Mated to the Alpha and His Beta

Lanie

This couldn't be good.

The two officers were marching through the mansion, and they wouldn't speak to me. Not one word other than “Come with us.”

“Guys, you’re really freaking me out. Can’t you just give me a hint?”

Silence other than the m uffled sounds of our footsteps on the navy-carpeted floor.

“Please tell me that wherever we're going, there will be clothes for me.”

They hadn't even allowed me to change out of my robe into yesterday’s clothes. No underwear, no bra, and bare feet.

Whatever this was, it was urgent.

I

| hoped my parents were okay.

Or, oh go d, | hoped nothing had happened to Selena.

The dread and worry grew with each step, and I prayed that whatever news | was about to receive wouldn’t completely demolish me. | didn’t know what | would do if anything happened to my mom, dads, or sister. After what felt like two miles of walking, we stopped in front of a large set of double doors, made of some sort of solid wood, complete with iron hinges and handles.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Whatever was behind here didn’t feel good. It felt ominous as hell.

The guards flanked me, each opening a door by pushing it forward and into a large room. It took me a second to realize what | was seeing, to take it all in.

There was a gallery of some sort on one side of the room-currently filled with a bunch of people. On the

other side of the massive space were two throne-looking chairs on a raised dais, Xander in one, Zane in the other.

Members of the High Guard stood on each side of them.

| couldn't see their faces clearly, but they didn’t look happy.

| pulled my black silk robe tighter around myself.

The guard to my left reached over, grabbed my elbow, and pushed me forward. When | looked over and up at him, | swore | caught a glimpse of something akin to pity or sympathy cross his face before he blinked it away and pushed me a second time. The outcome of...this seemed more dire with every passing second. 1/3

| slowly started walking forward, the silence of the crowd in the galley eerie. When | looked up at them, the faces | could make out were filled with curiosity, pity, amusement..but | didn’t get the sense that anyone actually knew what was going on.

That makes all of us, | thought.

Well, f uck them.

If they wanted to catch me off guard and in my robe, | wasn’t going to let them see how unsure | was

| held my head high, fisted my hands at my sides rather than hugging them around myself to hide from all the watchful eyes, and took long, purposeful strides.

They would not get to see any shame from me, regardless of how they clearly wanted me to feel.

The stares tingled my skin, and goose bumps rose over my whole body. As | walked, | looked straight at Xander, then at Zane, staring each of them dead in the eye and not blinking.

When | reached the steps in front of their thrones, | stopped and relaxed my shoulders.

| had no clue what the procedure was for something like this, but if they expected me to kneel like some maiden from ye olden days, they were sadly mistaken.

“Xander. Zane.” | looked at each of them and nodded as | said their name.

The guard to my right cleared his throat and said, “Show due respect. That’s Alpha and Beta.”

| kept my gaze focused on Xander and Zane. “I will not call my mates Alpha and Beta. | will call them by their

given names.”

Xander’s jaw ticked, and Zane winced ever so slightly. If you weren't paying as close attention to them as | was, you’d have easily missed it.

But | didn’t.

Not after last night...

After last night, | knew their bodies and facial expressions pretty well.

Rather than address what I’d said, Xander braced his hands on the arms of his seat and stood, rising to his full height with his chin uplifted and his shoulders back. Instead of looking at me, he looked over to the side, to the front of the gallery, where | noticed Elder Aldon.

Great.

“Ladies and gentlemen, she-wolves and wolves, I’ve called you forth today in order to rectify an issue that has

arisen.”

Confused looks were exchanged among attendees, who then resumed their focus on me.

No one was more confused than | was.

Especially since | was clearly the one there was an issue with.

“Yesterday, my Beta and | were assigned Lanie Stanton as our mate. And as you all know, per our laws, Claiming must happen on the night of the mating ceremony In order to ensure that all assigned matings occur

and are not thwarted.”

Elder Aldon cut in. “We all know how mating works, Alpha. Please tell us why we are here.”

“As you wish, Elder.”

Xander stepped forward a bit and turned his body toward Elder Aldon. What was all of this formality for?

“Last night, my Beta and | attempted to claim our mate.”

What the hell did he mean, attempted to? It had definitely happened....multiple times.

Was this some sort of ruse to appease Alice?

“Shortly before midnight, my Beta and | entered Ms. Stanton’s room, where we proceeded to consummate

our mating, as per law.”

My gaze shifted back to the gallery, and there she was. Seated in the front row, on the far end, closest to

Xander and Zane.

If looks could kill, I'd be ash right now,

Clearly, Ms. Fabine didn’t like hearing about how we had consummated our mating.

It took everything in me not to wink at her.

“Upon consummation, we found Ms. Stanton to be unsatisfactory and we were unable to complete the

claiming process to mark her as our mate. Therefore, per Section Thirty-Two, Item Seventeen C, Footnote One, I,

Xander Constantine, and my Beta, Zane Allister, will take a second mate of our choosing.”

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