Two

The room is entirely silent, and the tension in the room makes the hairs on her arms stand on end.

It makes her skin crawl a little, and she glances around nervously, making firm eye contact with her Luna.

It's going to be okay, she links her, silently letting her claws descend from her nails as she takes on a partial shift.

Her Luna nods, her brow furrowed in worry as she holds her hands over her massive bump.

Footsteps draw closer, and her Alpha and father finally make themselves known in the door frame.

The man in the way makes her father look small, and Silas Rosser is a substantially well-built man.

A bubble of laughter builds up in her chest as she notices this fact, and she manages to hold it in - mostly.

A little giggle escapes her lips, and she claps a clawed hand over her mouth, making sure her claws don't come in contact with her face.

Her father immediately turns to glare at her, but it's useless - the damage has been done.

She gets the inappropriate giggling from her mother, who can't stay serious for too long.

Her Alpha gazes at her in horror, and his eyes widen and then flash.

Luna Anna must be mindlinking him, Jane suggests, her eyes never leaving this mysterious man in their kitchen.

Conrad, that is Alpha Adamo. Alpha of the Fire Wolf pack, her Alpha reminds her urgently, and Conrad's brain draws a complete blank.

She has no idea who this man is, and she actually doesn't even recognise his name, which is odd, because she prides herself on never forgetting any names or faces.

And?, she links back, inwardly cringing as she feels her Alpha's exasperated stare. 

This is the Alpha who went on a rampage last year. The one who killed eighteen soldiers for looking at his sister, Alpha James urges, and Conrad's eyes widen a little.

She remembers hearing about that story - he got tried for the murders and fined an extraordinary amount that would have bankrupted most packs.

She doesn't feel scared of him; she doesn't get afraid of people too easily, even though pretty much everything else intimidates her.

She supposes this might because he isn't releasing any of his dominance, but she ignores the voice in her head telling her that exact information.

The Alpha in question looks furious, and he's looking around the room angrily.

"Is this a joke?" He spits, clenching his fists.

Every vein on his arm is defined, and she can't stop herself from looking at them - she finds hands and arms weirdly hot, and Charlotte, her best friend, always reminds her how strange her liking of them is.

"Alpha Adamo, you'll have to forgive us. Is what a joke?" Alpha James asks, a tinge of nervousness in his voice as he looks up at the other Alpha.

Conrad's joints hurt, probably because of her flu, but it's really all she can focus on while listening to the conversation and setting a timer for the cake.

"Where is my mate?" He demands, slamming his fist against the marble countertop.

Luna Anna gasps and whimpers, her mate quickly crossing the kitchen to stand with her.

"Kids, go to my office," he orders his pups, and they all obediently hurry out of the room, the oldest helping the youngest.

"Alpha Adamo, there is no female Alpha here. The only female of that stature is my mate," James quickly explains, pointing to his mate's mark on his neck.

"I can smell her," Adamo snarls, and Silas' face drains of colour.

"Fuck," he mutters under his breath, his eyes landing on his daughter.

Conrad realises her dad is staring at her with wide eyes, and she shakes her head with a matching facial expression.

"I'm a Beta female, it isn't me," she shrugs, backing away a little just in case.

"The smell is coming from in here. So either give her to me, or I'll find her myself," he hisses, glaring at James.

"Search for her. There is not a single female Alpha here. All I have are sons, too," he shrugs, stepping out of the room with his Luna, to observe from just outside the kitchen.

Conrad makes a move to go with them, and she has to walk by this Alpha to get to her own Alpha and father.

As she walks by him, his arm shoots out and grips her bicep, tight.

She cries out, instantly clawing at him with her nails which have not yet retracted.

"You smell like my mate," he growls, and she raises her eyebrows.

"I have not seen anyone except a male doctor today. I don't have your mate's scent on me," she quickly spits out, wrenching his hand off her arm.

She doesn't take well to being manhandled, and she is trained to be a Beta - she has no fear in confronting people.

"I see no reason to complain," he offers out of nowhere, and she raises her eyebrows.

"Oh, wait, I do. My only complaint is that you're not in my bed yet," he smirks, looking down at her.

She scoffs, her face curling up in disgust as she backs away from him until she's beside her father.

"You are vile," she spits, and he shrugs.

"I've been called a lot worse," he smirks, and her Alpha clears his throat.

"Well, now that it has been established that your mate isn't here, can we please go back to the meeting?" James asks politely, and Alpha Adamo chuckles to himself.

"No, see, I didn't say my mate wasn't here. In fact, she's right here," he shrugs, and everyone looks a little alarmed.

Conrad is nauseous again, and she can't blame her flu this time.

She's the only unmated female here, and she must have missed the sparks when he touched her because she was so desperate to get him off.

"I'm leaving after tomorrow's meeting. You will be coming with me, by force or by choice," he announces, staring down at Conrad.

She scoffs, shaking her head to herself as she slides by him to walk out of the kitchen.

He clears his throat, but she keeps walking, completely ignoring him.

She can't verify if he's her mate or not, she can't smell anything. Jane didn't focus either when he grabbed her because they were both more focused on protecting themselves than exploring to see if there was a possible connection.

She gets to the front door before she's grabbed and pulled into a chest.

She slams her fist upwards, and her knuckles make contact with his jaw.

"Let me go," she snarls, her eyes flashing.

Silas and James hurry out of the living room to observe the scene.

Silas doesn't intervene - his daughter will let him know if she needs help, and he isn't one to force himself into any situation he isn't needed it.

"My name Atlas. What is yours?" He asks quietly, and she can barely focus on his question.

Tingles are running along every part of exposed skin that they have touching.

His shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and she's in a sleeveless top, so her arms feel like they've been electrocuted.

"This isn't possible," she shakes her head, squirming out of his grip.

"You don't have to tell me that, I know," he scoffs, and she raises an eyebrow.

"What's your name?" He asks again, scowling a little as she steps back.

"What's your name?" He roars slamming a fist against the wall.

He didn't even give her a chance to answer before he yelled, so she clears her throat, straightening her spine a little bit to draw herself to her full height of 5"7.

"Conrad," she stutters out, blinking at him in confusion.

She doesn't understand where his anger suddenly came from, but she isn't exactly planning on sticking around to find out.

Before he can say anything else, she turns and hurries out of the house, making sure she doesn't run.

She isn't in the mood to play predator versus prey, and if she runs, his dominant wolf will take it as a challenge.

He wolf will sit and roll over for him, so she isn't even risking letting Jane out.

She just wants to go home and get changed into something soft and comfortable, because she feels even worse than she did this morning, if that was even possible.

She glances at the sky as she walks, and a frown comes to rest on her face as she gazes at the dark clouds.

It's going to rain soon, and she's going to sob if it starts while she's still outside.

She speeds up a little once she's out of sight of the packhouse because he won't be able to see her once she can't see it.

She continues to glance at the sky as she practically jogs home.

This shouldn't have happened, Jane whispers anxiously, feeling somewhat isolated.

I know, we should have a Beta mate, Conrad quickly responds, concerned for her wolf.

Wolves are pack animals, and Jane already knows that she will likely be isolated or shunned for having been put with an Alpha - she won't fit in with the other Lunas, but she also will no longer fit in with the Betas due to her higher mating status.

That's before they even consider the issue of The Society, the little panel who decide if they live or die because of their mating.

Silas has no heir now, Jane suddenly realises with horror, and Conrad almost trips over her feet as she comes to a halt outside her home.

"Shit," she whispers, walking in the front door.

"Con, is that you?" Her mom calls, sticking her head out from the kitchen door.

Her eyes light up when she realises that it is indeed her only child, and she rushes out to greet her.

"You found your mate? And you didn't immediately mindlink me to tell me?" Her mother fakes hurt, resting a hand on her heart and opening her mouth in shock.

She doesn't let Conrad get a word in as she pulls her into a tight, strangling death-trap of a hug.

"Is he cute? I hope he's cute, but is he nice? It's more important that he's nice to you because you have to spend the rest of your life with him unless one of you rejects the other, which I really hope doesn't happen. That would be really sad, and I don't want you to be one of those sad, rejected girls," her mother blabbers excitedly, clapping her hands as she does a little dance in the spot she's in.

"He's an Alpha," Conrad says shortly, sliding by her mother to get into the kitchen.

She hasn't eaten in a day, and she wants to have something in her stomach for the hibernation she's about to have - she has no intention of going anywhere tomorrow because he didn't even have the decency to talk to her in private. He just demanded that she go with him with no regard for her.

"Honey, that's impossible, he can't be an Alpha," her mother frowns, gently nudging her daughter away from the stove and spooning some soup into a bowl for her.

She puts it onto the table and pulls out a chair for her daughter, a confused frown on her face.

"That goes against the laws," her mother manages to get out after a minute or two of complete bafflement.

"I know. We're going to have to reject each other," Conrad murmurs, running a hand through her wild hair as she blows on her soup to try to cool it down.

"Your dad mindlinked me and told me you had found your mate, but he didn't reply after that. He must have been dealing with the aftermath, I'm sorry, honey," her mother sighs, taking a seat beside her at the table.

"This has hardly ever happened before. The same thing happened around the time me and your father first started going out, but that girl was murdered by her mate. She wasn't strong enough, he said," her mother mumbles to herself, leafing through the newspaper on the wooden table.

Conrad turns to stare at her mother in horror, flinging her hands out to her sides.

"What the fuck?" She gasps, standing up after finishing most of her soup.

"Are you saying I'm going to die?" She groans, and her mother's eyes widen.

"No, honey, I'm just saying that the last time someone was in your position, it didn't end too well," she shrugs, biting her lip.

Conrad shakes her head, walking out into the hallway and storming up the stairs.

She just wants to sleep, but she can't even do that.

She opens her bedroom door, and the man of the hour is sitting on her bed, a smirk on his face as he stares at her.

She lets out a shriek, throwing herself backwards to get away from the intruder.

"Oh, don't run from me baby," he says mockingly, standing up and offering his hand to pull her off the floor.

She doesn't take it, helping herself up with the banister of the stairs.

"Mom," Conrad roars, and her mother comes running, her footsteps pounding on the stairs.

"Yes, honey? Oh shit," Barbara gasps, stopping behind her daughter.

So you didn't arrange this?, Conrad groans, and Barbara stares at her in horror.

No, I didn't. I'm a romantic, not deranged, she hisses back, both staring at the tall man in silence.

Just talk to him, maybe he just wants to sort out the issue before your wolves get any more attached than they are, Barbara suggests, shrugging as her daughter lays her horrified eyes on her.

"Would you like to talk in my office, Alpha Adamo?" Conrad clears her throat, pointing towards the door of her office.

Barbara makes herself scarce, vanishing back downstairs. No doubt she's summoning Silas and some of his men to come and rescue their daughter because she knows she would be no challenge to Alpha Adamo.

"Why do you call me Alpha? You know my name," he sighs, letting her lead to the office.

Maybe if we're friendly, he won't kill us like that girl in Barbara's story, Jane reasons, trying to make sense of the situation. Just be nice, we can offer him coffee and just answer any questions he might have.

Conrad and her wolf may disagree and fight on some things, but they have the same idea here - they just want to stay alive.

"Because it's your title, Alpha," she responds politely, taking her seat behind her desk.

She only has an armchair in the corner of the room, because she never has meetings in the office. The only visitor usually is her mother, who pops in for an occasional chat or gossip if she knows her daughter isn't that busy.

He perches on the seat.

"But it's not my name," he insists, scowling a little bit.

"I don't feel comfortable calling you by your name. You displayed a lot of aggression when I didn't answer your question fast enough, and I, quite frankly, do not feel safe with you," she calmly states, giving him her full attention.

He looks a little surprised by this admission, but he doesn't let it show on his stony face.

"I'm not that bad," he scoffs, affronted by the statement.

"Alpha, if you can't control your anger in a building with many other Alphas, I fear what you'd be like if I were alone with you. On top of this, I am a Beta. I don't have Alpha strength, so I wouldn't be able to protect myself as well as an Alpha Female," she utters, her face completely straight.

She isn't letting him read her, because he'd know she was absolutely terrified if he did.

She's barely managing to hold onto her scent because she knows she'd reek of terror.

She's gone up against men twice her size, but they were never Alphas because the ranking would have been entirely unfair.

"Just call me by my name, and we won't have a problem," he snarls, folding his arms as he sits back in the chair irritably.

"I'll give you a hint. It's what you'll be screaming when we're in bed," he adds, a smirk crawling onto his face.

Jane gasps, horrified by the man's crude implications and language.

"That's a high standard you're setting for yourself. Unfortunately, most men believe that bragging will give them a better sexual reputation. Sadly for them, they're almost always overcompensating for something they don't have. So, I highly doubt I'd scream if we had sex, and I also don't see myself bedding down with you any time soon," Conrad sharply spits in his direction.

He's out of his mind if he thinks he's getting even an inch of freedom to mock her.