Page 2 of Their Crowned Mate
Before I could tell him to take a long walk off a short pier, I saw a flash of red hair and Aurelius had him up against the wall, pinned by the throat. All I could do was stare in disbelief along with Damon as Aurelius snarled at the other alpha, dark veins spreading out like spiderwebs around his eyes. Jax snarled back at him, his nails digging into Aurelius's forearm, but it was nowhere near as threatening.
"Shut your mouth," Aurelius growled.
"What is your problem?" Jax protested, his voice strained as Aurelius's grip tightened around his throat.
"Hey, enough," Damon scolded, trying to get in between them, even though he wasn't having much success considering Aurelius's muscular arm was in the way. "We've got bigger issues to deal with right now than you two having some kind of alpha male pissing contest."
Aurelius snarled at him, too. Viciously enough that even Damon, big and intimidating as he was, faltered a little, like he was thinking better of getting involved.
"Not until he apologizes," Aurelius said in a harsh tone I had never heard from him before.
"Aurelius," I began, realizing there was actually a good chance that this was going to turn into a deadly fight even if I still wasn't quite sure what was going on. Aurelius wouldn't lose, that was for damn sure. "It's okay. Seriously."
He ignored me, his eyes fixed on Jax, who looked like he was trying to decide whether he wanted to shift and fight or give in. At length, to my shock, he chose the latter.
"Fine. I take it back," Jax muttered hoarsely.
Aurelius reluctantly let go of him and stepped back. Jax shoved him away, rubbing his throat. He glowered at the other member of his triad, and then at me, as if he blamed me for the betrayal.
"Okay, if we're done with that, can we address the fact that this all just got a whole lot more complicated?" Damon asked, changing the subject, much to my relief.
"He's right," I murmured, raking a hand through my hair. I was still freaking out internally about Alexander, but if he didn't want to be here, and he didn't want to be found, no amount of searching or worrying was going to change that.
Better to just let him cool off and then explain. I wasn't sure if he was angry because he thought Aurelius was telling the truth or if he was freaking out at the prospect of becoming a father. There were a lot of things about having three mates that I hadn't figured out yet, and it wasn't like I had had a whole lot of time or opportunity to have a heart-to-heart with the guys.
"Look, it's not all bad," Aurelius reasoned, sounding like his calm and collected self once more. "The ceremony is official, and we are the leaders of the pack now."
"Yeah, until everyone figures out she's carrying some random shifter’s baby," said Jax. "Or worse, a vampire’s."
I decided not to add that it might be a hunter’s. Something told me he wouldn't think that was any better. Not that it was any of his business to begin with.
"They’re not going to find out," said Aurelius, looking like he wanted to throttle Jax again. "They think the kid is mine, and there's no reason for anyone to think otherwise. As long as we keep up appearances."
He said it pointedly, glancing my way, and I realized when I saw the others were watching me just as expectantly what he was getting at.
"No," I said, shaking my head. "Nope, I'm not staying here, if that's what you're suggesting.”
"I know that wasn't the plan, but neither was the entire pack finding out you're pregnant," said Aurelius. "What choice do we really have?"
"Not that one!" I cried. "I have a life in the city. And I haveactualmates."
"They haven't marked you," Jax said, like he wasn't already skating on paper-thin ice. "I like our odds of contesting that claim."
I turned my attention to him, narrowing my eyes sharply. Before I realized what I was doing, a growl escaped my throat, and it actually seemed to catch him off guard. "Excuse me?"
"I'm just saying, by pack lawandshifter tradition, that doesn't hold up," he said, holding up his hands like that would calm me down. Already backpedaling.
"I didn't even have to come here," I hissed. "You really don't want to start threatening me right now."
"No one is trying to threaten anyone," Damon said, even though he glanced warily at Aurelius, as if he wasn't quite sure that was true. "But he has a point."
I was furious that we were even having this conversation, but I wasn’t exactly in debate mode right now. My attention was only halfway on what was happening in the room, for that matter. "I need to get home," I muttered, turning to Aurelius. "Are you taking me, or do I need to call someone?"
He hesitated a moment, his expression unreadable. "It's late," he finally said, taking on a diplomatic tone I knew well. "And it's about to start raining. I'm sure your mates wouldn't be thrilled if I had you on the road right now."
I opened my mouth to argue that the sky was clear when I heard the first few droplets hit the windowpane. Stupid superior pureblood wolf senses.
I hesitated a moment, wanting to get out of this place as fast as I could, especially since I did not like the direction the conversation was taking. But I also knew he was right, and the roads were absolutely nightmarish for about a solid mile leading away from the pack, as rural as the area was.
