CHAPTER 8

DRAKE POV

The alcohol in my glass swirled like my thoughts—dark and unsettling.

I drank the contents in one gulp, the searing burn doing nothing to erase the image etched into my skull…Lillian’s face when Andre had called her “mate.” The way her breath hitched. The way her fingers trembled and her lips slightly parted.

Mine. Kael snarled inside me, claws raking my ribs. Ours.

“She isn’t ours Kael,” I whispered. “She is Andre’s.”

No!

I crushed the glass in my fist and sent the shards flying in all directions.

“Easy, Alpha.” Lucas leaned against my office desk with his arms crossed and brow raised skeptically. “That is the third one this hour.”

I didn’t answer. I just shrugged it off and placed what remained of the glass back on the table. The shards but into my palm, with blood dripping onto the polished mahogany. The pain was a distraction. A weak one.

Lucas sighed. “Okay. Talk to me. Is this about the letter? Or….” He hesitated and leaned in. “Lillian?”

My jaw locked instantly and I looked away in order to hide the expression on my face, before it gave me away. “It is about pack stability.”

That was a big lie. We both knew it.

Lucas smirked. “Right….And I am the Luna.” He swiped a file from my desk, which showed the medical reports. Salome’s noted on Lillian’s conference presentation. “You read her research three times. Even highlighted her name. Twice.”

I snatched the file back and shrugged, “she is a liability. You know that.”

“That is bullshit.” Lucas’s grin faded. “Just admit it. You are into her.”

Kael lunged against my skin, a growl vibrating my chest. “I am not.”

“Then why are you so invested in this case? Why do you care if Andre claims her or not?”

Silence.

The truth was like a blade twisting in my gut. Because she was mine first. She has always been mine and I have been a fool not to see that. Because ten years ago, I had been too much of a coward to protect her. Because now, when I finally had the power to fix it—

Andre got there first.

I forced a smirk and said blankly, “Since when do Betas mate with rogue blooded wolves?”

Lucas stiffened with his eyes wide open. “Wait—what? You think he will reject her?”

“He should.” The words tasted foreign and I hated it. “His duty is to the pack. Not some…” Not her.

Lucas wolf whistled. “Damn Drake. That is cold, even for you.” He tapped his phone. “Well, good news—Andre’s already scrubbed the letter from every news outlet. Used his ‘connections.” A pause. “Your orders?”

My blood ran cold. No. Andre acted alone. For her.

Kael howled like a wounded animal. Mine.

I organized my face and muttered, “Efficient.”

Lucas studied me briefly, then shrugged. “Whatever. But Sharon is the real problem here. She was being a bitch. She was the one that leaked the letter and that is treason.”

A muscle in my cheek twitched. “Don’t you worry. I will handle her.”

“How? I don’t think this situation will be easy for you.”

“Permanently.”

Lucas’s eyes widened as he asked skeptically, “Wait. You would exile your own fiancée? I know you do not like her, butt you really want to take it that far?”

Fiancée. Hmmm. The word is a joke. A political arrangement, which I had grudgingly agreed inorder not to be perceived as gay, for it was already a suspicion as I have never been seen in a company of a woman. An agreement I had tolerated too long.

“She crossed the line.” I replied sardonically as I stood, my shadow swallowing the room. “No one threatens my pack. But no, I would not send her away.”

No one touches what is mine.

Sensing the Alpha command in my tone, Lucas nodded and got up to leave. “I will check the perimeter.” He headed for the door…then stopped. “For what is worth? If you do want Lillian….fight for her. Before it is too late. I know it might be hard and rocky, given her family’s history, but you are Alpha.”

The door clicked shut.

And once again, I was alone. I took a deep breath and exhaled, thereby placing a crack in the mask I had on earlier. My reflection in the window showed a stranger—eyes glowing wolf blue and fangs bared.

Pathetic.

I stabbed the intercom impatiently. “Jensen. My office. Now.”

The guard arrived in seconds and bowed courteously, “Alpha?”

I did not turn, I just kept my eyes peeled on the busy street below. “Dr Lillian Stewart. I want her watched. Every move. Where she goes. Who she sees. What she eats. Everything. Do you understand?”

Jensen blinked and stammered, “S—sir, the Beta already assigned—”

“I DO NOT CARE WHAT THE BETA ORDERED!” I swirled around and bellowed, thereby rattling the windows and Karl’s snarl ripped through the room.

Jensen dropped to his knees instantly with his head bowed in total submission. “Y—yes, Alpha.”

I leaned in, and said quietly, “And Jensen? If she senses you….if Andre catches you…you have never met me. Understand?”

His face turned white as sheet as he muttered, “Understood.”

“You are dismissed.”

As he fled, I gripped the windowsill tightly. My thoughts all jumbled up in one piece…

Somewhere out there, Lillian was with him. Unmistakably.

And I would be damned if I let history repeat itself.