Page 10 of The Alpha's Envy
From the shadowy trees, three men approach, boxing me in and blocking my way back to my vehicle.
“You should have listened to them, Marie. But the fact that you didn’t proves whatIknow to be true.”
Icy fear slithers down my spine as I twist in his grasp and turn to face him.
He looms over me, lips pulled back to bare gritted teeth.
“What’s that?” I’m afraid to ask, but I have to know just how much trouble I’m in here.
The men behind me continue to close in until they’re no more than a foot away, ready to catch me if I try to bolt for Jonathan’s truck.
“That the fates have got this one wrong. And that you’re really meant to be mine. Forever.” He tugs on my arm, dragging me across the rickety wooden bridge toward his pack’s land.
Digging my heels in, I make it as difficult as I can, twisting and yanking my arm away from his grip.
But he’s a soon-to-be-alpha, amped up on adrenaline and anger. He’s too strong for me to fight off.
“You know this isn’t right, Graham. We’re not fated mates.”
He shrugs, looking unconcerned about the semantics.
“Maybe not chosen by the moon goddess. But when I mark you as mine, it’ll be as good as.”
My mind immediately turns to Jonathan.
If he marks me, Jonathan will feel it. And he’ll think I’ve left him. Our bond will never be complete.
“You’re not marking me, Graham. This is ridiculous. I get that you’re pissed off but think for a minute.”
My pleas fall on deaf ears, and he growls, tightening his hold on my arms as he roughly drags me along, his men following us impassively, not caring one bit about my plight.
“You won’t think it’s ridiculous when my teeth are buried in your neck. And once that bond kicks in, and your pathetic mate knows he’s lost you, you’re never going to try to leave me again.”
He’s gone into full-on psycho villain mode, and I’m immediately beginning to doubt convincing Jonathan to let me come alone.
6
JONATHAN
“You’re going to have your hands full.” Marie’s father is giving me a serious warning, but with a smile on his face. He’s about the tenth person to say something similar to me, all with varying degrees of sincerity and fear in their eyes.
My mate is a force to be reckoned with.
“I already do,” I say honestly, my insides twisted into a knot knowing my Luna is off meeting with another man, another man who lusts after her and is smart enough to know what he’s going to be missing out on.
“Tell me, how has my daughter already managed to convince the alpha of a busy pack to come here and move her belongings while she lounges around at home?” Her father is tall, with a shock of grey hair and sharp grey eyes. From the tilt of his lips and the way his eyebrows lift to his hairline, he knows well she’s not sitting at home with her feet up.
We slide a box each onto the bed of the van I brought with me and turn to face each other, the atmosphere growing tense, and all joking now put to the side. I hold his gaze, and his expressionturns serious, his alpha energy seeping out despite his best efforts to hold it in.
“She went to speak with Graham. Insisted on going alone, so we didn’t end up getting into it.” Dragging a hand back through my hair, I exhale a ragged breath and ball my hands into fists. “I should have gone with her. Damn it. I’m sorry Sir, I just didn’t want to fight with her over it, and she was adamant…”
He stares at me, jaw set, and his lips pressed into a thin line. His displeasure is clear, and he’s right to be pissed off. What kind of a man lets his mate go off to meet a man known for being volatile?
“Shit,” I mutter, lifting another box at my feet and tossing it less carefully than I should into the back. “I need to go.”
My heart pounds, and my palms grow sweaty as my unease grows. I thought I was doing the right thing. She’s luna now. I have to have faith in her decisions. She’s not mine to boss around, just to love.
“She wouldn’t have listened, and if you’d tried to follow, she’d have fought you tooth and nail.” Her father’s huge hand pats me on the shoulder in sympathy as I slam the rear doors shut. I’ll come back for the rest another time.
