Chapter 16: The Alpha and his Mate.
*Jane*
“That is the last time I will say it,” he growled, red eyes blazing.
“It’s best you remember who’s in charge here.”
He usually reserved that tone for his subordinates, for those
beneath him. Never for his Luna. But that’s what I was to him
now, wasn’t it? Beneath him, replaceable, controllable. He truly
believed he could force me to bend to his will.
Something inside me snapped.
Xander was in for a rude awakening. He’d forgotten who I was.
Forgotten that before I married him, I was the daughter of an
Alpha. And with that Alpha blood that ran deep in my veins,
and my wolf’s anger, I found the strength to utter a firm, “No.”
He snarled. “I was not asking.”
My spine straightened. I met his furious gaze. “I’m not your
puppet,” I snapped, stepping forward. “You have no right to
interfere with my personal life, especially considering your
affair with Mia. I mean you moved her into our home. Kicked
me out of my room. What did you think was going to happen?”
Chapter 16: The Alpha and his Mate.
“That’s different. Aaron is my business partner. You’re going to
ruin everything.”
His eyes were blazing red now, but I stood my ground. “Oh,
please. It’s not going to ruin anything and you know it.” I jabbed
a finger at his chest. “It’s just your ego talking. You don’t think
screwing your Beta in plain sight of the entire Pack didn’t ruin
something? Spare me the hypocrisy.”
He looked like he wanted to tear something apart, me in
particular, but I didn’t care. “Leave Mia out of this. This is
between you and me.”
I let out a sharp, humorless laugh. Was he serious?
“She lives in our home, lounges on our couch, sleeps in our bed.
So, tell me, why the hell shouldn’t she be involved?”
I flicked my gaze toward Mia, who shrank slightly under my
glare.
Xander didn’t respond. Of course, he didn’t. He was being totally
hypocritical and unreasonable. There was no excuse that could
make what he’d done remotely okay.
I wasn’t going to stand for that. “I won’t end it with Aaron. Not
for Blackwood group, not for you, Xander, and definitely not
for your damn mistress.”
Chapter 16: The Alpha and his Mate
“Jane!” He bellowed. There was that roaring tone again. “Stop
being so reckless!”
I blinked, then scoffed. “Reckless? I’m definitely not as reckless
as you are. At least I didn’t bring my lover into our home, nor
did I expect you to go along with it like a bloody idiot.”
Mia cleared her throat quietly, trying to cut through the tension.
between us, but we both ignored her.
“Aaron and I…” I began, but didn’t even get the words out.
“To hell with that!” Xander exploded.
In one violent motion, he grabbed the crystal flower vase from
the side table and hurled it across the room. It shattered against the TV screen with a sickening sound, leaving a jagged, gaping
hole in the center of the expensive screen.
“Oh…” Mia gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
I didn’t even blink. We stood in the middle of the wrecked living room, locked in a brutal stare–down, neither of us wanting to
back down.
“Good to go, Xander. Really. You’ve finally proven yourself to be a true, mature Alpha.”
Chapter 16: The Alpha and his Mate::
His chest heaved, eyes glowing red again, but I didn’t stop. “If
you want to control Blackwood so badly, then go ahead. But
don’t you dare think for a second that you can control me.”
I spun on my heel and walked away. I didn’t even spare a glance
over my shoulder.
I reached my room, shoved the door behind me with a loud slam
and finally let myself breathe.
That entire interaction had been nothing short of crazy.
Complete madness. I dug into my purse and pulled out my
phone. My thumb flew over the screen, typing out a message to
the cause of the entire argument.
Game on. We’re about to make one hell of a fake couple.
Before I could reflect, I clicked “Send“, and the adrenaline from
confronting Xander was still surging in my veins.
What did I do just now?
I kicked off my high heels and slumped into the comfortable
chair by the window, trying to make the tension disappear from
my heart.
Was this petty? Absolutely. But after watching Xander lose his
shit at the sight of me and Aaron together, after everything he’d
Chapter 16: The Alpha and his Mate
done, it felt damn good. There was a strange, smug satisfaction
curling in my chest.
I wanted to see this through. I needed to remind Xander that he
wasn’t the only one who could play this game.
I grabbed my mobile phone, almost hoping that Aaron wouldn’t
reply tonight. But then, of course, because the universe has a
kind of black sense of humor, the phone rang.
Good to know, see you tomorrow?
I huffed out a quiet laugh. How ridiculous was this? But this
was the predicament I found myself in and I just had to face it. It
was better to dive right in after all.
The next morning, I walked into the office with the calmness
and indifference that I had been accustomed to for many years.
But it feels… Something is not right. As soon as I entered the
door, I felt someone looking at me. My secretary Hailey looked
up, then lowered her head and nervously tapped the keyboard with her fingers.
“Morning,” I called out in a very chipper voice.
She didn’t respond. In fact, she doubled down on the keyboard,
Chapter 16: The Alpha and his Mate.
fingers hitting harder than was necessary. Okay, that was it.
“Hailey?”
She flinched and looked up at me with panic in her eyes as if
she’d done something terribly wrong. What in the goddess‘
name was going on?
“G–g–good morning, Luna Ja–ne,” she stammered.
“What is happening?”
She swallowed. “There’s uhm… there’s something on your desk
for you.”
“Oh?”
“Yes… someone sent it. Earlier this morning.”
I frowned. Someone. I gave her one last look before pushing the
door to my office open. I was immediately confronted by the
strong scent of roses.
And right there at the center of my desk was a massive bouquet
of roses.
