(Alonso’s POV)
The murky puff of my cigarette assailed the air as I sat at a secluded part of the pool at our new hotel; my eyes pinned to the blue pool in uttermost contemplation.
I am deeply conflicted.
I flicked the ashes off the smoke as a group of young girls rushed into the poolside, clad in scanty wears-apparently here for swimming.
I allowed my eyes to take in the two of them from my isolated region, without their knowledge. I had intentionally chosen here because I needed the space to think, but now I’m most grateful for my decision. Imagine these ladies coming upon me-the result would be ultimately disastrous. I refuse to imagine it.
My train of thought was disturbed by Lance intruding on my link.
“Where are you?” his raspy voice came over the link, in a rushed line.
“Any problem, Lancelot?”
“I need to talk to you about something,”
“Then it would have to wait, Lancelot. I need my recourse away from-”
“Alonso! Listen, I need to see you. I understand you are going through… a lot. But the point is bleak.”
“What do you mean by the point is bleak, Lancelot… I own a right to my life and what I want in it! Mate or mateless!” I let my voice raise over the link. Why can’t they all get this simple point?! I don’t want another mate, lest of all, one that is weak and clumsy.
She hasn’t even met her wolf-what a joke.
There was stretched silence. Alas, Lance exhaled and I could imagine his expression-dejected and tired of me.
“Where are you, Alonso. Just tell me, please.”
“Fine.. fine, dude. At the pool. So find me.” I didn’t let him say one more thing before going off the link. His punishment for wanting to intrude on my privacy would be to look for me. I will have fun watching him look blindly for me while I’m inches away.
The thought brought a smile to my face, to be instantly wiped the instant my impression went to the red-haired girl upstairs.
I swear to the moon, I should have just done what I fucken came here for and let them kill her. What possessed me to save her was beyond me. Just there, there was something to bring an end to her, leaving me the free man I was, yet, I ruined it. I was merry and free before I came here. Now… now I can’t tell my state of mind.
Simply chaotic!
I know she must have been very hurt when I told her I had a chosen mate. I saw the pang pass over her face, despite how hard she worked to mask it. I should have felt sour for her-yet nothing of that nature happened. Instead, it gave me joy knowing she won’t continue having a fantasy dream of a damsel being saved by her knight Alpha.
Absolute crap!
Who doesn’t know how to wear those damned heels in this present age? I mean, every lady out there literally wears the dratted stuff. And her-the mere idea is repulsive. Imagine someone had seen her entering the restaurant on ten toes, her white flesh food for the eyes and those pink toes, very desirable and-
“Alpha!” I was head snatched out of my carnal absurdity, embarrassment washing over me at my train of thought. I looked up slowly to Lance to inquire why he was here, afore my thoughts flooded back and I recall I had told him to.
“Dude, are you sure you are okay? You haven’t visited the priestess for your fortification. It’s weighing down on you,” Lance expressed in concern.
I snorted, quickly tapping out excess ashes on the ashtray on top of the table in front of me.
“I am fine, Dude. Stop playing Mom. It’s annoying as hell,” I whined, eyeing him in the process. “What do you say you want, that won’t let you give me peace?”
His eyes fell as he shuffled to the chaise lounge across from me. I watched him pour himself a glass of margarita, hence he downed it in a gulp. At this juncture, I was preparing myself to get an earful from him. Lance bursting your ears without a bottled stimulation, is not the same Lance when he has motivation.
I straightened on my couch, ready for his long sermon.
“You are hurting her, you know that,” he tells me, tilting the reflector my way.
“Hurting who?” I quizzed dryly, knowing but feigning ignorance.
“Don’t act dumb, Alonso. You know who I talk about. She. Is. Your. Fucken. Mate.”
“I never asked for one. I told y’all I’m never going to remarry. That part of me died a long time ago.” I shrugged, taking a long whiff of my smoke and exhaling into the air. He was observing me intently.
“You have to let go, Alonso. You need a Luna by your side. You need-”
“And it has to be her? Man, have you looked at that girl properly? She lacks grace! She lacks poise! She lacks everything that makes a woman stand out! How on the fucken earth do you expect me to cope with such a wimp?!”
“She isn’t a wimp,” he defended her, his eyes becoming dark. If he wasn’t my Lance, I would make sure he is severely punished for using such a tone at me. However, Lance is Lance. So I shook my head to dismiss his defiance.
“I can’t be with her, Lance. I already have Cleopatra.”
“Then why didn’t you reject her outrightly? Why didn’t you let her be with the dude back there?”
“Because he doesn’t deserve her! They maltreated her badly. What kind of Alpha King would that make me, if I had let that slide?” I drawled with pinched eyes, knitting my brows together in rage now.
“You shouldn’t have cared, Alonso. You always have a way out of everything when you want to. If you didn’t want her, you… you Alonso would have found a way to dispose of her, rather than bring her with us. So once more I ask, what is the point?”
“You won’t question my decision, Lance. I still remain your Alpha.”
“Alonso, you are my friend before my Alpha. I am loyal to you and would follow you to the depth of hell, but this… this is not right. You are hurting an innocent girl who has gone through a lot in life, and if you expect me to pay blind eyes to it or lick your ass while at it, count me out,” he deadpanned, standing up instantly. Our hard eyes fixed on each other for a while, until finally, he stormed out of the place, and the only evidence of his ever being here was his strong minty cologne.
I growled aloud and picked up the glass on the table to fill with the brown content. I needed the biting soured taste now more than ever-if only it would wash out the bitterness I felt deep down for everything the moon goddess is making me go through in this moment.
Damn her!
It was just as I wished. The liquid trickled down my throat in a sharp blend with my state of mind creating a unique vibration.
My wolf was becoming restless. I wasn’t ready for this. I know when I’m in a fit like this, Siv becomes crazy and wants to do mad shits. However, this period has been very torturous since we met my second mate. I know what he needs. To mate her.
But I won’t heed his demand to make that happen. It would be over my dead body before I will allow myself touch or do anything lewd with such abhorring character.
I just hope so. I really hope so.
I stood from the couch and reaped the still filled bottle, crushing my smoke on the tray and making a hasty dash out of my concealment-with only one destination in mind.
The red-haired doth.
I have to see her and give her a stern warning. If she annoys me more than she has, maybe I will have no choice but to go ignore the pain I will feel afterward from being apart and send her to another pack-maybe the red pack would do.
The minute my legs stepped out, the dogs in the pool sniffed me out, and instantly their eyes began stripping me shamelessly. I trodded on faster, very conscious of their steady regard. Thankfully, none said anything or made any move at me.
Very strange, yet satisfying.
There was a time I would have picked one of them to suck me off, and ease this bitterness in my chest-but not this time. I have serious matters to attend to and a woman is the last thing I wanted now.
Or, maybe I wanted my mate.
I shook my head vehemently as I rounded a corner leading straight into the lobby of the hotel, and from there ran up the spiraling white staircase.
Once I got to our floor and made for her hall, her scent hit me hard, engulfing all my senses like it does each time she was close by, right from the first day I saw her.
Instinctively, I inhaled in thoroughly, her aura kind of soothing my quirky feeling. I closed my eyes as my legs ambled directly to her door, stopping in front of it to take a few minutes of a long breath of her sweet lavender and honey essence.
Gad!
My hand went up and stroked the door mindlessly, getting intoxicated with her essence so much that my wolf’s whimpering assailed my mind. I growled lowly, clawing at the brown oaks, still not thinking about my action.
Then, without ceremony, the door flew open, causing me to stagger inside straight into her in utter humiliation of the position she had caught me in.
I straightened abruptly, my hand finding my half-buttoned shirt and pulling at it to conceal my disfavor. There was an utter look of shock on her face at seeing me, then that was when I noticed who was standing with her, his hand around her waist intimately-Lancelot.
I’ve never felt more exacerbated.