Braiden
She stands tall, her shoulders held high as she looks around the room.
Briana looks at me, giving me a wink before pulling Ava forward. Trust my sister to get her here. Briana had a way
of convincing people, though I was surprised she had managed to sway Ava.
I saw the way her nose scrunched up when she passed Selene, who had intentionally worn the same dress from the
previous day. From our last encounter, which had ended with her throwing herself at me when I told her I could not
name her as my Queen. Begging me to reconsider. While I had not outright confirmed I had found my mate, I did
tell her there was someone else. When she tried to pry more details out of me, I reminded her that as King, I did not
answer to her, and she would do well to remember her place.
Her tears and pleas were pitiful, but I understood, given our years of friendship and her one-sided love. I knew she
loved me, but I had never reciprocated, even telling her it was out of necessity when I agreed to make her my
Queen. What a mistake it was to think that choosing a mate could outweigh a fated one. There was nothing to
compare.
Even now, as Ava weaves her way through the crowded hall, her scent fills the room. Overpowers every other.
Floods my senses. I don’t know how that asshole Alpha Alexander rejected her. His mate. It was fated that he
would. He cannot handle the little minx. He is too weak. The Moon
Goddess must have realized this. Realized her mistake in matching the only white wolf with anyone other than her
equal. Anyone other than myself.
Her eyes land on Nick, who is sitting with Samuel close by. He stands up and, with one look from me, sits back
down. She looks between the two of us, a frown forming on her face.
“Brother, look who I brought,” Briana boasts, the surprise on Ava’s face telling me she was none the wiser.
“Your brother,” Ava grinds out while Briana beams up at her, the pride of being the King's little sister showing on
her young face.
“The very same. We will be sisters then,” Briana gushes, while Ava shushes her and looks around nervously.
“Bri, can I talk to your brother quickly? Privately,” Ava asks with a strained smile as she looks at Briana and then
around her.
“Um, okay.” Briana looks at me. With a nod of my head, she disappears.
“Sit.” I point to the chair beside me, Ava’s eyes widening with shock.
No one in this hall besides Samuel, Nick, Briana, and Darius knew what Ava was to me. The curious glances I
received when the chair beside me was carried in did not go unnoticed. But I didn’t care. If she willingly sat down
beside me, I would declare her Queen and my mate, right here, right now.
“That is for your Queen,” she says while her eyebrows arch up, trying to ke ep her voice low. Her expressiveness is
refreshing. She uses every muscle in her face to d epict her feelings, like a canvas that changes painters from minute
to minute. Second to second.
“Yes. It is.” My response infuriates her, her hands flying up to rest on her hips. She is a little spitfire.
“For Selene. I know what she is to you. I could smell you all over her. I won’t go through this again, My King,” she
hisses, purposefully not using my name.
So that fucking shit stain ex-mate of hers cheated on her before rejecting her. I have heard how painful that is. So
intense, some women have said it is worse than childbirth. My anger flares at what this woman, my mate, went
through on more than one occasion. My response is such that even her stance falters, and several of my pack
members perk up, their eyes taking in the scene causing their King’s current emotional state.
“Listen, I’m not what you are looking for. Let’s just end this now. You can make her Queen. And let's be honest,
she suits the role and looks better at your side. You and her are matched. Me and you, well, we’re not. So, just give
me your full name, or even better, you know mine, so as King, you can reject me, and we can be done with this.”
Ava saying these words so casually infuriates me, my wolf pushing forward at the thought of her rejecting us. I
could never reject her. Already, I am besotted with the woman. Yet, she is not with me. My ego was taking a
beating at the thought. The thought that my mate didn’t want me.
She st eps back as fur sprouts on my hand, and my teeth elongate, a small growl es caping.
“Out. Everyone!” I roar, the sound of utensils being dropped on plates and chairs being pushed back almost
deafening. Over a thousand wolves clear out in a matter of minutes, my guards pulling the doors closed behind
them so that we are now alone.
Ava looks around in shock, her hands no longer on her hips.
“You want to reject me?” I growl out, rising from my chair.
“Don’t you want to reject me?” she answers my question with her own as I approach her, her body stiffening in
response. This tells me part of her doesn’t want to reject me. She seeks an easy way out, trying to place the
responsibility on me to avoid feeling guilty about rejecting our mate bond.
“No.” The word echoes around the hall as I slowly circle her.
“So, you want me to be your Queen while Selene is your bit on the side?”
There is nervousness in her voice. She doesn’t want the opposite to be true.
She doesn’t want me to say it will just be her—just my Ava as Queen.
“No,” I say, dragging my finger down her back as I circle her again. The shiver is unmistakable. “No Selene in this
picture. I ended that the same night I met you.”
Ava looks at me with shock, her mouth falling open. I put my finger under her chin while at the same time rolling
her bottom lip with my thumb.
Fuck, I wanted to bite her lip, kiss her right now. Ravage all those words from her mouth so she never r epeated
them.
“But she smelled of you,” Ava mumbles, her tongue touching the spot my thumb had seconds ago.
“She was deliberately trying to cause a divide. She threw herself at me last night, hoping I would reconsider.
Begged me. That is how my scent was
so strong. She wore the same dress.” My little minx flashes with anger and jealousy, the feeling bursting off her and
then being pulled back.
I scented the same jealousy when Selene said my name earlier in the room.
My little minx feels things for me. She won’t admit it to herself. I will have to make her.
“Well, I still think this is a bad idea. I am damaged goods,” she states, hurt flashing across her face before she looks
away.
“Your opinion, not mine. Do not tell me how to feel or which of your projected emotions I should wear,” I retort,
watching her as she pivots on her heel, walking towards the table closest to us.
I follow close behind, my eyes raking her body as it sways while she walks.
A body I want to devour. I want to taste and touch every inch. Every piece of smooth skin and every scar. Know
every mark intimately. Not just its position on her body but why it is there. And then I want to r eplace it with the
last memory they will ever have. My kiss, my touch, my caress.
Until the frequency of love and attention they receive obliterates every negative association she has with them.
“So what? We just become mates? Without even knowing each other?”
She walks over to the buffet table and picks up a croissant, breaking a piece off and popping it into her mouth.
She hasn’t eaten since waking. She must be starving.
“Get food, and then we will talk.”
“Enter!” I shout, the doors opening and everyone piling back in. They look surprised when they see me out of my
chair but say nothing, returning to their seats. Ava’s shocked expression is comical. I would laugh, but that would
be inappropriate. Instead, I grab her hand and place a plate in it before stacking it high with a little of everything.
Then, I lead her over to our chairs, the slight pull on my hand relaying her hesitation.
“I’m not sitting there. Not yet, anyway. Maybe never.” She avoids my gaze, her defiance amusing rather than
irritating.
“Fine,” I say, taking my seat before pulling her forward and onto my lap.