Chapter 11 THE ALPHA’S RAGE
RAY’S POV
The wall breaks under my fists.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Blood smears the stone, but I don't feel it. Can't feel anything except the rage boiling through my veins like acid. My wolf is clawing its way up my throat, desperate to break free and tear Monty apart for touching what's mine.
Except she's not mine. Not anymore. Not completely.
The thought makes me want to burn the entire packhouse down.
Three years. Monty wanted her for three goddamn years and said nothing. Watched me fall in love with her, watched me mate with her, watched me break when I found out she was my half-sister, and he stayed silent.
My best friend. My brother in everything but blood.
Liar.
I slam my fist into the wall again. The stone gives this time, crumbling under the impact. My knuckles are shredded, bone showing through torn skin, but the pain is nothing compared to the corrupted bond eating me from the inside out.
It's gotten worse since she went to the forest. Since Alicia's wolf reached out and grabbed three other mates to save herself. The bond that used to connect just the two of us is now twisted, darkened, spreading through my chest like black rot. Every breath hurts. Every heartbeat feels wrong.
And knowing that Monty was in her room, watching her sleep, touching her…
My wolf lunges against my control, and I barely hold the shift back.
She needs all four bonds to survive, the logical part of my brain whispers. Let it go. You're being irrational.
But logic has no place in this fury.
I stalk down the hallway toward Alicia's room. My room. The one I prepared for her when she first came to Dark Night Pack, back when I thought we'd have forever. When I was stupid enough to believe love conquered everything.
The door is still unlocked from when Monty left.
I don't bother knocking.
She's sitting up in bed, wide awake now, arms wrapped around her knees. Her honey-gold eyes go wide when she sees me, and I know I must look like hell. Blood on my hands, eyes probably black with wolf, every muscle coiled for violence.
"Ray?" she starts.
"Don't." I cross the room in three strides. "Don't say his name. Don't defend him. Don't tell me it's not what I think."
She climbs out of bed, and I see she's wearing my shirt. My shirt. The possessive satisfaction that gives me is almost enough to quiet the wolf.
Almost.
"He told me the truth," she says quietly, hands raised like I'm a wild animal. Which, right now, isn't far off. "About when he first saw me. About the mate bond."
"I don't give a damn about his truth." I move closer, crowding her against the wall. "He's my Beta. My best friend. And he's been lying to me for three years while wanting you."
"You're angry."
"I'm furious." The word comes out as a growl. "But not just at him. At all of this." I gesture between us, at the space where our bond used to be pure and simple. "We were supposed to be mates, Alicia. Just you and me. Forever. And now…"
My voice breaks. I hate that it breaks.
She touches my face, and the bond flares hot and painful. "Now we're trying to survive."
"By sharing you." The words taste like poison. "Watching Kai look at you like prey. Watching Logan touch you like he has any right. Watching Monty…" I can't finish. The image of him in her room, sitting on her bed, close enough to smell her skin.
My wolf snarls.
"I know it's killing you," she whispers. "I can feel it through the bond. Your rage. Your pain. Your jealousy." Her thumb brushes my cheek. "But Ray, I'm dying. We're both dying. The corrupted bond is spreading."
"I know." My hands wrapped around her, gripping hard enough to bruise. "I know, and I hate it. I hate that I can't protect you from this. Can't fix it. Can't keep you to myself."
"You're hurting me," she says softly.
I loosen my grip immediately. "Sorry. I'm…"
"Losing control." She says it without judgment. "Your wolf is fighting the bonds. Fighting the reality."
"My wolf wants to kill them all." The confession comes out raw. "Especially Monty. My own Beta. I want to rip his throat out for touching you."
"He just sat with me." Her eyes search mine. "We talked. That's all."
"That's not all." I lean in closer, nose brushing her neck, scenting. Monty's smell is all over her. Not sexual, but present. Marking territory he has no right to. "He wants you. Has wanted you for years. And now he has permission to take what he's been craving."
"Is that what this is?" Her voice sharpens. "You're not angry about the lying. You're angry about the competition."
The accusation stings because it's partially true.
"I'm angry about both." I press her harder against the wall, my body covering hers. "I'm angry that my mate isn't just mine. I'm angry that my best friend hid this from me. I'm angry that my wolf wants to mark you so badly right now it's making me insane." My mouth hovers over hers. "And I'm angry that I can't even kiss you without feeling like I'm being ripped apart."
"Then kiss me anyway," she breathes.
Something in me snaps.
I crush my mouth to hers, and it's not gentle. Not sweet. It's possession and rage and desperation all mixed into one bruising kiss. She gasps against my lips, and I take advantage, deepening it, claiming her mouth like I claimed her body that first night we mated.
Her hands fist in my shirt, pulling me closer even as she should be pushing me away. The bond between us roars to life, hot and sharp and wrong. But I don't care. All I care about is reminding her reminding both of us that she was mine first.
I pin her wrists above her head with one hand, the other gripping her hip. She arches into me, and a sound escapes her throat that makes my wolf rises with satisfaction.
Mine, I think fiercely. Mine, mine, mine…
Pain explodes through my chest.
I jerk back from the kiss, gasping.