Page 4 of Claimed By the Wolf
She throws her blonde hair back angrily and meets my eyes, but confusion shadows her irises. “If I’m not here to be reprimanded for going to that party, then what am I doing here?”
Her jaw twitches, and I realize that all my plans to persuade her to accept Emeric as a mate are utterly useless now.
I have to go with an alternative plan.
I lean forward, my eyes narrowing. “Well…” I drawl sarcastically. I have to use her betrayal to my advantage. “Since you seem to enjoy spending so much time with Willow Grove, you should be excited about my proposition.”
Her brow furrows. “I just told you, I went with my friends, not to hang out with the shifters from Willow Grove. Stop making it into a bigger deal than it is, Nox!” Then she pauses. “And what proposition?”
I glance at Brax quickly before announcing, “You’re going to mate with Alpha Emeric.”
She stares at me blankly for a long moment as if the words don’t quite resonate. “What?”
“You’ll meet with him to see if he accepts you,” I begin again, but the words finally sink in.
Disbelief drains the blood from her face. “I—what?” she gasps. “The hell I am!” She shakes her head vehemently. “No! No way!”
“It’s not a request,” I tell her flatly. “You are doing it.”
Through my peripheral view, Brax cringes at my tone, but he doesn’t speak as his sister stares at him, dumbfounded.
“You just said it was a proposition!”
“That was before you disobeyed direct orders from your Alpha and endangered the whole pack,” I tell her.
Ordering her to accept a mate against her wishes goes against my every instinct, yet duty demands it. I console myself with the knowledge that arranged matings are very common and account for a large percentage of unions.
“No!” she cries again. “Why me? Lots of other females would love the opportunity to be an Alpha’s mate.”
I settle back in my chair and study her impassioned face. Indignant as she is, she is beautiful enough for any Alpha, and her loyalty to us is unwavering.
“You’re the only one I trust to do this,” I tell her evenly. “This will end the tensions between our two packs, but also give us an inside track to what’s happening in Willow Grove.”
Her jaw slacks, and her head whips back and forth between us as if looking for some kind of out. “Are you serious?”
“It’s an honor,” I insist smoothly, reading the fire flaming in her eyes. “Mating with a powerful Alpha, becoming his Luna. You know we’ve had issues with Willow Grove since before Emeric took over. This union will finally stop tensions from flaring up every time someone crosses into disputed land that we both believe is ours.”
I eye her meaningfully, waiting for her response.
“No!”
The response doesn’t really surprise me.
“Yes.” My tone is flat, emotionless.
Furiously, she jumps out of her chair. “You can’t make me!”
She’s technically right. I probably can’t. But if I apply enough pressure, she will do it.
I raise an eyebrow at Brax, silently asking him to intervene.
He draws in a breath. “Brynn…”
“You were in on this, too?” She turns to confront her brother, disgust coloring her face.
“It’s not a conspiracy,” Brax comments dryly. “I’m the Beta.”
She scoffs. “It sure as hell feels like a conspiracy. Don’t you care that I don’t know him or love him? What if I meet my fated mate one day?”
