Mated to the Alpha and His Beta

Lanie

Lily broke free before | could contain her.

My robe was ripped to shreds as | shifted and ran from the large room.

The guards started to chase after me, but | could swear | heard Xander say, “Let her go.”

| wanted to believe that some part of him felt remorse for what he’d just done to me, but he probably just wanted me gone, didn’t want to deal with me.

How had | let myself be tricked into thinking that there could have been something between us? Everything I’d felt last night was just them having fun with me as part of their plan.

Oh, go d, this was mortifying.

I'd never be able to look anyone in the eye again.

My pads skidded a bit as | took a turn into the main foyer too quickly, heading for the front door. Thankfully, the front door was fitted with a handle instead of a doorknob, so | could just press down with my paw and push

to open it.

First, they'd openly been displeased about my being assigned to them, making a show over comforting Alice in front of everyone, and now | was the first she-wolf to be publicly announced as un-claimable.

What was even going to happen to me now?

| ran down the front steps and down the long driveway, reveling in the crisp fall breeze flowing through my fur.

Then it hit me.

Xander’s words had been that they would be taking a second mate, not a new mate.

Which meant | was still mated to them? How the hell was that going to work? Would they still expect me to

have sex with them to have pups?

And what did being an un-claimed mate mean?

For now, | couldn’t bring myself to think of the what-ifs. | just needed to run, to burn off all of this excess

emotion that | didn’t know how to deal with.

It was overwhelming, and the human me didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, scream, or curl up into a ball. Lily,

however, knew exactly what we needed.

We needed freedom.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

We,needed to run.

We

We needed to hunt.

We needed to ground ourselves with the earth.

We ran and ran and ran, until exhaustion took over. There was a lake on the far side of town, on the other side of the forest, and we made our way there, stopping at the edge to lap up water before lying down to rest, panting.

The sun was high above by now, gleaming on the deep-blue water, and the rust-colored leaves decorating the trees provided a peaceful, rustling backdrop that was calming.

The solitude was a balm, a serenity | wasn’t sure when | would feel next, so | basked in it, rolling over onto my back and baring my white stomach to the gentle breeze.

| rested there for a while, unsure how much time had passed as | tried to shut everything out as best as my wolf senses could. Leaves crunching underfoot snapped me to attention, and my silver ears perked up as | looked for the sound and sniffed the air. My nose twitched as a strange scent reached it.

Not another wolf.

But...why would a being who wasn’t a wolf shifter be here?

We didn’t segregate ourselves from humans as a rule, but none lived here. We liked to keep within our pack for comfort and safety. Not to mention the ability to completely be ourselves and not have to worry about human’s overhearing or accidentally seeing something they shouldn't.

Though, this scent didn’t seem entirely human, either.

It was something I'd never smelled before. Sp icy, like cloves and ci nnamon, but with a hint of something that was reminiscent of parchment paper or an old book.

And it was absolutely intoxicating. My mouth watered, and | wanted to lick the air to see if | could taste it.

More crunching, closer now.

A few yards away from me, a man emerged from the treeline, staring right at me.