Page 100 of The Denver Alpha

I want nothing more than to punch that smug look right off of Tayla’s face right now, but I force myself to resist the urge for violence. That’snotwhat a Luna would do- and if I’m considering becoming Cole’s, then I have to start acting like it. I need to take a page out of his book and think things through before reacting.

“Knock it off, Tayla,” Shay groans, pushing up from the arm of the couch.

“What?” she asks innocently, batting her lashes. “I’m just stating facts here.”

“No, you’re being a bitch, and you’re disrespecting your Alpha by talking to his fated mate like that.” Shay scowls at Tayla but she just shrugs her off, seemingly unbothered.

“Are they technically even mates if they haven’t sealed the bond?” Tayla taunts, turning from Shay back to me. “The way I see it, he still has a choice to make.”

“Oh,please!” I sigh in exasperation. “You’re delusional if you think Cole would choose you over me!”

“And you’re delusional if you think this pack will accept you as their Luna,” Tayla snaps. She leans forward, pointing a finger in my direction and narrowing those mean little eyes of hers. “You’re not one of us, Juliet. Cole knows that, it’s why he hasn’t marked you yet. He doesn’t want you. Nobody wants you here. Go home.”

“Thefuckdid you just say to my mate?” Cole bellows, storming into the room behind me with murder in his eyes. His furious alpha energy is practically vibrating off of him, ratcheting the tension up to a hundred as everyone visibly flinches upon his entry.

Tayla’s smug grin disappears in an instant. She goes pale as Cole steps up beside me, her eyes wide and her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

“Howdareyou speak like that to your future Luna.”

Cole’s voice is low, unnervingly calm and even.

Tayla shifts her weight uncomfortably as her eyes dart between Cole and me. “I… I didn’t…” she stammers, searching for words.

“Didn’t what?” Cole growls. “Think I’d hear you?”

She snaps her mouth closed, her throat bobbing with a hard swallow.

Cole moves closer to me, sliding his thick arm around my waist and tucking me into his side. Tayla’s eyes track his every movement, considering, calculating. Anger and jealousy flicker in her gaze as she takes in the two of us, the potency of those emotions emboldening her.

“Well maybe…” Tayla says tentatively, rising to stand and smoothing the hem of her ridiculously short dress. “Maybe it’s good you did, so you know you still have a choice. We had a good thing going beforeshecame here.” She flicks a hateful glance in my direction, then returns her gaze to Cole. “Juliet has caused you nothing but trouble since she showed up. You’ve been angry. Distracted. And isn’tshethe reason Jokers got vandalized?”

I stiffen, not wanting to let her words affect me but feeling a twinge of guilt nonetheless.

Tayla steps closer, lowering her voice as her eyes remain trained on Cole’s. “My offer still stands, you know. We can have a baby…”

My heart stutters a beat.

A baby?

I whip my head sideways, craning my neck to look up at Cole in astonishment. His stare is still locked on Tayla, his upper lip curling back from his teeth in a snarl.

“Get out.”

I shudder at the weight of the alpha command that rolls through those two simple words, at the unspoken threat laced beneath them.

A whine slips from Tayla as she falls back a step, her eyes turning glassy with desperate, pleading tears. “Cole…”

“That’sAlphato you,” he snaps, “and Juliet is yourLuna. You’ll address us with the respect those titles deserve.” His arm slips from my waist as he takes a menacing step forward. “Now get the fuck out of our home while you still can. I already ripped one throat out today, don’t tempt me to do it again.”

A sob tears from Tayla, big fat tears rolling down her cheeks as she spins around and runs from the room- through the doorway on the opposite side so she doesn’t have to skirt past Cole and me.

Probably a wise move.

“Does anyone else want to challenge my Luna?” Cole demands, sweeping his gaze around the room.

I’ve never seen him like this before. The look in his eyes is feral, positively unhinged. And when he turns it on me, it’s packed with so much fierce possessiveness that I’m practically incinerated on the spot.

“That’s what I thought,” he grumbles when nobody speaks up, reaching out to take my hand. His demeanor shifts on a dime, his gaze softening as his thumb strokes the back of my palm. “How about that shower?”

---