Fate’s Design

Mate

Mason POV

“Kelsey, why are you doing this?” I asked. I was shocked. I knew I’d run into her boytoy sooner or later, but hadn’t expected her to flat out deny that I was her mate. When she pulled away from him, I thought that was a good sign, but now this. Caspian was too hurt to even try to take control like he usually tried to when we were angry. He whined at the sight of her shaking her head.

“Don’t worry about him, beautiful. He’ll get over it.” Alex said, reaching for her arm again and starting to pull her away.

“And who, exactly, are you?” Seth asked him, glaring.

Alex smirked. “Alex Thompson, Gamma Theo Thompson’s son.” He said, avoiding what he knew was Seth’s real question, what was he to Kelsey.

“Is this how Crystal Run’s leading families treat visiting Alpha’s? Disrespecting them by laying hands on their mates?” Seth demanded.

“According to her, they aren’t mates.” Alex pointed out. “Come on, Kels, no need to let these guys ruin our plans.” He said, putting his other arm around her waist and resting it on her hip. I couldn’t take any more. No matter what she said, she was my mate unless and until she broke the bond with a formal rejection and I would not stand for someone else touching my mate like that.

I let out a low, warning growl. “Get. Your hands. Off. My mate. Now.” I said in a deceptively even tone.

“Beautiful, when you said you were gonna have fun with some of the ‘hot new wolves’ coming in this evening, this wasn’t what I pictured.” Alex said. He clearly had a death wish. How dare he touch her, and talk like that? I was very tempted to let Caspian out to deal with him.

Kelsey’s slightly uncertain look suddenly became a mask and that feisty attitude from earlier returned. “So you were picturing it, huh?” She asked Alex with a smirk. “What, are you not getting enough attention, that you need to imagine what I do when you’re not around?”

Other wolves were starting to take notice of what was going down.

I was so close to just snapping. “I’m being patient with you out of respect for your Alpha. But you don’t want to test me. My patience and goodwill are running thin at the moment. By law, I can do whatever I need to do to defend my claim over my mate. Back. Off.” I said coldly.

“Or what, tough guy? You attack the Gamma’s son and you’ll start a war. How many of your pack’s warriors have to die because of your ego?” He said smugly.

“Alex! Stand down, now!” A commanding voice that I assumed belonged to Alpha Durian came roaring over to us. An imposing man in his mid to late thirties was soon standing next to us, glaring at Alex.

“Durian,” Alex said sheepishly, letting go of Kelsey. It was clear from his expression that he was embarrassed about the Alpha compelling him, but also that he had disappointed someone he seemed to look up to, “I was just messing around.”

“I shouldn’t have to tell you to not harass our guests. Go find somewhere else to be and try to stay out of trouble.” He ordered.

“Yes, Alpha.” Alex said reluctantly.

“Alpha Mason, my sincere apologies. When one of my people linked me to say that Alex was stirring up trouble, I came immediately. That boy has a lot of potential, but for some reason, he buries it as deep as he can manage. Always has.” Alpha Durian said, stretching out a hand. I shook it, though I was still fuming, and I’m sure he could feel the anger rolling off of me.

“Alpha Durian, I presume. Your Gamma’s son seems quite comfortable disrespecting another man’s mate. I hope that isn’t reflective of this pack’s view of the mate bond.”

A brief flicker of something flashed across his face at hearing that before he quickly regained his composure.

Durian POV

When the word ‘mate’ left Mason’s lips, my heart sank. Did he mean Kelsey? This was not good. No wonder he was so furious with Alex. By law, Mason had every right to demand both their lives for their disregard for their mate bond, and with Alex being the Gamma heir, it would be a hard pill for everyone to swallow. Hopefully if Alex stopped antagonizing the man, he would agree to a lesser penalty. But then another thought crossed my mind. What if he wasn’t aware of the depth of her betrayal and he went through with the mating? If this cost Harvest Moon their new Alpha when they were already in a period of grief and transition after losing their Luna and all but losing their Alpha as a result, they might very well blame Crystal Run. This was not good at all.

“I assure you, we take it very seriously. Kelsey and Alex have not acted with my approval or that of the pack. Your mate is —” I was cut short by an outburst from Kelsey.

“I’m not his mate!”

“How can you say that?” The hurt and anger in Mason’s voice was palpable. I turned to Kelsey.

“Kelsey, I know you’ve been hurt, but this isn’t the solution. You can’t just pretend this isn’t happening.” I told her gently.

“But —”

“No one is going to force you to go with him. But denying the bond isn’t the way to go and you know it. The way to release yourself and him from the bond is not denial, it is rejection. But don’t think that will get you off the hook for what you’ve done the last few years.” I said more sternly. Thankfully, she didn’t argue with me. She was the only person in the pack that I truly couldn’t control if I had to. Luckily, she usually knew when not to push. She just looked warily at Mason.

Mason POV

I knew he wasn’t suggesting she should reject me, just that she needed to acknowledge our bond. I still couldn’t hold back a growl at his words. This was not how any of this was supposed to go. But he was right. I wouldn’t force her to accept me or to come with me. But leaving her here might just kill me. Taking her with would very likely kill me. One way or another, this was not going to be pretty.

When she finally looked me in the eye, my heart sank. This was it. She was going to do it. She wasn’t going to even give me a chance, all because someone in her past had hurt her. I didn’t even know who or how, but they were about to cost me my whole world.

I met her eyes, but I’m sure I didn’t look as calm and collected as I would have liked. I looked my mate over, memorizing every feature, and for some reason, she didn’t try to stop me. When I finally looked back up into her eyes, her expression had changed. It was harder and impossible to read. Whatever was going through her mind, she didn’t want me, Seth, and Durian to know it. I wanted so badly to take her in my arms and tell her again that we’d figure it out together. But I couldn’t. This was her choice to make.

She opened her mouth once again to say the words no wolf ever wants to hear.