by Kyle, Celia
“Please my ass. If some butt-sniffing—” A feminine shriek came from the other room, but Scarlet continued. There was no stopping her once she got going. “Slutty, dog-whore, cum bucket who can only get a mate by trying to take someone else’s wants to try and come in here…”
Gabby looked at a pale-faced Whitney and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Cum bucket? Someone’s been reading some hard core erotica.”
Whitney leaned close. “She claims it miraculously appeared on her e-reader.”
She snorted. “Right. You think some bitch is trying to take Keller and Madden?” She continued with a sing-song voice. “Scarlet’s gonna kick the chick’s ass. Doo-dah. Doo-dah.”
Suddenly the door was flung wide and a woman barreled into the room, pushing past Scarlet and heading straight for her and Whitney. The female’s face was contorted, mouth in a half-muzzle and sprinkles of blonde fur coating her skin. The crunch and crack of bones reforming reached Gabby’s ears, and more of the change washed over the stranger.
She jumped to her feet, unwilling to meet the psycho sitting down. Who the hell knew what the chick’s problem was, but it seemed to have something to do with either her or Whit.
The female stopped in front of her, lips pulled back in a snarl as she bared her fangs. “Gabriella Wickham, I claim right of Mate Challenge.”
Well, that answered that question.
Chapter Four
Gabriella’s words were merely a distant hum in Berke’s mind, swirling around like ghosts but not truly forming into anything he could understand.
“I’m sorry I’ll never get to love you.”
They’d sat there, watching her walk from the room, their lives, without a look back. But he couldn’t blame her. Marked spent their lifetimes waiting for this moment, this second in time when they’d form a triad and live happily ever after. True, it hadn’t worked out with Jack’s parents, but Berke had been so sure…
Like a puppet, Jack had risen and fled the room, and Berke couldn’t find it in him to care where the man went. It’d all come crumbling down. He hadn’t expected things to bloom into happiness in a blink, but…it was over before it began.
Even his wolf was quiet, not a growl or snarl to be heard, as if it’d given up.
Pain, both physical and emotional, wrapped around his chest, tightening and squeezing until he could hardly breathe or think. He gasped for air, fighting to remain conscious, begging his body not to betray him.
It was over. Truly.
Berke bent over and then crumpled forward onto the carpet. He gagged, bile rising in his throat, and he dashed away the tears in his eyes. He could die now; right now he’d welcome eternal rest. He wanted to be released from a lifetime of suffering. He wouldn’t have Gabriella or Jack with him, so what was the point of continuing?
He could go to the forest, shift and let the wolf take over. Eventually a hunter would find him. Yes, that would work. He just needed to resign first.
Pushing to his feet, he stumbled toward the door, ignoring Gabriella’s scent as it grasped at him like a physical thing. It clawed at his clothes, holding him tight and threatening to keep him trapped in the room.
No, that couldn’t happen.
He broke free of the temptation and stepped into the hallway. Jack’s scent drifted to the left, telling Berke the wolf had taken the back stairs that led to their shared suite on the floor below. So he would go right, into the center of the suite. He couldn’t be around Jack right now, not with what lingered between them.
The moment he stepped into the central room, low growls assaulted him and battered him from all sides. A quick glance around the space revealed that every guard exposed their fangs to him and their faces were peppered with fur. He could retaliate, censure them for the insubordination. But why bother? He deserved their scorn and more.
He’d… They’d hurt Gabriella.
The ding of the elevator announced a new arrival, but Berke couldn’t gather the energy to care. At least, not until a guard entered, leading a smiling Hannah toward the Ruling Alphas’ bedroom. When the woman caught sight of him her smile turned evil, a glint of hate tainting her eyes along with a flash of victory.
The sound of a scuffle and yells from the suite had him striding forward, but he was quickly cut off by his own subordinates, their eyes glowing yellow. He nearly bared his fangs, his duty burned into his very soul demanding that he respond to the threat to the Alpha Mate.
“Gabriella Wickham, I claim right of Mate Challenge.”
Hannah’s voice rang high and clear, and another part of Berke shattered, his soul splintering into a thousand pieces.
He had to find Jack. Now.
* * *
Jack settled on the bar stool and leaned his forearms against the shined wood, letting his weight slump forward as his shoulders drooped. He’d left his heart on the penthouse floor, its broken pieces scattered within Gabby’s room and blowing through the space.
He’d gotten what he’d wanted, hadn’t he? He was still a single wolf and not part of an Alpha Pair. He didn’t have to worry about the blood and gore that could come from taking his position. He was alone.
Raising his hand, he caught the bartender’s attention and ignored the sway of her hips as she approached. She was probably trying to entice him. Too bad he and his wolf only wanted one woman—ever—and the bartender wasn’t her.
“Shot of Johnnie Walker Blue and leave the bottle.” He let his gaze turn to the polished wood of the bar top, and he brushed the lingering woman from his mind. Gabby was all he needed, and his wolf agreed. The beast hadn’t stopped howling inside his head since Gabby walked away from him and Berke.
God, Berke. He’d never seen or felt so much pain. Jack was used to having a sore heart, but Berke… He could feel the man shattering, and Jack wasn’t sure if the other wolf could live through the loss of Gabby.
Jack had forced one foot in front of the other after Gabby left them, only waiting around long enough to confirm that she’d been whisked away by her sisters. Which meant he’d had to listen to the anguish that laced her words. Then he’d faced the countless wolves that served under him growling and snarling as he passed. There were no words said, but their message was clear.
Jack had found his mate, a female that wolves searched for from the moment they came of age, and had rejected her. Bile rose in his throat, burning him from inside out.
A single amber-filled shot glass was placed before him, a bottle filled with the same liquid just beside. Without a glance at the bartender, he grasped the glass and tossed its contents down his throat, not even noticing the burn of the alcohol. He didn’t miss a beat as he poured himself another and gave it the same treatment. He prayed he’d be able to drink enough to get drunk and forget for a while. It was unlikely given his werewolf metabolism, but he could hope. Hope for oblivion was all he had left now.
“You need anything else, gorgeous?” The female purred the words, and all it did was infuriate his wolf, sending the beast to the edge of his control.
Growling, he stared at the woman. His eyes stung, fingers ached with his impending change, and he knew his other half was stalking a hairsbreadth beneath the surface.
“No.” He barely recognized the word for what it was.
The woman blanched, all color fleeing her face, and she spun to dash away, leaving behind a cloud of fear. Good. Let him wallow in his misery in peace.
Another shot disappeared, the burn barely noticeable now. After the fourth, he abandoned the glass entirely and merely clutched the bottle, taking gulps as he desired. But his wolf burned it all away, leaving him mostly sober and still filled with the misery of losing Gabby.
And Berke.
And his position as Lieutenant.
He couldn’t be around his best friend with Gabriella’s absence lingering between them. Nor could he continue working alongside the other guards now that they were aware of his cowardice and no longer respected him as a wolf, not to mention a warrior.
Anothe
r gulp that his beast treated like water.
Memories flitted through his mind, the bright red blood of his parents overlaying the tear stained face of his mate. One image would ghost past only to be replaced by yet another, his torment continuing with every passing second.
His father’s mouth ringed in blood.
The first drop of moisture clinging to Gabby’s lashes.
His father’s clawed hands coated in gore.
The anguish in her eyes.
His parents’ limbs scattered on the floor.
The sobs that coated her words as she said goodbye.
The final goodbye at his parents’ graves.
Jack’s chest constricted as if a steel band wrapped around him and squeezed. His heart stuttered as his lungs froze when the truth slammed into him like a runaway train.
He’d said goodbye—given up—and abandoned her before he had the opportunity to even know her. He’d tossed away love because he was afraid of the pain. Inside he knew that he was a wolf, a deadly beast who lived and died by tooth and claw.
Jack would fucking die, shatter if he ever lost Berke or Gabby. Life wouldn’t be worth living without either of them.
A large, heavy body leaned into him, and he turned to face whoever had intruded on his solitude. Roar building in his chest, he snarled at the newcomer but then bit back the sound. “Berke.”
His friend snatched the bottle away and sent it sliding down the smooth bar, the glass gliding over the polished surface with ease. “You have a choice, Jack.”
He gulped, the alcohol in his stomach threatening to make a return visit. He’d made a decision, of sorts. He recognized what he’d been trying to do. He’d turned into a damned pussy instead of embracing life. Fifteen years of half of a bond with the man beside him and it’d taken a curvy Marked to make him see the truth.
Berke didn’t look at him, his gaze distant. “Because of us—”
“Me. Whatever it is, it’s because of me.”
He nodded. “Because of you, Gabriella is about to face Hannah in a Mate Challenge.”
Jack’s wolf rushed forward, shoving past his mental walls. The rapid crack and snap of bones came in a blinding rush of burning pain and boiling rage. Hair didn’t seep from his pores but burst from his skin. His fingers reshaped to claws in barely a blink and then he was ready to defend his mate. “Mine.”
A jolt of anguish and rage shoved its way over the bond he shared with Berke. “And she would have been had it not been for your refusal to complete our Alpha Pairing.” Berke took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Hannah obviously heard about Gabriella. And because the she-wolf is a heartless cunt, she decided that she was my mate, not Gabriella. A Marked can’t be a single wolf’s mate, can she?” A mirthless laugh escaped his lips. “Hannah has taken the stance that Gabriella is encroaching on her territory and making untrue claims.”
“We’re not an Alpha Pair.” Jack couldn’t breathe. The walls of the bar were closing in on him, choking him with the truth.
“And that gave the woman an opportunity to make our lives hell and possibly kill our mate in the process.” Barely suppressed fury tinged Berke’s words.
Thoughts whirled through Jack’s mind like a tornado on crack. “We’ll do it. Now. Where are Keller and Madden? They can confirm our pairing, and we’ll find a Pack or start our own and we can—”
“Do nothing because the Mate Challenge has been announced and accepted.” Berke’s grim resignation slid into Jack.
“When?” He choked on the word, his wolfen maw fighting to push it past his lips.
“Now.”
* * *
“Now?” Gabby screeched. “Right now? As in this second?” She gulped. Okay, she could do this. Really. And live. Maybe…-ish.
Scarlet was ranting at her mates, the Ruling Alphas. “Go get them right this minute and work your mumbo jumbo and then the fuckdicious assholes can claim her already! What good is it to have the biggest dicks in the room if you can’t swing ’em around?”
The two men winced, but it was Keller who spoke. “Now, sweetheart…”
“Don’t you ‘sweetheart’ me. My sister is about to be torn into dog kibble because two of your wolves are pussies.” Then Scarlet meowed.
Gabby would have been offended if her sister hadn’t been telling the truth. “Has anyone else noticed that she’s a wolf, and I’m, I don’t know, human?”
Whitney stood and glared at the Ruling Alphas. Since she didn’t have a Mark and was at the Gathering due to some magical clerical mistake, she had a little more leeway. “What do your stupid furball laws say about that?”
Go Team Whitney.
“Actually,” a rolling, baritone sliced into their argument. “They say that a Challenge between a wolf and a human shall be conducted in human form. Any hint of the wolf’s control slipping results in an automatic forfeit and dismissal of the Challenge.”
Everyone’s attention shifted to the newcomer. Make that, newcomers. Two wolves stood before them. They appeared to be like any other wolf in attendance, but they held a hint of something other.
From the corner of her eye, Gabby watched Whitney sway, body leaning forward and toward the two men as if drawn by a string. Nudging her sister, she burst into the silence.
“And you are?” Gabby raised a single brow.
“The Ruling Wardens. Emmett,” he gestured to himself. “And Levy.”
“Well it fucking took you long enough.” Scarlet’s words echoed in the now crowded room.
“It took what it took, Alpha Mate.” A smile teased Emmett’s lips, and Whitney stepped toward him.
Oh, she didn’t like this guy already. Elbowing Whitney once again, she forced her mind back to the issue at hand.
“So, no claws or fangs or fur? Just fists and feet?” Scenarios and ‘what ifs’ tumbled through her mind.
Levy nodded. “Correct.”
“How do you determine the winner?” This was the worrisome part. Was it, like, death? ’Cause that would suck.
“First blood.” Emmett’s voice was flat and matter of fact.
Gabby huffed. Okay, not horrible. Sure, Hannah the Whore was probably faster and stronger than her… And probably had a lot more experience in fighting. But Gabby could pull it off…-ish.
“Okay. First blood. Sticking to skin. I can do it.” Gabby nodded, trying to convince herself more than everyone else. “What happens to the loser?”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but she needed to ask the question.
“She will be set aside while the winner is given the opportunity to mate with the male in question. The loser will be denied the male.”
“So, if I lose, whether Berke wants her or not, she gets a crack at him, and I have to steer clear forever.”
“Gabby, no.” Scarlet shook her head and glared at her mates. “This isn’t happening. You two make the laws.” She snapped her fingers at Keller and Madden. “Get to rewriting. You’ve got some super-magical pen hanging around, right?” She growled. “Give it to me and I’ll redo the fucking things. ’Cause this,” Scarlet waved at Gabby. “So ain’t happening.”
“Alpha Mate,” Levy drew everyone’s attention. “The laws are as they have been for centuries. They are what keeps us civilized.”
“Civilized?” Contempt coated Whitney’s words. “Two assholes fighting Keller and Madden last night for their position and Scarlet is considered civilized? And this? Gabby getting Challenged as Berke’s mate is civilized?”
“Hannah is claiming that Gabriella is lying and trying to turn her mate against her.” Emmett calmly stated the facts.
“And I claim she’s a manipulative beyotch. Amazing how anyone can claim anything, innit?” Whitney’s voice held scorn, but Gabby could see a hint of something else when she looked at the two Wardens.
God help her. Whitney couldn’t be attracted to the two emotionless wolves. Whit most assuredly couldn’t imagine having some sort of relationship with them, could she? Because tha
t’s what Gabby was seeing. Whit had that dreamy “love me” look, and she knew from experience that it never ended well.
“Whitney,” Levy eased into the conversation.
“Miss Wickham.” Whitney snapped.
“Miss Wickham,” Levy continued. “All Marked are subject to wolf laws and they state—”
Gabby threw her hands in the air. “Do you two know anything other than ‘suck it up buttercup’?”
That got her two snickers (from her sisters) and four identical looks of confusion (from the wolves). Apparently furballs didn’t grasp everything. Look at how dumb the smart people were.
“Okay, so it boils down to me stepping into the ring with Hannah and fighting for two wolves who don’t even want me. That’s it, right?” The meaning behind the words pierced her heart, nearly bringing her to her knees.
“Unfortunately, their decision to claim you, or not, is not in question. The belief of your status as mates is. Is Berke Davis your mate?” Emmett’s gaze was focused on her.
“Yes.”
Levy nodded. “Then we should go to the grand ballroom and complete the Challenge.”
It was so easily said, yet Gabby struggled to make her feet move. A single word pounded through her mind: blood. Six letters, a single object. So infinitesimal when compared to the entire body. A single cell would end it all.
The thought carried her to the elevator and down to the lobby. It pushed one foot in front of the other as she navigated the hotel’s hallways and into the grand ballroom. It nudged her to the edge of the forming circle, and she stared at the evil she-bitch across the rapidly emptying area.
The heavy thud of feet rose above the low murmur of voices, and the crowd parted in a rapid wave. In moments, two men burst into the center of the cleared circle, both of them breathing heavy with exertion. Berke and Jack.
“Stop!” Jack’s voice cut into the sudden silence. “Call off the challenge. Gabby belongs to us and—”
Emmett strode toward her mates, well ex-almost-mates. “And are you now a complete Alpha Pair eligible to recognize and claim their Marked.”