Chapter 7
“Peters,” Brian said by way of greeting. It was as polite as he could bring himself to be to Morgan Peters. He wanted to like the man on his doorstep because getting along with a neighboring pack’s Alpha would be good for Purple Sky, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
The first time they had met had been when Brian was new to Purple Sky and he had visited Morgan Peters’s Golden Valley pack.
Everyone there had been rude. Ricky Marx, the Omega Brian had brought with him, had been upset, and Peters had been less than welcoming.
After that, Peters had come to Purple Sky looking for Ricky, and when Brian fought him, Peters insulted him by refusing to engage.
Then to make matters worse, Ricky said Peters was his mate, and he moved to Golden Valley to be with him.
On top of all of that, seemingly everyone on the planet thought well of this man, thus implying that Brian had poor judgment because he was the only one who didn’t like him.
“Hi, Alpha Berger. I realize I shouldn’t have come unannounced but—”
“Then why are you here?” he snapped. Peters was literally in the middle of explaining himself and yet Brian had cut him off to ask the question he had been answering.
He bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from saying anything else and embarrassing himself further by displaying another lack of control.
“Honestly? I didn’t think you’d be willing to talk to me or see me if you knew I was coming.”
“And yet here you are.” Really, why couldn’t he stop himself from behaving like a snarky teenager? This wasn’t his normal. He blamed Peters for bringing out the worst in him.
Unfazed, Peters kept his tone even and his voice at a normal volume. The bastard. “I was told that you removed Keith Iredell from his pack. I came for him.”
All efforts at civility flew out the window as he growled and stepped forward, hands clenched into fists. Nobody was taking his mate.
Frustratingly, Morgan remained unruffled and unintimidated.
“Alpha Berger, I’m sure Keith didn’t mean whatever he said or did.
He never truly defends himself, so whatever you’ve been doing to him can’t have been fair fights.
I understand that you’re a bit temperamental, but surely, you’re too honorable for that.
I’ll take him with me and compensate you for… whatever it was that happened.”
Who was he to call Brian temperamental? He would have said just that, but the confusion over Peters’s words overrode his offense at how condescending they sounded. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about Keith Iredell. You took him from Green Field, right?”
“Yes.”
“He isn’t dead or you would have had to report that to Green Field. Where is he now?”
“What do you want with Keith?” Brian shouted through bared teeth.
“I want to offer him a safe place to live.”
There was no place safer for his mate than under his protection. “You aren’t taking him anywhere.” Brian had moved even closer and Peters hadn’t retreated so they were now chest-to-chest.
“Keith Iredell has been through a lot in his life, and whatever happened to upset you wasn’t his fault. Please, just let him leave without a fight. I’ll compensate you for any offense.”
Why did this Alpha think he had any dominion over Brian’s mate?
“Who do you think you are coming onto my packlands and making demands?” he shouted in Peters’s face.
“Ricky called and asked me not to get violent, but if you don’t get the fuck out of here right now, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. ”
“Alpha Berger, listen to me,” Peters’s voice had gotten even lower, his cadence slower.
“The last time you threatened me, I held back because I understood that the fault for my mate leaving was mine and mine alone and I didn’t want to harm anyone who was protecting him.
This isn’t the same situation. You can try to fight me if you must, but when the dust settles, I will be the one standing and I will help Keith Iredell.
Please, save all of us the trouble and bloodshed and release him. ”
“Are you threatening me?”
“I’m trying very hard not to. Let’s remain calm.”
That statement seemed designed to rile him up further.
“Morgan!” Keith’s joyful voice rang out from behind him. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Brian wanted to turn around and see his mate, but he wasn’t willing to take his eyes off the threat. “Keith, stay back.”
“Why are you both outside?” Keith came up behind him, dragged his hand across his shoulders and down his arm, and then wedged himself between him and Peters.
“I’m so glad to see you looking so healthy.” Keith threw his arms around Peters.
Brian grasped his hips and pulled him back against his body with a growl.
“I see I’ve misunderstood the situation,” Peters said, a grin spreading over his stupidly symmetrical face.
“He’s my mate,” Keith said joyfully. He put his hands over Brian’s and squeezed. “My mate!”
“I can see that.” Peters looked at Brian in amusement. “And hear it.”
He realized he was still clutching Keith tightly and growling.
“I think he’s jealous.” Keith sounded delighted. He looked at Brian over his shoulder. “Are you jealous?”
“No.” Definitely.
“He’s jealous,” Keith said to Morgan, sounding proud. “Over me.” He took his hand and pulled him into the house. “Come inside, Morgan. Do you want something to drink?”
“I’m good.”
With effort, Brian unclenched his jaw. “How do you two know each other?”
“We’ve rolled around together since we were teenagers,” Keith said.
Brian tugged him behind his back and advanced on Peters.
“I’m kidding! I’m kidding.” Keith pulled him away and dragged him to one of the sitting rooms. “It’s too easy to rile you up.” He smacked a noisy kiss to Brian’s cheek, and even though it was more silly than sexy, it calmed him.
“Your mate’s made a habit of challenging me, so we’ve had some skirmishes over the years,” Peters said as he sat in an armchair. “That’s what he meant. Keith, I’m trying to get through this visit without spilling blood. Please don’t antagonize your temperamental new mate.”
Keith pushed Brian onto the couch and plopped down on his lap.
“How many times have the two of you fought?” Brian asked, looking back and forth between them. “And why?”
“I can’t begin to count,” Peters responded.
At the same time Keith said, “Because I was a hot mess.”
“You look better now,” Peters said. “Happy.”
“I am.” Keith leaned into Brian. “He’s my mate. Can you believe it? I was wrong about Timothy Tillers being my mate.”
Brow furrowed in confusion, Peters nodded slowly.
“How about you, Morgan?” Keith’s voice turned serious. “Are you happy now? You look healed and Ricky said he’s pregnant again, so I hope you no longer—”
“I’m living a real-life version of my greatest fantasy, and it surpasses anything I imagined. Yes, I’m happy.”
“I never wanted to hurt you, Morgan,” Keith said. “I didn’t expect you to let me beat you. You came out ahead in all our other fights.”
Peters arched his eyebrows and smiled. “We both know that’s because you wanted me to hurt you all the other times.”
Keith lowered his gaze. “I wanted you to hurt me the last time too. I should have realized you weren’t up to it and helped you instead of going ahead with the challenge.” He licked his lips and raised his gaze. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what I did.”
“We share the blame. I shouldn’t have used you to do what I was trying to do myself. It wasn’t fair. And besides, you brought my mate and my son back to me. I owe you a lifetime debt for that, Keith. I’ll never, ever forget it.”
“Can someone fill me in on what the two of you are talking about?” Brian asked, mind spinning from all the information he was hearing and trying to process. Would he always live in a state of confusion where his mate was concerned?
“Remember when Ricky disappeared and I couldn’t find him?” Peters said.
Brian nodded. Peters had come to Purple Sky looking for Ricky and Brian had sent him packing. With well-deserved force.
“Eventually, I found him and he turned me away. I spiraled and the next time Keith showed up for one of his challenges…” He took a deep breath. “I tried to make sure it’d be my last one.”
It took a moment but then Brian understood the implication. Peters had tried to end his own life by Keith’s hand. Or more likely his teeth or claws because they would have been in wolf form for a challenge.
“I see.” He considered the situation. He hadn’t realized how distressed Peters had been back then and he felt ashamed of how he had treated him.
Now that he had his mate, he couldn’t imagine being parted from him and not being able to find him.
He would make a genuine effort to let go of his animosity toward the Golden Valley Alpha.
Regardless of his past behavior, Peters had suffered more than enough.
He curled his arms around Keith and held him tightly. “I’m glad everything’s been resolved.”
Peters dipped his head in acknowledgement.
“And the other challenges?” Brian asked. “What’s the story with those?”
“Remember how I told you about Timothy Tillers, that Omega who came to Green Field?” Keith said. “The one who wasn’t my mate, but I thought he was?”
Brian’s shoulders tensed and Keith caressed his arm.
“He was from Golden Valley,” Keith continued explaining.
“He had history with Morgan’s brother, and in my fucked-up mind at the time…
” He shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking.
It doesn’t make sense anymore, but I wasn’t operating on all cylinders back then, and I was sure I deserved endless pain for my failures.
Morgan was the only Alpha who was strong enough to put up a good fight. ”
“Keith?” Peters said quietly.
They both looked over at him.
“How could you have been confused about a mate bond?” he asked.
Brian had been wondering the same thing.