Chapter 15

ALPHA MARCELLUS STORM

The moment she entered pack lands; he knew. He was able to scent her from miles away and the closer she got to the pack house where he currently was, holed up in his office, the more her sweet honeysuckle scent tempted him. The sweet scent of her teased him to leave his cave of paperwork and venture out to find her, to claim her. To show her just who was her mate and who was the one that she should be starting a family with.

Try denying her all you want, but you’ll never be able to escape the mate bond. His wolf snorted and rolled his wolfish eyes, still not in agreeance with his human counterpart.

We could always reject her. That’ll get rid of the mate bond and we wouldn’t feel this pull toward her. We wouldn’t be bound to her anymore.

Again, his wolf snorted at the absurdness of the words that passed his lips.

As if you would be able to reject her. You wouldn’t even be able to get your name past your lips if you tried.

Marcellus frowned at that and rolled his eyes, forcing himself to ignore his wolf and get back to work. When that didn’t work and he could concentrate no longer, Marcellus huffed and left his office with the intent of leaving the pack house before she got here.

You can’t avoid her forever.

We’ll see about that.

Before another argument between the human and Alpha pair could ensue, Dalton spied him in the hallway and came over to talk, looking as if there was something on his mind.

“Marcellus, I need to discuss something with you.”

“Can this wait?” He huffed and braced his hands on his hips, staring earnestly toward the front door. Almost as if he was afraid that his mate would walk in any moment now. “I’m overdue a run.” He informed the wolf, omitting the simple fact that he had gone for a run every night this past week, trying to get rid of all this pent-up frustration that drove him wild.

Dalton didn’t have the chance to tell him that the matter couldn’t wait but before he could even open his mouth, Marcellus was already in his wolf form and out the door.

Just as he had been doing this past week, Marcellus pushed himself as far as he could and ran until his legs ached. And then, he pushed himself harder, to cover as much distance as he could.

It was only when he felt his lungs ache and harsh breaths escape him that he slowed down into a light jog, only stopping to take a drink from the lake before he decided to head back to the pack.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed but he didn’t need to head back to the pack house to know that his mate was in there.

He had hoped that running would take his mind off things but unfortunately, it did the exact opposite. Instead of being able to forget about her like he had hoped, all he could think about was her and when he returned to the pack house, Marcellus was even more frustrated and angry than he was when he left.

In fact, he was filled with so much rage and frustration that he pulled on a pair of jogging bottoms and marched through the living and down the stairs into the den where his mate had been sat for the past two hours.

He knew that she was playing poker and that she was up by a couple of hundred, completely sweeping the table. In any other situation, he would have been proud of her but right now, all he wanted was for her to leave.

Don’t do anything you’re going to regret. His wolf warned him in a deadly quiet voice as he pushed open the door and stepped into the door. Or I’m going to have to step in and handle your mess.

I bet you will.

His wolf growled in response but Marcellus was quick to shut him out as his eyes immediately focused on his mate, not needing to search for her as her distinct scent was his like very own personal GPS system.

If she was near, he would be able to scent her out from miles away. He had absolutely no doubt about that.

Silence filled the room as all pairs of eyes turned on him but Marcellus couldn’t bring himself to do anything as it was those baby blues that he couldn’t look away from. Without the window separating them and now standing in the same room, he had to remind himself to breathe otherwise he would pass out.

Go on. Reject her now. I fucking dare you.

When Marcellus didn’t respond, his wolf continued trying to provoke him despite how his human counterpart tried to keep him out.

She’s right in front of you so what’s stopping you from rejecting her now?

You know I can’t reject her in front of everyone. Marcellus growled both internally and externally, ignoring all the strange looks that all the werewolves and one human in the room sent him.

If you’re going to reject her then you might as well just do it now. Like ripping off the band-aid. It’ll be less cruel.

To her or to us?

To both of us.

Marcellus scowled deeply but since he was unable to go through with his earlier threat, he growled loudly and stalked further into the room, only coming to a stop once he was stood in front of the poker table.

He ignored everyone around the table and turned to his Beta who had been watching the game, patiently waiting for it to end so he could join the next one.

“Alpha.” Dalton greeted him with a wary look, opting to use his title as Marcellus appeared to be in an awfully serious mood. “Is everything okay?”

“No, everything is not okay.” Marcellus denied as he shook his head, choosing to cut to the chase. “What is this human doing here?” He asked in a deep, throaty voice, not trusting himself to turn to his mate who was looking up at him curiously.

Dalton gulped at the harsh look on his face but before he could answer, his mate beat him to it, even going as far as to rise to her feet and address him head on.

“This human you’re talking about is right here so if you want to say something, feel free to say it right to my face.” Anastasia snapped at the big bad wolf, not at all appreciative of the harsh tone that he was using on her.

So brave. His wolf hummed quietly, unable to turn his gaze away from the siren that was their mate. She’d make a great Luna.

Too bad that’s never going to happen. Marcellus snorted aloud, quick to follow it with a roll of his eyes.