An Alpha’s Revenge

Chapter Five

Charles’ POV

I ran after Ella, frustrated with myself for letting her escape. She was my mate, and I wasn’t going to let her go. This was my one chance to prove to her that she was mine, and I was already blowing it. I shouldn’t have let Markus take over as much as he did. I had to keep myself and Markus under control. But she looked so scrumptious. When the smell of cinnamon hit my nose, I couldn’t wait another second longer before tasting her. I had never experienced such an intense pull from a woman before. I already felt addicted to her touch, her presence, her smell. Everything about her was perfect, and she truly was the most perfect human I’d ever seen. I wanted to lay down my entire life for her and give her everything she desired. To hear her say that I couldn’t have her crushed me and filled me with such anger, I couldn’t contain it. I couldn’t let her reject me. I didn’t think I could live even a second without her now that I had discovered her. I guess I had to accept she needed time to process, which is why I had to show her just how great I was. I could make her happy. I could please her. I just needed the chance. Once Ella knew what I could offer her, things would just fall into place.

I stopped in the hallway, however, when I saw Alexander wrap his grubby hands around my mate. Rage consumed me, and I let out a loud growl. No one could touch my mate but me. I would never let another male even near her if need be. My possessiveness for Ella overtook every instinct within me, and I watched the scene play out in my head where I tore off all of Alexander’s limbs.

I growled again and watched as she screamed out, “I don’t need a savior!” and disappeared down the stairs.

I started after her, but Alexander blocked the hallway with raised eyebrows. I postured and puffed out my chest.

“It’s not of your concern,” I spat at him.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t say anything to you.”

I glowered at him. So this is how he was going to play. Unluckily for him, I never lost. And now that I had Ella in my sights, I would never let her go, especially to him. She was mine. The Moon Goddess gave her to me as my mate. If Alexander wanted to stand in the way of us being together, he wouldn’t be left standing for long.

“Seemed like she didn’t want your company though, no? I mean, it seems like she was running from you. Like she wanted nothing to do with you,” Alexander said after a moment of silence.

“Move,” I said stonily, crossing my arms over my chest.

Alexander rested his hands on the stair railings on either side of him. “Leave her alone.”

I barked out a laugh. “I will do whatever I want to her, and you can’t stop me. What’s it to you anyway? She is my mate.”

I saw his eyes widened slightly and his brows creased as he frowned at me.

“Yes, that’s right. So I will take what is rightfully mine. You will keep your d**k to yourself and take her off your f**k list, and leave us alone,” I said through gritted teeth and then shoved past him to get down the stairs. I paused for a moment and turned up toward him and said, “If I so much as see you talk to her, I’ll rip your throat out. And that’s a promise.”

I walked calmly back down the stairs, where I heard chairs scraping and snippets of conversations. It felt good defending her from that prick. Alexander and I had never been friends. We had gone to school together back in the day, and everything had been a competition for us. Sports, grades, girls, everything. And for this, I relished the thought of having something he wanted. We had gained a mutual, yet begrudging, respect for one another due to this unhealthy competition. He may have become alpha first, but I found my mate, and not just any mate: Ella. She was the elusive beauty that didn’t mess around. Though she had been a few years behind us, she had always been the prize among us upperclassmen. Since we were all future alphas, we all went to a special school dedicated to learning how to lead a pack. Ella had never tolerated anyone in school, which continued as she brought her pack back from nothing. She was incredible. The way she led her pack with determination, perseverance, and ambition was amazing to watch. She had never paid attention to guys back then, refusing to interact with the upperclassmen. We never spoke, and I couldn’t recall her ever speaking to the upperclassmen. All we could do was watch from afar and speculate about her. There were a lot of lost bets when she continually turned everyone down. I never tried, but I always wanted to. I lost all touch with her after I graduated.

It was actually a breath of fresh air that Ella never tried anything when most she-wolves threw themselves at us since we were alphas. And now she was mine. Well, now she was going to be mine; and I’d do anything to make that happen.

I followed her scent, my mate’s beautiful scent of cinnamon. I licked my lips as I saw her sitting alone at a table eating breakfast. Here was my chance. I started forward, a smile already in my lips when I felt hands wrap around my waist and stop me.

“Hey baby,” a soft voice said into my ear. “Why did you hurry out of my room this morning? I said I just needed a moment before round two.”

I turned and saw Katrina give me a small pout, her big brown eyes full of lust. Katrina was a well known she-wolf slut, but damn, the way she used her body in bed was incredible. It was as if she could read men’s minds. She had a lot of curves and wasn’t afraid to flaunt them, nor was she afraid of any position we tried. And boy, did we try them all.

I sighed. “I don’t have time for that right now.”

She tilted her head to the side and leaned her breasts heavily into me. I couldn't help but look down at her cleavage and feel my d**k get hard. Her perfume filled my nostrils. I had wanted round two this morning, but I knew I couldn’t let the weekend pass without getting things settled with Ella. Now that I knew she was my mate, I had to pursue her. But I couldn’t lie that this she-wolf tempted me still.

“Baby,” Katrina purred. “We have time to pick up where we left off. It’s not like we go to those meetings.” She winked.

Shaking my head, I grabbed her arms and extracted myself from her. “Listen, I explained it to you last night. We can’t,” I started and then dropped to a whisper. “We can’t sleep together anymore. I told you about Ella. I officially have my mate. I need to focus on her now.”

“Oh come on,” she scoffed. “Reject her, and let me make you feel good all the time. You seemed to really like it when I sucked-“

I covered her mouth quickly as she smirked back up at me. “That wasn’t our deal. Now, I don’t want to make a scene. I told you that we can talk about this later.”

She slowly nodded, and I removed my hand.

“I’ll go quietly if you sleep with me tonight.”

I shook my head.

Is it cheating if I’m not even with Ella yet?

This she-wolf is not our mate. How can you want her now?

Because of what she did this morning. Even you we’re into it.

I felt Markus growl at me.

Admit it, you want it again. I know I do. Give me the okay. Just one more before we get our prize.

I could tell Markus was pacing in my head, struggling with his base instincts and logical brain. Only one more time. No more.

I smiled at Katrina. “Fine. But don’t approach me again today.”

With a twirl of her red hair, she disappeared into the crowd, and I turned back to find my mate. Ella had just been getting breakfast when I last saw her, so I scanned the tables and spotted her in the back corner, where I saw Alexander slide into the seat next to her. That bastard. Didn’t I threaten him earlier? I couldn’t stand Alexander’s blatant arrogance and dismissal of my threat. He should know better after our history. We had never been shy to resort to fighting in the past, and now would be no different. I would make him pay. I would make him respect me and my mate bond with Ella. He lost, and he needed to just accept that. Unfortunately, now was not the time for a scene. I couldn’t do anything in front of Ella. I needed her to only see me in a good light. I had to score every point in her favor to win her over. What she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

This is your fault for getting distracted by that she-wolf. If this other wolf steals what is ours, I’ll never forgive you.

Shut up, Markus. You were distracted too. We didn’t even see Alexander go past us. That damn she-wolf.

Maybe we shouldn’t get messed up with her anymore. Maybe tonight is a mistake. Perhaps we should tell her tonight is off. We should try to be with our mate.

Is that remorse or just jealousy?

I heard him growl at me.

If I can’t convince Ella to be with us tonight, then I’ll spend the night with Katrina for the last time, like I promised. I’ll figure out a plan to win Ella. We’ll have her, don’t you worry.

I sighed and grabbed a plate of food for myself as I kept my eyes locked onto my mate, watching her every graceful move. I loved everything about this girl already, which would scare me if I didn’t know that was how the mate bond worked. I wanted to explore every inch of her body and take her over and over again for the rest of my life.

Mark her!

I felt Markus pawing to get out and take her right here in front of everyone because of how my thoughts had changed from rage to lust in the span of mere moments.

Calm down, you know why we can’t do that. You know how much I want to, but this morning proved that I can’t rush in. My alpha charms won’t work on her like they do with literally every other woman. I’ll need to step up my game, especially if Alexander is another player. I’ve never seen him go after a woman, but he sure as hell won’t have ours. We need to play this smart, as much as it pains me, we’ll have to make every move count. Not advance on her too much, but just enough to keep the ball rolling to the point where she won’t be able to escape our grasp. Ella and her wolf will be ours.

I heard Markus whine, but he agreed with me and settled down as I ate. Ella was strong and independent. There was a lot of information I didn’t know about her, so I’d have to dig through what resources I could find in order to gather enough information to be what she wanted. Perhaps her beta could help me. Angel was a very talkative woman, and if I can win her over, then I could get Ella. It was at least a start. I’d have to work fast. I only had this weekend because she would go back home and so would I. I knew I had my dad’s support, and he’d be pleased with me for bringing her home. My father highly encouraged the mate bond, and was ecstatic when I mentioned that Ella was my mate last night. Actually, I’d never seen him happier. Things had been tense with us lately, and this had broken through the tension. I had to make sure Ella was mine by the end of this weekend. I couldn’t let anything get in the way, and this Alexander problem was getting more annoying by the second.

I finished my food in silence, watching Ella the entire time, while I got lost in my thoughts.