Chapter 102

Alaric’s POV

How can this be possible? I am Cara’s mate. Me. Not some traveling wander who happened into town on the night of a party.

I don’t trust this man, not in the casual way he’s standing or in the possessive way he’s holding Cara’s hand. It makes a deep unsettled feeling stir in my stomach.

Yet, as much as I want to storm over there and tear his hand away from Cara’s, the knowledge and recognition of my past mistakes holds me back.

All of this is my fault. My own careless actions in the past pushed Cara away from me. How callously I broke our bond in the past! All for a woman who was never my match. Cara is bright and beautiful, a dedicated, hard-worker, with an unbridled passion in the bedroom.

She is my match in every way. I had been a young fool six years ago to not recognize that, and to not just let her get away but to force her to.

Since leaving DarkWood pack, she has loved and lost someone else, the father of her children, nowhere in the picture. Now some other man wants to swoop in and claim her love?

Even if Alaric isn’t determined on making Cara his again, he would still be roused to protect her against this strange outsider.

She’s been through enough. She doesn’t need more heartbreak.

“He touches our mate,” Grey growls in my mind. “He attempts to take her from us.”

My feet start moving before I even think about it, but I cannot wait to hear Cara’s answer. She might agree to his pursuit, she might be lured in by the charms of this stranger.

I can’t allow that. Cara is mine.

Cara glances at me as I storm closer. I might be imagining it, but I swear she almost looks relieved.

The stranger sees me too, and his smile tightens.

As I get closer, Cara pulls her hand from the stranger and backs up a step. I slide into the space she made, standing directly between her and this man.

He’s tall, but still an inch or two shorter than me, and not as broad. He lacks the strength of an Alpha then. If things dissolve into a fight, I’m confident that I will win.

This man does not seem intimidated though. His smile is tight, showing teeth, and his eyes reveal his annoyed curiosity at my presence, but the rest of his posture remains relaxed.

This frustrates me, and Grey inside of me. We both want to make him cower, for him to realize he is an inferior male when compared to me.

He doesn’t seem ready to acknowledge this at all.

“Noel,” says Aidan, one of the twins. I’m coming to learn he is often the instigator, a mischievous one. Undoubtedly this introduction is providing great humor for him. “This is Alaric, Alpha King of the Darkwood pack, and my sister’s former mate – oof!”

Aidan abruptly cuts off as his twin Ryan elbows him in the side.

This is clearly news to the stranger, Noel, who suddenly looks Alaric over with more annoyance than before.

“You are the man who hurt her,” Noel says.

“That’s none of your business,” I snap. “Who are you, anyway? Some wanderer? A rogue?”

“He’s a friend of mine,” Cara’s brother Landon says. I look at him, trying to discern if he is backing up Noel’s claim on Cara. Landon, as ever, appears aloof, and I have trouble deciding whose side he’s really on. Likely, in communion with the other brothers, they will follow Cara’s lead.

“It doesn’t matter,” I say, my voice low and rough. Returning my attention to Noel, I make no attempt to try and hide my utter distain. I hate this man, through and through. Without even knowing him, I hate him.

He wants to take Cara from me. That’s enough reason to hate anyone.

“Cara is mine, do you understand?” I tell him. “I am the one who will win her heart.”

“Oh?” Noel lifts a single brow. It feels mocking. “So you don’t presently have it, do you? Seems to me as if you have already ruined your chances. If I were you, I would step aside and give the lady a chance to be happy with someone new.”

“She doesn’t need someone new,” I say. I know I’m being overly possessive. Cara hasn’t been the most receptive yet to my ideas of romancing her once more. But surely, she prefers me over this man. What does anyone know about him? How can he possibly be trusted?

“Well, I think she does,” Noel says, smirking.

I curl my hands into fists. “Perhaps we should settle this like men and –”

“Absolutely not,” Cara says sharply. She weaves around me and steps directly between us once more. “No one is fighting at our event that is to celebrate togetherness and cooperation.” She shoots a glare at us both, but the one she gives me sears me down to my soul.

Though she hasn’t said it, that look tells me, you should know better. You are acting like a child.

It and it alone keeps me from openly challenging Noel.

I don’t need brawn to defeat him in the war of Cara’s heart, however. I can do that on my own with my affections and dedication.

Cara turns to her brothers. “I’d like to go home now. Will one of you escort me and the children?”

“I will,” both of the twins says at once.

“Me, too,” Colin adds. He’s already holding Mia’s hand.

“I can escort you, Cara,” Noel starts to say.

“No, I can do it,” I say instead.

Eamon gives us both glares. “You two will stay here with me.”

The three of us stood still then, watching as the trio of brothers escorted Cara, Mia, and Ethan out of the ballroom. Once they were gone, Eamon gave both Noel and me a hard look.

“Cara will make her choices for herself and I will not overly influence her,” Eamon says. Softer, he adds, “She wouldn’t listen to me anyway.” At his usual tone, he continues, “But I warn you that neither of you will win her heart by pushing yourselves onto her. She’s been through a lot. She needs space and kindness and understanding. Do I make myself clear?”

In any other situation, I would have balked at Eamon’s attempts to tell me what to do. We are both Alphas of our own packs. A fight between us could start a war.

Yet, in this, I can understand where he is coming from. To him and to me, Cara is most important. And he’s right. Pushing too hard will only force her away.

Noel doesn’t say anything, but his face is tilted downward with some shame. Perhaps he is coming to the same realization.

A physical fight is likely off the table then. Cara wouldn’t honor the winner by being with them. The real battle here would be the one for Cara’s heart, and that would only be won in dealings with her.

I won’t lose this fight. Not to Noel.

Not to anyone.

I messed up so much in the past, but I won’t ever do that again. I will make Cara happy. This time, I won’t ruin everything again.

Lilia’s POV

This event is so lame, I have no idea why am watching it. As a rogue, I don’t belong to either BloodyMoon pack or DarkWood pack. I haven’t belonged to any pack in some time. Six years, actually.

Maybe it’s the decadence that draws my eye. Since my disgrace, I haven’t had much chance for luxury. This apartment, for one, is small and dank. My husband, kids and I crammed into a two-bedroom, with barely enough space for any of us to breathe.

I remember how things used to be. How close I had been to a better life.

That bitch Cara took it all away from me.

Suddenly, as if I conjured her into existence, that same bitch appears on the television screen. I lean forward, transfixed.

Cara… is now the Beta of BloodyMoon?