Chapter 17

(Owen POV)

Watching Amelia and the Blood Beast, Alexander, together was really going to take some getting used to. As an alpha wolf I am naturally protective, and it isn’t easy seeing someone else being able to comfort my mate besides me. I knew it wasn’t right of me to keep letting such small things get to me, but it was not easy to. I never thought I would have this feeling of so much uncertainty when I found my mate and having to compete with another guy. This was far from an ideal situation, but I wanted to be with Amelia so I would have to make this work somehow. I needed to be the bigger man!

Once Amelia had drifted off to sleep, I asked to talk to Alexander outside. The night air was crisp but not too cold which here I am guess meant that the seasons were changing. It was rainy and cold almost all the time back home, so I wasn’t sure what the weather here is like. Once the door to Amelia’s room closed Alexander turned to me with his arms crossed in a defensive posture. I guess he was expecting a fight, but if it came to that I would not be the one to initiate it.

“Why did you want to come out here?”, Alexander began, “Because if it is to tell me to leave Amelia alone, I won’t do that.”

I wanted to respond with a rude response but bit my tongue and let the urge pass.

“No. I asked you out here so we could talk.” I say with an edgy voice.

“About what?” He asks realizing a little.

“Well, clearly both of us are not exactly happy with this situation but I think we need to come to some kind of truce. Amelia has enough to deal with, she doesn’t need to hear us at each other’s throats all the time on top of that.” I recommend.

He nods and thinks over my words before responding.

“Fine, but we do what she recommended. We split time with her. That was our interactions will be to a minimum.” He replies with an annoying smirk.

“That will be fine for now, but when I become alpha, she will need to live with the pack. That is something I cannot compromise on.” I tell him.

“Then we need to find a way for your pack to accept the fact that their Luna will have two mates. You can’t expect me to just walk away once she becomes Luna! Like you I can’t let her go so easily.” Alexander says with a hint of aggravation.

“I cannot ensure that the pack will agree to have you there! It will take time for them to accept, making it dangerous for you to be there or even for them to know Amelia is mated to you.” I tell him, feeling more aggravated as well.

“So, you want her to lie? Make it like I don’t even exist in her life? I am here to help protect her, how are you going to explain my sudden appearance if something happens and I need to step in to help?” He steps closer to me now.

“Look I will be alpha; my duty is always first to my pack. I need to think of what is in their best interest! They would see you as a threat and look to me to keep them safe. No amount of convincing is going to change a prejudice that goes back long before you and I were born.” I reply trying to not take his closer movements as threatening behavior.

“See that is where we differ. My one and only duty is to Amelia! To be there for her and to protect her! So, if it came down to choosing your pack over her? Would you?” He says, his voice rising slightly.

I was stumped on how to answer him. Of course, I care for Amelia, and I have a natural urge to love and protect her, but I had a duty to my pack. In truth, I don’t know what I would do if that choice was before me. I would love to say that I would pick Amelia with out a doubt, but it wasn’t that easy. Who would protect the pack if I wasn’t there? These people were my family, my friends! I hated that I had to even think about this! Also, Amelia is a very special woman with a complex destiny. Even without the complication of the Blood Beast, she would not be a typical Luna. Her unique abilities were given so she could protect and fight for all of our kind. That would mean, she would be responsible for far more than just the service to our pack.

She would need to be available to help many others! The more I thought about it, it was clear that maybe I was over my head with this whole thing. I was meant to become alpha soon and present my mate to the pack, and we would swear together to protect and care for them. How could I present someone like Amelia to my pack? With her having another mate, who is also our enemy? How would I explain to them that she is now one of the most powerful creatures to ever exist?

Maybe, I needed to find a different solution. Not one that meant sharing her, but one where I would give her up. We had not completed the mating bond, so it would be far less painful to reject her now than to wait until we have become too close. She had a mate willing to give up everything for her, she didn’t need another.

“You’re right! I have a choice to make here, and that choice is whether I should fight for Amelia or let her go” I say.

Alexander’s expression is one of true surprise. “You coward! You would walk away from her that easily? You would not even try to make things work? All because you are too scared about what our pack will think?”
I feel defeated already, so I don’t try to give him an answer. I start walking toward Amelia’s door, before I am pulled away.

“What the hell are you doing?” He asks gripping my arm tightly.

I pull away from him. “If I reject her now and not drag it out, it will be less painful.”

“You selfish bastard! Didn’t hear what Isa said? She said Amelia needs both of us! Or were you too busy stewing in your own pride?” Alexander spits out.

“Why hold on to something that is not even mine?” I yell back at him.

“She is not just something to put on display and to be called yours! She is a person who has fought hard to come this far. She is powerful yes, but she still needs people with her! To care and love her, and that is supposed to be us. You and me! We were chosen because she was meant to be with us, even if we didn’t ask for it and even though we may not like it, it doesn’t matter! She needs us! So, start thinking about her and what she needs, and come down off that high horse that is making it too hard for you to see past your own ego.” Alexander says pushing away from the door further.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about! You have no idea what it means to be an alpha of a pack! To carry thousands of live in your hands! Where one mistake can mean the death of every person you have ever cared about! So, don’t preach to me about being selfish, when all I want is to protect my family!” I say pushing him back.

He scoffs at me. “You’re right, I don’t know what that is like. That’s because all my family is already dead! I have no one left to protect, just Amelia! She is all I have to live for now, and I will protect her, even from you! So no, you cannot go in there and tell your mate that you don’t want her! You don’t get to break her heart right now! You can go and think about what the girl in there needs, and how you can give it to her because she deserves more than a coward’s confession.” He turns and walks back into Amelia’s room and I hear the click of the door locking.

I was stunned. I had thought Blood Beasts to be selfish and uncaring, and yet here was one telling me that I was cold hearted! The worst part was, he was right. From the moment I searched for my mate I wanted her to be the one to lead beside me and help the pack when I needed her to, because my father always said that was the Luna’s place. My father drilled it in my head that the Luna of the pack was a glorified accessory at best, and even though I told myself I never believed a word he said, and that my Luna would be treated like a queen, here I was acting no better than him.

There was no way I would become a man like him!