All Chapters of Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal: Chapter 131 - Chapter 140

(Leo Bloodstone POV)I had been fighting in my wolf form for hours, alongside my father, Nick Brogan, and the rest of my team.I had barely broken a sweat, and we were doing a good job of dealing with the overall threat. However, enemy fighters kept coming at us, and I could not shake the feeling that something was off.Of course, I had felt that way from the moment that I was notified that we were under attack.Almost from the get-go, there were several clues confirming that this was no ordinary attack —some small; some much more obvious.Clue # 1 was that we were attacked at all. It had been at least ten years since the last direct attack on Bloodstone Pack. We took pride in our reputation for being ruthless, unforgiving, and undefeated; most packs and rogues in the country knew not to mess with us. That someone —or multiple someones— had decided to attack us meant that we were dealing with wolves who were either desperate or who had a death wish.Clue # 2 was the bizarre way th

(Xander POV)“If you are expecting an apology and a retreat, you can go f&&k yourself. I would do anything it takes to protect Piper.”“Anything?”“Anything.”Leo's question and tone sounded ominous, but like the master manipulator Ellis had described him to be, Leo went a completely different direction.“Then act like the best friend that she thinks you are. Think for a minute about what she wants and what is best for her.”“What does that mean?”“It means that you need to support her decision to marry me. And if you can’t, you need to go home to your new mate and let her go.”F&&k me. This pompous, narcissistic a&&hole was even more full of himself than I realized.“I will NEVER let her go, you A&&hole. Marrying you will destroy her. I have heard about your plans for her.”“You are wrong. I love her, Xander. I would never hurt her.”At that point, the sincerity in his voice almost broke me. Almost.But then I realized that Leo was talking to me as though I was nothing more t

(Leo Bloodstone POV)“Okay, Leo. Let’s negotiate.”I raised an annoyed eyebrow. “Negotiate?”“Yes.”“What?” Surely, I heard him incorrectly.“It is a solution to both of our problems,” he said confidently. “We can work out a win-win solution. You can get what you want, and I can get what I want.”“Have you lost your mind, Xander?” I asked coldly. “What possibly makes you think that I am open to negotiating with you? Much less that you have anything worth negotiating?”“You told me about Ellis, and you haven’t tried to kill me yet.”“And?”“And you would not have done either of those things unless you had a reason.”“Correct. But my reason is Piper. Not that I have the time or interest in negotiating with you.”“No. Your reason is that you want power.”I pinched the top of my nose in frustration. I should have just killed him. It would have spared me a headache. “Seriously, Xander? Have you learned nothing?”“I have been watching and studying you for years, Leo. I have l

(Xander POV)I was only barely listening when Luna Lily insisted that Leo sit back down. I was too busy worrying about why the f&&k Ellis had failed to notify the werewolf council about the attack.To be fair, Alpha James was right when he said that it was the alpha’s responsibility to give the notice… and I had been planning to do it. But phone calls with the werewolf council are always tedious and time-consuming, and Ellis insisted that he could help me out with that part so that I could concentrate on more important last-minute preparations. At the time, I felt grateful for having such a dedicated and determined beta wolf on my side.But how could Ellis just… not do it? That is not the type of thing that you simply forget to do.Unless…Unless… Unless he did not forget.Leo’s earlier words repeated in my mind. What if this had all been a set-up by Ellis? It would certainly explain who called and reported the attack to the werewolf council. Who else would have known to call?

(Xander POV)I did not know why Leo was so eager to get rid of Luna Lily and Alpha James. Nor did I understand why he did not seem to care that he was angering them. His behavior seemed inconsistent with his plan to marry Piper so that he would have more influence with the werewolf council.However, I did not have a lot of time to really think about it or ask questions. Nor did I really care that much, to be honest. When you are desperate and out of options, and someone offers to throw you a lifeline, you accept it. And goddess knows how desperate I was at that moment.Thus, I agreed to make peace with Leo f&&king Bloodstone. It was possibly the strangest and most unexpected truce in the history of werewolves, but it was a truce all the same.Unfortunately, agreeing to the idea of peace was the easy part. Agreeing to the terms was a lot harder.In exchange for peace, I demanded that Leo cancel his wedding and send Piper home with me to Blue Ridge. I also demanded that he agree