Mated to the Alpha and His Beta

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“Well, hello there, gorgeous.”

| quickly rolled over onto all fours and crouched low, baring my teeth and growling.

Smells delicious, Lily said to me.

Shh, | replied. Not the time to be sniffing out dinner.

Not that kind of delicious...

The man took a step closer, and | growled even lower.

Who the hell was this guy that he was walking toward a growling wolf?

His green eyes glimmered with something like amusement as he walked toward me, dressed in blue jeans, a white T-shirt with a flannel over it, and Timberland hiking boots. He wasn’t nearly as big as Xander and Zane, but there was a lot of lean muscle there, and | had no doubt he was strong. His black hair was expertly cut and styled, with slightly longer strands hanging over his forehead in a deliberately messy way.

Chiseled didn’t even begin to describe his face and his jawline, and had | seen him walking down the street, | definitely would have taken a second look. A third, even.

He took another step toward me, this time hold his hand out, palm up.

| kept my teeth bared and resisted the urge to back up.

| refused to show any weakness.

The leaves crunched under his weight, and his scent wafted around me as he flashed a disarming smile, showing perfect white teeth.

| growled another warning.

If he came any closer, | couldn’t make any promises as to what | would do to defend myself.

And since we were on wolf land, well, | hoped he didn’t have any loved ones who would miss him when he mysteriously disappeared.

| might be in s hit right now with Xander and Zane, but wolves took care of their own no matter what when it came to trespassers. “It's okay. | know what you are, love.”

He stopped in front of me, squatting down on his haunches as all thoughts in my mind froze.

What did he just say?

“Shhhh.” He held out his hand again. “I mean you no harm. | was taking a walk through the woods and |

smelled you.”

He smelled me? Again, what. The. F uck.

Lily took over and co cked my head to the side, her inquisitve nature coming through loud and clear.

“Ah, s hit. You can’t shift shift back and talk to me.” He looked around. “I’m guess you don’t have any clothes nearby.” He stood, unbuttoned his flannel, and took it off, revealing exactly what | expected was under the fabric-

a lean, muscular body that was hard to tell if it came naturally or from hours in the gym.

one.”

His outstretched hand thrust the flannel toward me.

“Here. Shift and put this on. I'll turn my back to you, and | pinky promise | won’t peek. Not even a little

He gently placed the flannel on the grass in front of me and turned around.

My heart sped up as | stared at the flannel, then his back, and then back to the flannel, frozen.

Do it, Lily commanded.

Odd, considering that Lily never wanted to shift back to human.

Instead of overthinking it, | trusted my wolf and shifted back, hurriedly grabbing the flannel, yanking it on,

and buttoning it as fast as my shaking fingers could manage.

Great.

Now | was covered in his scent.

Just f ucking great.

“Safe?” Mr. Dangerous inquired.

“That depends on your definition of safe,” | replied, placing both hands on my hips in a warrior stance.

| might not be as big as him, but | was powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with him, and my stance needed

to reflect that.

Plus, if he showed any danger, | could easily shift back into my wolf form and rip his throat out.

Man versus wolf was never a fair match-up.

He turned, crossing muscular forearms over his chest, looking me up and down. “You look good in my flannel. Matches your eyes.”

To which | rolled said eyes and remained silent.

“I'm Braden.” He stuck his hand out. “And you are?”

“Not shaking your hand.” | kept my hands on my hips. “How did you know what | am?” | demanded.

“Like | said, | scented you. | haven’t been around any wolf shifters since the Great War, so once | smelled one, | had to find it.” Cc

Xander

“Oh my go d. There you are!”

Alice launched herself into my arms, squeezing me around the waist as tightly as she could and burying her face in my chest. | hugged her back just as tightly, and | could feel the tension leave her body as she finally relaxed her muscles from the fight or flight response she’d clearly been in for the last day and a half.

Zane followed me into our quarters and stood behind Alice, kissing the top of her head and massaging her shoulders while she melted into our touches.

“Shhh, it’s okay. We're here now,” he murmured to her. “We've got you, and nothing will ever take you away from us again.”

“| was so scared,” she sobbed,

“| know, baby. | know. But I told you | would figure it out, to trust me. And look? Now you're our mate,” | cooed gently.

“Your second mate,” she sniffed.

“The only mate that matters,” | replied.

“Agreed,” Zane echoed. “And now...it’s time to complete the claiming.”

He gently extricated her from my arms and turned her toward him, grinning lasciviously.

She looked back and forth to each of us, her eyes shining, and she nodded. “Yes. Let’s hurry and do it before anything else can happen.

| agreed wholeheartedly. “Once we've claimed you, no one can take you from us.”

Her blue eyes turned to the darker sapphire they always did when she was turned-on, and her lips curved up in a s exy, teasing smile.

She stepped back from us, reached behind her, and unzipped her dress, letting it pool at her feet. “Well, what are you waiting for, boys?”

With a giggle, she turned and ran toward the bedroom, launching herself on the bed and laying in the

middle,

Just like she’d done a thousand times before. My heart expanded, but there w a s...s om ething else tapping

at the back of my head. Something | didn’t know how to classify, and it shook me a bit.

It wasn’t second thoughts about claiming her, but there was something...almost uneasy maybe?