Chapter four

Devlin's POV

I strolled into the room filled with Alphas. The meeting was long gone but my aura dared anyone to speak about my lateness. I walked nonchalantly to my seat ignoring the quietness of the room. They were all scared of me. Why wouldn't they? I could wipe out all their packs without blinking an eye.

        

When I had sat comfortably in his seat, I cleared his throat and as though on cue, the Alpha who was talking before I walked in started from the beginning. Explaining what they had discussed to him. I barely acknowledged him. Alpha Theo was his name. He was trying hard to get on my good side so I could side with him in the future.

They are all pathetic. I can see right through them.

        

My wolf was the reason I had attended the meeting in the first place. It had been restless and had only calmed down when I decided to attend the meeting. 

I never wanted to listen to boring talks about peace. I believed in action. Destroy anyone that refused to fall in line. Too bad none of the Alphas believed in that ideology. Their pack would be more successful if they do.

        

" Alpha Devlin, do you have anything to say on this issue?" I stared blankly.

        

" Would you take my idea?" The other Alphas shook their heads and I nodded knowingly. They knew what I was going to say. I wasn't a man of peace and they were a clowder of whining cats.

        

I felt jumpy. I knew that the feeling belonged to my wolf. I reached out to him. 'Would you tell me the reason you've been acting up this week '. Silence, I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. My wolf knew something, I hoped it wasn't bad.

I sighed loudly and they all turned to me. I waved them off. Can this meeting be over already?

        

My nose picked on a dynamic blend of bergamot, jasmine and sandalwood. The scent grew stronger as the seconds passed. My wolf was thrashing trying to take control. Mate! The door opened and a head popped out. She gasped as she stared at the Alphas.

        

" I'm sorry, I made a mistake." She murmured. Her voice calmed me. My eyes were on her. Didn't she feel me? Or was she pretending not to?

        

My legs moved faster of their own accord and I gripped her hand before she could slip out of the door. I heard the other Alphas gasp but I didn't care about them. I never did.

        

" Mate!" I watched as her face drenched of every color they had and her eyes increased in their diameter.

        

" Mate." I said again. As if she had realized herself, she tried to shake my hand off hers but my grip tightened. I wasn't going to let her go.

        

" You are mistaken. I am not your mate." She said confidently. I admired her confidence but did she know who I am?

My wolf begged to be let out but I refused. My wolf wanted to force her to submit and accept us but I knew better than to let him out. 

        

I couldn't help but lean closer to her and sniff at her scent. I almost chuckled as relief flooded my system. She had no wolf and therefore could not recognize me.

        

Another hand grabbed my free arm and I turned to meet the gaze of Alpha Arlo. Right. This was his pack.

        

" You can't claim her. She doesn't think that you are her mate."

        

" That's because she doesn't have a wolf." I retorted. My mate winced and tried to release her hand from my grip. He refused to let go. I knew she wanted to run away.

        

" You may be the Lycan King but this is my pack and I will not watch you force your claim on one of my pack members!" My wolf gyrated wanting to show the short man his place.

        

" She doesn't even want you."  He added and I snorted. Lie.

        

" She doesn't know what she wants." My hands were strong in hers. I won't let her go. Alpha Arlo's eyes darted to my mate. The emotions I saw in them were too much and I wanted to bang the Alpha's head on the table but I held myself. 

I turned to go dragging my mate with me.

        

" Let me go. I know what I want and it's not you!" My mate screamed and tried to pull her hands off mine.

        

" You are my mate and I am taking you home with me. That's final."

        

" I am not your mate and I will never be." She stomped her feet and shook her head. She pouted in anger and I wondered how it would feel to have those lips wrapped around me.

        

" Maybe you should go and come back later when she is settled."

        

" No!" My words were final. I hated the fact that Alpha Arlo's eyes kept moving to that of my mate. I am not going to let my mate stay one more day with this Alpha. 

My mate freed her hands. I was too focused on glaring at Alpha Arlo that I had loosened my grip on her.

        

" Since you are hell bent on taking me away without my consent on the basis that I am your mate, let me clear the air on that." I pinched my nose in annoyance. 

Doesn't she get it? There was nothing she would say that would change my mind. I hated the fact that she was choosing Alpha Arlo over me. What was the relationship between them?

        

My wolf filled my mind with images of the wicked things I intended to do to her to make her submit to me and know that I was the only person she could have.

        

" I, Eliora Thayer, reject you Alpha..." So that was what she wanted to do? My eyes flashed with anger and I grabbed Alpha Arlo's neck.

        

" Finish those words and your precious Arlo will be gone." I watched her swallow and sigh in defeat. I hated the fact that she was willing because of him.

I released the Alpha and watched how my mate ran to him. I hated that she cared for him and her eyes softened towards him. I hated every bit of it. 

        

 " You are coming with me." I was tired of their public display of affection.

        

" She doesn't want you." Alpha Arlo said weakly.

        

" Either you let her come with me or I will wage a war between our packs." The other Alphas gasped. I smirked. I had gotten him. My mate stared at Alpha Arlo, her face was filled with emotions and I wanted to tear the man apart. Did she think that Alpha Arlo loved her that much to choose her over his pack? Was she dumb?

     

" I am not a very patient man. You should know that." My voice was calm but I was not calm. I wanted to take my mate away from him and my wolf agreed with him on that. We rarely agreed on anything.

        

 Alpha Arlo bent his head in defeat and I knew that he had won. Well, that was fast.

        

" Go with your mate." He said slowly and I watched my mate’s shoulder slump in defeat.

        

" I will come get you when I can. I won't let you stay forever with him." I snorted. Did he think I was going to harm her and he was going to be her savior?

Alpha Arlo took my mate's hands and clasped it against his while he said those stupid vows. I yanked my mate away from him and dragged her from the room to my car.

        

 " I will never accept you as my mate." She had said those words before but it still hurt me to hear it. I know that she didn't mean it. Even if she did, I will make her take those words back on her own accord.

It was a promise I made to myself and my wolf and I opened the door for her. She entered still fuming.

        

" I will find a way to get away from you without harming Arlo." So, they were already on a first name basis? She folded her arms across her chest. I tried to avoid looking at her breasts.

        

" So he is your lover." She called him Arlo without adding Alpha confirming my suspicions.

        

" No. He is the only man in my life that is real to me." She said and my heart twitched. My hands tightened round the steering as I tried to contain his anger.

        

 " I am real."

        

  " No, you are a monster." So she heard the rumors and she believed them. Great.

        

 " You are manipulative just like my first mate, even worse than him. I was too weak then but now I am strong because of Arlo. This time I will not let you use me. I will be the one in control this time." Her eyes were filled with determination. He wondered about the lies that Arlo had filled her with.

        

“Too bad that you are stuck with me for a lifetime.”

She chuckled. “A lifetime? I beg to disagree. In one month away from now, I will be gone and you won't stop me!” She was feisty and I loved it. She intrigued me.

I have one month to give her enough reason to stay.

I turned to her, “Bring it on, mate.”