CLINTON.
“What shall we do with them, your highness?” My beta and best friend, Asher, inquired. I looked at the three rogues who dared to enter my territory, but the fear evident in their eyes meant nothing to me. The law permitted me to take any action against them for trespassing on my pack's land. Though tempted to set them free, the urge to use them as an example to other rogues prevailed. “Take them away.” I ordered, turning my back to them. “Keep them in the dungeon and await further instructions from me.” With that, I shifted into my wolf form, feeling my bones crack as my clothes tore apart. Howling into the night sky, I shook my tail before vanishing into the woods. I ran until I reached a lake, where I shifted back into my human form, gazing at my reflection in the still water. A cold-looking man stared right back at me. Dark circles marred the skin under my eyes, and my eyes were swollen and a bit red—a testament to my sleepless nights. The relentless pursuit of ways to bolster our pack funds consumed my thoughts around the clock. Recently, Asher uncovered theft within our pack, igniting a pressing need to uncover the identity of the culprit. Maybe I had been too lenient on them. Maybe they saw me as a fool. Three million dollars were missing, funds earmarked for repairing damaged roads, providing amenities for the pack, and investing in the children's schools. Now, everything is gone. Who took them and what drove this betrayal, I did not know. Sighing, I immersed myself in the lake, water splashing all around as I gasped at its cold embrace. It was chilling enough to freeze a person to death, yet I remained submerged, willing the cold to permeate my soul, replacing the warmth I held for my pack with icy resolve. ‘Alpha, where are you?’ Asher's voice penetrated through the mind link. ‘Seraphina asked me to call you.’ I growled, loud enough that I felt his shiver through the link. ‘Can't she reach me herself?’ My voice was strained. ‘You know the answer to that yourself’, he sighed, ‘Alpha she said to inform you that it's an emergency.’ I cut the mind link with a snap, annoyed that my moment had been interrupted. But I knew better than to keep her waiting, knowing who she was and what she was capable of, she wouldn't rest until I came to her. Sighing, I opened our mind-link and I heard her breathe in and out. ‘Where the hell are you, Clinton?’ She huffed angrily. ‘Why did you close the link to me?’ Gazing at the sky, I admired the brightly shining stars, struggling to contain my emotions in her presence. She, along with my mother and Asher, had the rare privilege to address me in such a manner without consequence. Even Asher knew when to rein it in. Seraphina, my childhood sweetheart, was now my fiancée, and our love continued to deepen. That was the only reason I could tolerate her behavior. She was well aware of it and used it to her advantage. ‘What do you have to say?’ I was furious, mad at everything surrounding me, and feeling an urge to run around in my wolf form. ‘Asher mentioned you said it was urgent, what is it?’ ‘Can't I want to talk to my fiance again without having an emergency?’ Her tone is high pitched and for the first time in twenty years I felt disgust ripple through me. ‘Alright, if there's none I'd better end this’ I ended the mind-link. I slipped beneath the water's surface, holding my breath longer than I had in a while, before resurfacing and filling my lungs with the right amount of air. “Let's go for a run,” my wolf, Kai, yelped excitedly. “I want to feel myself again,” he urged. Dripping with water, I emerged from the lake. The sky was slowly darkening, and I couldn't fathom Kai's sudden urge to run at this time. Nevertheless, I yielded, realizing that, for the time being, I didn't want to encounter anyone until I had sorted through all my thoughts. I sprinted deeper into the woods, reveling in the peace and serenity of my pack's territory. My wolf was prancing around, radiating joy and contentment, which both delighted and bewildered me. “What's wrong Kai?” I inquired, but he didn't answer and kept on running. Suddenly I thought the air smelled different. The delicate and romantic scent of roses paired with the sweet and comforting aroma of vanilla wafted into my nose. Kai took control, and I surrendered, eager to discover the source of his excitement. As he ran faster, the scent drew nearer. Suddenly, he halted, and the world seemed to pause because standing right in front of me was my— Mate! ……. Hello, book warriors! I'm now on I*! Follow me for book updates, news, and more! [author.wheels]CLINTON. Never had I been so dumbfounded and rooted to the spot as I was now. When I was still very young, growing up with Seraphina, I always thought we'd be fated mates. And I wasn't the only one who thought so as well. Everyone believed us to be mates, and it was easy to fall in love. But now, nothing made sense anymore. I had a mate. And it wasn't Seraphina. I didn't know how I felt about that fact, but I didn't wait to think much about it as I looked at the woman the moon goddess blessed me with. She was an epitome of beauty, with her brown skin drawing me like a moth to a flame. My fingers itched to touch her, to carry her in my arms and make sure she was okay, but my legs refused to move. I couldn't claim her, and I didn't want to break her heart. So, to avoid that, I decided to call Asher and order him to take her somewhere else for now. I looked around for my phone and realized I didn't have it. Shit! How would I go about it now? Glancing at her, something tugged at
RUBY.Storm.A very heavy one.That’s how I would describe the pain coming in waves inside my head.Opening my eyes, my right hand moved to my forehead, only to be hit with the strong smell of drugs mixed with the sharp odor of disinfectant.Scrunching up my nose, I tried to sit up just as my sight registered the unfamiliar room. Confusion clouded my mind as I tried to remember how I had arrived. The room was stark, with plain white walls and a quiet atmosphere, medical instruments and monitors adding to the clinical feel.This was clearly a hospital… but how had I ended up here?Thank the goddess, I didn't have to wait long for answers. Someone cleared their throat.My head jerked in the direction of the sound to see a woman, who looked to be in her late thirties or early forties, watching me with a warm smile. Her auburn hair bounced as she approached me, the smile never leaving her face.“Do you feel pain anywhere?” Her tone was gentle.I narrowed my eyes at her. “Who are you? What
CLINTON.I wasn't happy that I left my mate alone back in the hospital. I needed to stay with her and be there when she woke up. But I knew that would not be possible.I knew I could always count on Asher to handle the rogues, but this time around, I needed to be there.Not that I didn't trust he could torture them enough, but because I needed to be the one doing the torturing myself.I needed something to vent my anger on—or someone—and that was the only thing I could think of.So I did what I thought was best.I mind-linked Kiara, the woman who manages my penthouse, to keep my mate company and keep me updated if she woke up or anything happened.And like always, she agreed without any questions.When I got to the pack house, I met Asher already waiting for me at the gate. His face was pooled with sweat, hands stationed on his waist with his head tipped in a frown.I narrowed my eyes on him and wondered if the situation was that bad. Asher and I sort of grew up together, and we soon
CLINTON.I immediately stopped what I was doing, but I didn't let go of the rogue's head. My heart was bursting with pain—pain at the thought of what she might be experiencing, pain from not being with her the moment she woke up, and not being able to take care of her now."Get her some pain relief. I'll be there as soon as I can," I informed her, then snapped the mind-link shut.“You did not just say what I heard you say now, did you?” Kai snarled.“Of course, I did. You want me running off to meet her like this, smelling like dung and blood?” I snapped.“Not like I’d let you leave for the hospital without a proper bath and a change of clothes.”“Now what, Kai?” I was nearly on the edge of frustration. I couldn’t pin down what he wanted from me. I obviously stated I’d soon be on my way to go meet our mate, but that didn’t help to satiate his anger, no?I resumed slamming the rogue's head on the wall, gnashing my teeth as Kai tried to fight his way out. He wanted me to leave him to As
RUBY.I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the big bad Alpha standing before me. Seriously, I don't have a place to stay? Words hurled like lava in my mouth, but I managed to shove them down beneath a thick layer of self-control. So I managed to say, “I'm not in the least homeless, Alpha,” even though it came out as a snort.I thought I saw a flicker of amusement in his eyes before it vanished, but maybe I was wrong.“I never said you were homeless.”I shrugged, “Yes, but it was the meaning behind your words.”He heaved a sigh, propped his hands on his waist, and fixed me with a serious look. “It was only an offer I thought you needed considering…”I hiked up my brows when he stopped, sighing as he let out a puff through his mouth.“I can take care of myself,” I replied, challenging him to give another rude remark. Not that I'd do anything to him, but I'd at least be able to kick his ass and be on the run.He grunted. “So, you'd rather run back to the woods than accept my invitation
RUBY. Kiara stood before me carrying two large fancy bags filled with clothes and other things I could not identify.I closed my mouth, then parted it and shut it back.She softly giggled. “Here, I was supposed to deliver them to you last night, but you were sleeping, and I didn't want to disturb you.”I smiled at her, then nodded, looking down at the bags she was carrying before lifting my gaze to hold hers.“All these are for me?” I said in disbelief, stepping aside to let her in and then shutting the door behind her.Kiara walked to the bed, dropped the bags on it, then sat down and smiled at me.“Yes, because they can't exactly fit me, and the only person with the right size is you.”I smiled. “Thank you. But you didn't really have to. You could have just lent me some clothes to wear rather than wasting money on so many clothes, money that could have been spent on something else.”Kiara swatted my words playfully, then shrugged. “It's not a big deal, actually. I like to render he
RUBY. Relief washed over me immediately, and it seemed like he noticed it because he cocked an eyebrow.I shrugged and leaned back on the bed, crossing my legs as I mulled over what to tell him. I couldn't tell him the truth even though I was innocent, because I knew he would not believe me. He didn't take his eyes off me as he waited for me. Three minutes passed by until I finally found a way to skirt around the truth. “I happened to find out that I was adopted, so I ran away from my pack.”His eyes changed to molten black again, almost as if his wolf was trying to come out. That brought a painful reminder that I had lost Falcon, tears filling up my eyes, but I managed to control them.In an instant, he was beside me, pulling me into his arms, and with a sniff of his scent—a mixture of musk and fresh rain—caused the tears I had been holding back to spill freely.I felt him rub my back as I hugged him, and I bet I heard him mouth something to me, but I didn't catch what was said.Af
CLINTON.After leaving Ruby in my penthouse, I called Kiara and ordered her not to reveal too much to Ruby if she asked about me, especially the part about having a mate or a girlfriend.Then I returned to the pack house and issued a stern warning to all the pack members via the pack mind-link not to disturb me for any reason, as I was busy with work. Then, I went straight to my chambers.I locked the door behind me and paced around my room. Ruby's face flashed back in my mind and I groaned in frustration. I had fucked up twice just the first day I got to have a conversation with her; now she'd think I was an asshole.Biting down a growl, I marched towards my bed, fell on it, and sighed. I needed to fix this if I wanted her to trust me or even like me at this point.The pain that had passed through her eyes was unmistakable, and I felt hurt that I was the cause of it. Whatever made her leave her pack that day must have broken something in her, making her think I said she was homeless.