The Alpha's Prey

Chapter Forty-Four

Caleb valiantly tried his best to concentrate on anything other than trying to pinpoint Serena’s location in the crowd. Unfortunately, it was easier said than done as his will was weak, and his wolf Wilder was not in agreement with his plan to ignore their mate. Soon he found himself scanning the faces of his pack mates and it didn’t take him long to pick her out of the crowd again. But when he did, he growled in disapproval.

The rest of the pack had wandered away, leaving only Alistair, Matthew, and Sophie surrounding Serena. Caleb watched as they hung on every word she said, this did not upset him. What unsettled him was Alistair – the pack’s wolf w***e, inching his way closer to HIS mate trying to monopolize her attention for himself. Alistair gently brushed a hand across her upper arm before twirling one of her curls on his index finger.

Caleb’s eyes narrowed and he was sure they had turned completely black as his wolf fought him for dominance. His wolf wanted to rip Alistair’s throat out and claim their mate in front of everyone. Caleb agreed with the throat-ripping part but was not ready to claim his mate. As such, he subdued his wolf and sought to calm the erratic pounding of his heart just in time before his sisters sat back down with plates full of food.

He knew he had no business caring one way or another about who Serena spoke with since he had no intention of claiming her. But he was a wolf – dominant, possessive and predatory. Seeing Alistair close in on his mate brought all those traits to the surface. It was hard… very hard to keep his emotions under control. He couldn’t afford to get caught looking at Serena with his heart racing like that. His sisters were already suspicious, and he didn’t need to give them any more reasons to pry.

Abruptly Caleb stood. “I’m going to grab some food,” he announced. He didn’t wait for their acknowledgement or the questions he knew he’d find in their eyes from his weird behaviour. Frankly, he didn’t have an explanation to give. He already knew he was acting like a deranged wolf – he didn’t need confirmation of that from them.

He needed to get out of the packhouse before he did something stupid.