The Gamma's Birthright - Book 2

“Andy!”

There’s a loud knock at the door and someone tries to open it, finding it locked they knock again

“What the fuck do you want Cal”

Andy growls, rolling her off him and under the covers.

“I have the Alpha on the phone, he’s been trying to contact you and we have a lead to follow up on”

Getting up he stalks to the door, not bothering to cover himself

“Nice ass”

She calls out, laughing quietly at the black look he gives her as he grabs a towel from the chair, wrapping it around him.

"Not helping Emma!"

He snatches open the door and she hears the inadvertent sniff from whomever Cal is, the room will reek of sex, which makes her giggle some more and Andy lets out a little growl releasing some of his command aura.

“Oh, Beta I didn’t realise you…”

Cal starts before Andy cuts him off quickly, all business.

“Follow up on the lead, mind link me the details, but don’t engage if the target is there and give me the damn phone”

He slams the door

“Kieran, what’s up….. I know.... sorry…. I met my mate last night.”

Toni watches him blush slightly, he’s so damn cute

“Emma” he answers listening to the phone

“Wait a moment, we haven’t um, got around to talking all that much yet”

There’s a cross between embarrassment and pride in his voice, but Toni doesn't need the improved hearing to pick up on the raucous laughter down the phone.

“What pack are you from sweetheart” he looks at her expectantly

"Can we talk about it later, the rules, remember?”

She doesn’t want to lie at this point, he’s her mate and she just wants to pretend she has a normal life for a short while later, not that she thinks there’s a large chance they can make this work, but she has the smallest spark of hope that they can, if he gets to know her first.

But there will be complications, with her unable to leave her pack and a Beta wouldn’t want to leave his pack, to end up unranked, they are at an impasse, but regardless nothing ends well when you start with a lie.

“Come on, it’s not a biggie, my alpha wants to start the transfer papers.”

She shakes her head, grabs her wash bag, and dives into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

She sits against the door listening to the rest of the one-sided conversation.

“I don’t know, she’s not carrying a pack scent that I can detect, could be she’s a recent rogue…. Sure….. short, deep blue hair, striking Hazel eyes, about five foot eight maybe ten (175 to 180cm) killer body” he laughs

“Maybe… yup... not sure that’s wise… I’ll think about it, can I call you later Bro?”

Toni gets up quickly and starts the shower

“Emma?”

She can hear the questions in the one word he utters.

“Be out soon”

Toni keeps her voice relaxed and cheerful, giving herself a little more time in the shower

Drying herself and using the scent masking spray, she wraps herself in the thick bathrobe, the spray won’t stop him from smelling her scent, he’s attuned to it as her mate, but it helps hide the pack scent.

Walking back into the room, she can see he is sitting on the bed in his sweatpants only

“Damn you’re trying to distract me now”

Toni grinned as the words left her mouth, licking her lips, he’s a mighty fine-looking man, her eyes raked his body, but this time he wouldn't be distracted.

“Come here, sweetheart”

He smiles gently, reaching out and pulling her onto his lap.

“I’ve seen your scars; you know that right?”

His hand traced the scar on her neck

Tensing, her voice becomes a little defensive.

“And?”

“Do you understand that’s not normal, to have that many whip scars, it’s abuse, especially in one so young, you’re barely an adult.

No one has been whipped in our pack in my lifetime.

Whatever the excuse, you never need to face it again.

You’ve no reason to be scared to tell me your pack, we can and will protect you, no matter what.

But first, we need to get your papers sorted so you can move packs.” He finishes gently

“I’m not sure you can say ‘no matter what’ without knowing the details.

How do you know I didn’t deserve the punishment, that I am not some rebellious law-breaking person?”

She looks at him challengingly, but he holds her face gently.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, no one your age deserves the damage I’ve seen, and I don’t think you are that rebellious, it’s not how you come across sweetheart.

Maybe a little too much challenge in you, that possibly could be tempered with respect" he grins

"But if you honestly think you deserved it, talk to me, tell me about the situations and I can help you find different responses, help you adjust.”

He’s smiling, leaning in, kissing her gently

She moves to sit astride him, nuzzling into his neck, she lets his scent embrace her, his statements are enticing, and she wonders if she went to see the Crown Prince, with another pack that would take her, if he would then release her from his command, but would she be accepted by his pack?

But she bursts her bubble quickly, what pack will willingly take in the Dark Gamma, she reminds herself, no matter the pretty words of her mate.

“What if I’m the Alpha and can’t move to your pack?” she questions

“Why would you have whip scars if you were the Alpha?”

“Children can be rebellious you know”

She starts kissing his neck to try and distract him, but he pushes her gently back to look at her.

“True, but that’s even worse if you were whipped as a minor.

There are many ways to deal with behaviour issues that are much better than beating a child.

Tell me, who did it and I will make them pay, I promise you that!”

He stares into her eyes trying to convey the support he wants her to feel, because, at this moment, he would gladly kill whoever thought it was okay to inflict this many scars on his mate.

“But if you were the Alpha, hell ranked at all, I’d feel your power, plus there are no female Alpha’s out there.

I don’t mean to be rude, but you don’t feel like a wolf that has a rank, you have no visible authority that you give off, not even that of a warrior, but, as my mate, I can teach you everything you need to know.”

He grins at her, she just shrugs, he’s cute, but needs to think before he talks, she could have been insulted, Tyra gives a one-second flash of her power before Toni shuts it down sighing.

“Maybe you’re right….”

She raises her eyebrows at him grinning

“Are you an Alpha?”

There’s suddenly a hint of uncertainty in his voice

“Nope, but that doesn’t mean I’m not an asshole!”

She grins while popping the P

“But made you think!”

She laughs loudly at his face.

“So, what pack...”

“Later”

She murmurs softly, leaning forward, kissing him, lips brushing against his, warm and inviting, he pulls her closer to his chest, responding and deepening their kiss, standing up, her legs clamp around his waist, as he turns and places her gently into the middle of the bed.

“Goddess you are a minx” he grins at her

For three days straight they’d been holed up in his suite, talking about everything, their dreams, the music they love, places they relax, their ideal house, how many pups they wanted, everything, except pack details and full names, but Toni knew it couldn’t be put off forever, she was going to have to have 'the talk' soon.

But she hoped that by now, he saw her for who she was, not her reputation.

Each time he started to ask difficult questions, she just distracted him, she was very aware that he knew what she was doing, but they were both enjoying being close, so she saw it as a win-win, delaying the inevitable, but living for the moment.

“Andy”

She breathlessly calls his name, as pleasure ripples across her body, stronger and longer than it has done to date, as the knowledge of each other’s bodies grows, so does the pleasure they bring to each other.

She loses herself in the pleasure, every nerve of her body feels like it’s alight, his body and hers forming one, moving together in a perfect union, she never wants this time to end.

Everything just feels so perfect together, a true meeting of fated souls, he lowers his head to inhale her scent, life has never felt so good, there’s a brief flash of pain before her pleasure increases, lost in the moment, it all feels great, triggering a second wave of oblivion, blanking her mind.

As her focus comes back into the room, Toni realises he’s licking her neck, sealing a wound, hand jerking up, she can feel where he marked her.

“What have you done?” her words are softly spoken but cold

It feels like there’s been a bucket of cold water thrown down her back, the ice-cold feeling giving her the focus and clarity she’d lost in the last few days of hedonism and living like she had a normal life, bringing her back to reality with a resounding crash.

“I’m sorry Emma,”

He says quietly, as too late she feels a knot form.

She can feel him pushing his awareness into her mind, Tyra comes to the front pushing him out, helping her put up a mental block.

“You marked me, without my consent!”

“It would have happened eventually” he’s smiling ruefully

“I wouldn’t want to let you go and I think I’ve worked out you aren’t an asshole”

He pulls her close and rolls them sideways, legs entangled while the knot is still active.

“So, while you can’t physically run from me, let’s have that chat that you keep putting off” he grins

“Andy!

You marked and knotted me without my consent, do you even get that doing so is a crime?”

Her voice is raised, and shock has kicked in, this isn’t something she can hide from the Alpha and will mean if she has to reject him, it will hurt them both more.

Plus, the only way a she-wolf gets pregnant is during her heat or if she’s knotted by an Alpha or mates in wolf form, until this point she’s not been worried about the consequences of their fun.

Andy’s face contorts with worry

“Look I’m sorry, I didn’t know Remus would want to knot you, immediately I’d marked you.”

“That means you marked me purposefully because you are not sorry for that!"

The shock she feels is making her sick, a part of her had hoped it was just a mistake, not pre-planned.

"Just what do you think will happen to you, if I reported this?”

She’s keeping her cool as best she can, but only because they are physically tied together and breaking that knot would injure them both.

The sick gut-twisting betrayal she feels at the moment is hard to keep at bay, she’d foolishly trusted her mate, and worse, herself to make the right decisions, and it had blown up in her face.

“My brother, the Alpha, suggested it, so I think I’ll get some slack”

His words are more defensive, but they just increase the sick feeling she has, he’s not blaming it on his wolf taking over, only the knotting.

'Shit' she thinks to herself, he knotted her, that’s an Alpha trait to help ensure pups in the Alpha line, he had to not only be Alpha born but to have the Alpha gene as well.

Her mind wanders back to the phone conversation, his Alpha had phoned and he referred to him as Kieran, she starts sifting through all the pack details she knows.

The dark reality of what she’d done creeps into her consciousness.

“Alpha Kieran from the Iron Claw pack is your Alpha, you are his brother, Andrew, took over as Beta as your father's Beta had only a single female pup who mated and moved packs”

“Uh huh” he’s smiling

“You can see we can protect you gorgeous, but you do have to move to our pack for us to be able to do that.

But I’m impressed you know so much about the packs, good trait for a Beta female, you’ll be a great asset to the Luna.

So which pack are you from?”

Toni just groans, placing her head on his chest, Iron Claw, he had to be from Iron Claw.

The only pack that they are truly at odds with, she’s sure the only thing that stops the packs from going to war is the Royal Pack, who would take out whichever pack was the aggressor.

Of course, she knows about that pack, know thine enemy, it’s been drummed into her from birth and it happens to be the only pack land that the Alpha has forbidden her from entering, in fact, from interacting with anyone from that pack.

“Cthale lyl afil eipar yean hale ali sepa som Uron Kre, sepal drial laba tel mokl.”

(Goddess why did my mate have to be from Iron Claw, is this some cruel joke)

Toni mutters to herself.

“Andy, you agreed to no marking, so why did you do it?

And remember if your brother was involved, that makes the two of you complicit in a forced mark?”

Her eyes are flashing amber, probably showing the hurt in them from how he’s reacting.

“My brother suggested it, to bring us closer, allowing me to learn more about you, don’t think I haven’t noticed you avoid certain questions.

I’m not intending to let you go, you are perfect for me, for our pack.”

His words are gentle but she can hear the hurt in his voice from her reaction, from the anger he can feel within her, almost rejected, he traces her face with his hand.

“You don’t need to be scared; I will always be there for you”

He moves to kiss her, but she pulls her head away from him

“Want to take a bet on that” She snaps

“Goddess, I need some time to think this through.”

There’s an uncomfortable ten minutes of silence before she feels the knot going down and can move away from him.

“Emma, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, but why are you blocking me, what is so bad that makes you want to keep me at arm’s length?”

His eyes are filled with the sorrow he feels, as Toni distances herself emotionally from him.

“Don’t push me, not after today, do you understand the trouble both you and your Alpha could be in if I pressed charges?”

She answers, not hearing the coldness in her voice that shocks Andy, but he has, at least the grace to look guilty about it.

Grabbing her wash bag, she heads off to her room, closing the door behind her, she leans her back onto it, trying to work out what she should do, she had briefly fooled herself that living like a normal adult would be possible and that had been proven wrong, with disastrous results.

She needed space and she needed distance, to think.

Showering quickly, she changes into jeans and a big pink jumper to hide the mark, applying the scent mask again she looks at herself in the mirror.

What she was seeing in the mirror was the person she could have been if fate hadn’t dealt her some shite hands.

The worst part, her life was so screwed, just because she’d gone with instinct and a desire for fun, and not assessed the problem rationally, she'd brought this on herself.

Even if Andy left his pack, her Alpha would make his and her life hell, purely based on where he was from, Andy wasn’t the kind of wolf to back down, and she doubted Andy’s Alpha would accept her if she was objective about the situation, which left rejection.

Diving into her bag, she starts to pack the clothes from the wardrobe and drawers, trying to give herself time to think and prepare herself to leave.

There’s a soft knocking at the door, she doesn’t need to open it to know who it is.

She does a quick check around the room, hiding the case in the wardrobe so it doesn’t look like she is packing, she opens the door.

“Let me apologise to you over breakfast; you can meet some of the guys, and see that it's a good pack.”

He says sheepishly when she opens the door.

“Which bit of ‘I need to think’ did you not get Andy?”

Toni crosses her arms, looking at him

“You don’t get it do you”

She shakes her head sadly

“It was about trust Andy, and you broke it.

But worse than that, you were hoping to control me with the mark to try and find out the information I wasn’t comfortable giving you yet.

At least when I am controlled by being whipped, it’s straightforward, I know it’s coming, I know why and I know how long it will go on for.

And I know what I need to do, to avoid it.

This… this is worse, this is you trying to manipulate me by using my emotions.

And all to get information that I choose to delay giving you so that we got to know each other.”

The pain he is feeling is written all over his face as she closes the door on him and goes back to packing, she needs to work out how to let him know who she is, safely, to see his reaction, to plan for all eventualities.

She needs to remove feelings and go back to cold hard logic; it’s never let her down before.