Chapter 26: Chapter 26

~ HENRY

“Alpha, I implore you to see reason,” one of my counsellors spoke, his voice a bit strained from what I assumed was exasperation.

I had no idea why he was still trying to convince me otherwise. If the past twenty-four hours were any indicators, it was that I had zero intentions of listening to what he or the other counsellors had to say.

It was one thing for Rowan to be an ass as always, but it was another for him to send his sister into my pack to publicly undermine me. The news went round the pack quickly and everywhere I went, I heard whispers about what happened and how the King took a member of the pack without my permission.

“There has to be a way to get out of this shit show,” I mumbled, flipping through the history books. “There must be something-”

“Even if there is,” one of the counsellors began. “It is automatically overridden by the fact that she is his mate. It is our number one law, Alpha, we do not mess with mates.”

“She was my mate first!” I yelled, fist slamming down hard on the marble table.

The entire room went deathly still. Counsellors looked at each other with wary glances. None of them would say the words out loud, but I knew what they were all thinking.

If I was so bothered, why did I reject her and choose Alisa.

It was the question on everyone’s lips and thankfully, as Alpha, I didn’t owe anyone an explanation.

“Unless she rejects him, we have no reason to take her back,” one of the counsellors said, finally breaking the awkward silence. “If you can convince her to end it-”

The door to the meeting room opened, cutting his words shut.

A low growl was at the base of my throat when I saw a familiar head of dark hair. I bit back a groan as Alisa walked into the meeting room without a care in the world.

I’d given direct instructions that we were not to be bothered. Unfortunately, as my mate, Alisa had privileges that the rest of the pack did not. I should have been more specific.

“Are we still on this?” she drawled, her lips pulled back in annoyance. “I say we let her stay with him. That way she’s gone and we never have to worry about her again. Good riddance.”

“She is the Beta of this pack-”

“We can get another Beta,” she shrugged. “She’s been nothing but trouble and now she’s met her match. I mean, think about it, he didn’t come to take her all this while, he probably doesn’t care about her and is only doing it to save face. You said it yourself that he’s a horrible man, she has exactly what she deserves. I don’t know why you’re so bothered.”

She reached out for me, her nails scraping down my arm. I jerked my hand out of her grip and a deep frown marred her blood red lips.

I realized my mistake as soon as I made it.

“Why do you care so much about her?” she asked, hands crossed over her chest. “Do you still love her-”

“Everyone out!” I ordered.

The counsellors were on their feet immediately. They abandoned their files on the table and turned on their heels, shutting the door behind them without looking back.

Once it was only Alisa and I left in the room, I stepped closer, brushing her hair out of her face as I did.

Alisa was beautiful, there was no denying that. It was such a pity that her insides were as ugly as they came.

Unfortunately, picking her was the smart decision. She was better for the pack. Not only was she stronger, but her family had ties that would give the pack a much needed edge against the palace once the time came.

“Of course I don’t care about her,” I said slowly, cupping her cheeks. “I chose you, remember?”

“Well you’re not acting like you chose me,” she huffed, pulling away from me. She leaned against the table, arms crossed over her chest. “You haven’t spent any time with me since she left. You claim she means nothing and yet you’re going out of your way to try and bring her back-”

“Nyssa and Rowan together is a match that you do not want to happen. They both have grudges against this pack… against us. What do you think will happen when they realize they have a common enemy?”

Her eyes widened in understanding.

For someone who was a total airhead most of the time, Alisa was smart. She’d spent her entire life being trained by some of the best tutors. Even she could understand when a major crisis was approaching.

“So you want her here to control her… nothing else?”

“Nothing else, I swear.” I promised, stepping closer to her until I’d caged her between my body and the table. “You are the only one I want.”

She tried to feign annoyance, but I could see her walls crumbling quickly. She avoided my gaze but a small smile played on her lips.

There was one thing she wasn’t good at, and it was hiding her emotions.

I leaned forward, fingers gripping her chin as I lowered my lips to hers.

Kissing her felt like every other thing in my life… structured, normal. She tasted like the same cherry lipstick she’d been using since she was fifteen and she smelled like coconuts.

She wasted no time in kissing me back, her arms wrapping around my neck as I lifted her onto the table easily.

Papers went flying but it didn’t matter, not as she wrapped her legs around my waist and reached for my belt buckle.

“Alisa, we can’t,” I hissed, pulling back. “We have to wait until the ceremony-”

“Why?” she asked, her lips turned down into a frown. “I want you and you want me too. I can feel how hard you are.”

“It’s the proper way-”

She scoffed. “If you want me, Henry, you’d have me. I’m giving myself to you right now, unless you’ve been lying to me this whole time and the person you really want is Ny-”

I kissed her, mostly to shut her up and I felt her smile triumphantly against my mouth. “The door is open.”

“Good,” she told me, pulling back to take off her shirt. “Let them know what’s going on.”

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