Chapter 3

*Jaxon's POV*

My grip was firm on Piper's hand. I wasn't giving her any opportunity to pull away. She was going to be mine and I planned to make that clear. The first order of business was to get her home where she can take a shower. She had Matteo's scent all over her from that hug. I didn't like seeing his arms around my mate.

I let out a low growl to myself just at the thought of it again.

My growl caused Piper to look at me for a moment. When I looked back at her and our eyes met she looked away quickly. I knew she was trying to avoid the feelings of desire when she looked at me. She didn't want to give into it. With time I was confident that would change.

We led ourselves back through the woods we had come in. We had brought our cars as the drive from our pack territory was long. We needed to conserve our energy for the fight we had anticipated. However, by a strange twist of events that fight never really came. We only ended up hurting one person from the pack I set out to eradicate.

I glanced down at Piper beside me. She was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Her dark brown hair may have been in a ponytail right now but I could tell it was long and those blue eyes. They were the most extraordinary thing I've ever seen. And then there was her scent. It was addicting and I couldn't get enough of it.

She was clearly younger than me. She was twenty from what I gathered from the meeting with Alpha Bradley. I was twenty five so we did have a little bit of a gap but that wouldn't be a problem at all. We were mates so we could make it work.

Her hand remained in mine. Her touch made me feel warm inside and sent excitement through my body. A feeling that I hadn't really ever felt with anyone else. With her hand in mine though I could sense her other emotions. She was confused, angry but also had some excitement. It was an interesting mix.

"Alpha Jaxon can't we shift to make it back to the cars faster?" Scott, one of my pack members, groaned out.

"No." I responded shortly. "I can't let our new member shift and try to run away."

Piper looked up at me in slight shock. I could tell from her emotions and the look on her face what she had been thinking. She didn't think she'd be caught but she wasn't that hard to read for me. I heard that you could tell how your mate was feeling or what they were thinking sometimes. Of course due to the circumstances I figured she probably would think of trying to escape.

To her I was the bad guy. If only she had known the whole truth. There were so many things she didn't know. Things that involved her own pack. She was set to be their luna but was clueless as to what Alpha Bradley and a few of the other elders had been up to. Eventually the truth would come out, it always does.

"Are you sure?" Scott groaned once more.

Nikko, my beta stopped and turned around. "We aren't shifting, shut up and let's keep moving. It's not that much farther." He spoke sternly.

"Fine." Scott mumbled under his breath.

"Where are we going?" Piper asked as she looked up at me.

I could feel the desire for her go through me. I wanted to take her right here and right now. I wanted to feel her hands all over me as I had my way with her. I wanted her claws to dig into my back as I pounded myself into her over and over. I could see she wanted it too, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

For now I needed to hold back. She was already stand-offish towards me thanks to the things she had heard. She had heard a few lies mixed in with the truth. I was indeed a rogue wolf at one point but not by my choice. Now I was the alpha to one of the biggest packs around. We were feared by about half the packs around and respected by the rest.

"I'm taking you to my home." I answered.

I could see her face mix with emotions again. I knew she didn't like that she had left the life she had known. She had left the man she decided to mate with for someone she had been taught to hate. The fact that Matteo marked her as his really pissed me off if I'm being honest. Just because he couldn't find his mate doesn't mean he had the right to mark someone else's.

I planned to fix that though. I purposely left out the feeling she and I had towards each other when the exchange was discussed. I didn't need Matteo to know that Piper and I were fated mates. He would just get in the way of things and that's not what I needed. Once I had Piper as mine then I had plans to go back and face him and the rest of their pack.

I wouldn't kill them, as promised for the trade of Piper. But they needed to be dealt with. Their pack needed to have some change in management. Either from a new alpha that wasn't from Bradley's bloodline as Matteo knew exactly what was going on, or they needed to join an existing pack once theirs had been dealt with. Either way the Moon Stone pack will be no more once I'm done with them.

I was pleased that Piper didn't protest my answer to her question. I could tell she was stubborn and a fighter. I suspected my touch made her calm and more open to the idea. That or she was a damn good actress. I couldn't rule out that she was behaving until she had a chance to run.

Our cars finally came into view. I led Piper to my red Jeep Wrangler. I helped her into the passenger side and then came around to the driver side. Nikko stayed next to the passenger seat door while he waited for me to get situated. Once I was he got into the back behind Piper, just in case she tried anything.

I started the Jeep and began the drive home. "You're quiet now. You had a lot to say at your pack house. Why so silent now?" I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I don't have much to say to you." She spoke coldly as she looked out the window.

"Why didn't you tell him about our connection?" I was curious to see what she would say. She had the opportunity to tell Matteo how she felt but she didn't. She seemed to hide it well from him as well, she was marked so he should've picked up on something.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She glared. I could feel she was trying to be angry but she was mainly just confused.

Nikko scoffed in the back seat. He had been there to witness when our eyes met each other.

"Oh really blue eyes?" I smirked. "That kiss said differently. I know you feel what I feel. The sooner you embrace the better we'll get along."

She looked at me and I could tell she was blushing. "That was a mistake. I'm Matteo's. He marked me. There's nothing you can do about it." She was trying to hold her ground but I knew she was struggling.

"Really? You want to bet I can't do anything about it?" I asked in an amused tone.

She was going to be challenging. I could sense she would be but it sent excitement through me. I never wanted an easy mate. I didn't want a luna who did whatever I asked. I wanted the challenge. I wanted to have a luna that could think outside of the box and make important decisions. She was perfect for my ideal luna.

"Sure." She crossed her arms over her chest. "If you can't find a way to do anything about it then you have to let me go home. Where I belong."

"Fine." I agreed. "Two months, if I can't find a way to take his mark off of you then I'll let you go. But if I can, you're mine forever."

I could tell she was nervous about making this deal. As she should be. I had information that she did not. The Moon Stone pack had kept their wolves very sheltered. They only gave them the information that they wanted to have.

She wouldn't win this bet but I could let her have her fun. It could also maybe help her loosen up around me. If she was more welcoming we could talk more. We could build our own bond up and then when the time came she would be willing to get rid of that disgusting mark from Matteo.

"You're really not going to tell her?" Nikko mind linked with me so Piper didn't hear his question.

"Nope. What she doesn't know won't kill her." I glanced in the rearview mirror and my eyes met Nikko's.

I noticed a smirk cross his lips as we closed the mind link connection. He also knew the information I did. He knew this was a deal that was practically set up for me to win. But that would stay between us. Piper would learn about it eventually.

"But I have one condition to this deal." I spoke up once more as I focused on the road.

She seemed to get a little more nervous in her tone. "What's that?"

"While I do my research into this I need you to be open to the fact that we are fated to be together. Regardless how you feel the Moon Goddess has a reason for putting us together." I glanced at her and then went back to the road. "That means neither of us can reject the other until the two months is up."

I felt myself feel a little uneasy at the mention of the word rejection. It was a fear but I couldn't let myself think of it as a possibility. No, I wouldn't let it be a possibility. I was going to make her mine and while she was bonded to Matteo he was going to feel every bit of it. He would know every time I touched her body. By the time I'm done he'd be begging for his mark to be off of her.

It would be the perfect karma for him. He shouldn't have touched my mate.

After thinking it over Piper finally let out a sigh. "Fine, no rejection until your time is up. You have my word."