All Chapters of The Alpha's Untamed Mate: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The Alpha family's private wing occupied most of the third floor, separated from the guest corridors by a set of double doors that remained closed, but unlocked, unless security required otherwise. My father's suite sat at the far end. Mine was directly next to the double doors leading into the guest corridor, with Alexander's room across from mine and several smaller rooms between us that had never really served any purpose over the years after my mother had passed. Alex's door was closed. It always was when he was away. I couldn't remember the last time I'd gone inside. The hallway still carried traces of the house I'd grown up in despite how much of the building beyond it still belonged to the pack. Family photographs lined the walls. A narrow table outside my father's sitting room held a vase that had belonged to my grandmother. The rug beneath my feet had a faded patch where Alex had spilled grape juice when he was six and blamed me for it. Downstairs was different. Downsta

Maddox had been talking for six minutes before I realized I hadn't heard a word he'd said, which wasn't entirely his fault. The last stretch of road into Westbrook territory would through dense woodland, and I'd been watching the changes beyond the tinted window as our convoy moved deeper into land that belonged to someone else. The border itself had been marked clearly enough, stone pillars set back from the road, discreet cameras mounted among the trees, two Westbrook warriors waiting at the checkpoint, but the differences between territories were rarely limited to signs and security. Every pack left its personality on the land it controlled. Blackstone's central grounds were louder than this. Busier. There was almost always someone moving between the residential districts and the packhouse, children cutting through places they weren't supposed to be, warriors coming off of rotation, delivery trucks servicing one of the buisnesses near the southern entrance. We had enough acreage t

The words came out quieter than I'd expected because it didn't need to be louder.For the first time since I'd arrived at Westbrook, Marcus Westbrook looked genuinely surprised. It didn't last long. It hardened into something colder as he glanced at my hand around his wrist, then back to my face.“Alpha Blackstone.”The warning in my title was unmistakable, and so was the reminder behind it: his territory, his packhouse, his daughter. I knew all three, just as I knew I was still holding him. I released his wrist deliberately rather than because he'd asked me to, letting my hand fall only after I was certain he wasn't going to complete the motion I'd interrupted.Marcus lowered his arm, his expression controlled again despite the flush creeping high along his cheekbones. Clara hadn't moved. She stood slightly behind and to the side of him, staring at me with an expression I couldn't immediately read. The anger she'd aimed at me five minutes ago was gone, as was the sharp amusement she'

The conversation moved on without effort after that. Rachel still had half a dozen seating problems to solve, and Maddox, despite having no legitimate reason to be involved, developed strong opinions about several of them. I stayed mostly out of it, which gave me the excuse to watch Clara work without making it obvious that I was doing exactly that.She was good at this. She knew which visiting Lunas had dietary restrictions without checking her notes. When Rachel realized one of the smaller packs had brought an additional Beta, Clara found space at the table without displacing anyone important enough to take offense. She caught a duplicated room number on one of the printed schedules, sent a message to have it corrected, then went back to discussing whether Bellamy would be more offended by being seated beside Hargrove or across from him.None of it looked difficult when she did it, which usually meant someone had spent enough time doing difficult things that other people stopped not

I woke before my alarm with Clara's name still in my head.For several seconds, I stayed where I was, staring at a ceiling I didn't recognize while the room slowly assembled itself around me. Westbrook. Council Week. The faint gray light around the curtains said it was barely morning, and somewhere in the corridor a door opened and closed with the careful quiet of someone who knew most of the floor was still asleep.Then the heating system came on.Air moved through the vent near the wall behind my bed with a low mechanical hum, and every thought I'd been trying not to have since sometime after midnight returned at once.“Fuck.”I rolled onto my back and dragged a hand over my face. Last night had already been complicated enough before Clara went back to her room, but I kept coming back to the fact that she'd kissed me because it was the one part of this mess that belonged entirely to her.She didn't know I was her mate. She couldn't. Whatever pull existed between us from her side was