Mated to the Alpha and His Beta

Lanie

No. F ucking. Way.

Rage, embarrassment, and denial rushed through my veins.

This couldn’t be happening.

What the hell was | supposed to do?

Ahand brushed across my arm, and | looked over to see Mindy standing next to me.

“It's going to be okay,” she soothed. “I know this is wild, and I’m sure you’re confused, but it’s all going to be okay.”

Oh, s hit. In all of my self-centeredness with my own mating and the Alice mess, | hadn’t even heard who Mindy had been mated with.

“| know,” she said as if she could read my mind. “It’s okay. | was mated to Monroe Glade and Maxim Fulton.” My heart leaped.

Monroe and Maxim were two of the High Guards for Xander and Zane.

Who lived in the same house as Xander and Zane, in a different wing of the huge mansion.

Finally, something was going right for me.

“Are you happy with it?” | asked.

She nodded. “They’re good men, kind men. And they’re se xy as hell. Plus, | get to be near you.”/

Mindy wrapped her arms around my shoulders and squeezed me tight, and | held onto her for dear life, holding back the tears welling up in my eyes.

“| have to go now, but I'll see you as soon as | can.”

She gave me one last squeeze and stepped back to the two huge men standing behind her, staring at her with all the possessiveness and heat in their eyes that | wished my mates felt for me.

My “mates” were currently cooing over Alice, comforting her and stroking her hair.

F ucking great.

Anger scorched my veins, and | bit back a growl of frustration.

If only | could shift and run. Far away from here and this whole catastrophe.

Xander and Zane both lifted their heads at the same time and looked at me, pausing in their pawing of Alice. | met their stares.

“Oh, | see you finally realized that I’m still here.”

Xander’s nostrils flared, and Zane raised an eyebrow.

It was time for me to stop being some sniveling wisp of a girl and act like the woman | was.

“While | appreciate your concern for a fellow she-wolf, might | ask what your plans are for your actual mate?” Zane

| was pretty sure Xander was going to blow a gasket.

No one spoke to him like that.

Well, other than me.

But that was different. As his Beta, it was my job to challenge him sometimes.

| opened my mouth to reply, but Lanie’s scent wrapped around me again and | lost my train of thought.

What was it about her?

I'd never experienced a scent like this before, and my nose-and my wolf-wasn’t sure what to do with it. Xander was in the same boat, if the look of confusion on his face was any indication.

Alice tensed, and she wrinkled up her nose.

So, she smelled it, too.

For the first time since this horrible mating ceremony had begun, she spoke.

“She’s not coming with us, is she?” Alice looked up at Xander and batted her eyes,

Amove that melted him every time and had him bending to her every whim.

It used to get me at first, but | saw it now for the tactic it was. Sex y and cute...but a tactic all the same to get what she wanted from us.

And one of us had to be immune to it to keep a clear head.

“I'm afraid there’s no other choice, love.” Xander shook his head and sighed.

“But I’m going to be your mate,” she whined.

Xander ran the backs of his fingers down Alice’s cheek in a soothing gesture. “I know, but we’ve rocked the boat enough today. Be patient with us.”

His tone was comforting but final, a hint of Alpha leaking out.

| looked over at Lanie.

The expression on her face was priceless.

It was a mix of “what the f uck am | looking at” and amusement, and before | could stop it, | was grinning.

“Is there something amusing, Zane?” Xander asked.

“Something amusing? As in, this whole situation? Yes, amusing would be one word for it.”

Alice sniffed. “I don’t find any of this amusing at all, Zaney.” She looked up at Xander and turned her shoulder to me. “Can we go home?”

We hate it when she calls us that, my wolf reminded me.

As if | needed a reminder.

Hush, Blade. She’s just upset right now, | answered.

What about all the other times?

I sighed and closed my mind off to him. Lately, he’d been vocal about his annoyances with Alice.

| tended to ignore him. Most people claimed that their wolves were insightful and knew the deepest parts of them, the parts they didn’t always recognize in themselves.

That was not the case with Blade.

He was judgmental, never happy, and he hated practically everything and everyone other than Xander and his wolf, Hunter.

If | listened to Blade, lord only knows what my life would be like.

I'd be a virgin, for sure.

“Let's get back to the house. We'll discuss everything there, privately,” | said.

“Agreed. Come, my love.” Xander pulled Alice away, tucked her against his side, and began walking to the small road that led from the middle of town and up to the main house, where we and our core members of the pack lived. “Seriously?” Lanie said in awe.

She stood and watched Xander and Alice walk away, her hands planted on her hips, and something in me broke a little. now.

As much as | wanted Alice and didn’t want this mating with Lanie, | couldn’t imagine being in her shoes right For a moment, it struck me how archaic and patriarchal the elders’ rules were.

Then | remembered that it was the women who had started the Great War.