19

ZANE
Everything was going according to plan, just like I had expected it to. Everyone had forgotten about keeping their guards up as the slaves and omegas entertained them. Music blasted loudly from the speakers, and the laughter of pleased Alphas and their betas pooled in alongside the music. I couldn’t help but smile at the perfect flow of things. The slaves and omegas were doing just as instructed, and I took pride in the weight of my authority.
The idea was to flirt with them and please them with their bodies until their guards are all slowly let down. The next phase would be to coyly and stylishly question them about their packs; warriors, income, and security-wise, questions that would help me decide if they were worth an invasion and if an invasion would be of massive profit to me.
And when the occasion was over and they would all depart to their respective packs the next day, the slaves and omegas would then report everything back to me and then, together with my beta Mark, we would derive from their reports what pack would be the next unfortunate one and a new strategy for attack. We will set out spies to relay information on them, and when they are at their most vulnerable points, we will attack.
I smiled as I drank the last bit of wine in my glass which was immediately refilled by the slave on her knees by my table, my eyes taking in the very pleasing sight in front of me and I smiled. Soon…. I would be swimming in even more money and given more reasons to smile.
I was so engrossed in the scene in front of me that I didn’t notice Mark walking up to me until I felt a tap on my shoulder, turning around to find Mark with his brows drawn together. I suppressed an eye roll at the distraction.
“What is wrong, Mark? This had better be good. I had best not miss a second of this fun because of something insignificant,” I warned, my eyes flitting between the party scene and his face.
“Sorry for the distraction, but I thought you might want to see this,” he said, pointing at something, and my eyes followed his finger to find Easton of the Crescent pack heading towards my kitchen building.
My senses all immediately went on high alert as I wondered what he was doing. That place was off-limits to the guests, and he knew that. And that meant he was knowingly going against the rules. Was he using the feast as an opportunity to snoop around my pack to try and find a weakness he could use against me?
How insultingly bold of him to think I would let my guard down like all these other fools in the face of some entertainment. They were in my territory, and that meant I had eyes all around and on them. No way would they sneak up on me without my knowing. One would think he would be aware of that fact, too.
Without wasting time, I got to my feet and was immediately hot on his tail. It was beginning to get dark, but thanks to our wolf senses, I was able to see where he was heading. I came to a halt when I noticed him walking into the kitchen, where I could see Eleanor with her back turned, unsuspecting. I watched the scene all unfold with a locked jaw and clenched fists, growing especially angered when he grabbed her.
“Mine,” I suddenly heard Grey say through the mind link, “Kill him… let me kill him!” I could hear him growling in anger. The sight of his hands all over Eleanor seemed to agitate him even more. She might be a nobody to me, but she was mine in every way possible. She was my slave and I only had the right to touch and feel her body against mine, just me and nobody else, and certainly not Easton.
With my claws out, I stormed towards the direction of the kitchen, ready to end this once and for all, when I was roughly tugged back. An angry growl escaped my lips at the interruption, and I turned to see Mark.
“I’m glad I caught up with you before you did something stupid,” Mark said in between his pants.
“Do you have a death wish?” I asked through my clenched teeth, and he shook his head, “Good. Try and stop me one more time, and you are dead,” I warned, but damn Mark refused to bulge.
“It would seem you’re the one with a death wish, Zane. You know who he is and the kinds of people he is backed by! One move against him could cost you everything, so I suggest you hold your horses,” Mark informed, and I let out another growl, seething, because when the words settled and reached the more logical parts of my brain, I realized he was right.
Easton was one of the Alpha King’s favorites, if not the only one, for some reason. But he’d never been one to accept the king’s favors. He’d made it known more times than once that he wanted nothing from the king and everyone present on any of those occasions would expect his throat to be slit the next second, but all the king did was watch him storm away like a displeased spoilt brat with a fond smile on his face. Everyone wanted the king’s favor and strived for it, but it seemed only one person, who did not want it, was able to get it. If I’d harmed Easton in any way, the Alpha king would no doubt be upset, furious even.
“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch,” I muttered angrily before the sound of Easton’s name drew my attention back to the kitchen. It was his beta calling out to him, and after a while, they walked out of the kitchen together, with Easton depending heavily on his Beta for support. My brows furrowed in confusion at what might have transpired while I was caught up in my inner turmoil as I watched them leave.
“Damn!!!” I heard Mark curse once they were out of earshot, “the bitch has to die now,” he murmured, shaking his head.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, my fist clenching again, and he gave me a ludicrous look.
“She has just found her mate. Alpha Easton is her mate and this spells trouble for-” I didn’t wait for Mark to finish before I continued my walk to the kitchen with thundering steps. My heart was racing and my mind began clouding with a series of emotions, but mostly anger and confusion.
Anger, at the baffling fact that she’d found her mate and would most likely try to worm her way out of my grasp. And utter confusion at the fact that she got herself another mate. What mate? What was I supposed to be then, some kind of a second choice? How was it possible that she had a second mate when she was mine, fated for me by the moon Goddess? Was this the moon Goddess’ way of punishing me for treating her poorly? I could still feel the unmistakable bond that pulled me towards her as I marched toward the kitchen.
I need answers and I need them now. What had transpired between them? Did she feel the bond with him? If so, why with him and not me? Either way, I couldn’t care any less than I already did about the mating bond or whatever. She was mine to keep. She has been from the second I paid for her to come back home with me and nothing was going to change that. She is mine until I say otherwise and that won’t happen anytime soon.
When I arrived at the kitchen entrance, I could feel her eyes on me. I heard her call out to Jasmine, and I wondered if it was out of fear or curiosity. I didn’t wait for Jasmine to turn her attention to me before entering the kitchen, revealing myself to them and I heard as she audibly gasped.
On getting a closer look at her, I noticed how disheveled she looked. Had she been crying? She looked pathetic and I felt the anger boil in me that she was feeling these emotions towards someone that wasn’t me.
Never had she looked this distraught and in pain, no matter what I did to her. It was always pure, unbridled anger and contempt aimed towards me and never this level of pain and sadness displayed for just a few minutes with her supposed mate.
I sneered loudly as I took the final steps closer to her and grew even more disgusted at the fact that her whole frame was wobbly, but it was not owing to the fear for me but the pain she was feeling in his absence. I was not able to control it when my palm made contact with her still-wet cheek and she staggered backwards at the force at which I’d struck her.
My eyes were burning with rage as I watched her fall to the ground with a small cry. I heard gasps from either side of the room, my action shocking both the slave girl and Mark.
I paid them no heed as I crouched on her level so I could hold her gaze and there it was again. The glare and the way her nostrils flare as she looks at me like she was manifesting the sight of me cooking in hot lava. Her eyes have always been so expressive and not once have I failed to see the anger in them whenever she looked at me. But I was fine with that. I’d come to get used to the anger and hate so long as they were only aimed at me, even if that would be the only expressions she’d ever give for as long as she was with me, I wouldn’t mind. She was mine to keep, mine to break and mine to have for as long as I deem fit.
A smirk appeared on my lips when blood slowly began to seep out of a new cut on her lip.
“Mark, get the guards and have them take these two traitors away. See to it that they are severely punished.”