Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

ALEXANDER

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d let myself get dragged into affairs like this.

The image of a blonde with a body that could drive a man to sin and vicious emerald eyes that always burned with anger popped into my mind.

Yes. She was the reason.

The source of my frustrations and the bane of my existence.

My mate, Eleanor Ashford.

Alpha Maximus sat behind his massive mahogany desk, his expression pensive as he leveled a steady look at Dylan and me.

It didn’t stop Dylan’s whining.

“Eleanor was rightfully mine!” Dylan snarled, standing up so fast his chair slammed to the ground.

Alpha Maximus was unfazed.

“We are all aware of that,” he said, his gaze momentarily flicking to me. “Alexander made a mistake. You dueled with him. Your differences have been settled.”

Dylan’s hands clenched into fists at his side, his furious glare turned on me.

“That duel doesn’t count. I demand a proper compensation.”

I didn’t react to Dylan’s bait. Instead, I met Alpha Maximus’s gaze.

“Is there a reason you’ve summoned me, alpha?”

There was no need for pretense here, no need to defer to Dylan and act like he was going to be my future alpha. The three of us in this room knew who the real alpha was.

A growl ripped out of Dylan’s throat, his gaze darkening as his wolf rose close to the surface.

“Don’t fucking ignore me, you bastard.”

The monster in me opened an eye.

It took all my restraint to push him back down before I looked at Dylan for the first time since entering Alpha Maximus’s study.

“When you speak to me, you will watch your tone.” My voice was level, but even I could feel the waves of dominance rolling off of me with each word. “For my mistake in taking Eleanor, I have allowed your excesses. Don’t push your luck any further.”

“Enough!” Alpha Maximus growled, slamming his fists against his desk.

The monster wasn’t disturbed by this, probably because he knew Alpha Maximus wasn’t challenging his authority.

A forced silence fell over the study.

With order reestablished, Alpha Maximus focused on Dylan.

“Dylan, you are already mated. Put this issue to rest,” he said, almost sympathetically. “We have other affairs to attend to. The Bloodfrost Pack?—”

“Would you say the same thing if I’d stolen Alexander’s bride?” Dylan’s jaw clenched and unclenched, bitter fury in his eyes.

This was just another of the comedic events that filled my life.

But what would happen in that hypothetical situation was something even I was curious about.

Judging from his dark-as-night gaze and pissed-off expression, Alpha Maximus clearly wasn’t finding the same humor in this as I did.

“Dylan.” His voice held a promise of violence. “Get out of my study and don’t come back until you’ve regained your senses.”

Dylan hesitated, as if he was considering disobeying the command, before storming away with a parting glare at me.

The study fell silent again, but this time, I was the one who broke it.

“In a few days, he’ll be the alpha of this pack,” I reminded Alpha Maximus. “If you don’t treat him with more respect, he will fracture.”

I saw it all the time. Power shifts could easily exacerbate preexisting wounds in a wolf’s ego and drive him to destruction.

Alpha Maximus regarded me frankly, a wry smile playing across his lips.

“Is that why you let him win the duel?” he asked.

No. I’d let him win because if I hadn’t, I would’ve killed him.

I rose to my feet, inclining my head slightly in deference to Alpha Maximus.

“If this meeting is over, I’ll be on my way.”

I was halfway to the door when an edge of vulnerability in his voice pulled me to a stop.

“You will partake in the hunt today, won’t you?” Alpha Maximus asked.

Ever since I dropped my title of alpha heir, I hadn’t taken part in hunts or any other pack celebration, apart from an occasional pack run.

But Alpha Maximus had been tenacious about bringing me back into the flock, and with this mistake hanging over me, he might be able to rein me in.

This couldn’t have come at a worse time.

I had to leave the pack today to see… her .

I didn’t turn.

“I haven’t changed my mind about the management of this pack,” I reminded Alpha Maximus.

There was a pause before he responded—a small one, but I felt it nonetheless.

“I’d like you to be there as a member of my pack.”

As a child, he’d always seemed all-powerful, knowledgeable, and unopposable, but the softness in his voice underscored how much my father had aged.

I wondered how much of it was an act.

I turned to face him and bowed deeply.

“As you command, alpha.”

Straightening, I headed for the door once more.

“I am glad you’ve finally taken a mate.” Father’s voice was stronger now, almost proud. “Things will now be as they should.”

A bitter taste filled my mouth.

No. Things would never be as they should.

I would make sure of that if it was the last thing I did.

I might have marked and claimed Eleanor as my mate, but she would never be my mate in truth. I wouldn’t let her.

I would break her so completely that her current hatred for me would seem like nothing in comparison.

I headed for the hunting grounds alone.

During hunts involving newly mated couples, the female wolf escorted her mate to the hunting grounds and tied a knot with fabric cut from her clothes around his arm as a good luck charm.

There was no need for Eleanor to do that. The last thing I needed was for her to misunderstand the nature of this relationship.

When I reached the hunting grounds, it was teeming with members of the Nightshade Pack.

Most of them gave me a wide berth, their awe mingling with fear. It was an instinctive reaction, so I didn’t blame them for. Even if they couldn’t see it, their wolves felt the presence of the monster.

I found a less populated space off to the side where I wouldn’t exert as much dominance over them.

Alpha Maximus wasn’t present, so Beta Aria officiated, her commanding voice easily carrying across the area.

“The wolf with the highest number of kills will be the winner of the hunt. The hunting area will be between…”

I tuned out as she went over the routine rules of the hunt. I couldn’t wait for it to be done already.

I met Dylan’s gaze. He stood next to his mate, Micah, who seemed to be annoyed by something.

Dylan was ignoring her rant, the anger in his eyes burning bright as he glared at me. And I knew that to him, this hunt was yet another competition between us.

Some days, I wondered how, as brothers, we’d come to this. But most days, I didn’t care enough to think about it.

The scent of lilacs infused with something so viscerally erotic it had the monster within me stirring hit me hard. I didn’t have to turn to know Eleanor had just arrived.

Fucking great.

Dylan’s gaze shifted from me to somewhere behind me. His eyes narrowed when they landed on Eleanor, and then he tugged a surprised Micah into a passionate kiss that was characteristic of a newly mated couple.

How juvenile.

But it’d probably get to Eleanor anyway—after all, they’d been together for four years.

Eleanor stopped right behind me, but she didn’t say anything, forcing me to make the first move.

I turned to face her, my anger already simmering. Why did she have to make everything so difficult?

“I don’t recall inviting you here, little rabbit,” I snapped.

I tried not to notice how delectably the summery dress hugged her curves before floating around her ankles, creating a perfect image of innocence that was severely at odds with her fiery personality.

Eleanor was unfazed, those perfectly shaped lips forming a pout as she tied the fabric of her dress around my arm.

“I don’t recall needing your invitation to live my life.”

It continuously amazed me how someone so small could be so…aggravating.

“You do know you’re supposed to tie that around the person you want to win,” I said dryly.

Those emerald green eyes flashed with barely suppressed annoyance.

“And your point is?” she asked.

I lifted an eyebrow.

“You don’t want me to win.”

Eleanor scoffed.

“Go ahead.” Her tone dripped with sarcasm as she tightened the tie on my arm so viciously it almost cut off my blood flow. “Tell me what I feel, because clearly I can’t figure that out for myself.”

I placed my hand over hers, and Eleanor froze.

“It seems I have misjudged you,” I said, lowering my voice so she would lean in to listen.

Slipping my finger under the tie, I ripped the fabric, letting it fall to the ground.

Eleanor’s face tightened with anger.

“You ass—” she began, but I didn’t let her finish.

“I want something else as a good luck charm.”

Placing my hand dangerously low on her back, I tugged Eleanor close, letting my gaze dip to her lips.

Eleanor’s breath came fast, her pupils dilating and contracting rapidly, her eyes shifting between green and black as she wrestled for control over her wolf.

Then she tipped her head back to look at me, a familiar fire in her eyes.

“If you kiss me, I’ll hit your balls so hard you won’t need to worry about protection when you fuck Anastasia,” she said, enunciating each word.

Laughter bubbled up within me, but it never left my lips.

I let go of Eleanor with a flick to her forehead that had her spouting a litany of obscenities at me.

“See you later, mate,” I said mockingly. I walked away from her and joined the wolves, who were heading toward the main hunting grounds.

I tried to ease up.

Maybe this hunt was what I needed to dispel some of the tension that had been building in me this past week.

I didn’t dare fully transform, though.

Not only would the members of the Nightshade Pack be at risk if the monster got loose, but with Eleanor in the mix, I couldn’t predict what else he would do.

Moving into a partial shift, I tore through the hunting grounds, making sure to steer clear of other wolves as I hunted.

I was the apex predator. With my speed, agility, strength, and unparalleled senses, it was almost too easy.

The hunt, the blood, the struggle—all of it only seemed to whet the appetite of the monster.

He wanted more—more blood, more resistance, and most of all, better prey.

I felt his thoughts shifting to the wolf who’d been senseless enough to challenge him to a duel. The monster bared its teeth. Yes, that wolf would make fine prey.

I tried to regain control, but the monster was pushing to the forefront of my consciousness.

I could already imagine it—how the prey would scream when we rent the skin from his bones and pulverized?—

A sharp pain pierced through the bloodlust, tearing me back to my senses.

I clutched at my head, wondering where the attack had come from, but I wasn’t hurt.

The pain had come from somewhere else. Someone else.

Realization dawned on me.

Eleanor.

I was moving before I was fully aware of what I was doing. It took me minutes to reach the entrance of the hunting grounds where I’d left Eleanor.

The other female wolves were there conversing and waiting for their mates, but Eleanor was nowhere to be seen.

Beta Aria was at my side in seconds.

“Alp—Alexander, what’s going on?”

“Where’s Eleanor?” I demanded, my senses going wild, the monster chomping at my control, demanding to go after his mate.

“Your mate?” Beta Aria glanced around, her bewilderment only growing. “She was here a moment ago.”

My first suspicion was that Micah was responsible. She’d stayed behind with Eleanor and the rest of the female wolves, but when I saw her glancing at us curiously, there was no guilt in her eyes.

But if it wasn’t her…

I took a deep breath, focusing on the bond between Eleanor and I, letting it draw me in.

If we’d consummated our mating as we should have, I would’ve been able to read her mind and pinpoint her exact location.

But we hadn’t, so for now, this was the best I could do.

The bond tugged me back toward the woods I’d just exited.

“End the hunt and call everyone back now,” I instructed. The less collateral damage when I went after the kidnapper, the better.

Beta Aria’s eyes were wide as saucers.

“But the hunt is?—”

Her words cut off abruptly when she saw the look in my eyes.

Using the pack link, I reached out to the enforcers at the pack borders, commanding them to lock down the pack and not let anyone in or out.

The hunting grounds were directly linked to the Nightshade borders, so it was entirely possible that there was an intruder who’d attempted to hurt Eleanor.

But if it was Dylan, if he’d taken her…if he’d touched her…

I’d fucking kill him.

The monster’s desire entwined with mine. We stayed on two feet, but his superior senses took over as we hunted down the person who’d dared to take our mate.

I found Eleanor’s scent at an entry point for the hunting grounds different from the one the rest of the wolves used, and I almost lost it.

Her soft, sweet lilac scent was tinged with something harsh and a touch acrid—her blood.

She was injured. Someone had taken my mate and hurt her.

Another barrier between the monster and I fell. Our desires merged and warped. I would kill the kidnapper. I would rip them into unrecognizable pieces with my bare hands.

Following the scent of Eleanor’s blood, I raced through the woods. The world was a green blur around me, the ground steady beneath my feet.

Her scent slowly concentrated and then?—

“Let go!” Eleanor snarled, clawing at the man who held her.

Her assailant wasn’t Dylan. I couldn’t recognize him, and I knew every member of our pack, so he had to be an intruder.

He towered over Eleanor, almost my height, with a massive build that easily kept Eleanor’s struggles in check.

She kicked against him again and without skipping a beat, he backhanded her and wrenched her head back by her hair until she met his gaze.

“Shut up, bitch, or I’ll?—”

I stepped into his path, and the enemy wolf froze, his gaze wide with surprise as recognition bloomed in his eyes.

“You… you—” he stuttered, but I simply watched him.

More precisely, my eyes were on his arms around Eleanor. Despite the fact that I’d surprised him, his hold on her remained solid. One wrong move from me, and he could snap her neck faster than I could reach him.

I couldn’t attack him without risking Eleanor’s life.

“Let her go,” I said evenly. “Whatever you want, you’ll get it.”

The wolf pulled Eleanor closer to himself, as if she’d be able to protect him from my wrath.

“You weren’t supposed to be here,” he muttered under his breath, the sour scent of his fear flooding my senses before he shifted his attention to Eleanor.

“Where’s Dylan Hawthorne?” he demanded urgently. “He’s supposed to be your mate. Why isn’t he here for you?”

“Because he isn’t my mate, you idiot,” Eleanor grated out.

The scent of his fear grew stronger, and his hold on Eleanor tightened.

I met his gaze steadily, keeping my tone soft and natural.

“Let her go, and I’ll forget this ever happened.”

Obviously, that was a lie. He’d touched Eleanor. He’d hit her. He was going to die.

There wasn’t any other acceptable conclusion.

The man frowned and his lips parted, but whatever he would’ve said was lost when the air around me shifted. Without looking, I registered the presence of three more foreign wolves around me.

So he had backup.

But not enough to handle me.

An arrogant voice came from right behind me as its owner advanced toward me slowly.

“We will only deal with the alpha or the alpha heir of the Nightshade Pack.”

Eleanor’s kidnapper held her close, his confidence momentarily restored as he sneered at me.

“Surrender. You’re outnumbered.”

Outnumbered? As if that mattered.

I would have laughed if his claws weren’t at my mate’s throat.

Slowly, I raised my hands in a show of surrender.

“On your knees,” the arrogant voice from behind me commanded.

I made eye contact with Eleanor, who seemed stunned by my decision to surrender. Then her eyebrows furrowed slightly. I nodded slightly, hoping she understood my silent message.

I took a step forward, lowering myself as though about to kneel. At the last moment, I launched myself at Eleanor’s attacker.

He jerked backward reflexively, and Eleanor jerked out of his arms and hit him as she’d promised to hit me earlier.

He crumpled to the ground, clutching at his crotch and cursing under his breath.

“Run,” I ordered Eleanor.

Not that I needed to—she was already running without a thought for my welfare.

Sometimes, my mate made it really hard for me to dislike her.

The other wolves began to pursue her, but before they could take more than a handful of steps, I caught up with the one in the lead and snapped his neck.

“But we were just getting acquainted. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?” I bared my canines at the frozen duo, who stared at their fallen friend in shock.

“Tell me who sent you, and I’ll give you a quick death.”

They exchanged furtive glances, but neither of them spoke.

The monster smiled. This would be fun.

Seconds later, I was completely covered in blood. The two wolves were nothing more than scattered clumps of flesh and bone.

The arrogant wolf from earlier was the only one left, and he cowered, horror engraved on his face as he slowly but surely backed away from me.

“Why did you come for my mate?” I asked for the last time.

It would be a waste to kill him without extracting the information I needed, but I could only restrain myself for so long when all I wanted was to kill him.

The wolf stopped shuffling back, a sudden defiance sparking in his eyes.

“Go to hell!” he yelled, before picking himself up and bolting out of the clearing.

I paused, stunned for a moment, before heading after him.

It was surprising that he’d throw away his life so readily. He should’ve known I would catch him in seconds, so why?—

The direction of the wind changed, and I caught a whiff of Eleanor’s scent.

She hadn’t left? Cold dread settled within me.

I ran as fast as I could, but I was too late.

The intruder had already caught up to Eleanor. She tried to run away, but he slashed at the back of her hamstrings, ripping her dress in the process.

Eleanor collapsed, and I saw red.

I was on him in seconds, all thought of finding out where he’d come from and who’d sent him gone as I ripped out his heart.

Then I closed the distance between me and my mate and pulled her into my arms.

Eleanor didn’t protest, or even look at me.

She just folded into my arms and buried her head against my chest, helpless as tiny shivers wracked her body and her dress rapidly soaked up her blood.

I took off my bloody shirt and wrapped it around her before lifting her off the ground, taking care not to touch her injuries.

I started toward my house, but I paused when I noticed Dylan standing mere meters away, a fallen intruder at his feet who I hadn’t seen earlier.

So there had been five of them, not four.

Eleanor shifted in my arms, then went completely rigid, and I knew that she’d caught sight of Dylan and realized the same thing I had.

Dylan had contributed to saving Eleanor’s life.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think Dylan was just as shocked as we were about his choice.

As I walked past him, Dylan spoke, his voice a soft whisper devoid of all his earlier anger.

“Is she alright?” he asked.

I didn’t stop walking.

“Find out who did this,” I said.

When I got to our room, the steaming water, gauze, bandages, ointment, and medication were waiting, as I’d instructed Lily, my housekeeper, to prepare them before we arrived.

Eleanor’s eyes widened with surprise when I placed her on my bed and pushed up her dress to look at her wounds. They still weren’t healing, which confirmed my suspicions.

They’d given her wolfsbane.

I felt the sudden urge to resurrect her abductors just so I could tear them apart more viciously.

Eleanor pushed her dress back down, her cheeks aflame and her gaze averted.

“You don’t have to do this,” she whispered.

I hated seeing her this way.

I wanted her to yell at me for touching her inappropriately. I wanted her to push me away and argue with me.

I wanted?—

Taking her chin between my thumb and index finger, I made her meet my gaze.

Those beautiful green eyes were full of so much emotion that they almost made me falter.

“I want to, Eleanor. Please let me.”