Saving His Feral Mate
Chapter 24: Wall of shame

Alpha Knox POV

I knew Tatiana wanted to go see Betty and Tom, so I decided to take her. I really didn’t like the idea of going out into rogue territory with her, especially after what happened last time. But I knew she would go either way and I would prefer to be there with her incase anything happened.

I asked Jo and Jag to tag along for added security. It wasn’t hard convincing Jo to come. He was like a little kid on Christmas morning, thinking about seeing Max again. I really feel bad for the guy, he cares for her deeply and their situation certainly isn’t ideal. Maybe she’ll eventually come around.

We packed a few more weeks worth of supplies for Betty and Tom, before leaving the territory.

We made our way through the forest and approached their little cabin. As soon as we stepped out from the tree line, I spotted Betty working in the garden out front.

“Oh my goddess, is that you Scar?” Betty squealing excitedly when we came into sight.

Tatiana simply nodded, as she ran up to Betty and wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug.

“I missed you guys.”Tatiana said, before pulling away from Betty and hugging Tom, who had come outside when he heard the commotion.

“You look good Scar.” Tom said, while looking down at Tatiana, like father would look at his own daughter.

“My name’s Tatiana and my human is Chloe.”Tatiana corrected, in a soft voice. It’s weird to think they’ve known each other for years, but yet Tatiana has never even spoken a word to them.

“I like it. You look like a Tatiana.” Tom replied, with a beaming smile.

“Come on in. I’ll make some tea. I can’t wait to catch up.” Betty offered, while ushering Tatiana towards the cabin.

“Awww…You see Betty. I knew you’d come around and eventually invite me over for tea.” I teased, with a big grin on my face.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Alpha. You’re welcome to wait outside while the rest of us catch up.” She replied with an eye roll, causing me to chuckled. I missed my little bicker sessions with Ol’ Betty.

We all made our way inside and Betty grabbed a kettle from the kitchen. She filled it with water, before placing it on the wood stove.

Tatiana was busy catching up with Betty and Tom, so I took the opportunity to let my eyes roam around the room.

There was a wall with family portraits that caught my attention. A handful of pictures were of Betty and Tom, but a couple included a younger woman. She looked to be around 20 years old. The pictures were definitely a couple years old, Betty and Tom looked a few years younger in them. The girl was a spitting image of Betty, she was definitely related.

What truly caught my attention though, was my portrait that I had brought for Tatiana. It was hanging on the opposite wall, all by itself.

“I knew you had a soft spot for me, you even gave me my own wall.” I teased, before winked at Betty.

“I do. No one else has been worthy of this wall yet, except for you.” Betty replied, in a sickly sweet voice. The tone was enough to make me think she had something up her sleeve, so waited for her to continue.

“We call it the wall of shame and only you’ve earned a place on it so far.” She retorted, causing my smirk to vanish and I shot her a glare.

Everyone and I mean everyone, buckled over laughing, including Tatiana. As much as I wanted to be upset, the sound was like music to my ears. She didn’t hold back, I even heard a snort at one point. If I need to be the laughing stock of everyones jokes to hear her laugh like that, I’ll do it. It was completely worth it.

“You hurt my feelings Betty.” I replied, while putting my hand over my heart and pretending to be offended. She laughed and for once it wasn’t at me, but rather with me. That’s when I knew, I had officially won Betty over.

We all settled down in the living room, before Tatiana spoke up in a more serious tone.

“Have you seen Max, lately?” She asked, while glancing between Betty and Tom. Jo, Jag and myself all quieted down to hear their answer.

“Ya, she’s been by. She didn’t say much, just that you were safe and it was time for her to move on. You know Max, the conversation was vague.” Betty replied, while shaking her head.

“Betty, I know you still have reservations about me, but I swear, I only have Tatiana and Max’s best interest at heart.” I started and Betty looked at me with a frown and waited for me to continue.

“Do you know what happened between Max and her first mate?” I asked and I saw concern flash across her face, before she hid it with a confused look.

“First mate?” She asked,

“Ya, Jo over here, is her second chance mate.” I replied and motioned to Jo who was sitting proudly beside me with a stupid grin on his face.

“Oh goddess, not her too. One shitty mate wasn’t enough for the poor girl.” Betty blurted out, while shaking her head in disbelief.

“All right, hand it over.” Betty ordered, while extending her hand towards Jo, with her palm up.

“Hand what over?” He asked, with a confused frown.

“A picture of yourself. It won’t be long now, before you join your stupid Alpha on the Wall of shame.” Betty replied and this time it was my turn to buckle over laughing. Jo didn’t look amused, but I actually thought it was hilarious.

Tatiana glared at me, clearly unimpressed with me laughing. She was trying to get information out of Betty and Tom, so I quickly pulled myself together and put on a serious face.

“You didn’t answer the question, do you know what happened between Max and her first mate? I promise we mean no harm to her, in fact, we could protect her.” I stated and Betty let out a sigh, before replying.

“We belonged to the same pack before turning into rogues. Tom and I left the pack first, but I still had some contacts on the inside. I heard rumours of what happened between her and her mate. He was the Beta of the pack, a total a*****e. He was cruel and vicious just like most of the rank members in that pack. Max thought she could change him when he figured out she was his mate. But after he marked her, the abuse started. I don’t know the details about what he did to her, but I guess one night she had enough and sliced off his manhood, before stabbing him in the heart. The twins found her on the brink of death in the forest and brought her here. We nursed her back to health, but she was never the same. Whatever her mate did to her, it forever changed her. She’s no longer that innocent, naive girl we once knew. Now she’s strong, but broken and has to fight her internal demons everyday just to survive.” Betty explained and the entire time she spoke, Jo let out a low and steady growl. Clearly upset with what his mate went through.

“Oh settle down, she’s a fighter and what doesn’t break you makes you stronger.” Betty said, while looking at Tatiana with knowing eyes. I wonder if Betty knows what happened to Tatiana in the past?

“Why are you asking about Max?” Tom asked.

“Alpha Alec heard that I had a couple rogue she-wolves staying on my territory. He called looking for Max. He said she was wanted for murdering his Beta.” I replied and I saw both Betty and Tom’s faces turn red with anger at the mention of his name.

“That a*****e can go to hell. He’ll have to kill us first, before I let him get his hands on her.” Betty scoffed angrily.

“I won’t let him or anyone else hurt her.” Jo replied with conviction.

“How do you plan on doing that? It’s Jo right? Where’s you so called, MATE, right now?” Betty spat the question out sarcastically, emphasizing the word mate and knowing damn well we had no clue where Max was. Jo didn’t reply, he just averted his eyes angrily.

“Don’t be so tough on the guy, no one can keep tabs on Max.” Tom said in Jo’s defence.

I was distracted from the conversation, when I heard foot steps on the front porch. My wolf and I, immediately went on high alert.

Two guys in their mid 20’s appeared in the doorway. They had a powerful aura that surrounded them and if I were to guess, I’d say they had Alpha b***d running through their veins. I was ready to shift, until Tatiana spoke.

“Parker, Preston! Goddess, I missed you guys.” She shouted, before running up to one of them and wrapping her around his neck. Within seconds, it turned into a group hug. I growled possessively, not likely the fact that my mate was being held by two men, possibly Alphas.

“Settle down, Mr. Possessive. They’re like brothers to her.” Betty warned, with another eye roll. Her words didn’t help though, my wolf was still growling possessively in my head. I hated how the two guys looked at Tatiana with adoration in their eyes.

“Are you ok?” One of them asked, while pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

That was my breaking point. I practically roared, before wrapping her in my arms and pulling her body flush against mine. I was seething, at the two males standing in front of me. My eyes were black and my wolf was at the surface.

“It’s ok, they really are like brothers.” Tatiana said, while putting a hand on my chest. I instantly calmed down a little.

“Well s**t. I never thought I’d meet someone famous out here. I’m Preston and this is Parker.” One of the guy introduced himself, with a mischievous smirk. He extended his hand to shake mine, but I couldn’t bring myself to let go of Tatiana.

“Damn, he’s even more handsome in person.” The second guy named, Parker, exclaimed. A frown grew on my face, as I wondered what the hell they were talking about? I didn’t miss the sarcasm in their tones.

“Oh, come on now. Leave Mr. Wall of shame alone.” Betty pipped up, before also giving Preston and Parker a hug.

That explained everything, they were making fun of my damn picture on the wall. Even Tatiana stifled a snort. I really didn’t care though, I was more impressed that she didn’t pulled away from my hold on her.

“Sorry, B. We just couldn’t help ourselves.” Preston replied, with a light hearted chuckle.

“Why the hell do you smell like my mate?” Jo growled, while stalking towards the twins with a murderous look on his face. They both froze and looked at him.

“Mate?” Parker asked, with a confused frown.

“Ya, why do you reek like, Max?” Jo asked against, while continuing to stalk towards them.

Their eyes went wide in shock and they glanced at each other before replying.

“You’re f*****g kidding, right? Are you talking about Maxine?” Parker asked, in disbelief.

“Yes.” Jo growled, clearly irritated by this back and forth.

“Like f**k, will she ever accept you.” Preston seethed, while stepping closer to Jo and silently challenging him. They were so close their chests were practically touching.

“Let’s all settle down. Fighting isn’t going to solve anything here.” Betty scolded and I helped by pulling Jo back, while Parker did the same with Preston.

“Have you seen Max recently?” This time Tatiana asked, bringing everyone’s attention to her.

“Ya, we just left her. She was at the creek.” Parker replied and before anyone could say anything else, Jo stormed out of the cabin.

Preston was about to follow after him, but Tom stopped him.

“Let him go. You and I both know, if Max doesn’t want him around, he doesn’t stand a chance.” Tom said sternly.

Preston still didn’t seem happy, but he didn’t argue with Tom and stayed put.

“Has he been treating you ok?” Parker asked Tatiana, before glaring at me.

“He has.” She replied softly, while looking over at me with a small smile.

“Did that coward, Cameron, hurt you before we arrive the other day?” This time Preston asked and the name, Cameron, made my ears perk up.

“He drugged me, but you guys got there before he had a chance to do anything.” Tatiana explained and both Parker and Preston growled.

“That a*****e will pay for everything he’s done.” Parker gritted out.

“Alpha Cameron?” I asked, with a shocked tone.

“Ya, let me guess, a friend of yours?” Preston asked sarcastically.

“Not even close, more like a long time enemy. Was he your first mate?” I answered, but turned my attention to Tatiana, when I asked the last question. She looked away without saying anything and I knew that was her silently answering the question. I had to control the beast inside of me. My body started to tremble with anger, I was ready to hunt him down and rip him to shreds.

“I can’t believe that coward is related to us.” Parker mumbled under his breath, temporarily distracting me from my rage.

“You guys are related?” I asked.

“Ya, the f**k face is our half brother.” Preston seethed.

Well s**t, that’s a lot of information to take in for one day.

“Thank you guys, for stopping Alpha Cameron, before he hurt Tatiana.” I said sincerely, while glancing between Parker and Preston.

“We would do anything for her and Max.” Parker replied.

As much as I wanted to keep asking them questions. I noticed Tatiana had a sad look on her face, at the mention of Alpha Cameron. I moved over to where she stood and wrapped my arms around her body. She went ridged at first, but within seconds she relaxed and leaned into my chest. I was on cloud 9 holding her in my arms and being able to comfort her. Weirdly enough, I also relaxed and the rage that was previously coursing through my body, was instantly washed away.