Secrets of his Mate

Five

Roman

I stood frozen at his words. Did Alessandro want to make Elana love him or not? His outbursts weren't going to help him accomplish his goal. She was human and did not think the way we did. He was going to scare her away for good if he couldn't control his temper every time she said something he didn't like.

"Don't make me tell you again," Alessandro warned in a low, yet forceful tone. The look in his eyes told me not to question him.

Without saying anything, I grabbed Elana's arm and pulled her inside. Luckily, she didn't put up much of a fight. If she did, I couldn't be too gentle and make her think I was weak. I also couldn't be too rough and risk Alessandro losing it completely on me.

Both of us were completely silent as we reached her room. She looked at the ground the entire time. I was curious of what was going through her head with everything that had just happened to her today. I released her arm and gently pushed her into the room. I was about to turn and walk away when I heard a small sob come out of her.

Something about that made me feel so sorry for her. I sighed and said, "I can't possibly understand what you're going through right now, but we're not bad people."

"Sure," she said almost as a whisper with her back still facing me.

"It may not seem like it, but Alessandro loves you more than anything in the world. He doesn't mean to yell at you or scare you. This is new for him too and he's trying his best. Give him another chance, please?"

She shook her head and turned to face me. "Why do you care?"

I couldn't help but stare at her. No one else here seemed to recognize her, but I did instantly. I was one her biggest fans and couldn't believe she was right in front of me, not to mention Alessandro's mate. I was star struck and trying to keep it together. "He's the Alpha," I tried to explain. "Not to mention my best friend."

"You take orders from him and call him your best friend?" She scoffed. "You're his puppet, nothing more."

"That's not true. We do things a certain way around here. We're a business, friends, and family all in one. We all know how to turn the business mode on and off when necessary."

"Whatever," she stated and looked back to the floor.

"Just give him another chance. He's actually a really good guy." She didn't respond, but I hoped she was listening and considering my plea. Now that she was at the pack house, I never wanted her to leave. "Whatever you choose to do, I advise covering up a little. Alessandro has been trying to keep his cool, but between his hormones and jealousy, it's been really hard for him not to lose control." That part was true, but it was for my own sanity as well. Temptation waved through me since the first moment I saw her at the cemetery before Tony and I grabbed her. I would never betray my Alpha, but my impure thoughts made me feel like I was. Her choice of clothing and physique weren't much help either.

She looked down at herself as if she didn't know what I was talking about. She was a very curvy woman and wore a crop top with her bra visible. Did she have no shame? Did she purposely flaunt herself like this regularly? How could such a beautiful woman be such a w***e? It blew my mind. I had mixed feelings. I was being so critical yet felt sad for her knowing what she was.

"Everything in the first closet is brand new," I informed her. "You can wear anything in there if you want until your clothes get here."

"Okay," she said quietly. "What's your name?" She asked after a moment.

"My name is Roman," I told her. "I'm Alessandro's Beta."

She didn't respond but nodded her head in understanding. "So, you're like him?" She finally spoke up.

"A werewolf?" I nodded. "Everyone here is. You're the only human on our territory."

"Oh," she said in deep thoughts.

I bit my lip trying to convince myself to bring up the elephant in the room. "I know who you are."

Her eyebrow rose and she looked at me in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Please don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, Ms. Storm."

She stared at me blankly for a second before erupting into laughter. "This might come as a surprise, but I don't care. Why are you telling me that?"

"Alessandro doesn't know," I said.

"Are you going to tell him?"

I shook my head. "That would crush him."

She sighed. "I know. I can only imagine how he would react if he found out the truth about me."

"He still deserves to know, but it really should come from you."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll think about it. Only if he's nicer to me."

I smiled at her hearing some hope in her voice to give him another chance. "I promise your secret's safe with me until then. I'll see you around, Luna." With that said, I closed and locked the door before sending a guard to stand watch.

I almost flew down the stairs to tell Alessandro the good news. The gazebo was empty when I arrived with no sight of him around. I should have known he would storm off after seeing how angry he was with Elana. Normally when his temper rises the way it did, he would take off running aimlessly to calm himself or take out his anger on some poor soul.

"Where are you, Alpha?" I asked using my mind link.

"Dungeon," was all he said in my head.

That I should've known. He already went for a run earlier today. Odds were high he wouldn't burn off his anger running twice in one day. I went inside the pack house and made my way down the dark, cold steps through the hidden entrance. The stone walls were dimly lit by candles. I would have tripped if I had never been there before. As my foot touched the last step, the dungeon brightened, and I heard a distant scream in pure agony.

I followed the screams until I came across the cell it was coming from. Alessandro stood with a whip in hand tightly as he swung it across Alpha Ethan's back. His scream pierced my ears as I watched blood trickle down reminding me of the day we defeated him and his pack, the White Claw Pack.

A few weeks back Alessandro caught wind from a neighboring pack, the Red River Pack, that Alpha Ethan was plotting to attack us in an attempt to assert himself as the highest-ranking Alpha in the region. Unfortunately for him, Silver Moon Pack has strong bonds with neighboring packs who take loyalty very seriously. They led the White Claw Pack to believe they were in agreement with overthrowing Alessandro and destroying our pack. Then they gave us the heads up of the date and time they planned to attack. It was the least they could do after Alessandro agreed our pack would help protect them from rogues a few years back.

Their faces were priceless when they ran into our woods and found us already prepared and waiting. Alpha Ethan smirked thinking he had strength in numbers with the Red River Pack. His pack was half the size of ours which is why he needed an alliance to defeat us, but when they walked over to our side his arrogance turned to sheer terror.

We attacked them effortlessly. Most of their pack warriors were killed and a few ran off. We were able to hold Alpha Ethan and his Beta hostage in the dungeon until Alessandro decided he had grown tired of them. Afterwards we made our way to his pack house where we killed most of the remaining pack members. The young children were all taken to a room where Eric cornered and taunted, frightening them to tears. Some even soiled themselves. He laughed at them before we took off leaving them alone and scarred for life. He hated himself for doing so, but it had to be done. Alessandro had a golden rule. Children were to be disciplined and intimidated, but never killed. We were better than child murderers.

The day Alessandro first laid eyes on Elana we were coming back from a meeting with Red River Pack who had decided to take in the children of the White Claw Pack. They were making sure the children were adjusting well to their new pack. Any child who was not by that time would be forced out making them a rogue. Luckily there were no complaints opening Silver Moon Pack and Red River Pack to extend their agreement to be partners for several more years.

"What do you want?" Alessandro asked without looking at me waking me out of my thoughts.

"I talked to Elana," I said trying to sound cheerful.

"You were up there a long time," he said coldly turning his head slightly to eyeball me.

"I think she's considering giving you another chance."

He dropped the whip and turned his whole body to face me raising an eyebrow. "Why would she so that?"

"Probably because I kind of begged her," I answered honestly. I wasn't sure the real reason why she would, but it didn't matter.

"Do you think she means it?"

"Oh yeah," I said inciting hope into him.

A smile crept on his lips while his mind began wandering. "I don't wanna screw up again," he told me with pleading eyes. "How do I make things right?"

"You need to learn how to control your temper," I said truthfully.

He smirked as he picked up the whip again. "I can control it right here." He flung the whip hard against Alpha Ethan.

The scream was deafening. Then he suddenly built-up confidence to laugh. "What's wrong? The big bad Alpha can't get a girl to love him?" He taunted.

Alessandro whipped him so hard no sound came out when he tried to cry out. "You don't get to speak, maggot." He placed the whip back on the hook before stepping out of the cell and locking it.

He led the way out of the dungeon in silence. I followed blowing out the candles in the stairs on the way out. We made our way to his office where he began pacing in deep thought. I sat on one of the leather chairs in front of his desk waiting for him to calm down a bit.

"You wanna tell me what happened on your date?" I asked wondering about what set him off this time.

He sighed heavily. "I really don't even know," he admitted. "We were talking. Everything was going great. She was actually being open to everything I said and wasn't as scared as I thought she would be. She really is something else, Roman." He smiled reminiscing the event. "Then I offered her dessert and she mentioned him again... the little love of her life piece of s**t and I just lost it."

"She mentioned him because of dessert?"

"Yeah. She said lava cake was the last thing they ate together." He seemed annoyed to even say it.

"You can't expect her to forget about him in just one day."

He glared at me. "Do you think I don't know that? It's just so hard knowing my mate is thinking of another man. You have no idea how bad that hurts me."

"You're right. I don't know, but you're my best friend and I want this to work out for you just as much. You need to learn how to shrug it off any time she mentions him or even thinks about him. Don't let her know it bothers you."

"I want to but it's so hard to do. It literally kills me inside. She should be thinking of me and only me."

"Don't worry about it. Just focus on making her fall in love with you. The more you're with her, the less she'll think about him."

Alessandro nodded his head in understanding. "I'm not sure what to do next. Try to have another date? There's only so much we can do here."

"You'll think of something," I reassured him. "You have a lot of land here. Use it."

"Yeah, somewhere further from all of you guys."

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Elana was looking all around during dinner. I'm pretty sure she noticed all the curious eyeballs spying on us through the windows."

"Oh," was all I could say realizing how embarrassed she must have felt. "She'll get over that quickly. Let me know if you need help with the next date."

He gave me a half smile and waved his hand dismissing me. I was honestly glad to be out of there. He would behead me if he ever found out about all the fantasies I've had of Elana, especially since her arrival.