Osprey's Mistake

Osprey's Mistake
She threw herself out of my arms, shoving my hands away when I reached down for her. Laura helped her up, and she moved away from me to stand behind Elena.
“You’re a dick, Osprey. I thought you trusted me. It’s nice to know the truth,” she said.
“Letti, it’s not like that,” I replied, reaching for her. “Please, I-”
“Save it! I don’t care! How am I supposed to be your Alpha Sow if you don’t trust me or let me heal? I can’t explain to you why I forgive Silver or why I feel the need to protect him, but I do! He has not flirted with me or stepped out of bounds with me! All we do is talk about his life. That’s it! There’s nothing wrong with showing mercy!”
She grabbed Elena’s hand, dragging her off toward the cars. I went to go after them, but Laura put her hand on my arm.
“I think we need to talk, Alpha Osprey.”
I threw my hands up in frustration as I started walking slowly toward the cars. “Come on, then.”
She fell into step beside me. “Do you know about imprinting?”
“I’ve heard about it, but only in situations involving adopted wolves and their adoptive parents. What does that have to do with anything going on right now?”
“Imprinting is what we do on our Alphas. A lot of people think we are like bears and have a deep, ingrained need to follow the current Alpha, but we don’t. We choose to follow them. When we make that choice, it’s a type of imprint, and a bond is created between us. Wolves sometimes choose to imprint on an Alpha because they are afraid of being murdered by the pack or their families. Some of us can hide the fact that we are not imprinted on the current Alpha. For example, I am not imprinted on our current Alpha. I refuse to even speak his name when I’m not addressing him.”
“Who are you imprinted on?”
“Alpha Jarrod. Now, I have a feeling that Silver is no longer imprinted on our current Alpha or on Alpha Jarrod. I have a feeling that he has imprinted on Alpha Sow Scarlett.”
I stopped walking to glare at her. “What does this imprinting mean? Is he going to become obsessive over her again? How is this even possible if he doesn’t have a wolf?”
“No, it doesn’t. Even after we lose our wolves, we still have the same needs for years. We still heal and have the strength of a wolf until the wolf's DNA fully dies. Imprinting on her means he will become protective and crave her attention. We are pack animals. We want nothing more than to be around our Alpha. If I’m right, there is nothing you will be able to do to keep him away from her unless you kill him. And once a wolf imprints on an Alpha, they will feel the same bond with the wolf. That’s why Scarlett feels such a strong need to protect him. When you kill him, she will be sad over losing him. To her, he is now a member of your sleuth.”
I slammed my fist into my car. “So, what in the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Well, you might not have a choice but to let them be around each other.”
“Fuck!”
She patted my shoulder sympathetically. “It’s going to be okay. I would take it easy on him. He can’t help it.”
“Why did he have to imprint on her? She’s my mate,” I said bitterly.
“We can’t help who we imprint on. Sometimes, it’s not even a conscious thing. For some people, it just happens. Alpha Sow Scarlett must fulfill a need he is missing. It’s probably her need to nurture. He’s never had that.”
I sighed. “Every time I turn around, another obstacle crops up.”
She gave me a small smile. “You’ll figure it out, Alpha Osprey. I understand how you feel, but I also understand how she feels. You have got to let her do her thing. It’s the only way to do this and not push her away. It sucks, but it’s the only way. You have to trust her.”
“I do.”
“She doesn’t think so,” she said softly.
I rolled my shoulders, absolutely determined to prove to Scarlett that I did trust her. “Maybe not yet, but she will. Thank you, Laura, for the information.”
“One more thing, Alpha Osprey.”
“Yes?” I asked impatiently.
“Alpha Jarrod told me that he asked someone to be his Luna. Do you know if it was the bear that saved his life?”
I hesitated, debating how much to tell her. “Yes, it was.”
“Do you think she will?”
“Someday.”
“Is she kind?”
“Yeah, she’s very kind. Are you worried about having a bear for a Luna?”
“No, as long as she is a kind and good Luna. We need somebody who’s worthy of being our Luna, and Jarrod deserves to have a good woman by his side.”
I relaxed a little. “He will if they can wake up and smell the roses.”
She grinned. “Yeah, I think he did, and that’s his problem.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Hers, too.”
She patted my shoulder again. “Go fix this with your mate, Alpha.” She pinned her glare on Beanie. “Both of you idiots!”
She took off, jogging toward the woods, while I met Beanie’s eyes over the top of my car. “Are we going to kill those 6 fuckers that were messing with Scarlett and Elena?”
“Of course we are!”
I smiled coldly as I nodded toward my car. “Get in. We’ll go and wait for them on their land to heal enough to go home.”
He smirked. “And then we’ll take their hearts to Scarlett and their livers to Ellie?”
“Ellie?”
He flushed. “It’s my nickname for her.”
I grinned at him as we got in the car. “I know, but I only ever hear it when you two are having sex.”
He blushed darker. “Shut up, Osprey.”
I burst out laughing, shifting into reverse, before moaning, “Oh, Ellie.”