Ultimatum

Aidan

The tension between Alpha James and me could’ve been sliced clean with a knife.

If Kiarra weren’t standing here, I would’ve ripped the asshole’s throat out; he knows it too.

Though I couldn’t stand the sight of the bitch, part of me was glad Rose was keeping her idiot mate under control.

“Look, can we just take a break?” Kiarra’s hand found its way into mine, but her words fell on deaf ears. The three of us stared at each other, each pissed off for their own reasons.

“No. No need, Kitten. Like I said, you’re not going any fucking where as long as I have hot blood in these veins.”

“I could certainly fix that for you, Gold,” James replied with a smug look that could’ve gotten him killed on the spot.

I felt Kiarra tense up.

Our bond is strong, and we had agreed on how to handle these two idiots.

I reminded myself I had nothing to worry about.

“Aidan,” she begged. I knew she wanted me to look at her, but I couldn’t. My eyes stayed focused on James.

“Please,” she tugged at my hand, “I need to go.”

Kiarra wasn’t wrong, and I couldn’t take this conflict any further without a slaughter going down.

I fucking hate being cornered.

“After you, Kitten,” I gave in reluctantly, but only for the sake of my mate.

I watched her bite her lip; I could sense how uneasy Kiarra was.

Had something changed? Had they managed to suck her into their bullshit?

Something was wrong.

Kiarra followed the length of my arm but stopped short at the door after noticing I wasn’t behind her.

Alphas don’t back down. It’s not in our nature.

I felt her eyes on me as I stood chest-to-chest with James Kendrick.

I was ready to annihilate him.

He was prepared to prove a point.

~“Aidan, please, come with me.”~

~“Coming, Kitten.”~

As much as I wanted to follow her, the sight of Alpha Kendrick pissed me off to the core.

I couldn’t let go.

My fury was like a simmering volcano, threatening to erupt at any moment.

“Aidan,” Kiarra began, her voice wispy, trembling just slightly, “this could be a good thing.”

My heart pounded harder, I growled deeply as I stepped closer to my mate. “They should’ve known better! How the fuck did they think I was going to react?”

The tension still had a heartbeat.

Every word out of Kiarra added to the chaos that just invaded our lives.

“Look!” I screamed, unable to hold back, “You belong here with me, Kiarra! You’re not going! That’s the end of it!”

Kiarra’s wolf flashed in her eyes before she turned and faced me and her father.

In the back of my mind, I reminded myself that this wasn’t real. Kiarra was never going to go with them.

But still, I wanted to kill him.

“Please, okay? Just stop!” Kiarra yelled.

I felt the intensity of her energy deep inside of me.

“I didn’t ask for this! You made me fucking do this, Aidan, you!”

“I know, Kitten, none of this is your fault. I’ll figure it out, okay?”

“Figure it out, Aidan? I’m not your little plaything! I can also make my own goddamn decisions!”

Kendrick smirked at this.

“You think this is funny?” I growled, eyes still locked and ready to go. This animal knew he was on thin ice and yet he kept pushing.

“You don’t?” he replied coolly, “She’s grown; she can take care of herself.”

I felt Kiarra’s gentle touch on my shoulder but it did nothing to stop the hurricane of violence that brewed in my body.

“For fuck’s sake, Aidan, this could be my only chance to get the truth!”

“What truth, Kiarra? You know they’re shady pricks, don’t you? Can’t you see what I see?”

“That’s rich coming from you!” Rose piped up behind her.

The wolf inside me itched to get out, but I tried to keep myself under control for Kiarra’s sake.

~This is not real. This is not real.~ I repeated, but it wasn’t helping.

“Okay,” I put my hands up in mock surrender, “what do you need me to say here? You belong to me, Kitten; you’re ~my~ mate.”

I tried to soften, wanted to remind her we were on the same side. This had gotten real without warning.

“What if Ares was full of shit? What if James and Rose didn’t abandon me?”

I felt a low growl vibrating from deep inside me. “Is that the bullshit you’re telling yourself?”

Kendrick backed off now; he seemed satisfied that he’d created a nice fat wedge between my mate and me.

“For fuck’s sake, Aidan! Stop! Listen to me!”

“No!” I shrugged her hand off.

“What if Ares was just a lunatic? Nothing more or less, just an insane rogue spouting off bullshit to hurt you?”

I landed something solid; I saw it behind James’s eyes.

“I love you, Kitten. I’m the one you belong with; can’t you see that? Feel that?”

“Are you crazy?! This isn’t about you! It’s about me, my past, my loss!” Kiarra pushed back.

I shrugged as I stared at her dead in those hypnotic eyes I adored.

“Kiarra, I don’t trust them, okay? And whose side are you on? Your own? Still? After all the shit we’ve been through!”

I landed another hit. So far, this was the most convincing fight we’d ever had.

“I have a sister, Aidan, I’ve never known!” I watched as she crossed her arms and bit her lip.

“What difference does that make? Where was she when you needed her?”

I kicked the table to the right of James. He didn’t flinch but he knew what I meant.

All I could think about was the rendezvous the other night in the woods. Jack, one of my best patrol guards, caught the chocolate-colored wolf lurking in our territory.

That’s why he was my Beta.

Jack was fast, possibly one of my fastest wolves. His hunting skills were superior, next to mine.

We chased her through the territory together, but she was faster, more agile, an experienced fighter.

But we did catch her.

Kiarra’s little sister.

“What? I’ve been alone all my life, Aidan. Out of nowhere, the family I spent that life waiting for is here!”

“Where do I come into this? You know, the one who took you into my pack?”

The words flew out before I had any chance of stopping them but it was okay, Rose and James were eating it up.

“You took me in? I was a charity case. Is that how you see it? Weren’t we destined to be together five minutes ago or some bullshit like that?”

I felt the eyes of her family following us.

As my temper reached its boiling point, I knew I needed to shut this down.

“Pick one!” I screamed uncontrollably.

“What? Pick what?” Kiarra fired back, primed, not backing down.

“Me, this pack, or those snake pieces of shit who fucking abandoned you, Kiarra! Choose!”