Chapter 3
Jealousy is a Sin
Gabriel
Everyone, including the elders of the pack, agrees with Alexa this time. It turns out the girl has controlled her wolf power for the past years. That means if she marries me and becomes Luna, we can use our combined strength to claim a wider territory.
Including the rogues. They will submit to me from now on, damn it. I hate those insolent scum. I no longer need to hold back because Alexa can defeat them all in an instant.
A slight sting pricks my pride because she’s the monster who defeated me when I fought Alpha Romero.
That fact forces me to consider the possibility that she has a special relationship with him.
My elbow rests on the table, my hand clenched over the other as the thought settles like grit between my teeth.
Alexa is surrounded by men. How does a woman defeat me so easily? How does she toy with so many of us without consequence? Especially that damn Omega.
Annoyed by her game, I rise from my desk in my room, resolve tightening in my chest. I have to make her understand her place.
“You best remember who you answer to,” I mutter under my breath, voice low and steady, roughened like gravel on a Montana back road. “I’m your Alpha. And I’m your true mate.”
I go to her room after we finish dinner. She rolls up the sleeves of her satin nightgown, the fabric draping over her body as she brushes her beautiful hair in slow, steady strokes. Alexa looks even more stunning than she did six years ago.
Now her eyes carry a sharp, powerful gaze.
She’s no longer the weak, helpless girl who once begged for my protection.
Her lips look fuller, glowing with a crimson vitality like crushed pomegranate seeds.
Her scent pulls me closer to the chair where she sits before the mirror.
I don’t care if she’s ready to reject me again.
“So you’re the one who stepped in and stopped my fight with Alpha Romero yesterday?” I ask, voice low and even, the kind of calm that stretches thin.
I smile as I lean closer to her. The scent of her floral shampoo, mixed with her natural trace of vanilla and jasmine, drifts into my lungs and settles there. I inhale until my chest feels tight. How I’d love to be here with her for as long as I can.
“Yes,” she says, clipped and unbothered.
“I never figured you’d grow into a force like this,” I murmur, letting my hands circle her waist from behind. “I’m a lucky man to have you.”
Before my lips can brush the bare skin of her shoulder, she jerks away.
“Don’t touch me,” she snaps, springing from the chair, her voice sharp as frost. “You don’t own me.”
The glint in her eyes as she rejects me makes me scoff. Still, her refusal doesn’t push me back. I step forward, boxing her in between the wall and my body. She resists, but she still carries feelings for me. I know it.
“If I don’t own you, then who does?” I whisper, close enough to feel her breath. “You ain’t got anybody else.”
“I have Harlow.” Her chin lifts, stubborn and proud.
The name tightens my jaw. My hands slam against the wall on either side of her head, trapping her more securely. Through clenched teeth, I fight the surge inside me.
“Why’re you doing this to me?” I demand, voice rougher now. “Tell me straight. Are you two potential mates?”
She swallows, her slender throat moving before she answers. “Yes.”
A growl rumbles out of me. I suspected it from the start. That damn Omega lied to me and now hides behind Alexa’s blood pact to dodge my wrath.
I close my eyes, trying to restrain the anger burning through my chest. “How did this happen?”
My hand cups her cheek while the other tightens around her waist. I try to draw in her scent again, but she pushes my hand away. Futile. She can never truly reject me. The mate bond won’t allow it.
“You’re asking the wrong person,” she says, her voice trembling as if she’s holding herself back from falling into my arms. Moon Goddess, this mess traces back to her.
“Don’t tell me Romero’s claim is true.” My thumb presses against her soft lips. The thought of those lips beneath mine sends heat through my veins.
I hate when other men touch her. I hate when another man claims her. Why does she let herself be swayed? Why does the Moon Goddess twist fate into something this cruel?
“Answer me,” I demand.
She stays silent. My hand slides to her throat, not squeezing yet, just reminding.
“Answer me, Alexa. The blood pact says I can’t harm the ones you protect. It doesn’t say a word about you. Don’t push me to the edge.”
“Yes,” she says, eyes closed tight. “Alpha Romero is also my potential mate.”
“And Alpha Alastair too?” My grip tightens.
“Yes. Alpha Alastair as well.” Her voice strains, like a confession dragged over broken glass.
“Are you telling me you’ve already shared a bed with them?” I ask, suspicion narrowing my gaze.
My heart pounds hard enough to hurt. The tips of my fingers ache as claws press against her pale neck, grazing skin. I tighten my hold on her waist, fighting the urge to let my rage tear loose.
“Do you really want the truth?” she asks quietly.
“Tell me,” I growl.
She swallows again. “Alpha Romero and Harlow. Just them.”
“I never thought you’d sink that low.” My jaw locks as my claws press harder against her skin.
“I don’t care what you think.” She grimaces through the pain. “My heart already chose Harlow.”
“What did you just say?” The words ring in my skull like a war bell. Zeev, the wolf inside me, erupts, sending a violent pulse through my mind and ears.
“No matter how much you hate it,” she continues, voice shaking but firm, “I want Harlow here with me. Always.”
“Have you lost your mind, Alexa?” I snarl, fury blurring my sight. “What do you think folks’ll say when they see their Luna turning her back on her own Alpha?”
I’m ready to tear the woman in front of me apart. No one else gets to have her. She is mine.
“Oh, so a Luna can’t stray, but an Alpha gets a free pass?” she shoots back, her voice steady and fearless.
A flicker of guilt cuts through my chest. For a brief second, clarity returns. I release her throat and straighten, forcing myself to stand tall, to wear the authority of an Alpha like armor.
“An Alpha can take a Luna as his wife and keep as many mistresses as he sees fit,” I reply in slow, deliberate voice. “Especially if they’re potential mates. And you sealed a blood pact to stand by me.”
“You heard what you wanted to hear, Gabriel,” she says, her words precise and lethal. “I agreed to marry you and become your Luna. I never swore loyalty. I sure as hell never promised love.”
Disbelief burns through me. My mind replays the blood pact, every word, every vow. Did she truly phrase it that way?
“And I let you keep Lorraine,” she continues with a cold scoff. “Go ahead. Make her whatever you like. Keep her in your bed if that’s what you need.”
My eyes widen. Heat surges up my neck.
“Watch your mouth, Alexa,” I snap, my voice dropping into something dangerous and low. “Lorraine’s an honorable woman. She carries the same family name you do.”
“She’s a stepsister. No shared blood,” she counters, her gaze sharp and unflinching.
She doesn’t fear me. Even with my hand at her throat. Even as my dominant aura presses into the room like a storm front. I can’t bend her. The realization grates against my pride.
“She earned her position,” I say through my clenched jaws. “She works as an assistant in the Alpha and Luna’s secretarial bureau. That’s a respected post.”
“Is that what we’re calling it?” Alexa tilts her head, a faint smirk touching her lips. “So she can trail after you all day and keep tabs on me without anyone raising a brow?”
“Careful,” I warn.
“If you get to arrange your life that way,” she fires back, her chest rising with defiance, “then I want Harlow at my side every day. Make him my bodyguard.”
“Don’t push me,” I growl.
“You already swore you wouldn’t harm anyone I protect,” she reminds me coolly. “Break that, and our marriage is void.”
Damn it. She’s right. The blood pact binds me tighter than chains. I feel led, restrained, forced to follow her terms like a beast guided by a rope. Rage swells inside me.
I shove away from her and turn, a roar ripping out of my chest. My fists slam into the wall. Once. Twice. Again. Plaster cracks beneath my blows. My knuckles split, blood streaking across fractured stone.
“Fine,” I bite out. “You’ll have it your way. But mark me, you’re gonna regret turning me down. No matter what you say, I’m still your mate.”
The next morning, I summon Beta Drake and draft an official order assigning Harlow as Alexa’s bodyguard. I spend the entire process venting my frustration, pacing the office while Drake endures it in silence.
“It’s finished,” I say curtly. “Bring him in.”
I shove the assignment letter across the desk. Drake prints it. With a sharp stroke of black ink from a pointed pen, I sign the damn paper. All that remains is to summon that bastard.
Through Zeev, I reach out with the Alpha mind link, searching for Harlow Phillips. I find his presence instantly, confirming that we’re still connected as a pack and me as the leader.
But when I try to connect, something blocks me. An invisible barrier. I frown and push harder. The link fails again.
“What’s the issue, Alpha?” Drake asks carefully.
I ignore him and focus, drawing on every thread of power I possess. I can sense Harlow clearly, yet I can’t breach the wall around his mind.
“Why can’t I reach him?” I snap, panic laced with fury. “Why’s the link not working?”
Drake’s jaw tightens. His face pales.
“It’s the same for me,” he admits. “Since he came back, the mind link won’t touch him. It’s like…”
“Enough,” I roar. “Don’t finish that.”
A stronger wolf, especially one with Alpha status, can’t be bent by another Alpha’s dominance. Those outside the pack can’t be reached through the link either. Harlow is an Omega. Once an Omega, always an Omega. Unless that has changed.
Has he risen to stand equal to me? Or is it as simple as this? He no longer belongs to my pack. Six years as a rogue. No allegiance. No chain. But when he pledged back to Silver Moon, the connection should supposedly snap into place. It’s common sense in all packs’ energy around the world.
So, why can’t I reach him? Is that why he dares to touch Alexa? The questions churn, each one fueling my hatred.
“Go get him,” I order, slamming my fist against the desk hard enough to rattle the surface. “Drag him in here if you have to.”
* * *
When Harlow arrives, escorted by Beta Drake into my office, I’ve steadied myself.
Or at least I force myself to look steady.
Beneath the surface, unease runs through my veins like a live wire, pricking at my fingertips, tightening in my chest, burning in my throat until I feel as though I could erupt at any second.
I can’t let him see any weakness. No one can know that I can no longer influence him. Especially not Alexa. If word spreads that I can’t even establish a mind link with an Omega, their defiance will grow bold and uncontrollable.
I set a cup of hot chamomile tea on my desk. The steam curls upward, fragrant and calming. I wrap my fingers around the porcelain and let the warmth ground me. If I’m going to turn this around, I need a clear head. My hand gestures toward the chair across from me.
“You lied to me,” I say flatly as Harlow takes his seat.
He leans back slightly, posture relaxed in a way that feels deliberate. “Doesn’t change the outcome. You’re the one marrying her.”
His tone is casual, but I catch the tension in his jaw. Jealousy hums beneath his calm.
“Yes,” I reply, holding his gaze. “And that’s why you ought to stay out of my sight.”
He tilts his head. “Or what? You gonna try and put me in the ground?”
The insolence makes my eye twitch. “I’d be tempted,” I say, my brow tightening. “Don’t mistake restraint for mercy.”
Where does this confidence come from? He used to bow his head in my presence. Now he sits across from me like we are equals. Has he sensed that my dominance no longer reaches him? Has he convinced himself he stands on my level?
“Look,” I say, folding my hands together. “I’m bound by a blood pact with Alexa. I can’t force you out. But I figure you’d want to know whether she truly picks you in the end.”
His brows draw together. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I hear it then. The slight change in his heartbeat. The faint shift in his scent. Unease? Good.
“Starting today, you’re assigned as Alexa’s bodyguard.” I nod toward Beta Drake, who steps forward and hands Harlow a sealed envelope bearing the Silver Moon sigil, a wolf’s head beneath a crescent.
He stares at it. “You serious?”
“Dead serious,” I answer. “Wasn’t my first choice. It was hers.” I take a slow sip of tea.
“With the wedding ritual coming up, she’ll have plenty to do. You can drive her around. Carry her shopping bags. Stay close like a proper Omega ought to.”
His jaw tightens. His fists press into his thighs.
“Fine, Alpha,” he says through his teeth.
I allow myself a faint smile. “One more thing. Tonight, I’m inviting Alexa to a private little event. Since you’re her bodyguard, you’ll escort her there and stand watch.”
He studies me carefully but nods. I open my desk drawer and take out a long strip of thick black cloth. I hand it to him.
“Make sure she’s wearing this before I step into the room,” I say evenly.
His eyes narrow. “What exactly are you planning?”
“Something memorable,” I reply.
“You planning to snatch her somewhere she can’t get out of?” he asks, a low warning in his voice. “Because I won’t sit quietly if that’s the case.”
I let out a short laugh. “Kidnap her? For what? She’s already mine.” I rise from my chair and circle around the desk, slow and composed.
“If it settles your nerves, you’re welcome to inspect the place ahead of time. It’s just a private restaurant. You can even stay inside and keep watch. I’ve got nothing to hide.” I stop in front of him.
“But once you step inside, you stay put until dinner’s over.”
Hatred burns in his eyes. His fists clench again, and for a split second I see the urge to lunge at me. Instead, he swallows it down, stands abruptly, and storms out of my office without another word.
The door shuts hard behind him. And for the first time since he walked in, I let the calm slip from my face.