Page 40 of Cruel Alpha

“Yeah,” I said before Ethan could snipe back. “She wants some space to think. It’s making me a bit antsy.”

Julia snorted.

“You can say that again. I found Nate crying in the woods yesterday.” I winced. Nate had always been sensitive, especially where my praise or censure was concerned.

“It is what it is,” I said. “Like you said, I just need to get a better handle on myself.” I could do that. Probably.

“That’s bullshit,” Ethan growled, and Julia rolled her eyes.

“How so?” she asked. “Please enlighten us.”

“She’s your mate; those are your children,” said Ethan. “She can’t just forbid you access.”

If only it were so simple. Perhaps in some Packs, it was. I knew that Ferris was old fashioned, that they were far stricter about what mates owed each other. For a female to shut out her mate would be unheard of there. It might be frowned upon on Lapine, but if her mate treated her as badly as I had? The Pack would probably turn a blind eye.

“She can, and she has,” I told him, but he only frowned at me.

“You remember that you’re Alpha, right?”

I did, and that was half the problem. I was trying to find the right words to explain it to him, but Julia was faster.

“This isn’t the kind of situation you can bully your way out of,” she snapped. “That’s only gonna make things worse.”

Ethan bristled, and when he spoke again, I could feel him actively trying to hold back the boom of Alpha authority. As much as the two disliked each other, he’d never used that tone with her, I assumed out of respect for my jurisdiction.

“It’s not bullying,” he insisted, “it’s authority. Shifters are designed to respond to that. It’s natural.”

Julia rolled her eyes.

“Oh yeah?” she retorted. “Then why don’t I give a single shit about any of the things you say?”

“Can we get back on track here?” I said before things could escalate. I didn’t really want to continue talking about my embarrassment of a love life, but it was better than watching another Julia vs Ethan smackdown. Those things were brutal.

“I was on track until—” Ethan started, but Julia cut him off.

“Until your idea of helping was making things worse. Alyssa isn't a full shifter, and her only experience of Alpha authority is the way it’s been used to humiliate her. She’s not going to respond to some macho show of strength. You turn up at my door makingdemandsof her and you’ll be hocus-pocused straight into the sea.”

Ethan clearly didn’t have anything to say to that, and it made me a little bit proud. I loved him, but he could be an asshole sometimes. Julia kept him in line.

“What do you suggest, then?” he asked through gritted teeth. Julia shrugged.

“Give her what she wants,” she said. “Alyssa knows you’ve changed, but she’s still really hurt. You know when you adopt a feral cat, and you have to just let it hide under the sofa for a few days before you even try to give it pets? Like, it mightwantthose pets, but its experience of the world is that human hands are for hurting. I know she misses you, though. She’ll come out from under the couch soon enough.”

“You’re calling my mate a feral cat?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Julia smiled, wide and cheeky. I wished I could share her optimism.

“So I just have to wait?”

I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear something else. I wanted to agree with Ethan that the best course of action was to bust down her door and sweep her up in my arms whether she liked it or not.

To my surprise, Julia’s smile wavered.

“I mean—there is something you could do, but it’s big,” she said.

“What?” It didn’t matter how big it was; if it got me back in her arms, I’d do it.

“It would make her feel a hell of a lot more secure if you claimed her and the kids. Publicly.”

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