The Beta’s Alpha Mate

Seventeen

Daniel’s POV

“Let me talk to him first.” Grayson’s low, deep voice was at least slightly comforting as I sat here, staring at the ceiling of the conference room they’d hustled me into.

Keely and Sierra continued to argue that they should be allowed in, too, since Sierra was my sister and Keely was apparently my self-appointed neutral observer. AKA, Keely was worried her big brother and his pals would kick my ass without her presence. Which was still a possibility; only time would tell.

Eventually, both Grayson and the Moonstone Beta, Cory, stepped into the room. Keely trailed behind them, but while they took a seat at the table, she scurried to a corner and stood with her arms crossed in front of her like some kind of hall monitor.

“Daniel,” Grayson spoke first. “Do you know the purpose of our pack’s trip to Moonstone?”

“Yes,” I nodded. There was no point in lying about it now.

“And did you know you have a unique gift? Specifically, the gift that we’ve been trying to find?”

“Yes.”

He exhaled, like he was trying to keep from losing his composure. “Do you know… do you know why they’re after you?”

I bit my lip as I tried to compose an answer. “I know they want to share the powers my blood contains. But as for why they want those powers, specifically, I’m unsure.”

Grayson’s green eyes narrowed. “So you’re saying you knew your blood possessed characteristics that could be passed on to others? You knew what would happen to me after our encounter the other day and you chose not to say anything?” His tone was deadly.

“I didn’t know it would happen quite like that,” I told him honestly. “I only know a little bit, from what my grandmother shared briefly when I was a small child. My parents were killed because my dad possessed the same gift, and it runs in our family.”

Cory chimed in, asking the question I feared most. “So does Sierra have it, too?”

I shook my head. “No, just males in our bloodline.” I made eye contact and kept my breathing steady, using every trick I knew to sell the lie. But somehow, Grayson saw through it.

“So when Helix calls on his witch friend to test the Omega pack members, Sierra won’t be immune to the magic?”

I paled slightly, and the brief pause before I could think of an answer gave him all the information he needed. f**k. I was out of my depth trying to fool people who were experienced interrogators; they were used to dealing with much more sophisticated liars than me. Exhaling loudly, I knew there was nothing left to do except admit the truth.

“I was just trying to protect her!” I explained, my eyes already tearing up. Goddess, I hated that I got teary-eyed so easily. “I led them away from her by leaving Clear Lake after exposing myself as the gifted wolf to a witch who was notorious for selling information. I knew they would look for an adult male wolf and leave she-wolves and pups alone.”

“Goddess, Daniel, and you led them straight to our pack and didn’t think to give us a heads up?” Grayson growled. “You and I were friends, and you never even told me?”

I bowed my head. I knew Grayson was never going to forgive me for what I’d done, and Red Oaks would likely exile me, so protecting Sierra was all I could do. “Sierra has no idea about any of this, so don’t punish her. She thinks our parents were just killed by vampires.”

Cory barked out a laugh. “Oh, Sierra’s not the one in trouble. You, though - I can’t promise the same.”

From the corner, Keely interrupted. “Guys, give him a break. He didn’t do it to endanger anyone. He was trying to protect his sibling. Julien would do something crazy like that for me.”

“It doesn’t matter, Keely,” Grayson retorted. “He put all of us at risk. Quite honestly, he put me at even more risk than the rest of you,” he snarled, glaring daggers at me across the table. I lowered my gaze, avoiding his eyes.

What was the point in yelling at me though? Honestly, did they not realize I knew what I was doing was wrong? If it weren’t for Sierra, I wouldn’t have done it, but she was my sister. I needed to protect her and I needed to check on her when I got the opportunity. No one else would ever matter to me as much as Sierra.

A moment later, Helix and Julien entered the room. s**t, I thought. This was going to get worse.

“Daniel,” Helix said. “I am upset that you’ve risk my pack’s safety by coming here with no warning, but at this point, given what we’ve overheard, it makes the most sense for you and Sarah to be in the same place to make it easier to protect you both. I’ve arranged a room for you on the Gamma floor, next to Sierra and Marcos, and guards are posted at every entry point. You’ll need to stay on that floor, along with Sierra, for the remainder of your time here - however long that may be.”

“And don’t think I’m pleased about this either,” Julien added. “You came dangerously close to harming a key alliance with your immature decision-making. Next time, you’ll give us the facts and let us decide how to proceed.” The weight of his Alpha command filtered through his last sentence, but it was also kind of funny. ‘Next time?’ Did he mean the next time I found out I was a freaking magical wolf with blood tasty enough to turn anyone into a vampire? Okay, sure, Julien, next time I would be sure to tell you first.

Keely gave me a reassuring shoulder pat as I stood up to follow Cory and Julien to my new room. I know they never said the word prisoner, but it felt an awful lot like I had become one.

Grayson’s POV

(warning: s****l content)

I felt like a complete f**k-up, having the situation with Daniel spiral out of control. I should have just said something right away about my suspicion that he was the Omega. Why didn’t I do that?

But I tried to push all thoughts of him from my mind. We had agreed to take an afternoon break from our meeting and reconvene in a couple of hours, so Julien and I were headed back to his room while the others went their separate ways. I vowed to pick up my work thoughts where I left off when our break was over, but for now, I just wanted some time to relax with my new mate.

As soon as we were inside and the door was shut and locked behind us, Julien surprised me by shoving me against the wall and aggressively kissing me, his tongue sliding into my mouth as I eagerly accepted him. I let out a moan when I felt him roughly grind his lower half against mine, my hips involuntary thrusting out to meet his.

“Bed, now, Grayson,” he ordered as he pulled away from our kiss. Huh. I was too consumed with lust to remind him that I didn’t take his orders in the bedroom. I slipped my shirt over my head and stripped off my pants and boxers, crawling into bed and laying on my back. Julien discarded his clothes, too, before climbing on top of me, kneeling between my legs and pinning me to the bed.

His lips captured mine again immediately, our tongues intertwining. I dug my nails into his back and wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him as close to me as possible, and he groaned as he rocked his hips against mine. Soon his mouth was on my throat, biting and kissing his way from my collarbone to my marking spot as I squirmed underneath him. He reached down and grasped both of our lengths in his hand, stroking them up and down as I watched.

“Babe, I’m gonna c*m if you don’t stop,” I groaned. Everything felt amazing with him. It was like all the normal sensations heightened by a hundred times.

“No. Not yet. I’ll tell you when you can,” he growled out. Oh f**k. Fuckfuckfuck that made it worse. I think I liked him being controlling. I was so consumed with need right now I could barely think.

“Juls, please, babe,” I begged, panting, barely holding on.

He nipped my ear and smirked. “I just wanted you to ask nicely. Now, Grays. c*m for me, right now.” Hearing his deep, raspy voice giving me orders sent shivers down my spine and pushed me right over the edge. He groaned as I twitched and exploded in his hand, and he followed right behind me with his own release, making a sticky mess on my chest and abs.

Exhausted, we collapsed next to each other to catch our breaths. A minute later he hopped up and ventured to the bathroom, cleaning himself up and returning with a towel that he offered to me.

“I’d been thinking about you since this morning. I hope it was okay to just kind of jump you like that, especially with everything going on,” Julien softly smiled at me as he sat on the bed in just his boxers.

“Yes, very okay. Amazing, even,” I told him. “Definitely unexpected and new for me.”

He beamed at the praise before teasing me. “New? Grayson Blackstone is capable of having new experiences in bed? Whoa. Alert the media.”

I laughed. “Apparently you’re going to get to teach me a few things after all. Not going to lie, you’re pretty hot when you take control like that,” I smirked at him.

Julien blushed, adorably, and wrapped his arms around me as he slid back into bed beside me, the fluffy white comforter pulled over us.

“Maybe I’ll do it more often,” he mused, as he ran his fingers through my hair.

I growled softly before I kissed him. “You’re mine to play with next time. And next time is going to be soon, babe,” I warned. “Don’t forget your promise, we’re sharing this bed tonight.”

“Yes, Grays, anything you say,” he grinned and kissed my nose. “You’re a fun mate. I’m so glad we’re doing this.”

“You’re pretty fun, too, Alpha,” I told him, smiling and cuddling closer to him. He rolled over, so his back was pressed snugly against my chest, one of my arms draped over his waist and the other tucked beneath his shoulder.

After a few minutes, Julien’s breathing evened out and I knew he had fallen asleep. I had set an alarm for the next meeting before we even left the conference room earlier, so a short nap would be fine. Neither of us were going to get much sleep tonight anyway, if I had my way, so better to rest now.

I lightly kissed his shoulder before burying my face against his neck, breathing in his scent, as my fingertips traced little patterns up and down his chest.

“I love you, Juls,” I whispered, and then I let the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat lull me to sleep, too.