Chapter 24 #2
“Thank you,” she said, taking a shaky breath.
“We get it. You both have feelings for Arax, and if it were any other situation, I don’t think it would matter as much.
However…” She turned hesitantly toward Drake.
“Gamma, you know we love you, and I know you’ve spent the most time with her, but be reasonable.
Arax is the alpha’s mate, not yours—” She held up her hand when Drake tried to interject.
“And I think it’s safe to say that, Alpha, you’ve always been a little anxious as to what your mate would be like, if she could handle… all of this.”
I stayed quiet, but we knew Vallon was right.
She continued. “So, Drake, can you please understand why our alpha, your closest friend since childhood, is conflicted?”
Drake remained taciturn, his jaw still clenched when at last he spoke.
“Fine, whatever. This would’ve been a lot easier if he’d just said something from the beginning.”
“I don’t owe anyone an explanation. This conversation is over.” I politely told everyone to get the fuck out of my office, and after the door closed, I leaned back in my chair and shut my eyes.
Of all people, Drake was the last person with whom I wished to argue.
We were like brothers. We had grown up together.
I had asked him early on to be my beta when the time came, but Drake had declined.
He was a fierce warrior, the best in our pack, and had asked instead to be the gamma, and I begrudgingly granted his request. Never in a million years did I think our friendship would be tested over a girl.
It was a headache of a different sort. My mind was at odds with my emotions, but the former, befuddled by the sweet nectar of her aroma, was slipping, giving way for my heart to reign.
“Alpha?” A timid voice freed my head of its affliction.
“Come in, Vallon.”
She entered unceremoniously, and I heard the click of the door being locked behind her. “I thought maybe you’d like to talk to someone who opines less than they listen.”
I gave her a tight smile and bid her to take a seat.
“Is this new?” She inspected the chaise that I’d had replaced earlier in the day.
“I had it brought in late this afternoon,” I explained in shorthand. “The leather was… worn.”
We were making small talk, but I knew Vallon wasn’t there to discuss furniture.
It was just her way. She and Jason had similar styles; neither wasted many words or talked at anyone.
Unlike my sister, who declared her opinion as fact, Vallon’s approach was to consider all sides before deciding to give her take.
It was this kind of level-headedness and reliance on being objective that made her the ideal choice for a delta.
“Now that we’re alone, talk to me, Alpha. What’s really going on?”
I sighed and made my way to the wet bar. “We need a drink for this. Are you in?”
“Yes, please. Better make it a double from the sound of things.”
Vallon didn’t need to say anything further. Vodka, club soda, two ice cubes, and a squeeze of lime—I knew her drink by heart. I made the same for myself.
Handing her the glass, I sat opposite her and took a long gulp. “Where to begin,” I said, rubbing my eyes.
She waited patiently for me, and I explained everything. Arax’s accident, discovering she was my mate, the failed rejection, Drake, Cyrus, Apollo… and what I’d been going through the past year.
She gave me a few minutes for any additional details to trickle out before she spoke.
“Wow, Alpha. She made quite an impression in just seven days, didn’t she?”
I finished my drink in record time and got up to make another. “I had no idea the mate bond was this…”
She nodded. “Well, it’s a factor, of course, but I think if Arax wasn’t who she was, it wouldn’t be this intense.
” She grinned mischievously and drew circles on the rim of her glass with her finger.
“I’m not usually attracted to girls, but woooh.
” Vallon fanned herself. “Seeing her one-up Cyrus at dinner was pretty damn sexy.”
We shared a chuckle. I was glad Apollo had shut his trap to take a breath, allowing me a small window to have caught that part of their exchange.
“Apparently, it’s not the first time,” I said, paraphrasing the story I’d gotten from my beta about his first meet and greet with Arax.
Vallon couldn’t stop laughing. “It’s good to see someone else besides Pen keeping him in line.”
“I’m not too worried about Cyrus. Drake, however…” I shook my head.
“I’m not going to lie, Alpha. You did him dirty, only in the sense that you gave him false hope. The rest was on him. He knew she was a human who wasn’t his mate.” Vallon took a brief pause. “Is it the gamma bond, do you think?”
I had thought of this myself. “Probably, but there has to be more to it. The gamma bond doesn’t involve romantic feelings.”
“You two need to sort it out, and soon,” she said. “But back to you and Rox. Would you like to know what I think?”
“Please.”
“I think,” she said slowly, choosing her words with intention.
“You need to do something for yourself for once. Forget about the shit with the council and Drake. Forget about trying to prove your father wrong. Anyone with a brain can see what a great alpha you are. I know your father would be proud if he were still with us. You’ve put so much of yourself into your role for so many years.
From what I’ve been told about Rox, especially from Drake, it seems like she’s had it pretty rough as well.
Maybe you’re what the other needs.” Vallon regarded me rather curiously when I didn’t answer.
“She looks like she hasn’t slept in years.
I’m guessing she wasn’t always this skinny either, was she? ”
My head hung low and heavy with the weight it bore.
“Alpha,” she drawled, her tone carrying a hint of disapproval.
“No need to scold me too, Vallon,” I mumbled.
“It isn’t fair what you’re doing to the both of you, Konstantine,” she said softly.
“It isn’t fair to ask her to be a part of this life,” I replied in protest.
“Then reject her.”
My glass almost slipped out of my hands, the sweat on my palms adding to the moisture from the condensation. It did not go unnoticed under the keen eye of my delta, her face filling with compassion.
“You really can’t do it, can you? It’s not the pain you’re afraid of. It’s the loss,” she whispered.
I nodded. “And not just of a mate. It’s her. It’s like she never left. I-I feel her. She’s in me,” I admitted, pressing the cold glass to my temple.
Vallon made a motion to speak but then held her tongue. She came over and stood on my side, placed a hand on my shoulder, and gave it a squeeze.
“Do me a favor, Alpha, and see how the next couple of days pan out. Will you do that?”
“I don’t have a choice,” I replied noncommittally. “She was invited to the party.”
“Good.” She smiled, taking my response as an affirmation. “Maybe you’ll come to accept that people who don’t have strong feelings for another generally don’t let their wolves nearly kill their best friends.”
She gave my shoulder another squeeze in solidarity and wished me a good night.
Shortly thereafter, I was in my bedroom, my eyelids drooping from exhaustion. Vallon had made a subtle but compelling argument; the course of action I’d chosen had done more harm than good—to Drake and to myself but especially to Arax, who had become the collateral damage of my misdeeds.
Thinking hard about what Drake had asked, I wasn’t sure how I had been able to resist her.
Carrying her down the mountain, I’d felt her presence before we’d really met.
Lying in the hospital bed, disheveled and confused, she had still been incomparable.
I had not said anything about the bond, hoping that once she left that would have been the end of it, but here she was again, and I couldn’t say I wasn’t happy about it.
I groaned as I fell into bed, not even bothering to shower, my haphazard thoughts finally subsiding enough to let me sleep.