A Matter of Convenience

Twenty-Seven

“That it has, though I’m surprised to see you here of all places.” He looks between Isis and me. “Is there something that we don’t know about?” I look at Isis, hating that I still can’t mind link her. I think I need to get her to talk to her witch friend and see if there’s anything we can do to fix that.

“We should just tell him. He’ll find out anyway.” Isis's eyes are telling me that she wants to rip my head off, and it makes me want to laugh. I know I’m pushing her into a tight corner, but there’s no avoiding it at this point. Isis clenches her jaw but subtly nods her head. I turn to Alpha Felix and plaster a smile on my face.

“Isis and I are mates. We are marked and everything.” I pull down my collar, making my mark visible. I guess this is a good test. If we can get Alpha Felix to take the bait, we may have no issues with the elders.

A growl sounds through the room, and my head snaps toward the guy standing off the side. He’s clutching the flowers he brought, and his neck is strained in anger. He looks like he wants to snap my neck, and I wonder what that has to do with Isis.

Alpha Felix looks between us a few times before settling his eyes on Isis. “I guess a congratulation is in order. I didn’t know that you had, uh, moved on.” I raise an eyebrow but say nothing. I would rather just observe at this point. The rustling of the flowers hitting the floor breaks me out of my concentration. The guy starts to stalk toward us, and I see Isis shift on her feet out of the corner of my eye.

“How?!” His voice is low and filled with venom. “How could you have moved on?” I swear I could never have guessed what happens next. Isis’s hand finds its way to my shirt. She yanks my shirt, so I turn to face her. Isis moves in closely and smashes her lips to mine. It’s a rough kiss, but damn if her lips aren’t soft as hell. I have to say that this is a bit of a turn-on, and that isn’t a good thing.

Isis pulls away from me and faces the guy. “That’s how.” The guy growls before stomping out of the room. I have to say that I can’t wait for the story time that’s sure to come.

“Is, uh, is your guy alright?” Alpha Felix gives me a weird look.

“Yeah, he’s fine. Let me go check on him for a second, and then I’ll return.” I nod and watch him walk out the door with Beta Lionel following him. I turn to face Isis now that we’re alone in the room. The pain radiates all over my face and head; the slap’s loud as sh.it and followed by another.

“What the f***k is your problem?!”

~Jovanni~

You have to keep it together!

Keep it together?! How the f***k can you say that when he has marked our fated mate? He had his fu.cking paws all over her and kissed her! He needs to die! I want his head! Wolfgang isn’t wrong about anything he said. I had to rush out of the room before I let him take control and put our life in jeopardy. That man is an Alpha, and I’m nothing but a warrior. There’s no way I could have attacked him and come out of that unscathed.

I continue to pace back and forth in the hallway. I’m vaguely aware of eyes on me, but I’m ignoring them. The truth is that there has been nothing but eyes on me since I’ve gotten here. I’m pretty sure everyone knows who I am and what happened, so I’m not a liked person. “I'm sure you already know, but under no circumstances can you attack an Alpha.” I look up to see Alpha Felix leaning against a wall, looking at me. I grumble in response, causing him to chuckle.

“What do I do, Alpha? How am I supposed to compete with an Alpha? How did they even get together? I didn’t accept her rejection. I still feel the pull to her and her scent still calls to me. If she’s marked by another, how the hell is that possible?!” Alpha Felix pushes off the wall and walks over to me.

“Are you sure? You still feel the mate bond with Isis?” I close my eyes and let my senses take over. I reach out through the bond I know is there, testing the thread that ties me to Isis. It isn’t as strong as it was the first time I saw her, but it’s there.

“The mate bond is there, I can feel it.”

“If you still feel the bond, then something isn’t right. Someone must be lying and it’s up to us to find out the truth.”

~Isis~

“Excuse me?!”

“You heard me! What the f***k is your problem?!” I stalk away from Ericson and start to pace the room. “How the hell did you think it’s okay to show up here unannounced?!”

“You can’t be fu.cking serious right now! What did you expect me to do? I’ve been calling and texting you, but you haven’t even had the decency to answer. You know damn well the elders will be here soon to question us about everything, and you’re over here pouting like a toddler!” The rage flowing through me is next level, and I’d like nothing more than to unleash it all over him. How dare he chalk everything up to being something insignificant when it’s way more important?

“That’s all you can think about, huh?! You securing your position as Alpha and getting the elders on board is all you can focus on. Never mind anything else that may be going on or maybe be more important. Nevermind that I lost my father and am now an orphan. Nevermind that I’m grieving and trying to find my place in the world. f***k! I swear nothing has changed and you are the same self-involved, immature asshole you’ve always been!” I’m not sure what happened or why. I swear it wasn’t even on my radar. One minute, I’m yelling at him, and the next minute, Ericson rushes up to me and slams his lips on mine in a bruising kiss.