The Alpha's Choice

Chapter Three

“You can talk about it if you want.”

The drive had been quiet until Ashley decided to finally speak. I’d been dreading that she would since I stepped into the car. If I was being honest, I didn’t want to voice it out loud.

Claire didn’t belong to me anymore. Her intentions had been clear ever since the night she rejected me, but I hadn’t realized how fast she and Landon would go once I was out of the picture. Maybe I had, but I’d been deep in denial about it.

The mark on her neck helped me snap out of that delusion.

My wolf was pacing around in my mind, stuck between lunging forward or staying still. The bond was broken completely, but there was still a need, an instinct deeply engraved into my being that tugged and pulled and wouldn’t let me be still. If I let it simmer for too long, I’d go mad because of it.

“Sometimes I wish I had loved her a little less,” I finally admitted, still looking only at the road. “Maybe then I would have fought her decision more, maybe I wouldn’t have let her go.”

I still remembered the night she chose to finally put an end to whatever was left between us. How she had let me hold her, the smell of her hair and the softness of her skin. How if I had buried my face further into her neck and held her for just a moment longer, I could have restored our bond completely with just one bite.

I was tempted. Goddess, was I tempted. If she had let go of me a moment later, I might have just given in. She might have hated me for it, but she had hated me before. She could love me again. If only I had done it, if only she hadn’t let go when she did…

“She loved him more, but if I just had a bit more time,” I rambled, aware of how desperate I sounded, "maybe if she hadn’t left to begin with. If she hadn’t met him.” I shook my head. “He was always between us. I am sure she could’ve loved me more eventually.”

“Maybe,” Ashley agreed. “But would she be happy?”

My gaze finally snapped to hers. “What? Ashley, I would have made her happy. What makes you think I wouldn’t have?”

“Eyes on the road,” she warned, unflinching. "I am not saying she wouldn’t have loved you. You are her soulmate, how could she not? But do you remember how she was before she left for the first time?” A bitter taste filled my mouth at the memory. “She wouldn’t have been able to heal in the pack, not the way she needed to heal. And you could not leave the pack.”

My hands tightened around the steering wheel. I couldn’t deny it. The pack had been her hell for too long. “I should’ve left with her.”

Ashley remained quiet for a while after that. I hadn’t meant to say it out loud, and my jaw clenched, fearing her judgment. Ashley was one of my best friends, but I was still her Alpha. She trusted me with her life. I couldn’t face her disappointment.

“I didn’t mean that,” I tried to mend. “Ash, you know I didn’t mean that.”

“You don’t need to lie to me, Jake,” Ashley said. “Never to me. Not about this. I would never judge you for it,” she was looking out the window, and I couldn’t see her face. “After all, there is not a night that I don’t think that I should’ve left with him too.”

--

It had been a while since I’d been outside my own pack’s territory. If I was honest, I couldn’t really remember the last time. I could feel the distance weighing on my chest. I couldn’t help but wonder how the twins managed to stay away from home for so long.

“Alpha Jake,” a girl exclaimed as I walked towards the entrance of the building. “You came.”

Her face turned deep red as my gaze landed on her. I smiled. “I am not very sure what I am supposed to do. Would you mind helping me?”

Ashley rolled her eyes just as the girl perked up. “Of course!” She took out something from her pockets. “Let me just find something here. You are here to find a mate, am I right?”

I faltered. “Is that not the purpose of the event?”

She nodded. “Yes, but some alphas only show up to recruit unmated wolves. That is not your intention, is it?”

“No,” I told her. “That is not my intention.”

“Good,” she blurted out, then flushed again. “I mean, not good. I am sorry for your loss. I don’t think it’s good that you have to be here, given the reason you are here. It’s just good that you are here, you know? I deeply admire people who manage to put themselves out there following the death of their mate. Like I don’t know what I-“

“My mate isn’t dead,” I said. My voice comes out harsher than I intended, and she flinched.

“Sorry for assuming,” she muttered, though he can see how she won’t meet his eyes anymore. I can tell her mind must be spinning with the question ‘then why are you here?’. I thought the gossip of my rejection would be everywhere by now. I guessed that wasn’t the case.

“So, what’s the next step?” Ashley asked, stepping in for me. “You don’t seem to be one of the organizers.”

The girl turned to Ashley, as if noticing she was there for the first time. Ashley didn’t seem either surprised or bothered by this. She just waited for an answer.

“I am not,” the girl answered, seeming flustered. “It’s just not my first time here. You are supposed to go in through the double doors at the back. They will hand you a nametag there.”

I nodded and gestured for Ashley to follow. We then took our nametags and made our way in. The building was nothing impressive if I was being honest. However, it was different than home. And right now, that’s all I needed.

“Are we supposed to start mingling now?” I asked Ashley.

“It seems so,” Ashley muttered, looking around. “I’ll be right back.”

A lot of the wolves were staring at us as we made our way in. I was a known face, at least. All Alphas are. At least within the same region. Not all of them were staring at us, though. A handful of wolves were set on staring down a girl I recognized immediately.

“Is that…” I began walking towards her. More eyes followed me. She immediately noticed me. Her eyes met mine. “Allison?”

“Jake,” she said. She didn’t use my title as she spoke to me, which was fine. It’d just been a while since someone that wasn’t close directed themselves at me without using my title. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Likewise.” I couldn’t find more words to say. Allison rarely spoke to me anymore. We’d been friendly before, but it’d gone downhill after I killed Caine. “I didn’t think you’d attend an event like this.”

“I didn’t think you would either.” Her eyes were just as hard to look at as her brother’s. There was just something about the twins. It felt cursed. “Was it that easy to forget?”

My jaw clenched. “I haven’t forgotten anything.”

“Neither have I.” This phrase held a double meaning. I don’t think Allison and I will ever manage to be friends again. “Anyway, I’ve attended this meeting only once before. Landon dragged me to it with him. This year, I was forced to come alone.”

I blinked, taken aback by the easy shift of her mood. Maybe friends was out the question, but perhaps allies not so much. “I was forced by my friends as well.”

“I see.” She looked around the room with a glass in her hand. Allison was dressed casually today, unlike some of the girls I’d manage to spot as soon as I made my way in. Still, she wore it well. She pointed in one direction subtly. “I’d be careful about those girls over there. They always tried to get with Landon before. Word is, they intend to trap an alpha.”

I raised a brow. “Trap an alpha? How’d they intend to do that? With your brother of all people?”

Allison smirked. “Landon was immune to that particular form of trap, yes. However, I don’t think all alphas would resist the temptation.”

I frowned. “Good to know.” I could still feel eyes on me. To be more precise, on us. “Everyone here seems to be looking this way. Don’t they have something better to do?”

“We are both infamous, it’s only natural that people are curious.” Allison shrugged. “And you decided to approach me, which only adds to the scandal.”

“Infamous?” I raised a brow. “I thought that only applied to the pair of you.”

“My brother and I do draw in quite the crowd,” she agreed. “However, you are an alpha that got rejected by his mate.” I flinched. “Wouldn’t you be curious too?”

I reached for a glass then stopped. “I get your point.”

“Don’t worry,” Allison said. “We are not the only spectacle to come.”

“We are not?”

When I finished saying that, the doors opened again, and a beautiful girl walked in through the doors. She had long hair to her waist and cat-like hazel eyes. A tall, burly man followed in after her, then set his hand on her shoulder and whispered something in her ear. Even with my supernatural hearing, I couldn’t decipher what he was saying.

“There you go,” Allison told me, which broke me out of the spell. “The real circus freaks have arrived. About damn time too, I was about to start attacking people.”