I sat in one of the booths in the far corner of the room. Noah and Finn were unloading the new inventory for the week and I was kicked out of helping or being in the way. Currently, I had my earbuds in my ears and I was pouring over a laptop. Getting my entire army together wasn’t an easy feat. Unlike the other Alpha Princes or even the Alpha King, I didn’t force my guys to stick to one location. If I needed them to do a task, I relegated a specific group to that area. Considering all of them were rogues, it made it easier for them to move around. It didn’t make it easy calling them all into one place again. I hadn’t done it for many years. The last time we were in Cairo. “You sure you want everyone?” Keri was on the other end this time. She was further south working out of a local coffee shop. Looking up, I was quiet as Noah and Finn walked past with multiple cates in hand. “I mean, we are talking hundreds of Hunters. I’m not going to leave it to chance. If they take Silas’ territor

Her command again left no room for disobedience. The hair quickly receded from my body and my stretched features of the lycan form dropped back to that of my normal size. Wye took the opportunity to get the hell out of the drivers seat and he disappeared into the recesses of my mind where he stayed most of the time. He was more coherent than Kon, Fynn’s wolf, was but we were still rogues. They were about as straight wolves as you could get, unable to speak or really think outside of their own instincts.Fingers dug into my skin as Solaris grabbed my chin and pulled my head up to look at her much like she had done with Wye. Her eyes were bright and I felt tears start to fall.“Let the power go, Sol. It will kill you, please. I’m back. I’m sorry. Please.” I begged her as I reached out and cupped her face. “Please love…let it go.”Her lips turned down in a frown though. “You will apologize to you mate. You will apologize for your fucking behavior. After that, you will not ask me or quest

“That doesn’t mean you should have water boarded him, Finn. What the hell?”“I didn’t water board him. He drank almost an entire bottle of tequila on his own. I don’t know what he thought it was but he was drinking it like whiskey. He tried to congratulate me on my pregnancy, Sol.”There was a huff and I heard a slap. “He drank that much because you decided to try and reject him before shift started. You know your bond takes rejection, no matter if it’s official or not, really seriously. He’s already suffering under his own feelings, don’t make it worse.”I heard Finn scoff and I tried to sit up but my body felt too heavy and lethargic.“You just are willing to forgive him? Just like that. He nearly killed you. Both making you use your power and actually trying to crush your throat. You just going to let him…”“I’m not. He’s receiving his punishment until I see fit. As Alpha, I have the right to do that when there is insubordination under me. He is still suffering those consequences.

“Hey Sol?” Sam looked up at Aelia who was leaning back into my side. She hummed, taking a sip of her half-drunk whisky sour. “What happens if mates don’t do anything about their connection?” “You mean if they don’t mark each other or reject each other?” Sam nodded. Aelia narrowed her eyes for a second before answering. “In a normal connection, nothing bad would technically happen. As long as you aren’t in close proximity with each other, it would be easier to ignore. The issue would be if you were in close proximity. Our wolves are very possessive and once they know their mate, all they want to do is mark them. So it becomes very hard to control your wolf or want to be part from them.” “What’s a non-normal case look like?” Charles asked. I felt out of the loop in their line of questioning. They seemed so familiar with speaking with Aelia that it was shocking, especially Charles. Nate also looked like he felt the same as me, looking at them curiously, but our minds were too liquo

*** Sam’s POV *** My jaw was slack as I watched Charles leave without even a word. I didn’t know how to feel. I was angry at Alpha for making him go. Whatever Alpha was talking about clearly was a big issue. Part of me couldn’t actually be mad though. Alpha was saying this out of my protection, not wanting me to get hurt. Charles on the other hand, not only didn’t say anything but he up and left. My heart hammered in my chest.‘Mate.’ Renji growled as I felt his irritation at watching him go.‘I know. But I don’t think this is going to be the last time. At least, I hope not.’Renji paced up a little. ‘You’re right. If he doesn’t though, I’ll go after him myself.’I looked over at Alpha who was running his hands through his hair. Even his face showed he wasn’t happy about what just happened. I looked down at the paperwork in front of me.“Alpha…”“I’m sorry, Sam. I really am. If it could have been avoided, I would have but I will not let you get hurt.” There was an edge in his voice a