Mated to the Alpha and His Beta

Xander

“Alice is already out of control,” | complained to Zane over breakfast.

The dining room in our private quarters was sleek and modem, with tall ceilings and huge windows overlooking the forest. It was one of my favorite places in the mansion to scheme and think

And g od s did | need to think.

“How the hell could she just not come back?” Zane said, dropping his head into his hands. “Doesn't she know that kind of behavior makes her look just as bad as we do?”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

After storming out of the mansion yesterday, Alice still hadn’t returned.

I shook my head.

“It's Alice. She doesn’t really think before she acts.

She didn’t understand her role as Luna. She didn’t understand her place as our mate.

Sure, Lanie was fiery and confident, but her moves were calculated.

Alice was all over the f ucking map.

And she was making our lives hell,

“If Alice makes a habit of running off like this, people will start to notice. Zane laid his hands flat against the table. “It doesn't reflect well on us.”

“| get it,” | said, pounding my fist on the table..

He wasn’t saying anything | wasn’t already thinking, but | didn’t need him to repeat the obvious.

Alice was becoming more and more of a liability.

“We're not fighting in here, are we boys?”

My mother’s voice rang out from the entrance to the dining room,

“Ma, you can’t just barge into our quarters like this,” | complained.

She walked into the room with a confident gait.

“As long as I’m still the Luna of this pack,” she leaned across the table and plucked an apple from the fruit bowl in the center, “| can do whatever the hell | want.”

She took a big bite of the apple, and Zane and | exchanged begrudging smiles.

My mother, Gabriela, was a sweet woman who loved connecting with our pack members, which is why she was such a kickas s Luna People felt like they could come to her with anything, and she always offered the best advice.

But she was also a total hardas s.

She didn’t take b ulls hit from anyone, especially me. When my father stepped down as Alpha, she told me she knew | was capable of taking over, but that | couldn’t get complacent.

And she’d been riding my as s ever since to make sure wasn’t

“You know | just caught Alice sneaking back into the mansion, my mother said casually.

Zane and | exchanged loaded glances.

My mother noticed immediately.

“What?” she asked. “Did you not know she was out?”

“Obviously we knew | huffed.

“Then you should also know that it’s not proper for a newly mated Luna to be out all hours without her mates” she said.

| rolled my eyes. It was childish, but I'd just been over this s hit with Zane, and | wasn’t in the mood to rehash it with my mother of all people.

“We're handling it, Ma,” | said through gritted teeth,

“I'll believe it when I see it,” she said, turning to leave. But before she did, she called over her shoulder, “Alice is gonna be al tough one to teach, | can already tell.”

| let my head fall hard onto the table and groaned loudly

If she was annoyed with Alice now, what the hell was she going to do when | told her Lanie would be taking on the Luna duties but Alice would get all the credit?

It went against pretty much everything my mother believed in, and | wasn’t sure she'd be able to lie to the packs’ faces when they praised Alice for the work that Lanie did

Zane pulled me back up by the hair.

“Get it together, Xander” he said weanly. “We'll figure this Alice sh it out one way or another. And then...”

He trailed off, but | knew what he was going to say.

And then we could tackle the even bigger elephant in the room. Lanie’s “sidepiece” Braden.

I still didn’t know who the f uck that guy was or where he got off talking to me like | wasn’t the Alpha. Like | couldn't tear him apart in seconds flat..

“You don’t think Lanie’s actually been with Braden, do you?” Zahe asked, his voice tinged with jealousy.

“No f ucking way. We’d know through the mate bond if she had”

This was true, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something else going on between them. And that didn’t mean they wouldn't be together in the future.

Just the thought of sharing Lanie with another man, especially this man with his st upid smirk and his stu pid lumberjack outfit, enraged me.

I clenched my fists as my wolf surged to the surface.

No way was Lanie going to sleep with that man.

Not if we reminded her that she had everything she needed right here.