Chapter 25 JEALOUSY BURNS
RAY’S POV
I watched her laugh, and I felt something inside me break open.
Alicia stood in the center of the training field with Logan beside her, their heads bent together as he showed her some defensive stance I'd taught her three months ago. But she listened to him like he was revealing the secrets of the universe. Her eyes were bright. Her smile is easy. The mate bond between them pulsing with a soft golden light I could see even from fifty yards away.
My wolf snarled in my chest.
She used to look at me that way. Before the Council hearing. Before she learned we shared blood. Before everything good between us turned poisonous.
Monty moved beside me, his shoulder brushing mine. "You're staring."
"I'm her Alpha," I said through clenched teeth. "I'm allowed to watch my pack train."
"You're her first mate," Monty corrected softly. "And you're watching her fall for someone else."
Logan said something that made Alicia laugh again, the sound carrying across the field like music. She pushed his shoulder playfully. He caught her wrist, steadying her, and the touch lasted three seconds too long.
My vision went red.
"Ray," Monty warned.
But I was already moving.
I crossed the training field in seconds, my Alpha presence rolling out like a shockwave. Every wolf training stopped and turned. Logan's hand dropped from Alicia's wrist immediately. He stepped back, his eyes meeting mine with calm understanding that only made my rage burn hotter.
"Training's over," I announced. "Everyone dismissed except Alicia."
The pack scattered like leaves in a storm. Monty hesitated, he searched my face for signs I was about to do something stupid. Then he nodded once and followed the others toward the packhouse.
Logan lingered.
"I said dismissed," I growled.
"Ray," Alicia started, her voice carrying that warning tone I used to find adorable. Now it just felt like distance.
Logan looked at her, not me. "You okay?"
The question was simple. Respectful. But it stripped away my authority like I was nothing. Like he had more right to check on her wellbeing than I did.
"She's fine," I said.
"I wasn't asking you," Logan replied evenly.
Alicia touched Logan's arm. The casual intimacy of it made my wolf bare its teeth inside my skull. "I'm okay," she told him. "Really."
Logan held my gaze for one more second, then walked away. But the new mate bond between him and Alicia glowed brighter with each step, like it was mocking me.
When we were alone, Alicia turned on me. "What was that?"
"What was what?" I demanded. "Me watching my mate flirt with the exiled wolf who showed up two days ago?"
Her eyes flashed. "We were training."
"You were laughing. Touching. Looking at him like" I stopped, my throat closing around words I couldn't say.
Like you used to look at me.
Alicia's expression softened. She stepped closer, and I caught her scent, vanilla and rain but wilder now, something that smelled like four different wolves instead of just mine.
"Ray," she said quietly. "This is hard for all of us."
"Is it?" The words came out bitter. "Because from where I'm standing, you seem pretty comfortable with your new collection of mates."
She flinched. Good. I wanted her to feel a bit of the pain tearing me apart.
"That's not fair," she whispered.
"Fair?" I laughed, the sound harsh. "Nothing about this is fair, Alicia. I marked you first. I claimed you first. I loved you first. And now I have to watch you build bonds with three other men while ours falls apart."
"Our bond fell apart because we share blood!" Her voice cracked. "Because the Moon Goddess made a mistake, and now we're both paying for it!"
"It wasn't a mistake." The words came out raw, stripped of every careful lie I'd been telling myself. "Loving you was never a mistake."
Alicia's breath caught. Tears filled her eyes, and I hated myself for putting them there. But I couldn't stop.
"Do you know what it's like?" I continued, my voice dropping low. "Feeling our bond fade a little more each day? Watching the corruption eat away at something that used to be perfect? And knowing that even if we could fix it, you'd still need three other men to keep you alive?"
"I didn't ask for this," she said.
"Neither did I." I closed the distance between us. "But I'm still here. Still fighting. Still loving you even though it's killing me."
Her hand came up, fingers trembling as they touched my cheek. The contact sent electricity through our damaged bond, a ghost of what we used to share.
"Ray..."
I grabbed her wrist, not hard, but firm enough to keep her from pulling away. "Tell me you don't feel it anymore. Tell me the bond is completely dead, and I'll walk away. I'll watch you complete the ritual with the others and I'll smile through every second of it."
"I can't," she whispered.
"Why not?"
"Because it's not dead." A tear slipped down her cheek. "It's just dying. And that's worse."
Something inside me shattered. I pulled her against me, my arms wrapping around her like I could hold the pieces of us together through sheer force of will. She fit perfectly against my chest, her head tucked beneath my chin, her heartbeat syncing with mine the way it had since the moment I first marked her.
"I can't lose you," I said into her hair. "I can't watch you become someone else's while I'm still standing here."
She pulled back just enough to look up at me. Her green eyes were wet but fierce. "You're not losing me."
"Then prove it."
I didn't give her time to respond. I kissed her hard, pouring three months of longing and jealousy and desperate love into the contact. She gasped against my mouth, and I swallowed the sound, backing her up until she hit the wall of the equipment storage building.
"Ray," she breathed.
"Say it again," I demanded, my hands sliding down to her waist. "Say my name."
"Ray." Her fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me closer. "We shouldn't…"
"I don't care." I kissed her neck, right over my fading mark. It flared with heat, the bond trying to remember what it used to be. "You were mine first, Alicia. Before Monty. Before Logan. Before Kai. Mine."
Her head fell back against the wall, giving me better access. I took it, my teeth grazing the sensitive skin, making her shiver. The storage building door was right beside us. I fumbled for the handle without breaking contact, shoving it open and pulling her inside.