Mated to the Alpha and His Beta

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“Well,

“Well, that went fantastic.”

“You sure you should have let her run off like that?” | asked.

Xander slumped into dark-brown leather couch in his office, laying his head back and looking up at the ceiling. “What the hell else could | have done? She'll be back.” He scrubbed a hand up and down his face. “Plus, if | would have let the guard go after her to chase her down, it would have made it look like she was doing something wrong. And she wasn’t. She just wanted to get out of there, and can you blame her?”

| dropped onto the couch beside Xander and mirrored his position, looking up at the vaulted ceiling and focusing on a wooden beam running across it. “Nope. | would have wanted to get as far away as possible.”

We sighed in unison, not needing to verbalize how s hitty we felt.

She didn’t deserve to be humiliated like that.

But there’d been no other way to claim Alice.

We'd done what we had to for the woman we loved, and f uck anyone who wanted to fault us for that.

The look on Alice’s face when Xander made the announcement had been worth it. The love and happiness shining in her eyes had been the medicine we needed to make it all worth it.

“Did you see Alice’s face when you mentioned that we consummated the mating?”

Xander groaned. “I didn’t need to see it. | felt the daggers coming from her eyes. I’m not sure who she was

more upset with-us or Lanie”

“Yeah, we're going to have to make it up to her big time tonight. Hopefully, the whole mating bit will gain us some br ownie points,” | laughed.

“You would think. But we all know Alice likes to hold a grudge.”

There was a side to Alice that no one else saw. She seemed meek and mild to most, but there was a different

side to her that she only revealed when you got close to her. She could be a bit manipulative and petty, but never

over anything major.

In fact, it could be almost cute at times.

The tips of her ears would start to get red when she got upset if you weren’t playing into her hand, and Xander

and | often made a game out of getting a rise out of her.

Of course, we always gave into her. Always planned on giving into her. It was just amusing sometimes to see the Tend she would go to in order to get what she wanted.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

Elder Aldon burst through the study door, not bothering to knock.

Xander’s sigh was loud, and there was no double Aldon heard the annoyance in it.

F uck, | couldn’t wait to be rid of this guy.

Xander didn’t even bother to move from his place on the couch, instead just turning his head slightly to the right to look over at Aldon. “I've secured the mate we wanted in the first place. That's what I’ve done.”

“Is that all?” Aldon scoffed. “You’ve now pointed out a loophole in the mating assignments that anyone can use. You've undermined decades of ritual and planning and procedures and, and

“And what? If the High Council didn’t want people to have a way out, why write the footnote in there? I’ve done

nothing wrong, and I’ve followed the law to the letter.”

“The footnote is specifically for- Aldon clamped his mouth shut.

Xander sat up straight and narrowed his eyes. “Specifically for what?”

“Specifically for dire situations.”

“Which would entail?”

The muscle in Aldon’s jaw ticked. “Unforeseen events.

“He’s hiding something.” | said.

“No s hit, Sherlock.”

Xander leaned back nonchalantly, clasped his hands over his stomach, and closed his eyes dismissively. “Well, then good. I’ve used it properly. Last night was an unforeseen unfortunate event.”

| kept my eyes on Aldon, and | was pretty sure his face couldn’t get any redder, his eyes practically about to bug out of his head. “Are you smelling toast, Aldon? Shall we get you a healer?”

“What?” he spluttered.

“You look like you’re about to have a stroke. | just want to make sure we get you medical attention in time. Would be a shame if you lost any of your motor skills.” | paused. “Like the ability to speak.”

Xander snorted before he could stop himself, then recovered and schooled his face again.

| was usually the one telling him to tread carefully, so no one was more shocked than | at my comments.

The last twenty-four hours was getting to me, apparently.

Xander stood, and | mimicked him, my d amn sixth sense when it came to him telling me that he was about to leave the room. “Elder Aldon, | have not broken any laws. I’m sorry you are upset regarding our taking of a second mate and 2/3

our inability to complete a claiming with Ms. Stanton. I’m happy to speak to the High Council about this.” Xande

strode forward until he was at the office door, then he looked back at Aldon, standing there and seething. “Perhaps if the High Council is displeased that | have exercised this option, they should consider making some

amendments. In the meantime, it’s time for my Beta and | to claim our new mate.”