Page 93 of Challenged Mate
Through to cacophony of yells and shouts, I heard Kayla’s voice clearly as she said, “Don’t be an idiot, Stanley. Retract your challenge.”
“Never.” His eyes flared. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for years. I challenge for the position of alpha. I demand a fight.”
Oh, Mother.
“Don’t I get a say in this?” I yelled, desperate to find some way to save Axel, and myself, from this potentially tragic fate.
The room grew quiet. Eyes bounced between me and the males posturing around me.
Stanley’s eyes landed on me. I cringed when they roved over me with blatant desire. “You are bound to marry the alpha, Blair. You don’t get a say.”
Before I could respond, his attention moved to Asher. “What say you, Wolfstan? Will you accept my challenge?”
Shock stole my breath when Asher stepped in front of me and said, “Challenge accepted, Cousin. We fight at sunset.”
Twenty-Eight
Challenge accepted…
We fight at sunset.
The shouts of protest and snarling faces of the Wilds Pack shifters around me faded into the background as the truth hit me square in the chest, squeezing my lungs and continuing to rob me of the ability to breathe.
Asher was the Wilds Pack alpha.
It couldn’t be.
Someone would have told me.
Right?
Countless conversations about the alpha replayed in my mind. The dots slowly started to connect.
I sucked in a shaky breath.
Axel’s arrival had coincided with Asher’s.
Both brothers lived in the house above my apartment, and they were, obviously, both Kayla’s brother.
Every moment I’d assumed Axel was the alpha, nothing ever contradicted it. He shared so many traits and relationships with his twin, there was never an obvious discrepancy from what I’d been allowed to assume.
I stared at the back of Asher’s head, the intensity of my stare demanding he turn around and offer an explanation for the deception.
He didn’t. His attention remained on Stanley.
Movement on my left drew my gaze. Axel stood at the table. “Your challenge was accepted, Stanley. You are no longer welcome at the luncheon. Leave.”
I was surprised when Stanley complied. But not before his eyes, once again, trailed over me. Asher growled, but Stanley was gone before Asher could act on his silent threat.
Kayla appeared at my side. “Let’s get some air.”
I watched Asher shoot Chase a pointed look before walking out of the tent. The Wilds beta followed wordlessly. I didn’t resist when Kayla touched my elbow and gently guided me after them.
The tent was abuzz with a mix of excitement, unease, and dread. I tuned out the sound as I continued to reevaluate every encounter and conversation I’d had since arriving in Alaska. No one had ever outright said Axel was alpha. I’d assumed. And no one had corrected me.
But why?
What was the point in hiding the truth from me?
