Jaded Hearts
Chapter 12

Matt

In less than thirty minutes, Drew would be in my home with my mate, which just made me want to rip his heart out as soon as he stepped over our border. Never in my life had I hated someone with this much passion, but Drew was a special case. He deserved all my hate and more.

I told Xander that I didn’t want Drew anywhere near Taylor, so the meeting in his office was off the table. That was much too close, especially since her heat was still raging. I went down to the conference room on the main floor and just paced the floor.

“Matt, this is just a sit-down. So, do just that and sit the hell down. You’re getting worked up before you even have to,” Xander told me.

“I’m worked up because of what he did to her, Xander, not because of the meeting. This is just a formality. It won’t change the way his life ends.”

“Either way, just relax. I doubt you even have the energy to do all this moving around. You should be passed out in a corner somewhere. How are you holding up? When Alaia’s in heat, it’s exhausting, and I have someone else to help me break it. You’re doing this all alone.”

“When it’s all over, just hook me up to a Gatorade IV and let me sleep for a week. I’ll be good after that.”

“Or, we can ask Alaia to heal some of your exhaustion. Give you one of her famous energy-boosting melodies.”

That wasn’t a bad idea at all. Alaia was an Amethyst Wolf, which made her extremely rare and powerful. She could touch someone and hum a song, and any pain, injuries, or even fatigue would just go away. She used to use it on us quite often, but it drains her energy. Now she has three little ones to care for, so as she says, “we’re on our own” now.

Maybe she’ll take pity on me and help me out once this meeting is over. “I’ll replace bean when we’re done here. She loves me too much to turn me down in my time of need.”

Kade and Alexi walked into the room a few minutes later and took their seats. “They’ve just crossed over the border; they’ll be here in five minutes,” Kade advised.

“Alright, you guys wait here. Alaia and I will greet them at the door, then I’ll bring them in so we can get started,” Xander said before he stood and left the room.

“Guys, I want to murder this dude. I don’t want to hear a word he has to say, just his final breath slipping past his broken and bloodied teeth.” I was shaking with rage and didn’t know if I’d be able to sit here in the same room with him for the next hour or so.

“Matt, man, you’ve got to chill out now. We understand and support you, but there are protocols for a reason. Let’s get through all the red tape, then you can have your fun,” Alexi leaned over and told me.

Have my fun? Absolutely. I wanted him to feel every broken bone Taylor ever did, every cut and bruise. He would shed tears and beg like I’m sure she did. As dark as that sounds, witnessing him in that state would be the ultimate fun for me. Then I’ll go back to the fun and caring guy my pack and family know me to be.

Once my mate was avenged, I’d be me again. But for now, Drew will get the beast.

* * *

Drew

“Andrew, I really don’t know all the details since this meeting is so last-minute, but if you start any s**t or embarrass this pack in any way, I will banish you,” my father angrily told me.

We were riding in the back of his SUV on the way to Blue Moon to meet their Alpha. I’m sure Matty boy went crying to him about my personal business with my flower, and now I’m being f*****g lectured. None of this s**t was my fault. I was just playing the hand I was dealt.

It all started my junior year of high school.

* * *

Being the youngest son of the Alpha doesn’t come with much responsibility, so I was allowed to go to a human high school. It was refreshing to not be known because of who my dad was or my pack’s reputation, and I intended to take full advantage.

I picked Taylor the very first day I saw her at school. I had never seen eyes as green as hers; she drew me to her like a moth to a flame. I approached her after our second-period chemistry class and knew right away that she was special. She was smart, ambitious, and didn’t have a problem voicing her opinion. She was nothing that I had ever seen before. I was going to make her mine. She would be my wife one day, I just knew it.

But then all that changed when I turned eighteen.

I arrived at school nervous that day because it was the first day I could replace my mate. I knew Taylor was human, but I hoped it would be her. She would’ve been perfect as my mate, and I would finally have something that was beautiful and wonderful all my own. I’d be out of the shadow of my father and brothers. She was the type of woman any man would be proud to have on his arm.

Walking down the hall, I started to smell something that drew not only my attention but also my wolf’s. It smelled like fresh cedarwood, a strong, earthy scent that made you want to spend days on end out in the woods, becoming one with nature.

It was intoxicating. So, I followed it.

I weaved between the students and teachers and ended up in the strangest place. Why would my mate be in here? As I pushed the thought aside and walked in, the cedarwood wrapped me in a warm hug. I had found her.

Three timid, shaky steps forward, and I was stopped in my tracks. It wasn’t Taylor. This made no sense. The person before me wasn’t even a female. It was Ryan Davis, captain of the football team and the school golden boy.

I was in the boy’s locker room.

What was this? I wasn’t gay. This had to be a mistake. But the scent coming from him was undeniable. It was the scent of my mate. What the f**k?!

“Can I help you with something?” he looked over and asked when he noticed me staring at him. He was human. He didn’t feel the pull the way I did, and even if he did, he was always with a girl. He would never accept this.

But wait! I didn’t want it either! I wasn’t gay, and I was going to prove it. “No, I’m good. I just got a little turned around out in the halls. Sorry about that.”

I rushed out of the school and to my car. I needed a quiet place to think. This was just some cruel joke. I was already an outcast at home; there was no way I could tell my father that I found my mate, and it was a guy. But I had no idea how to reject a human. Did I have to do it to his face? He would think I was insane.

“I, Andrew Witt, youngest son of Alpha Daniel Witt of the Dark Woods pack, reject Ryan Davis as my mate and partner.”

I felt the stabbing pain in my heart and knew that it had worked, but I didn’t allow myself time to dwell on it. I had plans, and all of them centered around Taylor Adams. I’d prove to everyone that I wasn’t weak, that I could have a beautiful woman, and she’d do any and everything I wanted. She would be mine in every way.

I would not be weak.

* * *

“Andrew! Get out of the f*****g truck. Now!”

“Chill out, Dad, damn. This isn’t even that big a f*****g deal.”

My father stepped up to me and dropped his voice to a dangerous whisper. “You will not speak to me like that. You will address me as Alpha while we are here, do you understand me?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Everyone in that meeting will be a ranked member of one of the largest and strongest packs in the area. You will show them respect. All of them.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Now get your a*s moving; they’re waiting.”

I walked up to the front of the packhouse and saw Alpha Xander and his Luna Alaia waiting at the steps to greet us. The Luna stepped forward first. “Alpha Daniel, welcome to the Blue Moon pack. We’re honored to host you this evening.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Luna. You have a beautiful home,” Dad said. The usual pleasantry bullshit.

“Thank you. Colton, Andrew, welcome. Please, come on in,” she said to my brother and me. The Luna led us up the porch steps to were Alpha Xander stood, and I had to admit, this guy was massive. I would tread lightly around him.

“Alpha Daniel, it’s good to see you again. Colton and Andrew, welcome to my home. If you’d follow me, I have the conference room ready for us.”

We followed him through the house to a set of double doors. When he opened them, there were two other guys sitting at the table next to Matt, the piece of s**t who stole my flower.

I smiled at him, knowing it would piss him off. When his eyes flashed black, I knew I had struck a nerve. The three of us sat on the opposite side of the table and waited for Xander to begin. Once he sat down, he got right to it.

“Alpha Daniel, we have asked you here tonight because it has come to my attention that your son Andrew had a problem putting his hands on women.”

“Why is that any concern of yours?” My dad asked.

“Usually, it wouldn’t be. If that’s the man you raised your son to be, then that’s your choice. But this particular woman is my Gamma’s mate; therefore, our Gamma female.”

The anger was starting to slowly build in my dad. I could always tell when he was getting ready to blow. “How long has she been your mate, Gamma?”

Matt looked at my dad before he answered. “I found her six months ago, and she was officially claimed as mine two days ago.”

“Is she marked?”

“Not yet, Alpha. She’s understandably a little wary of certain situations after Drew repeatedly beat her and tried to rape her.”

I grinned at him again and said, “That b***h wanted it. She still does.”

Matt

I shot up from the table and launched myself at Drew. Unfortunately, his father was closer and quicker. He grabbed the back of Drew’s head and slammed it down onto the table.

“What did I tell you?! You will not disrespect their Gamma or his mate! Where did I go wrong with you?” Alpha Daniel then yanked him back and into the chair.

I was still standing and pacing behind the table. Kade, Alexi, and Xander were all ready to pounce. He was disrespecting our entire pack, not just Taylor, and not just me.

“Alpha Daniel, if you cannot control him, I gladly will,” Xander warned.

“Please excuse me a moment. I need a break,” I said before I stormed out.

This guy had mental issues. He had to. There was no way he would purposely antagonize us to our faces unless he had something to gain. He was playing a game, and I was going to beat him at it. After a couple of minutes, I went back inside and sat down.

Everyone was talking quietly except Drew, who was sitting off to the side, looking like he was ready to burn down the world. I then stared Drew right in the eye. He seemed nervous for a brief moment before he hid it behind his usual smug face.

“Drew, why do you really want Taylor? She’s not your mate, so what’s in it for you?”

“It’s none of your business why I want her.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Not true. She’s mine; everything about her is my business.”

Hearing her be called mine seemed to strike a nerve. Where was his mate?

“Where’s your mate, Drew?”

His eyes darted over to his father and brother before looking back at me. “I don’t know. Maybe I don’t have a mate.”

“Or maybe they saw you were a worthless piece of s**t, and they rejected you. Is that what this is all about? You were rejected and got your feelings hurt, so now you need to hurt someone else?”

I was getting to him, I could tell. I leaned back in my chair and placed my feet on the table. “I’d reject you in a heartbeat if you were my mate. You’re just the Alpha’s screw up of a son. A waste of space, really.”

He shot up and leaned over the table at me. “She should have just done what I told her to do. Then none of this s**t would have happened, but she had to have thoughts and desires of her own. The Moon Goddess made a big f*****g mistake and gave me the wrong mate. So, I rejected him, not the other way around. Taylor was supposed to be mine, not some dumb jock. I know it!”

You could have heard a pin drop after Drew’s outburst.

“Alpha Xander, could my sons and I have the room for a moment, please? We need to have a family discussion,” Alpha Daniel said, his eyes boring holes into Drew.

“Take all the time you need. Let’s step outside, gentlemen.”

Once I was in the hall, I let out a deep breath. Kade looked at me and gave a low whistle. “I think you should have been a detective and not some fancy VP, Matt. That was amazing.”

“I knew that guy was hiding something. I didn’t expect this, but I knew it was something. Doesn’t matter though; this will still only end one way. It’s just a matter of when at this point.”