Mated to the Alpha and His Beta

Xander

“We're going with you,” | said. “And my mother is staying here.”

Zane nodded.

If our p

pups were in danger, in what f ucking world would we sit here and wait for my mother and an

ancient vampire to take care of it?

“You're not,” Malachi said. “And Braden will stay here to make sure you don’t take one step outside the barrier.

Braden whipped his head toward Malachi. He clearly didn’t want the job, which was great, because he couldn’t stop us from leaving if he tried.

Anger bloomed inside me, hot and fast, and | let Hunter claw his way to the surface.

Next to me, Zane flexed his fists, too. When he opened them, his claws had shot down from his knuckles. “We have to find them,” Zane said. “We have to protect them.”

Hell yes, we did.

When Malachi told us Orion had our pups, my heart felt like it cracked in half. But there was time. And we

were wasting it by having this s upid f ucking discussion,

“Charge at Braden on three?” | asked Xander.

Lanie caught my eye, and her lips pursed into a tight warning line.

F uck, | forgot she could hear us.

But she didn’t say anything.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

| looked back at Zane and he nodded slightly.

“One...” We spread our legs out in warrior stance.

“Two...” We growled, low and vicious. Braden narrowed his eyes.

“Three.”

We lunged at Braden, each knocking into one of his shoulders and throwing him to the ground.

“You think he can keep us here?” | screamed at Malachi.

“Xander!” | could hear my mother yelling and Stella starting to cry. | didn’t want to do this, | didn’t want to

create anymore chaos, but they were forcing our hand.

While we held Braden down, he thrashed and kicked. His fangs finally dropped down into his mouth, but

we were overpowering him.

protest

lis lace was emotionless.

Braden went limp in our grasp, and we stood up, thinking we’d proved our point. But in the blink of an eye. Braden was on his feet and reaching out his hands, grabbing both Zane and me by the necks and squeezing

hard.

“STOP!” | heard my mother and Lanie both cry.

My ears were ringing, and my vision was going fuzzy | tried to scratch at him, but my claws weren't connecting. Then there was a rush of air to my lungs, and | crashed to the ground. Zane landed in a heap

beside me.

“Like | said...” Malachi surveyed the scene with some disinterest. “You will stay here, inside. And you will take care of each other. You're no use to Mason, Isaac, or Alaina if you’re dead,

“You two have the biggest targets on your back aside from Lanie and Stella,” my mother said. “And if anything happens to you, who will take care of them?”

The question hit me like a dagger to the heart as | looked at Lanie and Stella. As f ucked up as it was to think about it, she was our mate, and Stella was our blood child. Our duty was to them first.

me

“F uck all of you,” | said, but all the fight had left me. went to Lanie and put my arm around her. She let

“We're staying to protect you and Stella,” | said.

Zane walked over and joined us. “You still mean more to us than anything else.”

She nodded and rested her head on my shoulder.

Malachi stepped over the spell border and handed me a walkie-talkie.

“We'll communicate with these,” he said. “Hard to trace, and they don’t rely on cell

cell service.”

H

Zane and | exchanged a confused look. This thing felt old and bulky.

“I'm well aware it’s old fashioned, and magic would be cooler,” Malachi said in an exasperated tone. “But

other spells or magicked items could interfere with the protective barrier. And besides, we can’t locate Rhiannon right now. Everyone's heard about the Constantine lockdown, and it’s got the witches sp ooked, too.”

any

“Got it,” Zane said. “Let us know as soon as you have news.”

“| will.” Malachi bowed and walked back over to my mother.

| broke away from Lanie and followed him, stopping as close to the spell barrier as | could.

“Be safe,” | told my mother, and suddenly | was fighting back tears. “And I'm sorry, | didn’t mean what |

|said-

“Xander,” she cut me off, “I know. | love

you.”

| nodded. “Be safe” was all | could manage to say.

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