Chapter 6: Chapter 6 - Devil Creek

An hour was all it took for his life to never be the same. Xander’s return was a happy occasion as Karim thought him lost. Karim missed him, in the purely manly way a Beta missed the Gamma of his Pack. They were a team of best friends, tackling down the mundane tasks of running a pack, allowing Devon, their Alpha, to focus on the big issues at hand, and to carve plans for the pack’s future. Ever since Xander went missing, Karim had been doing two jobs to help keep things flowing, sacrificing sleep and time off the job. Now things were bound to return back to normal.

Karim eyes spotted Xander, who was carrying a small muddied figure before the wind brought her scent. Her blood was calling to him, pulling his attention from scouting the surroundings for threats to the blood trail she left. It took mere seconds before realization came crushing – the injured female in Xander’s arms was his mate. Her scent covered by Xander’s, her body shredded and naked in his best friend’s arms stirred his beast, pushing him to the surface.

Logic told Karim, Xander was only helping her, carrying her into their pack, and there was nothing inappropriate about their closeness. However, the primal imperative to possess his mate only focused on the fact another male had his paws on her. His mind went as far as to wonder about the lewd moments they had obviously shared to result on a claim on Xander’s neck. Karim had no doubt the mark Xander spotted was hers. There were certain things Karim could forgive, but that was not one of them. Her bite belonged to him, and him alone.

The moment Xander approached, Karim shot out to reach him, and landed a punch in his ex-friend’s face. Xander staggered backwards, struggling to regain his balance, and trying even harder not to lose grip on the beautiful creature in his arms.

Karim swore. The rage in him bubbled so hot he hadn’t accounted for her presence. She could get hurt if the clumsy Gamma dropped her. Karim reached out his hands, gently taking her small body into his embrace, where she rightfully belonged. He kneed and inspected her neck, before his eyes scanned the rest of her naked body. He did not care how it looked to anyone else. His beast’s entire focus was to search for a mating mark on her body, and to assess the injuries she sustained. Those were the only important things, currently determining whether or not Xander lived to see another day.

She was a sweet little thing, with chocolate locks that passed her shoulders, paler complexion he suspected was from blood loss, and angry bruises he wanted to help heal. If the old tales held any truth, his presence alone would speed her recovery. He discovered no claim on her body, and what looked like a recent brand on her shoulder. The jagged edges were still crusted, indicating it wasn’t just hot steel that burned the patter into her. Silver had been involved. His heart clenched for the pain it had caused her, then broke at his own inadequacy – he should have been there for her. Karim vowed to make whoever had done this to her regret the day they were born. Realizing there was little he could do for her at this point but to lay her gently on the stretcher for Doc to examine her. Doc would take care of her. In the mean time, Karim had to handle the other pressing issue – Xander.

While his human side wanted to thank Xander for helping her, it also made him regret all the time spent not actively searching for her. Karim blamed himself for the lost opportunity to prevent the obvious pain in her life. The regret quickly gave path to jealousy. Xander saved her. He was her hero. Not Karim. The envy twisted his heart, ultimately blaming of Xander for everything that had ever happened to her. It wasn’t fair, Karim knew. But he could not help it.

The questions on his mind drove him into outrage. Why wouldn’t Xander protect her? Xander was there, and he did not prevent this. He blamed his ex-best-friend for her mark, her injuries and his own pain. Besides, why would Xander allow himself to be claimed by someone other than his mate? Karim suspected there was much to the story of what transpired between them that he did not know. Frankly, he was not sure if he ever wanted to know. It was certainly hard to imagine her with someone else.

Xander regarded Karim with cautious eyes. He knew what he had done to be wrong, yet he wasn’t apologizing. As Xander held Karim’s gaze, evaluating and preparing for his next move, Karim lost it.

“She’s yours,” Xander raised his hands in surrender, trying to reassure Karim.

“She is,” Karim loudly confirmed for everyone’s benefit. She was his mate, and he would not tolerate anyone laying a claim over her.

Karim did not waste any single moment, dwelling on what needed to be done. He needed to deal with the challenger harshly. It would serve good to nobody if others thought they could claim what was his. His place in the pack demanded respect. His wolf needed it. The sooner he was done with this, the more time he would have with her.

“I didn’t touch her,” Xander told him as he recognized Karim’s fury.

“You let her mark you,” Karim’s greatest humiliation was clearly displayed on Xander’s neck.

“Only to allow us to escape,” Xander explained. “She’s just a friend…”

‘Just a friend you conveniently allowed to mark you?’ Karim thought, remembering Xander’s desire to settle with his mate. Where had that Xander gone?

The discussion was pointless. Whichever way Karim looked at it, Xander needed a good smack behind his ears. It was the way of the beast. So Karim clashed with Xander, allowing his wolf to take over. Xander admitted his guilt by accepting punch after punch without putting up any defense. Karim’s hits got more vicious with every swing. Xander had willingly stole Karim’s mating claim. Blood splashed in his face, but Karim relentlessly kept at it.

“Enough,” the Alpha command washed over his body, halting him as he had the unconscious Gamma in his hands. Karim tried to hold his own against the domineering authority which was currently making him submit. “There will be no more fighting. Her mark on him is transient. She is yours.”

“Damn right, she’s mine,” Karim growled, getting off the crushed Gamma.

“And in the infirmary,” Alpha Devon Jones reminded him.

Right. She was there, and she needed her true mate. Karim nodded his acceptance of truce, and set out for the medical building. Xander was left breathing and it was eating his beast. But Devon, while friendly and charming, was not an Alpha one disobeyed. His fist was his Law, and his teeth carried his justice. Karim knew this brawl was the end of it. He had to trust that Devon saw things clearer from his position. Besides the Alpha was just. It had to be enough. Besides Xander had done a good deed, bringing her home to Karim, and for that gesture alone Xander deserved to live.

Karim swallowed his jealousy and shook off the rage on the way to the infirmary. His wolf scolded him for the time spent with Alyssa, instead of searching for his true mate. Up until Karim first laid eyes on the beauty, currently resting in the medical bay, he had managed to convince himself his relationship with Alyssa was special enough to be announced to the public. Now that his mate arrival, Alyssa quickly became a second option. Nobody deserved to be a second option, but yet she was. Nature worked in that way. The bond was already deepening, despite the claim on Xander’s neck.

Her claim still irked him. It was a sign of disrespect for his station. She had marked a lower ranked wolf for Goddess’ sake. It was an announcement to the world, she thought a Gamma could be a better partner than a Beta. Goddess, how he despised her for doing that to him. How can he expect others to follow him, when his own mate substituted him with lower ranked wolf?

It would have not stung as much if she had marked someone stronger – an Alpha or royal. He would have written it off as survival instinct. There was nothing wrong in searching for help from someone stronger. But Xander…. Xander was below him. Her mark was a mockery of Karim’s station. It was an insult he needed to address when she awoke. Xander wasn’t more capable. He had just been on the right time and a place. Karim could easily beat him any given day and time of the week, as he had showed just now.

Jealousy for what Xander was to her, made Karim prickly. The disgrace of her choice marking made him wish Xander was dead. Pack wolves loved a juicy story like that. He would not see the end of the gossips, the glances, the whispers, as none of them would ever dare say it in his face. Not after the way he dealt with Xander. Karim had asserted his dominance, and it would be enough for the time being. He needed to address the issue with her, too. The sooner, the better.

It wasn’t long before she awoke, her melodic voice asking for no other than Xander, sparking contempt for both she-wolf and Gamma all over again. As she had mentioned Karim’s scent, he swore. He had been so taken with her, and controlling the damage her mark caused, that he had completely forgotten about Alyssa’s scent mixed with his own. Violet had a point, it could be considered insulting. But this was not pesky jealousy or attempt to hurt her, he had genuinely forgotten about it. Mates made you forget about everything and anyone else. He should had known she would be upset to smell another female on him. But he could barely hide his satisfaction at what Violet’s reaction revealed – she was jealous, her attention was solely his. Xander might have been her choice mark, but Karim had her heart and mind all focused on him. She was jealous. Karim wanted to high five himself. She was clearly pleased with him to become so possessive of him so quickly.

Karim doubted he would have been able to leave her side, even if he had thought about his scent. Showering while your mate lay injured and unconscious was not acceptable to both wolf and man. But in retrospect, he could have at least tried to make himself more presentable. Now that she had demanded it of him, he wanted to kick himself in the rear for giving her a reason to be angry at him.

There was no excuse not to comply with her request. His mate’s desire was focused on him, and he would gladly appease her.

As cold water run down his back, he tried to process just how much his world had changed. He had literally his friend’s blood on his hands, and a hard on for someone he barely knew. Who would have thought life could change in the blink of a moment? Had they arrived a mere week later, he would have already been fully mated to Alyssa, and missed experiencing the tingling and tension between their skin, and the pull of his soul to the little brunette. Nature worked in mysterious ways. Karim now knew just how truth there was behind those words.

Not only did he crave her presence, even if she was bashing him, but he sought her scent even if Xander’s offended him.

The mating pull was undeniable. But could he trust it? Had he not already vowed to love and cherish another? Was his allegiance so easily changed?

While the beast craved his moon-given right to a mate he barely knew; the rational, sober, and more intelligent side fought the pull. Why would a stranger have such a hold of him? She barely spoke, but each word ripped his heart open, reminding him of just how incapable, he had been in defending what was his. Although she had no right to judge his relationships before her, she did have a strong say of how he carried that past. And while she had been a victim, she still hadn’t waited long placing a claim on another wolf’s neck.

Karim was torn about the circumstances under which it transpired, but not of its consequences. She had not been loyal to him. And if she had to mark someone, why had it to be a Gamma? The notion that a lesser wolf saved her, ate at his Ego. She had needed him, and Karim had not been there.

Karim worked with absolutes. This meandering and indecisiveness were pissing him off, cementing his anger against her mark and interest in Xander.

Why couldn’t she have just marked an Alpha? Then Karim would have not felt so rejected. He could have written it off as survival, as he could not compare with an Alpha. Life was never so easy. Her decisions reflected poorly on him, and while her intention was not to mock him, it was the exact consequence of her choice. Her claim was now haunting him for his inability to rescue her, proclaiming he wasn’t good enough for her.

Karim was tired, so tired of fighting himself. He knew he needed help to process what happened. It was the only way he could make a decision about two absolutely self-excluding outcomes: Violet or Alyssa. He sighed and went to Devon’s office. The Alpha stayed there till late, and he was the one wolf whose judgement Karim respected.

As Karim made his way into Alpha Devon’s study, he realized there was already a full glass of bourbon with his name to it. It didn’t surprise Karim, Devon was expecting him. The Alpha knew him so well. Karim eased his weight into the usual chair, taking the bourbon from the desk. Devon waited for him to break the silence, and Karim gladly obliged.

“I don’t know what to do,” Karim told him.

There were no other words to fully explain, nor a way to fully comprehend a situation without absolute honesty. Particularly when it hurt.

“Nothing worthwhile in life is easy,” Devon was perspicacious as always.

“The pull is undeniable,” Karim started, only for a ghost smile to appear on the Alpha’s face. “It’s stronger than the pack ties…” he continued, then hurriedly added, “no offense, Alpha.”

“I hear it is supposed to feel that way,” Devon nodded.

“Love at first sight… That shit is real. She’s here and it feels I’ve always loved her. It’s surreal. She is absolutely, positively mine, and even without the mating pull she had already deeply latched her tentacles into my heart. She is the one for me, yet…” Karim started stringing the words to explain what he felt, “yet, she marked another. She did not care to wait for me. It was pure coincidence she marked Xander who happened to bring her here to me. It eats at me; she was okay with giving me up. Sure, she had her reasons, but it still hurts to know you were put second to a Gamma. I can’t help it but feel it is a slap in face, an insult to my Ego. She not only marked a Gamma, but also my friend. How do you even come back from that? One second I love her, another I want to hurt her. That’s not the way I should feel about her.”

“It shouldn’t,” Devon agreed. “I hear your pain. But…”

“I know, she was desperate to get out. She still betrayed me though.”

“Desperation is an emotional state,” Devon argued. “What she did takes guts. She planned her escape in the name of her mate. If that’s not devotion, I don’t know what is.”

“I am inclined to agree on the concept, but not the execution. In the end of the day, despite my high wire feelings, she still marked a lower ranked wolf.”

“So if she had marked an Alpha, it would have made a difference for you?”

“I can’t compete with an Alpha,” Karim shrugged, “At least that way I could have seen it as a power move, now I only see it as betrayal. I know it’s harsh to lash out on her after all she had been through, but I can’t help it. Her actions hurt me. Her mark on Xander is a mockery of what I stand for.”

“From my prospective, she’s been nothing but loyal to you. True, she marked another, but it was so that she can escape being a Breeder. Her reasons have to count for something.”

“So you’d be okay if your mate marked me instead of you?” Karim questioned, only for Devon to growl at him. “You see, that possessiveness is in all of us. I am not being unreasonable. I am trying to figure out what exactly to do. How do you even put something like this in your past?”

“All you need is love,” Devon hummed.

“You’re making me pray for your mate to grace you with her presence, so I could throw that song in your smug face.”

“Hate to say it, but didn’t your Alpha tell you not to mix business and pleasure?”

“It’s weird when you talk in third person about yourself. I guess it’s true what they say – alphas and egos…” Karim shrugged, then applied, “We can’t be all celibate as you.”

“I never said I was,” Devon continued, only for Karim to grimace. His Alpha was into sharing mood and this conversation just got a whole other level uncomfortable. “Oh, please, as if you haven’t done it yourself. Besides DIY-ing it is not the only option out there. Remember our conversation about mates, humans and she wolves? I specifically told you to go be a human’s wet fantasy reincarnate if you need to, but to keep my house clean. I didn’t want you sleeping around with pack members on pack grounds for this particular reason.”

“You are wise beyond your years, Alpha,” Karim rolled his eyes at his friend.

“Ha-ha,” Devon sarcastically spat at the title. “I’m going to repeat myself, I don’t want drama on pack grounds, which means, you can’t string Alyssa along.”

“You speak as if I had already made a decision to stay with Violet,” Karim responded, then sighed, “Besides things with Alyssa are more complicated than that.”

“We can survive without her family influence,” Devon shrugged unconcerned.

“I wasn’t with her because of her family’s connection. I genuinely love her,” Karim responded.

“Violet is your mate. It can’t get better than that,” Devon responded.

“They branded her a whore,” Karim hissed.

“A brand doesn’t make you something you’re not. Besides she escaped.”

“By marking someone. I can’t help but cringe every time I see her brand. It’s a testament of my failure, my shame and public humiliation.”

“Don’t be vain. I guarantee you she sees it like her failure, her shame and public humiliation. Not yours. The past is just that – past. You can work on your future, by building a life with her now, by accepting you are there for her now and until forever.”

“What if that’s not enough? The amount of baggage between us…”

“Would be yours to carry regardless of who you choose as a mate,” Devon interrupted him.

“Isn’t the whole idea of fated mating that it is natural and easygoing? This is anything but. Hell, if I have to fight for a mate, why couldn’t it be Alyssa? We have the history, the shared goals and the memories. We are good together. With Violet, I have no common ground. Xander is all she thinks about.”

“Have you considered that Xander might have been the only kind person she met? Now what have you done for her? Just growled in her presence, insulted her with your scent and grunted at her while she was vulnerable retelling us her story? What have you done to convince her how much her presence here means to you already?” Devon snapped then finished his glass. “I don’t want to hear what she did or how your Ego got bruised. She needs to know she’d be taken care of, and supported by her mate. Your mate is not inconvenience. She’s a blessing and will make you stronger in the long run.”

“Any mate would do that,” Karim wised-assed his reply.

“Maybe it was Fate’s plan to give you Violet, and teach you some modesty,” Devon replied in the same tone.

Karim growled at his Alpha, then immediately lowered his gaze, when Devon raised an eye brow at him in question. The gesture was simple, if his disrespect continued Devon had no problems, teaching him they might be friends, but Devon was his Alpha first.

“My beast had already made his decision. Why is it so hard for me to do the same?”

“You’re a goddamned stubborn and obnoxious human.”

“That’s why you love me,” Karim shot back. “But seriously, I am torn between hating and loving her.”

“I’ll make it easier on you,” Devon replied and said with all the Alpha Authority he put in his commands, “You are to give Violet a chance.” Then continued in his normal voice, “You owe it to yourself, to your wolf and to her to at least consider exploring staying with your moon bound. Besides because of your brawl earlier, Violet doesn’t know another soul in the pack. So it’s your time to shine. Welcome her Devil’s Creek. Comfort her. Then come thank me later.” Devon winked at his Beta.

“You’re enjoying this,” Karim retorted.

“Bet’ya you’re reconsidering mocking your wise-Alpha,” Devon replied and then reminded him in a more serious tone, “Don’t forget to clean up your room, warn Alyssa to stay away, then spend time with Violet. You owe her as much.”