Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha
Chapter 22

I stared up at him curiously. He wasn’t that bad of a Wolf. We’d found some common ground during our conversations-now that we were no longer discussing rubbing Leander’s cum all over my body. Amazing how well two people could communicate when leaving that out.

“What is it?” I peered up at him.

“Hold up your hair.”

Now I was even more confused but reached to hold my hair away from my neck.

“Good. Turn around.”

I turned and was shocked to feel him release the locking mechanism on the collar. It slipped off my neck into his hands.

When I turned back around, I stared intently into his eyes. “Does Leander know you’re doing this?” Leander had been pretty clear on the purpose of the collar, to detour me from getting into a fight. He knew without my ability to shift and my Moon-given strength, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to take on whoever got in my way in order to escape. I was almost certain Leander wouldn’t approve of removing the collar and wondered if Ever frequently defied his Alpha’s orders.

“Leander told me to do it.” Ever pushed it into his pocket.

“When?” I asked suspiciously.

“Right after you left this morning. He also wanted me to tell you to do whatever you felt you had to do.”

I stared at him with my mouth open. So, Leander was going to trust me now? Damn that Alpha for being so damn confusing!

Ever continued, tone hard, a warning not to resist. “The collar goes back on once you’re done.”

I wasn’t so sure about that but didn’t say anything.

“I’ll be waiting for you out here. Don’t even consider trying to run. There are ten other wolves, watching and guarding. They are all mated and have Leander’s permission to physically do whatever they need to stop you. Don’t make him regret the decision of temporarily removing the collar.”

I listened carefully to his words, not surprised there were other wolves in play. I also wasn’t surprised they were all mated. Leander didn’t seem to react well when an unmated male had physical contact with me at least until he’d conquered me and has his fill first. Apparently, then it would be open season for the wolves.

I nodded stiffly and turned toward the door. Pushing it open, I stepped inside, my eyes adjusting to the change in lighting. It looked like a large gym with center ring, the same approximate format found in every Wolf pack.

It wasn’t hard to locate Sydney’s blonde hair. Her nose wrinkled and then her head turned in my direction. A gleam sparked in her eyes as she made her way through the wolves to me.

“Hycinth,” she acknowledged, words dripping with disdain. She had changed clothes since this morning, now wearing next to nothing in a sports bra and athletic shorts that barely covered the bottom of her a*s-cheeks.

After her one word introduction, she turned and walked back toward a group of five shewolves in the center ring. I followed her, and when we reached them, they all turned to face me. Well, if I questioned it before, their matching expressions left no doubt where their loyalties lied-every one of them looked like they wanted to rip out my throat.

Lovely, I should have brought the list to compare names.

No wonder Leander discarded the collar. Still, I wasn’t going to let them provoke me. I didn’t want to be here as much as they didn’t want me here, so their aggression was actually pretty humorous. The thought caused me to flash them a shit-eating grin, which caused them to narrow their eyes, their expressions darkening even more. Which made it all the funnier to me and I snorted, trying to swallow down a giggle. Two of them growled in response. Shit, if they didn’t stop this ridiculous display of useless estrogen, I was going to burst into laughter.

Sydney cleared her throat, capturing their attention. She looked back at me and purred, “Would you like to join us?”

Now I couldn’t stop the giggle. The dense shewolf really thought they could intimidate me, either through force or provoking a fight. Unfortunately, there were no f***s given here. I knew what I was capable of and would only use my strength and skill when I damn well saw fit, not because any shewolf wanted to test me.

Funnier still, the test would have been five against one-what did that say for their confidence in their skill? I couldn’t help giggling once more at the thought and planted my butt on a nearby bench. “Oh, no, I’ll just sit here and enjoy the show. Please continue.”

Apparently, my display of not giving a shit captured the attention of several other wolves around us. Noses and ears inclined my direction, watching me. Let them watch. I didn’t care.

With her mouth set in a deep frown, Sydney turned back to her motley little band of she-wolves and started barking out orders. They snapped into position and began to spar. She coached them through a series of maneuvers. And they were getting quite vicious with each other. I wasn’t sure if my presence provoked this level of aggression or if it was normal. Maybe since I hadn’t joined in, they were trying to make a point still.

I was actually thankful to be able to sit back and watch because it gave me a significant advantage to evaluate their strengths if I ever needed to face them. When finished, the little group disbanded leaving Sydney and me alone. Sydney sneered, “So, did you enjoy the show?”

“Immensely,” I grinned. “Thank you for entertaining me.”

Her eyes turned stormy. “I’m so going to enjoy challenging you.”

Her words caught me off guard. She sounded as if she had a definite plan for the future, but why would she tell me now? Or maybe this was her way of challenging me. My Wolf came into my eyes. My tone dropped low and lethal. “Is that what you want? To fight me? Is that what you’re looking for?” I hadn’t wanted a fight today, but if she was going to throw a direct challenge, I wasn’t going to back away.

She smirked, “Oh no, not yet. I’d never get in the way of this opportunity for the mated pairs. But afterward, after you’ve given him the only thing he wants from you, an heir, then you can bet your a*s you’re going to have to face me.”

Now I was really confused. What was she saying? She wanted to wait until after I’d mated him and had his pup and then she was going to challenge me? I tilted my head and asked, “Why would you do that? Once he’s mated, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Her smirk turned devilish. “Oh, stupid Wolf, how foolish you are.” She said nothing else, just turned and walked away.