enough of thinking of all that could go wrong. “You heard of the alliance being proposed; soon all of this will be behind us, and it won’t matter anymore.”

“And what if the pack learns of your betrayal before then?” Macie insisted. Lottie gritted her teeth against the urge to bite her sister’s head off. She felt as though they’d had this argument a million times over in the last week, and yet they never quite seemed to come to some agreement on the subject.

“They won’t.”

Macie cocked her head as if to suggest that she wouldn’t be so sure, but Lottie did not allow her the chance to voice the words. She turned on her heels and stormed off before her sister could so much as suck in a breath.

Yet even as she made her way toward the dining room, she couldn’t help but wonder how she could possibly put herself forward for the alliance without giving herself away.

Chapter 3 - Braxton

It seemed that Dash had given up on his interrogation, because shortly after the alpha was gone, Braxton was returned to his old cell right alongside half of his pack. He had to admit it felt good, if a little painful, to be able to stand up and walk after having been bound to a chair for several days.

Given a bucket of water to wash with was the little mercy was shown before he was once again locked behind bars. But at least now he could see his fellow packmates through the barred walls of the cells, all save for his father and his closest cronies—those who had already been deemed too dangerous to live.

Braxton had barely picked up the cloth from the bucket before he was accosted by his packmates, who pressed themselves up against the bars between their cells.

“What happened?”

“Where did they take you?”

“What did they do to you?”

“We thought you were dead!”

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