Marked by the Alphas

Chapter 32: Chapter 32

Axel POV

Kane and I glare at Braden as Elara walks away. It would be so easy to kill him right here and now and get rid of his body.

“Well, this was nice,” Braden smiles from ear to ear, and I clench my fists in anger. “See you around.”

Braden waves, turns around and walks away.

“I thought of least twenty ways to kill that motherfucker in five minutes,” Kane hisses next to me.

“I can add another ten,” I huff as we turn around, shift and run home.

Kane POV

After a refreshing shower, Axel and I are in the dining room of our private quarters. Neither of us has the energy to discuss niceties with other pack members.

I am still so angry that the beauty of the dining room, with its tall ceilings and huge windows overlooking the forest, is lost on me. This is one of my favourite places in the mansion to scheme and think, but it does nothing for my mood today.

“What the fuck did we do to deserve two defiant mates?” I complain to Axel over lunch.

“We picked wrong,” Axel replies dryly. “If we stuck with Elara and didn’t insist on Alice as a second mate, we would’ve been in bed right now, actively trying to impregnate her.”

I ignore his obvious – and correct – answer and cut into my steak. I cannot bring myself to think about this morning. Every time I do, I see Elara with that ... that asshole, and then I am furious all over again.

“Alice is already out of control,” I sigh.

“I know,” Axel replies, dropping his knife and fork. “How the hell could she go out and not come back? She was out all night! Even if we don’t suspect anything, that kind of behavior makes her, and us, look bad in the pack’s eyes..”

“It’s Alice,” I shrug, shaking my head. “She doesn’t really think before she acts.”

She does not understand her role as Luna, nor her place as our mate.

Sure, Elara is no better, but technically, we give her permission. To be honest, I never thought she would take us up on that, but at least she uses discretion and meets the bastard in the woods. Elara is fiery and confident, but her moves are calculated.

Alice is all over the fucking map, and she is making our lives hell.

“If Alice makes a habit of running off like this, people will start to notice.” Axel lays his hands flat against the table. “The Council will notice us.”

“I get it,” I snap, pounding my fist on the table. He is not saying anything I was not already thinking, but I do not need him to repeat the obvious. Alice is becoming more and more of a liability. freewebnσvel.cѳm

“We’re not fighting in here, are we, boys?” Mother’s voice rings out from the entrance to the dining room.

“Ma, you can’t just barge into our quarters like this,” I complain as she walks into the room with a confident stride.

“As long as I’m still the Luna of this pack,” she leans across the table and plucks an apple from the fruit bowl in the centre, “I can do whatever the hell I want.”

She takes a big bite of the apple, and Axel and I exchange begrudging smiles. Our mother, Gabriela, is a sweet woman who loves connecting with our pack members, which is why she was such a kickass Luna. People feel like they can come to her with anything, and she always offers the best advice. But she was also a total hardass.

She does not take bullshit from anyone, especially us. When Father stepped down as Alpha, she told us she knew we were capable of taking over, but that we should not become complacent. And she has been riding our asses ever since to make sure we do not.

“You know I just caught Alice sneaking back into the mansion,” Mother says casually.

Axel and I exchange a loaded glance, and Mother notices immediately.

“What?” she asks. “Did you not know she was out?”

“Obviously, we knew,” I huff.

“Then you should also know that it’s improper for a newly mated Luna to be out all hours without her mates,” she replies.

I roll my eyes. I know I am being childish, but I have just been over this shit with Axel, and I am not in the mood to rehash it with Mother of all people.

“We’re handling it, Ma,” I say through gritted teeth,

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” she places the half-eaten apple on the table, turning to leave.

“Alice is going to be a tough one to teach,” she calls over her shoulder. “I can already tell.”

I push my plate away and let my head fall hard onto the table, and groan loudly.

If she is already annoyed with Alice, what the hell will she do when we tell her Elara is taking on the Luna duties, but Alice will get all the credit? It pretty much goes against everything Mother believes in, and I am unsure if she will be able to lie to the pack when they praise Alice for the work that Elara did.

“Get it together, Kane,” Axel says wearily, pulling me back by the hair. “We’ll figure this Alice shit out one way or another. And then ...”

He trails off, but I know what he wants to say ... and then we can tackle the even bigger elephant in the room - Elara’s “sidepiece” Braden.

I still do not know who the fuck that guy is or where he gets off talking to me like I am not the Alpha. As if I cannot tear him apart in seconds.

“You don’t think Elara’s actually been with Braden, do you?” Axel asks, his voice tinged with jealousy.

“No fucking way,” I shake my head. “We’d know through the mate bond if she had.”

This is true, but that does not mean there is not something else going on between them. And it does not mean they will not be together in the future.

Just the thought of sharing Elara with another man, especially this man with his stupid smirk and his stupid lumberjack outfit, enrages me. I clench my fists as my wolf surges to the surface.

No way was Elara going to sleep with that man.