The Forbidden Mate
Chapter Twenty – Fighting to Keep My Temper

Alex

It is the end of the day and I am having a final meeting with Euan. Ostensibly the meeting is for him to tell me about the warrior training and the on-going hunt for the rogues, but what I really want to hear about is Katy, that he is keeping her safe. I start though by asking him for an update on the warriors.

“How have the increased patrols been going? Any pushback from the warriors?”

“No” he tells me. “They understand that after the rogue attack we can’t be so complacent again. They have adapted to the new training regime and increased patrols without complaint.”

“Good” I say. “We need them to be as ready as they possibly can be, we can’t discount the rumours that the Black Moon pack are looking to attack us next.

What about Jane, did she get away OK?”

“Yes, I gave her a coded message, that she was only to hand over to Joseph directly. She doesn’t know about Katy, but she knows that we are working closely with the Royal Pack and this message is of vital importance” he tells me.

“And the warriors we suspect of being traitors has there been any change in their behaviour?” I ask.

“They have been acting much the same. They are still carrying out their own patrols late at night, it seems likely that Katy is their target. The other warriors have overheard them talking about their big event. Ross hasn’t got any closer to replaceing out what it is, but they haven’t worked out that he is spying for us.

My secret contact in Carl’s household is monitoring the meeting’s Carl has been holding in his home. He seems to be meeting every couple of days with a small group of warriors. They are trying to replace out what they have been talking about, but they haven’t succeeded yet.”

I don’t ask who this contact is, I know that he is reluctant to tell me for the moment, but I am intrigued about who it could be, maybe one of Carl’s servants.

“We will just have to stay alert so that when the “event” happens we are ready for them” I tell him.

“There is one other thing” he says slowly. I can tell he is trying to work out the best way to tell me something. I have a feeling I am not going to like whatever it is.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Mike has taken an interest in Katy. He managed to get her alone in the changing rooms, nothing happened. Daniel walked in and managed to get her away from him, but if he hadn’t been there it looks like Mike might have tried to force her….”

I can feel my rage building. My claws have started to extend, my teeth are changing into fangs. My wolf is forcing itself out, desperate to replace the wolf who attacked our mate and tear him to pieces. “I will kill him” I say. I can hear that my voice has deepened as my wolf starts to take control.

Euan can see what is happening, he knows me too well.

“Stop” he says. “To go after him now will only draw attention to your feelings for Katy. It will make people start to suspect who she is, and she would be in even more danger. Control your anger, before you do something that you will regret”

I know he is right, and my wolf does to, he gradually starts to relinquish control, and after a few minutes I feel myself returning to normal.

“What should we do? I ask. “I might not be able to end that wolf, but I cannot let him get anywhere near her again. I have to protect her. I know what he is like, he should be in the Black Moon pack, he would be quite happy there, torturing and hurting weaker wolves is what they do.”

“I have moved him to night patrols for the next month, when he is not on patrol, I will send Katy back to the packhouse to work. We will keep them separate. When she is with the warriors Daniel will protect her as he did today. I will personally keep an eye on Mike,” he tells me.

“Thank you” I say gratefully. “The mate bond makes it hard for me to think rationally, I just want to obliterate anyone who attempts to hurt my mate.”

“I know, and her position in the pack as an Omega makes it more difficult. There are unfortunately too many wolves with similar views to Mike. But we will all work to help keep her safe. She is our future queen. It won’t be long now until Jane is able to deliver our message to Joseph and then there will be a whole pack of wolves making their way here to keep her safe” he says.

I should be looking forward to that, I know, she will finally be safe once the Royal pack send their warriors to protect her. There will be no more lying about who she is, and she will get the respect she deserves, that is her right. I am dreading it though, because once they know, they will take her away, to the safety of the royal pack, and I will be apart from my mate. I know that this is for the best, but it is tearing me apart thinking that I will lose her, even if it just for a short period of time.

Katy

For the last week I have been successfully avoiding Mike, Euan was as good as his word and has had him on night patrols. When Mike isn’t on patrol and is hanging round at the gym, I have been back working in the packhouse. I have begun to relax and feel at ease again.

Today I am working at the packhouse but Mrs Wilson has sent me down to the gym to deliver some snacks for the warriors. Their increased training regime has made them hungrier than usual, and we have been run off our feet trying to keep them fed.

When I arrive at the gym, I notice that Rob is here. I haven’t seen much of him since the day of the attack. He survived but his little sister was seriously injured. I decide to go up and say Hi to him, to make sure that he is OK. We have always been friends. I know that if Alex hears about it, he might be jealous, but he must know by now that there is nothing between Rob and me.

Just as I start to walk his way, I notice Mike approach him, with an evil smirk on his face.

“Omega” he snarls at Rob. I have told you that the lock on my locker door is broken and you still haven’t fixed it. Fix it now. I won’t ask again.”

Rob bows his head in respect and says “Sorry, sir I have been busy fixing the roof on the packhouse, I will get round to it today.”

“Round to it” Mike spits at him. “You will do it now” Mike moves swiftly towards Rob and grabs him by his throat lifting him off the floor. His grip tightens and his claws extend and sink into his flesh drawing blood.

Rob tries to frantically prise his hand away from his throat. I watch him as he struggles to breathe, but he doesn’t have the strength to even move Mike’s fingers.

Mike maintains his hold, his eyes gleaming with malice, and what looks like pleasure, as Rob begins to weaken from lack of oxygen. If Mike doesn’t let go of him soon he will kill him.

“Stop” I shout “leave him alone.” I can hear the panic in my voice, but worse I can hear the authority, the command. No omega would ever dare to issue an order to a warrior, it shouldn’t be possible for them to even try. There is nothing submissive about the way I have just spoken to him.

Mike turns to stare at me. His interest in Rob forgotten, he releases him from his grasp. Rob slides coughing and spluttering to the floor.

I can see shock and growing suspicion on Mike’s face as he looks at me. He felt the power and dominance flow from me it had affected him. He knows now that I am not who I am pretending to be.

“What did you say to me, Omega?” he asks. Stressing the word Omega.

“I just asked, if you could let Rob go, please” I say with my head bowed, trying to keep my voice as meek as possible.

He strides towards me and grabs my chin forcing me to look up and into his eyes. “Now, that isn’t really what you said is it? It sounded much more like you were COMMANDING me, a warrior to let this Omega go. But how could you do that? An Omega can’t command a warrior. But here you are exerting dominance over me that shouldn’t be possible.”

I am silent as I struggle to replace an answer that will satisfy him. “I, I…. didn’t” I start to say but am saved when Euan walks in.

“What is going on here?” he asks, shocked to replace Mike and me together.

“Nothing” Mike says and with one final look at me walks out the room.

“What happened here?” Euan asks.

“He…., he had Rob by the throat, he was choking him, I thought he would kill him, so I told him to stop.”

“Ordered him to stop” Rob says. I hadn’t noticed that while I had been speaking to Mike and Euan that he had recovered. He was back on his feet, and although his voice was hoarse, his breathing had returned to normal.

“You spoke with such dominance, like an Alpha not an Omega” he says with a surprised look on his face.

“Follow me to my office Katy, we need to have a chat about this” Euan says. It is obvious that he doesn’t want to talk in front of Rob.

As soon as we are in his office he shuts the door and says “Katy, I can’t believe you just did that, if there was anyone who you needed to hide your dominance from it was him.” I can tell he is worried.

“I had no option he would have killed Rob. Anyway, I didn’t realise I was doing it, it just happened. I have never used it before” I say trying to justify my actions.

“I understand that you couldn’t let Mike hurt your friend, and you are still getting used to the authority that you can exert over other wolves, but it was unfortunate. I don’t know what Alex will say but we need to tell him now.”

Oh no I think, Alex will be upset that I have exposed my secret in this way. That Mike may now suspect who I really am, and worse I did it to protect Rob a wolf that until recently he was very jealous of.