by Lia Davis
"Get out," I growled. He had no right to even be here. No right to be in the presence of my mate and disrespecting his alpha.
"You're weak. You always have been. You should've bedded and claimed her months ago. I'm glad to see you finally grew a spine and acted like the alpha I raised you to be." Emerson glared at me as if I hadn’t spoken.
"Get out!" I roared at the top of my lungs. Stalking toward him, I couldn't see past my hatred of the man that had abused me for most of my life.
"You think to challenge me, boy?" he asked, then the bastard laughed. "You're too weak to take me on."
I lunged for him, my hands going for his throat. He anticipated what I would do, of course. He was the one who had trained me. He sidestepped me easily, to my deep frustration.
"Why can't you leave me alone?" From the corner of my eye I saw Quin join Jillian at the doorway.
Emerson's hand snaked out, lighting fast, and cuffed me on the side of the head. "You're nothing. You can't even dodge me, an old man."
"Enough." Jillian's voice filled the air with her alpha power, and Emerson flinched.
Oh, shit. She was coming into her powers. Finally. I had a fleeting moment of wonder if it had anything to do with the mating. She was linked to two out of her three mates.
"You will leave this home," she said as she walked forward. "You will not return."
Emerson faced her, back straight. He was nearly trembling, he fought the alpha so hard. "You have no authority over me."
"I have authority over everyone," she said calmly, voice laced with domination. Even I had a hard time not bowing my head, and she wasn't pointing her anger toward me. "Do you seek to challenge me?" Her voice turned deadly.
Emerson breathed heavily, and he didn't answer at first. "No, Alpha. I would not challenge you." He turned away from her and met my eyes. "And my son is too weak to do the job, apparently."
"I won't tell you again," Jillian said as she stepped forward once more.
He walked to the door, back straight, like he had a stick up his ass. With one hand on the door, he had to deliver a parting remark. "This isn't over, bitch."
My gaze jerked to her to see her reaction. I wanted to kill him for his words, but he'd already proven able to keep ahead of me. Something in me either couldn't hurt him, or I just wasn't strong enough. Maybe he was right. Maybe I was weak.
He was beneath her, and she knew it. Her chin jutted out, but she didn't respond. He left, and I bolted him out.
"What the fuck?" she yelled once it was just us. Quin rushed forward to put an arm around her.
"That was amazing," he said. "When did you learn how to do that?"
"About thirty five seconds ago," she said. "I had no idea I had it in me. I knew I could fight, and I'm good with the pack, but I've never done that."
My mate stared at me, breasts heaving. She was so pissed and so beautiful. She'd taken care of my problem for me because I was too weak to do it myself. I walked past her, unable to process anything but my anger. My emotions were all over the place, but my rage won out.
"Where are you going?" Jillian asked me.
"I don't know," I replied as I left the gym. I returned to my room, slamming the door behind me. Standing in the middle of my bedroom, I looked around, no idea what to do next. I was embarrassed, and that made me even angrier.
A soft tap at the door made me whirl around. "Leave me alone."
"I don't want to." Jillian's voice came through the wood. "I want to talk to you about what just happened."
"I'm too pissed right now," I replied.
She opened the door anyway, of course. Not that she ever listened to anything I said.
"You can be pissed with me, cause I'm pissed, too," she said.
"You don't know what it's like, so don't act like you do." It was unfair of me, but I'd warned her to stay away. I was too angry to deal with trying to rationalize anything or talk through it, which was exactly what she wanted.
"I know I don't. Why don't you tell me?" She crossed her arms and watched me.
"Tell you what?" I yelled. Quin stepped into the hall behind her. I considered asking her to shut the door, but he was as much a part of my life as she was, aside from the amazing sex. "Are you gonna yell at me, too?"
Damn them. I didn't want to get into this mess. Not today, not ever. If he'd just disappear from my life, it would be over and nobody would need to talk about it. Ever.
"Dude, we're on your side." Quin joined Jillian at the door.
"There are no sides," I said. "He's a dick. That's the only side."
"I agree," Jillian said. "But, he's also your dad. He raised you. If I'm not mistaken, he trained you?"
I nodded. "That's why he knew exactly what I was going to to do and stopped me." I still stood in the middle of my room, at a loss what to think or how to feel. "How am I supposed to feel? Tell me."
"You're not supposed to feel any certain way," Quin said. Jillian nodded.
I rolled my eyes. "That's helpful." Hanging my head, I looked down at my bare feet, defeat washing over me.
"Well, like I said, I don't know what you're going through, but I would imagine I'd be angry. Very angry," Jillian said. "And embarrassed."
"I feel defeated, weak." I admitted. "A minute ago I was so full of rage I wanted to attack you both. And, yes. I'm embarrassed."
Jillian took a few steps forward, entering the room. "Tell me about him."
I wasn't ready for her to touch me, so I sat on the cheap desk chair in the corner, leaving the bed for them, across from me. They sat down, too.
"Do we have to do this?" I asked.
"It's time, man. You've been avoiding this for a while." Quin frowned but it wasn’t out of pity. The scent of his anger lingered in the room alongside mine and Jillian’s.
"You already know what he was like." I nodded toward Quin. He had already admitted as much.
"I don't know the details," he replied.
"Voss, you told me last night you're all in, right?" Jillian asked.
Shrugging, I nodded. "Of course."
She turned to Quin. "Are you all in? For the long haul? Death do us part and all that shit?"
"Hell, yes. I've been all in since you were born, dummy." He pulled her hair, and she leaned against him. They'd been friends for a long time. In a way I envied that, but my relationship with her was different. It felt new and exciting.
Watching her interact with my best friend and contemplating how I felt about her lifted my spirits slightly. Enough for me to feel like I could talk about my dad. "He was abusive. He wanted me to make something of myself, become High Alpha. But he pushed me to the point of breaking, nearly every day."
Quin looked pissed, which didn't bother me. Jillian looked sympathetic, and that did. I shook my head. "Don't pity me. I am who I am, and it is what it is. I need to get past the anger, but I don't need or want pity."
"I don't pity you. I hurt for you. I can hurt for what you went through, I'm allowed." She gave me a small smile.
"You're my mate," she whispered as she touched the spot on her neck where I'd claimed her the night before.
She was my alpha, and the future High Alpha. But, When we were in bed I claimed her. She’d had no complaints.
"Anyway, we trained, he taught me politics and history. I'm shit at math, but I've got every alpha memorized for the last six hundred years or more." I shrugged. "If I got something wrong, I was punished."
"He deserves to die," Quin said.
"He probably does, yeah, but I can't just go kill him," I said with a laugh. "I don't even know if I'd be capable."
Jillian scooted over and patted the bed between her and Quin. "Come here."
I rolled my eyes at her, but I joined her. "What?"
She just put her arms around me, and to my surprise, so did Quin. I turned my head toward him. He had his head on my shoulder and looked up at me with a big, fake, sappy grin on his face.
It worked. I burst out laughing. "You jackass."
Jillian leaned around me and laughed when she saw his face, too. "I was trying to have a significant moment, Quin."
"Yeah, well, it didn't work," he said as he hopped up. "You two smell like sex. Go shower. We have to go over and see the hall decorations for the party."
Jillian and I groaned in unison. "I forgot about the party," I said.
She grumbled. "Me, too."
Her arms were still around me, so I pulled us both down on the bed so we were lying flat. "Let's hide in here all day."
"I'm game. I don't want to go announce our engagement." We twisted around until we faced each other on my big bed. "Voss, I care about you."
"I care about you, too, Jill." I was pretty sure I was in love with her. I'd known she was my mate for a year, pining after her while she played ignorant. "I'm still a little pissed at you for ignoring the call, but I care deeply about you."
"If I can help with your dad..."
"I know. But what happened today, as much as I appreciate it, I'd rather it didn't happen again," I said. "He's my problem. And while you are my alpha, I'd rather fight my own battles."
"Okay," she said. "But it's going to be nearly impossible for me to not intervene if I see you being hurt or belittled. You are so much better than he makes you feel. And you are far from weak or my dad wouldn’t have made you my sentry."
"I know." I kissed her forehead, breathing her in. "We'll figure it out."
"Did I emasculate you?" Her brow furrowed, and she looked really worried.
My laughter burst out of my mouth before I could stop it.
Her expression turned sarcastic. "I guess not," she muttered before hopping up. "I'm going to go get ready."
"Okay. Are we okay?" I asked before she got out the door.
She smiled, and for the first time in a long time, she seemed truly happy and content. "We are great."
The party was enormous. Graham had gone all out to announce his daughter's mating and in a short amount of time. Nobody was surprised, really. When the alpha set his mind on something, he made sure it was done. The local lycan packs had a massive hall hidden high in the mountains they all used for meetings, weddings, funerals, and other gatherings.
The huge room had been transformed into an elegant reception fit for a queen. Jillian was their future High Alpha and deserved nothing less.
"Who thought this was a fitting decor to announce my engagement? I don't like silk. Or pearls." Jillian’s upper lip curled as she fingered a strand of pearls hanging off of the back of a silk-covered chair.
I stifled a laugh and shrugged, not able to take my eyes off of her. She was beautiful, the perfection of royalty and grace. There weren’t many times I’d seen her dress up, and I’d never seen her glow in the way she did in that moment.
After the ordeal with my prick of a father that morning, we'd come to help set up, but the party coordinator Graham had hired to oversee the event had run us off, saying we were the guests of honor. With nothing else to do, we drove to the closest mall to buy Jillian a dress. She'd sworn she didn't own one fancy enough.
She might've been a tough girl and relatively low-maintenance, but it had taken her an eternity to pick out a dress. By the time we got back to the house she was worried she wouldn't have time to get ready.
Apparently even tough alpha chicks liked to dress up once in a while. I logged that information away. I'd use it to surprise her one day with a killer date. Maybe when I inevitably ended up in the doghouse for something.
"Yeah, but you look amazing." I caressed her cheek. She blushed and looked down at her gold gown. Her long brown hair was straight and looked softer than the silk that covered the chairs. The gown made the golden highlights in her hair sparkle. I never noticed shit like hair sparkles, but she brought it out in me somehow.
I shook it off. Fuck, I'll be painting her nails next. And I’d enjoy every bit of it.
Quin looked as starstruck as I felt. "You do look amazing. Pity Kane can't see you now." He smiled wickedly.
Jillian cocked her head at him, and I laughed and pointed at him over her shoulder. He glowered at me, causing her to turn around quickly. I put my finger down and schooled my face before she realized what I'd done.
"I'm on to you both," she teased, her lips twitching. Then she wrapped her arms through each of ours and pulled us close to her.
It took all my control not to nuzzle her neck in the room full of people.
Alphas and their families from all over had come for the party, as well as the entire local pack. Even with less than a day’s notice the turnout was overwhelming. Then again it wasn’t every day when the Alpha heir announced her mating.
We were introduced as Jillian's mates as if having two was the most normal occurrence in the world. Graham encouraged us to act as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Jillian held her head high like she was proud to show Quin and I off.
To the guests’ credit, most of them barely batted an eye, and the older ones were more accepting than some of the younger. We got a few startled glances, but otherwise we were welcomed warmly.
Once everyone arrived, Graham stood from his seat at the head table facing our guests. "Thank you all for coming out on such a short notice. You can imagine how thrilled and proud I was when Jillian came to with the news that she’s found her true mates."
I glanced at Jillian, and she caught my stare. I wondered if she was thinking the same thing as me, so I leaned into her and whispered in her ear. "Do you think he’ll mention Kane?"
"Not likely, but he’ll be vague enough." Jillian cupped my cheek and pressed her forehead to mine while linking her fingers with Quin’s.
Graham continued to speak, but I was so focused on my mate I wasn’t paying attention until I heard my name. "I’m proud to introduce your future Alphas, Quinton Holland and Voss Jenson."
The gathered mass burst into applause as Jillian, Quin, and I stood from the head table and waved. I felt like a clown up there on display. "This is ridiculous," I whispered as we sat back down.
"Get used to it, mate." Jillian squeezed my knee as if warning me to behave. I snorted because it was usually Quin and I keeping our rule-breaking mate in line. "You're going to run the shifter world eventually. You're like their king."
I didn't know if I was cut out for that much limelight, but for her, I'd give it my best shot.
Halfway through dinner, the back door to the hall flew opened wide. Shouting erupted in the back, and soon, screams. Everyone in the room rose at once, trying to see what was going on. Unfortunately, all those bodies obscured our view of the back.
My protective instincts went wild and the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end. I jumped onto the dinner table to see if I could figure out what was going on, then my gut clenched once I knew. "Vampires! We're being attacked! Secure the females and children."
The urge to fly to the back of the room and defend my pack with the enforcers was strong, but that wasn't my job. As Jillian's sentry, and now even more importantly, as her mate, my job was to stay with her. Protect the High Princess.
Luckily for me and my urge to rip the vampires' hearts out, Jillian was already in motion. She kicked off her heels, grabbed the slit of her slinky dress, and ripped the length off of it. It now hit her just under her ass.
A view I would appreciate at another time. I just wished she hadn't worn lacey panties under that glittery dress. Oh, well. At least she’d worn her knives.
6
Jillian
My wolf snarled as I launched myself, table by table, toward the back of house. Voss and Quin stayed on my heels. I was lighter on my feet than either of them, but when all three of us landed on a table, it rattled hard enough to nearly drop us to the floor. I reached out and grabbed each of their arms to steady myself. Thank the gods I’d opted out of pantyhose or I’d definitely have landed on my ass. Even with the precarious balance, traveling across tabletops was a hell of a lot faster than working through the sea of bodies.
&nbs
p; "There you are." A cool female voice traveled up my spine like icy fingers as we jumped off the last table into the crowd near the back.
"Trinity." Her name came out as a snarl, and I fisted my hands. If ever a lycan could shift without the full moon, it would be now. Ragestormed inside me, raising to the surface and making my skin tight. My wolf wanted out to rip the bitch apart.
From the corner of my eye I saw Quin raise his eyebrows at Voss, obviously picking up on my alpha power surge. Trinity stalked toward me as if she had all the time in the world.
"You've got some balls to break the treaty like this." I stood my ground. She didn’t have the element of surprise this time. Quin and Voss closed in on me as she neared, and I palmed my blade in my thigh sheath.
Her upper lip curled revealing the tips of her fangs. "You need to be taught a lesson. This seems appropriate."
I flicked my gaze over Trinity's shoulder. My father joined the battle around us, his features a mask of anger and focus as he ripped a vampire's head from his body. Oh yeah. He was pissed.
Grinning, I returned my gaze to Trinity, pulling a hair tie out of my bra—I never went anywhere without one, not even a formal dinner—and twisted my hair up into a bun, cool and calm. "You miscalculated."
"What do you have to smile about?" She narrowed her eyes.
"This isn't just a party. Didn't you do any research?" I spread my arms out to gesture to the fighting.
Her expression turned from confident to confused as she looked around.
I let out a humorless laugh. "Every alpha within a days' travel is here tonight to celebrate my mating. The strongest members of our packs are here."
And we’re gonna kick your ass. I didn't wait for her to fully realize her error before I attacked. She looked stunned as I punched her in the face with one hand and sliced her torso with the blade in my other. Staggering back a few steps, she caught herself and came back with a vengeance.
I was ready. I dodged her claws and snatched the second knife from it sheath, driving it into her shoulder. I was going for her throat, with the intent of using it to cut as much of her head off as I could, but she jerked out of the way just in time.
