The Alpha's Eternal Ache

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

EDWARD

​It has been exactly a week since Chloe struck up her friendship with that lot. She and her werewolf friends are closer than she and I, despite the fact that I share their very traits. After school, they all congregate at my house to ‘spend time together’—or so Chloe claims—and I truly wonder if Alpha Dan is quite as obsessed with his mate as I am with mine. Why allow your mate to spend time with another male—not that I actually spend time with them—when you are clearly alone? Both his mate and his Beta are constantly here.

​I stopped attending school the second day I noticed how close those three had become. They go everywhere together; they eat together. Chloe and Sarah now sit side-by-side in class, and Edgar is never far from them if he isn’t in his own lessons.

​I’m more than a bit jealous of the relationship between Edgar and Chloe. I confronted her once about how close they were, but she shut the argument down instantly. "I think you’re just being petty and unnecessarily jealous," she’d said. "You can’t tell me to stop being friends with Edgar when you’ve stopped showing up to school yourself."

​She threw those words at me as if she didn't realise that leaving school wasn't a choice, but a consequence of her father and my mother’s idiocy. As the direct heir to my father’s empire, I am expected to take control of at least two of his businesses according to the rules of the inheritance. Instead, I allowed my mother to lead, and she saw fit to marry Chloe’s father and merge his production line with mine.

​Now, the board of directors wants to undo the merger, and they intend to finalise it by removing my mother from her position. To save the legacy, I have to take over. Now that the shareholders and the board agree that I should command the company as a standalone entity, my threat to Chloe’s father has become invalid, and his marriage to my mother is teetering on the edge.

​Sooner or later, they will divorce. Chloe’s father is only with my mother out of greed. Now, that greed has cost him his only daughter—not that he ever had any real impact on her upbringing anyway.

​Lately, Chloe has decided to use every opportunity to try and force my hand—to make me sleep with her or mate with her on my own terms. Every time, I say no. It is a word that takes every fibre of my being to utter. Why? Because tradition dictates that the first intercourse between an Alpha and his mate must be fertile.

​This archaic tradition has stood since long before my father’s death. Every Alpha in the Emberheart Pack was conceived during their parents' first time together. It is how they claim their Alpha strength and agility. Now that I am the Alpha, I am expected to do the same, but I refuse to get Chloe pregnant when she is only eighteen and still in school.

​I’ve considered using protection, but history warns that there are no hindrances when an Alpha mates with his true match; the Alpha’s strength is at its peak—the ultimate sign of a true bond. Even if I used a condom, it would be useless. I would still end up getting her pregnant.

​She is too young for that, all for the sake of a stupid tradition. She has no idea why I’m holding back, and I admit, I love the tantrums she throws. I love her furrowed brows, her pouted lips, the way she stamps her feet when she walks away from me. I even love the sweet, intoxicating scent of her arousal when she tries to provoke me from the bathroom, desperate to make me lose control.

​But now, she has gone too far. She is downstairs with her friends, and I can smell the sharp, cloying scent of alcohol. I resisted going down at first because I trusted her not to take a single drop. If I know one thing, it’s that my girl isn't a drinker.

​But minutes passed, and a voice interrupted my peace—not that I had much of it with my mate downstairs instead of by my side. It was Edgar, reaching out via the mind-link.

​‘If you know what’s good for you, you’d better get down here and deal with your drunk mate,’ he said. Without a second thought, I bolted from the room. The sight that met me made me lose my bloody mind.

​Chloe was fumbling with Edgar’s belt, and the i***t was actually smiling while Sarah tried to steady her on the couch. I cleared the last of the stairs in a blur, vamping to their side. I caught Edgar square in the face with a punch, but the fool just laughed at the impact. He really does know how to get under my skin.

​Why the hell was he smiling? He linked me about her being drunk, yet he sat there doing nothing while my s*x-deprived mate pawed at him!

​I grabbed Chloe’s hands and forced her to look at me. Look? No, she was staring right through me. Her icy blue eyes were glazed, meeting my own—which I knew would be turning a dark, dangerous brown with my rising temper. She was wasted.

​"Oh, look who it is," she slurred, the scent of alcohol heavy on her breath.

​Sarah clearly sensed the coming storm; she scrambled to her feet and grabbed her bag, muttering to a stunned-looking Edgar that they should leave.

​"Don’t let me see you set foot in this house again," I growled as they reached the door.

​"Mmm, why would you say that? They’re my friends," Chloe mumbled.

​"The same friends who got you drunk? The same one who didn't bother to move your hand away from his crotch?" I snapped, pulling her flush against me. She grinned, her mind clearly clouded by filthy thoughts.

​"Mmm, don’t be like that. We don't know if he's small unless we check. Edgar, stay still... let me see if it’s actually small..."

​A snort escaped both Sarah and Edgar.

​"That’s it! Out!" I roared. They didn't miss a heartbeat before scurrying away. Finally, I was alone with my horny mate.

​"You want to have s*x?" I asked, my fists clenched and my jaw tight. The colour of my eyes was fluctuating; I could feel my control slipping. She nodded eagerly, giving me those pathetic puppy-dog eyes she usually uses when she’s cross. But she wasn't cross now.

​She was in bloody heat.

​"Fine. Then s*x you shall have," I said, hooking my arms under her thighs and hoisting her up. A small yelp escaped her at the sudden movement, and she tucked her head into my shoulder as I stormed back towards the stairs.

​Let’s give her exactly what she’s asking for.