10. She's mine

Myron

I heard a sharp knock on my door and slowly opened my eyes. My head throbbed. Groaning, I reached for the clock on my bedside table.

5:45 a.m.

Who would dare wake me up at this ungodly hour?

I dragged myself out of bed, every step heavy, and yanked the door open. Jimmy, my personal servant, stood there trembling like a leaf. His hands clutched something tightly against his chest.

"How dare you disrupt my sleep?" I snapped, or at least I tried to. My voice came out more like a tired drawl than the threatening growl I had intended.

Jimmy swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

"Alpha Prince... there are six missed calls for you here," he whispered, holding out the emergency phone like it was a cursed object.

I blinked at him. "That’s the emergency landline," I muttered, trying to piece it together. "Who’s calling me on that?"

"Yes, Alpha Prince." Jimmy’s hands shook. "It’s your girlfriend. She… she couldn’t reach you on your mobile so she proceeded to call this line."

For a moment, all I heard was the blood rushing in my ears. My fists clenched, nails biting into my palms.

I snatched the phone from him and shoved the door closed with my foot. Thirty-one missed calls. Twelve voicemails. Four texts.

Julie.

I opened her messages. All the same words:

> “Baby, are you okay? I’m worried…”

“Call me when you get this…”

“Why aren’t you calling me? I’ve been up all night thinking about you…”

I felt my jaw tighten, my teeth grinding. It took every shred of control not to throw the phone across the room.

“How am I supposed to be mated to a clingy, psychotic girl like Julie?” I muttered under my breath.

Still, I forced my fingers to type.

> “Hey Julie, I’m fine. I’ve just been busy so stop blowing up my phone and take a breath. I’ll see you in school.”

The message was polite — far more polite than the words raging in my head. But I wasn’t about to start this over the phone.

Jimmy was still at my door when I opened it again. His head bowed instantly.

“Anything else, Alpha Prince?” he asked quietly.

“No. Leave,” I said with a sharp flick of my wrist. He bolted down the hall like a shadow disappearing into the dark.

I pressed my fingers to my temples. Sleep was impossible now.

I slipped into a loose singlet and shorts and stepped outside for a run. The morning air was cold and damp, brushing against my skin like a whisper. My heart steadied with each stride. The breeze in my hair was a small mercy, cooling the storm in my chest. For a little while, the world was just me, my breath, and the path ahead.

By the time I returned, dawn had fully broken.

I dressed quickly, grabbed my car keys, and left without bothering to visit Reuben’s and May’s chambers. Timothy, their perfect little heir, could handle the greetings. They wouldn’t notice my absence anyway.

Inside my head, a low growl echoed.

“You’re not going to reject our mate today, are you?” Zed, my wolf, rumbled in frustration.

“Of course I’d reject her,” I said aloud, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “Don’t worry, Zed. We’ll find a better mate.”

“Certainly not Julie,” he snapped. “I dislike her, and you know you do too.”

“I need Julie’s rank and strength if I want to be the next Alpha,” I muttered. “Please, understand this…”

Zed growled, but fell silent.

******

When I arrived at school, Terry and Lax were waiting at my usual spot.

“Dude, you vanished yesterday!” Terry called, flashing a grin as we did our signature handshake.

“Yeah, bro,” Lax chuckled. “Was your mate that bad?”

Their laughter grated against my nerves.

“I’m not in the mood, guys,” I muttered, pushing past them — and then I stopped dead.

That feeling.

Heat surged under my skin. My pulse roared in my ears. My breath hitched. Every nerve in my body screamed the same thing:

She’s here.

My mate.

I turned sharply, scanning the parking lot like a predator on the hunt.

And then I saw her.

Timothy’s car rolled to a stop, and the perfect golden boy himself stepped out. He walked to the passenger side and opened the door.

Out she came.

The girl whose scent had haunted me since last night. She stepped out slowly, her smile soft, her eyes focused on Timothy.

My heart lurched painfully. My wolf growled so loud inside me it nearly escaped my throat.

Timothy. He had everything — power, favor, attention — and now he wanted my mate too?

“Damn!” Terry muttered under his breath. “Are they mates?”

“No!” I barked, the sound cutting through the morning air before I could stop it.

Both Terry and Lax stared at me, shocked.

I clenched my fists so hard my knuckles whitened. My nails dug into my palms.

She wasn’t Timothy’s.

She was mine.

And I would not let him take her.