Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
MASON
“Ijust... cannot fucking believe this."
Knox was still having a rough time, even though he'd had the rest of last night and all morning to stew.
We were still at my house, ensconced in my giant bedroom, sprawled out on the leather couch I kept in front of my flat-screen TV.
The boxes for the pizzas we'd ordered and demolished for lunch were still laying open on the coffee table, and we'd started drinking beer before noon.
Last night had been such a disaster. I’d been about two minutes away from finally getting naked with Bailey, who was one of the few popular Pack girls in the junior class whom I actually found tolerable, when a disheveled Knox had burst into the room, demanding that I go with him onto Pack land because Nikka was "up to something. "
We’d found Thad sulking on a couch nursing a beer, and then we’d all run out to the clearing in the forest we knew was closest to the house. We’d arrived at an unsanctioned challenge fight where a bleeding and injured Nikka was battling a giant golden wolf.
When the wolf forced submission on not just Nikka but all four of her buddies, I knew we had a problem.
When the wolf shifted and Mave was standing in its place, with Ben revealed to be the equally huge twin wolf by her side, I knew Knox really had a problem.
He was currently laying on one end of the couch with his arm thrown over his eyes, still pouting and being pissy with us.
Thad was sitting cross-legged in the armchair next to him, like the prim motherfucker he was, scrolling social media or something on his phone and ignoring Knox.
As the only person with their shit straight at the moment, I was sitting opposite Knox on the couch trying to convince him that we needed to have a chat with my mom before he confronted his dad about lying to him.
"Dude, I know," I said to him. "I know. But we can't fucking change anything that's happened in the past three weeks. All we can do is make a plan for going forward. You need to decide what you really want, and we need to talk to your dad. I think bringing my mom in will at least help with that part—she’s his right hand and she'll have good insight into the situation. "
"Ugh, fuck off, Mason," he groaned. "Can't you just let me fucking wallow? I know I’ve made everyone well aware that I don't want to be fucking mated anytime soon, but I'm pretty sure I've irreparably pissed off the most powerful mate I could have ever hoped to have someday. And she's my fucking fated mate."
He threw a pillow at the wall; it bounced and then hit Thad in the face.
"Stop acting like a child," he snapped at Knox. "We will deal with it. All is not lost. You can"—he made a lazy gesture with his hand— "woo her back. You still have the bond. You're still the Alpha Heir, man. Fucking act like it."
"Whatever, asshole," Knox retorted. "Don’t act like you’re not in the same fucking position as me. You’re into her brother and he’s just as pissed at us as she is."
"Fuck off."
I sighed, frustrated. Both of them were acting like children about their respective problems.
"Thad, man, none of us have missed the chemistry between you two," I said. "You can admit it—I know you’re pretty much only dating girls these days but it’s not like any of us batted an eye when you dated that guy from public school for awhile during sophomore year."
"I said," he gritted out, glaring at me from behind his dark frames, "Fuck off. I do not want to talk about him."
"Fine," I said, raising my hands in a placating gesture. "Then back to the main issue. Knox—what do you want to do? Your dad has been insisting you keep Mave on the hook somehow so that she’d at least be amenable to being your mate in the future should you choose, right?"
"Yeah, I guess," he replied, still covering his eyes like he could avoid all of this shit if he just didn’t have to look at anything.
"It does make more sense now why he cared so much. It wasn’t just about the potential power boost I could get from being with my fated mate—it was because he knew she was an Alpha Heir herself.
Our kids would be fucking flush with power.
Not a chance they wouldn't Alpha this Pack. "
"Right," I agreed. A lot of things made more sense now. "And thus far you have not made much of an… effort. With this. With her." I looked at him, pointedly.
"Fuck, I’m not a total idiot, Mase," he groaned. "I am aware. I thought she was just being a bitch to me to save face since I, uh… embarrassed her that first day. I didn’t think that she’d really resist me if I decided I wanted her because I’m the sole fucking Alpha Heir of this Pack, and she’s an unknown nobody. I mean, come on."
Thad huffed. "Honestly, I don’t know how we didn’t figure this out earlier. Neither of them ever acted like omegas. Never dropped eye contact, clearly very proficient in combat, didn’t give a fuck about ingratiating themselves with us or any of the top Pack kids. That’s not normal."
I nodded. "Yeah, but none of us would’ve predicted that. They aren’t just ‘not omegas.’ They are extremely powerful Alpha wolves. Like, I’m genuinely curious who would win a challenge between you and Mave, Knox."
He scoffed. "Come on. She’s big for a female, but I’m still bigger."
"You felt that power blast, man," I replied. "It was something."
He just shrugged, clearly still content to live in denial. "At least Thad can feel better about being bested by Ben in combat." He lifted his arm off his face smirked at Thad.
Thad just glared at him, not taking the bait.
"Knox," I said, imploring him to focus. "Are you ready to give up on your fated mate? The bond is already pretty fucked up, I have to imagine."
He finally sat up and looked at me. "I… fuck, I don’t know.
The bond is still there. I feel it pulling me toward her.
At first I thought it was just because she’s smoking hot and I for sure wanted to fuck her, but I wanted to make it clear she didn’t have any claim on me more than I wanted to fuck her.
Now… goddammit, she’s a fucking good match for me, isn’t she? "
Thad snorted. "She wiped the fucking floor with Nikka, dude. There’s no better match for you in this Pack, that’s for sure."
I felt the same. I’d always thought he needed to take his fated mate match seriously—to trust in the Moon more than he had been.
But I hadn’t anticipated that Mave wouldn’t eventually be drawn to him in spite of the initial rejection—that she wouldn’t jump at the chance to be the Alpha Mate if he chose her eventually.
I thought she was mostly just being obstinate, not that Knox hadn’t been a complete dickhead thus far and didn’t deserve her attitude.
But now we all knew that she truly wasn’t going to suffer his disrespect.
At all.
And there was the matter of her dating someone else.
"It’s going to be an uphill battle, man," I said to Knox. "I think she’s actually like, with Agnon. Not just fucking him to piss you off like we all thought."
His face turned murderous then.
"That shit," he seethed, "is gonna stop. I cannot believe she is fucking a human when I made it very fucking clear that I would give her what she needed, even if I didn’t want the mating. It would scratch the itch forced on us by the bond, and there is no chance anyone else can satisfy her like I can. She’s insane if she thinks I’m going to allow that to continue. "
I could see the feelings of possessiveness caused by the bond were riding him hard. He was also going to continue to be unreasonable, apparently.
"Knox, we have been over this," I said, exasperated. "She is not like the other girls. She isn’t Nikka, who puts up with you hooking up with other people all the damn time because she’s so singularly focused on the long game of becoming your chosen mate. Mave is not going to just agree to exclusively fuck you while you’re also still on and off with Nikka and whoever else catches your eye any given day.
You are not going to be able to have it both ways this time, dude. "
"I AM STILL HER FUCKING ALPHA!" he barked, jumping to his feet. He started pacing in the empty space between the coffee table and the TV.
"Knox, you need to relax," Thad said, exuding his usual calm, near-bored tone. "We will deal with it. Scare the human off, make your case to Mave. Maybe if you can get her into your bed she’ll see the light. Maybe if she gets to know you better and understands the pressure you’re constantly under as Alpha Heir, she’ll forgive your need to…
enjoy yourself until you have to formally mate. Until you take over as Alpha."
He slowed his pacing. "Yeah. You’re right. I’ll pursue her. Seduce her. She’ll cave eventually. And I’ll have to have a little talk with Agnon. No pussy is worth all the broken bones I’ll promise him are in his future if he doesn’t stop touching what’s mine."
I cringed. "I don’t think that’s going to endear you to Mave, man. Beating the shit out of her boyfriend."
He just shrugged, crossing his arms over his giant chest. "If he’s smart, it won’t come to that."
"So, then it’s on?" Thad inquired, nose back in his phone.
Knox nodded. "Yeah. Dad would probably be pretty pissed if I completely threw in the towel on this, anyway."
"Speaking of," I added. "We’re going to have to talk to the Alpha. He’s not going to be happy to hear that the whole omega cover was blown. It won’t be that long before word gets out that there’s a new Pack family with a strong Alpha bloodline. People are going to be curious, at the very least."
"Fuck, I know," he said. "He clearly made a gamble here that ended up blowing up in his face. But none of this would have happened if Mave hadn’t been my fucking fated mate. They were happy with the omega charade. They could’ve just continued to ignore the Pack and we’d have forgotten all about them after we graduated. No one would’ve given a fuck."
"Yeah," Thad chimed in. "Now it’s not only going to be known that their family comes from an Alpha line, but because of Nikka’s astounding stupidity, multiple wolves witnessed a display of Mave’s considerable power and the size of her wolf.
It’s not a huge leap to believe then that Jack Fortune’s power could possibly rival your dad’s.
He’s going to have to tread carefully on this one. "
"You’re going to have to deal with Nikka, Knox," I reminded him. "I guess you’re technically broken up right now. Do you plan to stay that way for awhile?"
He shrugged again. "Fuck if I know. Depends on Mave, I guess."
A non-answer if I ever heard one. I loved the guy, but I knew Knox was probably going to have one angry confrontation with Mave before he was back in Nikka’s or some other willing girl’s bed again. Old habits died very, very hard.
"Okay then. Let’s go explain this shit to my mom before we go to your house, Knox."
He drained the rest of his beer in one long gulp, then we trudged downstairs to face the music like the future Pack leaders we were supposed to be.