Page 39 of The Alpha's Chosen Fate

"Did you hear about the Miller twins' attempted mating ceremony?"he asked offhandedly.

I stopped and stared at him.“Are you joking?”

He blinked.

“How would I have possibly heard anything of it, Alpha McClellan?I’ve been gone for years and now I’m living under lock and key.So no, I haven’t heard anything about anyone.”

I moved around him.Briggs ignored my snippy retort and kept talking.

"Apparently, the boys tried to sneak off and elope with the Perez sisters.Their parents—both sets—tracked them down and dragged them back by their ears.Made them apologize to the entire pack for being stupid teenagers controlled by hormones."He chuckled, the sound grating against my raw nerves.

How adorable, Rieka grinned.

How humiliating, I countered.The twins are only, what?Sixteen now?Sophia has to be seventeen and her sister is even younger.

“I had a private chat with each of them about making poor choices, especially when it comes to mating.”

I wouldn’t touch that comment with a ten-foot pole.

“Colten was tempted to send Lila off to some military school just to keep her from getting such an idea in her young head.”

“I doubt his baby sister would ever entertain such an asinine thought.”

Briggs looked down at me as though he were surprised I’d spoken.He should have been surprised.I hadn’t planned on making conversation.

When I said nothing else, he rambled on, filling the time with mundane information about the pack.From what I remembered, he wasn’t much of a talker in the past.

He feels the need to catch you up on what you missed, Rieka spoke up.

Ah.He probably thought it would make me feel more connected to the pack, more amenable to his efforts.

It wouldn’t work.The only connections I wanted right now were to my brother and our adopted family members, subjects Briggs didn’t go near.

He also carefully avoided any mention of Ruby.It was as if she had never existed, as if he hadn't upended my entire world for her.

The thought rose with blistering indignity.I swallowed it back down, letting it smolder in my gut.

Breathe, Rieka reminded me.

I inhaled deeply, holding my breath until my lungs burned.As I exhaled, I imagined expelling the ugly feelings within.It helped, but only just.

After an hour or so, Briggs stopped with the updates, only speaking to point out something here and there along the path.

Like the fungicides they’d had to spray on the elms to stop the spread of disease.Moreso for Rieka than for me, he made sure we could see how the trees were flagged and to steer clear of those areas.

It made me think he was making plans to allow my wolf to roam, eventually.He didn’t say and I didn’t ask.

We simply existed, neither breaking the dubious peace between us.

And so we fell into an adjusted routine, an unspoken agreement.Each day, he arrived at my door and courteously extended the same invitation.And each day I accepted.

We would walk side by side but worlds apart.Briggs filled the quiet with idle chatter, and I would retreat into myself.

Then we would go our separate ways.Me behind a locked door.Him to his duties, to his life as Alpha.

Still, not once, had I picked up on any trace of his mate.And not once did he mention her.

It was all a farce of normalcy.But it was all I had, and so I clung to it in an attempt to keep my sanity.

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