ALPHA MARCELLUS STORM

The moment she entered pack lands; he knew. He was able to scent her from miles away and the closer she got to the pack house where he currently was, holed up in his office, the more her sweet honeysuckle scent tempted him. The sweet scent of her teased him to leave his cave of paperwork and venture out to find her, to claim her. To show her just who was her mate and who was the one that she should be starting a family with.

Try denying her all you want, but you'll never be able to escape the mate bond. His wolf snorted and rolled his wolfish eyes, still not in agreeance with his human counterpart.

We could always reject her. That'll get rid of the mate bond and we wouldn't feel this pull toward her. We wouldn't be bound to her anymore.

Again, his wolf snorted at the absurdness of the words that passed his lips.

As if you would be able to reject her. You wouldn't even be able to get your name past your lips if you tried.

Marcellus frowned at that and rolled his eyes, forcing himself to ignore his wolf and get back to work. When that didn't work and he could concentrate no longer, Marcellus huffed and left his office with the intent of leaving the pack house before she got here.

You can't avoid her forever.

We'll see about that.

Before another argument between the human and Alpha pair could ensue, Dalton spied him in the hallway and came over to talk, looking as if there was something on his mind.

"Marcellus, I need to discuss something with you."

"Can this wait?" He huffed and braced his hands on his hips, staring earnestly toward the front door. Almost as if he was afraid that his mate would walk in any moment now. "I'm overdue a run." He informed the wolf, omitting the simple fact that he had gone for a run every night this past week, trying to get rid of all this pent-up frustration that drove him wild.

Dalton didn't have the chance to tell him that the matter couldn't wait but before he could even open his mouth, Marcellus was already in his wolf form and out the door.

Just as he had been doing this past week, Marcellus pushed himself as far as he could and ran until his legs ached. And then, he pushed himself harder, to cover as much distance as he could.

It was only when he felt his lungs ache and harsh breaths escape him that he slowed down into a light jog, only stopping to take a drink from the lake before he decided to head back to the pack.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed but he didn't need to head back to the pack house to know that his mate was in there.

He had hoped that running would take his mind off things but unfortunately, it did the exact opposite. Instead of being able to forget about her like he had hoped, all he could think about was her and when he returned to the pack house, Marcellus was even more frustrated and angry than he was when he left.

In fact, he was filled with so much rage and frustration that he pulled on a pair of jogging bottoms and marched through the living and down the stairs into the den where his mate had been sat for the past two hours.

He knew that she was playing poker and that she was up by a couple of hundred, completely sweeping the table. In any other situation, he would have been proud of her but right now, all he wanted was for her to leave.

Don't do anything you're going to regret. His wolf warned him in a deadly quiet voice as he pushed open the door and stepped into the door. Or I'm going to have to step in and handle your mess.

I bet you will.

His wolf growled in response but Marcellus was quick to shut him out as his eyes immediately focused on his mate, not needing to search for her as her distinct scent was his like very own personal GPS system.

If she was near, he would be able to scent her out from miles away. He had absolutely no doubt about that.

Silence filled the room as all pairs of eyes turned on him but Marcellus couldn't bring himself to do anything as it was those baby blues that he couldn't look away from. Without the window separating them and now standing in the same room, he had to remind himself to breathe otherwise he would pass out.

Go on. Reject her now. I fucking dare you.

When Marcellus didn't respond, his wolf continued trying to provoke him despite how his human counterpart tried to keep him out.

She's right in front of you so what's stopping you from rejecting her now?

You know I can't reject her in front of everyone. Marcellus growled both internally and externally, ignoring all the strange looks that all the werewolves and one human in the room sent him.

If you're going to reject her then you might as well just do it now. Like ripping off the band-aid. It'll be less cruel.

To her or to us?

To both of us.

Marcellus scowled deeply but since he was unable to go through with his earlier threat, he growled loudly and stalked further into the room, only coming to a stop once he was stood in front of the poker table.

He ignored everyone around the table and turned to his Beta who had been watching the game, patiently waiting for it to end so he could join the next one.

"Alpha." Dalton greeted him with a wary look, opting to use his title as Marcellus appeared to be in an awfully serious mood. "Is everything okay?"

"No, everything is not okay." Marcellus denied as he shook his head, choosing to cut to the chase. "What is this human doing here?" He asked in a deep, throaty voice, not trusting himself to turn to his mate who was looking up at him curiously.

Dalton gulped at the harsh look on his face but before he could answer, his mate beat him to it, even going as far as to rise to her feet and address him head on.

"This human you're talking about is right here so if you want to say something, feel free to say it right to my face." Anastasia snapped at the big bad wolf, not at all appreciative of the harsh tone that he was using on her.

So brave. His wolf hummed quietly, unable to turn his gaze away from the siren that was their mate. She'd make a great Luna.

Too bad that's never going to happen. Marcellus snorted aloud, quick to follow it with a roll of his eyes.

"Are you speaking to me, human?" Marcellus snapped at her in the same tone that she had used on him, finally forcing himself to turn his eyes away from the Beta and to his mate.

"Yes, I am, wolf." She scowled deeply and braced her hands on her hips, forcing herself to continue glowering at him despite her need to take a seat and bare her neck in submission at him. Anastasia had never felt this way before even though she had been around numerous wolves before however, she pinned it down to the fact that she was speaking to an Alpha wolf, and an awfully powerful one at that. "What's wrong with you?"

"You're the one on my land so I could ask you that."

When she didn't answer him or even acknowledge his words, only dropping her eyes and looking away from him in response, he continued.

"Who allowed you onto pack lands?" He forced the words out of his mouth, fighting off his innate desire to pull her into his arms and crush her body against.

His wolf wanted nothing more than to declare to everyone that she was his mate and their future Luna. Despite how angry he was at her and the situation that she had forced them both into, he had a hard time fighting off that urge.

"Beta Dalton." She answered in a small voice, her chin held high even though she avoided making eye contact with him, almost as if internally battling herself to not succumb under the strong Alpha aura that he was radiating.

Dalton, knowing better than to go against his Alpha or try to prove him wrong when he was in such a mood, was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

Marcellus continued to glower at her but only broke his gaze to turn to his Beta.

You gave her permission to come onto pack lands?

Yes, Alpha. Dalton answered back almost immediately, clearly not wanting to upset the Alpha wolf any further. I can ask her to leave if you want.

He hummed and pursed his lips as he turned his attention back to his little spitfire, glaring down at the ground that she was stood on. He had no doubt of the direction of her thoughts and internally chuckled as he could tell that she wished for nothing more than for it to be his face that she was stood on; trampling all over it.

I think I'll do it myself.

"You have some nerve speaking to me in that tone, human." He growled quietly and took a menacing step toward him, expecting her to quiver in her boots and beg for mercy like any other human probably would have reacted if they were in her position. But not his mate apparently who continued glaring down at the ground, not deeming him worthy of gazing into her big beautiful blues.

What did you expect? His wolf snorted. She's our mate. She's the one person in this world that's going to be able to put up with our bullshit and challenge us. And with how fiery this little spitfire is. She's going to keep us on our toes.

Too bad she won't be around here for long.

We'll see about that.

Marcellus didn't have time to respond or question his wolf on his motives as his mate chose this moment to answer back to him.

"I understand that you're the Alpha and that I'm on your pack land without your permission, but you don't have to be rude about it. You could just ask me to leave nicely and I'll leave. You don't have to speak about me as if I'm not right here. I'm not sure if your parents ever taught you any manners, but that's just plain rude and definitely not the way that you speak to people."

As her rant came to an end, the only thing that sounded was her quiet breathing from getting so worked up after having completely blown up at him. Other than her, pin drop silence filled the room as no one here had ever witnessed anyone dare to speak to the Alpha in such a way, nor had they had seen their Alpha so livid before.

Unable to hold himself back anymore, Marcellus glowered harshly at her. Instead of apologising or baring her neck in submission, she dared to roll her eyes and look away from him. As if he wasn't worth her time.

While her actions completely aggravated him to no end, both him and his wolf couldn't help but agree with her pure bravery, choosing to take on a big bad Alpha like him, as she had chosen to put it.

"Leave!" He demanded in his Alpha tone. "But not you two." He turned his attention to Raphael and Justas, two wolves who appeared to be at the centre of all of this, right alongside his mate.

The pack members scrambled out of the den and up the stairs in record time, not used to the Alpha raising his voice or losing his cool like this. The only times he used his Alpha voice were during emergency situations when he needed to get things done as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this particular situation didn't quite match up with the others.

When his mate shot him one last scowl, pressed a hand against her protruding stomach and tried to move around him and leave everyone else, he made sure to stop her with a low growl, not trusting himself to touch her.

One touch would ruin everything and get him addicted, and frankly, Marcellus couldn't afford to make such a mistake.

"And definitely not you." He murmured quietly, "You can stay. We have some things we need to talk about."

-

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Layla Knight

11.10.2020