Three months earlier...

"She won't come..." Gaius spoke with a careful tone to his father. He knew he would be enraged... and he was fully prepared for it.

"Have I taught you so poorly? What does this female have over you? Make her..." Vitor snarled. Gaius subtly flinched.

"I cannot," Gaius said and kept his eyes downcast.

"You can, but you choose not to. For every day she is not here... she will be lashed." Vitor snarled. Gaius's head shot up to look at his father, but he remained careful to not make eye contact.

"I told you... I will take all her punishments. She is not pack." Gaius said firmly. Vitor's expression turned darker. It was clear he was enraged by the reminder of her defiance.

"If I knew you would have been so soft for this female, I would never have allowed you to have her. I should have known she was not docile. I should have given her to someone worthy enough to tame her blood, because clearly, you are too weak to do it." Vitor growled angrily. Gaius grit his teeth in anger, but he forcibly kept himself in check.

"You disappoint me," Vitor said coldly. Gaius fully felt the sting. Vitor said nothing else and walked out, leaving him alone with his mother.

It went silent for almost a full tense minute.

"Gaius..." Carina said carefully.

"I don't need it from you too." Gaius snapped.

"You should not push him," Carina said gently.

He looked away from her as she approached him.

"You have to make her obey you. She will forgive you eventually. It's not just for her own good, but for yours as well." Carina said.

His back ached at the reminder of what she meant by 'his own good.' He still hadn't completely healed. His muscles still felt weakened from the silver. Not that his mate noticed.

She currently hated him...

And he didn't blame her.

"I won't do that, I won't be him," Gaius said firmly. Carina sighed.

"I know how you feel about her, but it is our way here... the quicker she learns that, the better off she'll be. She will love you again. She will forgive you for it eventually." Carina said.

Gaius grit his teeth hard.

"Like you love him? Like you've forgiven him? No thanks..." He snarled. Carina's expression went blank. Gaius had witnessed enough to know his parents had a loveless matehood, more than loveless, he was quite sure his mother feared and hated him.

She just never showed it.

He knew his father was harsh. They had all felt that harshness at some point in their lives. Multiple times actually.

Victor's temper was vicious.

Throughout his life, Gaius had seen how his father reaffirmed his mother's 'respect.' It angered he and his brothers, but they learned quickly it was foolish to go against him. It seemed to hurt their mother more when he turned on them.

And he had no problem turning on them.

Gaius knew that devastated her more than anything. His mother hid her hatred well for the sake of appearances.

His father was all about appearances.

"I will try to get her to adjust my way, and if that means I go to the pole in the meantime... so be it. It's not like it's the first time he sent me there." Gaius said flatly.

His father had to know he'd take her punishments. He was not afraid of that pole. He was six when he first felt the fury of that whip. Under Vitor's leadership, the Alpha's children were not given the child's punishment. They went straight for the adult.

It was the first and only time he raised his voice to his father. It was the first and only time he told his father no.

It had been a long time since he stood on that platform, at least, it was before a week ago. He had been given twenty, the most he'd ever had, more than most wolves ever had, for defending her the night of the transfer.

He'd done it without thinking, the rage of his wolf when he saw his father intend to hurt her was immeasurable. He'd never felt anything like it. That protective fury.

He had no love for his father, nothing that would have held him back. Even his wolf's loyalty was shaken at the threat to his mate.

In that moment, his wolf wanted to kill him. Feeling that rage, Gaius thought he just might have been able to.

But she stopped him.

If his father had actually struck her, Gaius didn't think he would have been able to hold himself back, but her touch had calmed him.

He had no regrets. He would defend her every time. He would do it again in an instant, even knowing the consequences.

He had not touched his father since he was three, none of his brothers had. Vitor only let his females touch him into their later years, but his males weren't allowed.

His father was less harsh with his sisters because he believed females were supposed to be soft and compliant, as long as they acted accordingly, he gave them anything they wanted. But to he and his brothers, he raised them to be males through and through.

They weren't to show weakness, they weren't to show compassion, they weren't to show love.

Gaius glanced at his mother. If it hadn't been for her, he feared how he may have turned out.

Even fearing her mate as Carina did, she defied him in her own quiet ways. To all her sons, she gave them enough love for two parents. She never wanted them to be cold like him.

In many ways, Gaius had a great deal of respect for her, despite how she came off most of the time to the outside world. She had a good heart. She defied her mate and taught her sons to be loving, she taught them affection, something his father wanted them to lack. She had given him and his brother's that choice behind his back.

To be like him, or to be like her.

Gaius thought of Lyn. She had been so angry at him, she didn't even notice his absence after his punishment. He'd stayed away from the house so he could heal enough to hide it. He'd spent five nights at Adriano's house and only went back home for brief increments during the night to check on her.

Moving was still painful then. He lengthened his recovery time because he kept reopening his wounds, but he didn't care. And even though he went to great lengths to hide his injuries, he found he needn't have bothered. She didn't come out to see him, she didn't even want to talk to him.

But he couldn't bear being away from her with how distressed she felt through their bond.

Feeling her suffering had been worse than that damn whip. Strangely, he was almost grateful for the physical pain. It had temporarily distracted him from her anguish.

What she was going through just made Gaius feel worse. He decided then that she would never know. He would never tell her.

His parents didn't understand what she'd been through. He knew she wouldn't respond well to violence. And he'd see to it she would never know what that whip felt like. He didn't care what his father wanted from him.

He'd always shelter her. And he'd never hurt her.

So of course, she had no idea she had been given fifteen the night she broke her loyalty. It infuriated him. No female had ever been given that many. Most males weren't given that many.

He figured his father must have made it so high in an attempt to deter him from taking her punishment. It was clear his father wanted her to feel it by how angry he was at being defied.

No one defied his father.

Gaius was sure Lyn was the first to ever break loyalty to him and not be killed on the spot. His mother said the fact that he was letting her live was a miracle.

The rule of doubling a punishment for another to take it was implemented by his father when he took Alpha to deter males from taking their female's punishments.

His father felt whoever earned the lashes, should be the one to take them, but due to a male's protectiveness over his female, the choice was always to be offered.

If a male accepted the punishment for his mate, he was not bound, he was not given the Liga to keep him from shifting.

He had to stand there of his own will and take every strike. If he couldn't complete it without shifting or calling it off, no matter how many he'd managed to take, his female would then be responsible to take her full punishment anyway.

In Gaius' lifetime, he'd only seen an adult female at the pole four times. One was mateless at the time... but she was more of a juvenile than an adult. The next two were because their males forced them to take their own punishments, and the last because her male failed.

Gaius took a slow breath. Lyn's sentence would be sometime in the next few weeks. He'd have to come up with some excuse to be away for a few days again, now that she was tolerating his presence, he knew she would notice.

Gaius again looked to his mother. It had been she that convinced his father he couldn't take both punishments at once. Doubling Lyn's would make thirty, an unheard-of number in itself, but doing both at once would have been a total of fifty. No wolf could survive that.

The most he had ever seen a wolf take was twenty for an extreme defiance, and even that was rare. Now he had experienced it himself. And it was worse than he thought it would be.

Gaius had never before had more than fifteen. Those extra five had been true hell. Gaius had never thought it would be as hard as it was.

At one point, he thought it truly might be possible to die of pain. The whip was made woven with sharp silver crystals. It didn't take many to buckle most. It was meant to strip flesh from the very first strike. It was literally designed with the sole purpose to cause maximum pain from just a single stroke.

Knowing he'd have to go through it again was easier this time simply for the fact that taking it for her would make it more bearable. Even if he'd have to do it unbound.

He wouldn't fail her.

His protectiveness of her ran that deep. He would take any number for her. He was confident he could.

But the longer she defied his father, he'd now have more added to that number. Gaius took a slow breath. The stress was eating at him. He had a feeling that pole and he would get quite acquainted in the following months.

"Gaius..." Carina said as she cupped his face. Gaius stared at her.

"Please. Your father expects her here. She is still expected to contribute. Do whatever you have to-to get her here. I don't want to see you hurt anymore." Carina pleaded, her eyes became glossy. Gaius sighed and pulled away from her.

"I'll try," Gaius said.

_

Gaius walked home slowly. He felt... heavy. He wanted to see her, but he didn't.

Everything she had said to him that morning stung. He hadn't been back all day, even after he left his parents.

He had gone straight to his father after their fight. Lyndis refused to leave the house. And when he gently insisted, she snapped.

"Lyn please just listen..." Gaius all but begged her. She had just glared at him and he could clearly see the glaze of fury in her eyes.

"I said no. You can tell that fucking male it will never happen." Lyndis snarled. Gaius's eyes had snapped to the stairs. The girls were in their rooms still. He didn't want them hearing this.

"Lyn-" He began the same moment she started talking.

"You are just as vile as the rest of your pack if you stand by him. If you have an ounce of decency you won't ask me again. I'm not even part of this backward pack anymore and I never will be again. I shouldn't have to go entertain your ridiculous heartless mother. I'm. Not. Leaving. Them." Lyndis snarled. Gaius stared at her. He felt like he'd been slapped.

"Can't you just hear me-" Gaius began.

"NO! I said no! It will always be no!" Lyndis growled. Gaius grit his teeth. He was about to try to talk again but she cut him off.

"Get out," Lyndis said coldly. Her eyes were so angry, he knew there was no reasoning with her. Gaius just left.

He felt it in his chest. How much she hated him, the anger in her eyes. What she thought of his pack... his family, his home.

He hated it.

And what was worse... he couldn't blame her.

Gaius paused and took a slow breath as he tried to steel his resolve to go back and face her. He slumped back against a tree and just sat there pathetically.

His wolf felt wounded.

He felt drained.

Gaius knew what they were doing to their bond was unhealthy, possibly even dangerous. It was affecting his wolf. He could feel how it affected hers too.

Finding her that day sobbing her heart out into one of his shirts nearly broke him. He fully felt how wounded she was. The betrayal she felt.

Their sex life was a far cry from what it once was... if he could even call it that. It was almost painful now.

Two days ago their wolves had pushed them to reaffirm their bond again. It was not enjoyable sex. Nothing like he once had with her. It just felt like they were sating an animalistic need.

He hated how out of control everything was getting.

He didn't know how long he sat there with his gloomy thoughts, but he knew it was a while. The sun was setting.

Gaius glanced up when he heard crunching along the path. He already knew who it was by his scent.

"What did he say?" Adriano asked in a knowing way. Gaius looked away from him.

"Exactly what you thought he would," Gaius said. Adriano was silent. He liked that about his older brother, he was a male of few words, even when they were pups, but even in his silence, Gaius felt his support.

Unlike the rest of his siblings who kept telling him he was being an idiot for defying his father over a female. He didn't care he'd only known her six months. She was his mate, they were bound until death.

....and he loved her like crazy.

"Did you go by the house?" Gaius asked as he tried to divert his thoughts. Adriano gave a slight nod.

"Were the girls outside?" Gaius asked.

"No." He said. Gaius frowned. It wasn't good for their little wolves. Pups needed to be outside. They needed to shift. They needed to play.

The worry was eating at him...

"Are you just going to sit there all night?" Adriano asked him flatly. Gaius looked up at him. He knew he probably looked pathetic.

"Come on," Adriano said as he headed back up the path toward his own house. Gaius sighed and shoved up to follow him. He was definitely going to be breaking into his brother's stock of booze.

The next morning Gaius returned home to more hostility. It made him not bring it up for the rest of the week. He didn't want to set her off again.

Gaius kept trying to think of some other way to gently coax her... even though he knew each day she didn't go was only notching up the count. Every evening he couldn't help but fixate on the numbers in his head.

The pressure was getting to him.

They sat side by side at the kitchen island as the sun slowly sunk below the tree line. Lyndis had made tea. Gaius had never liked the stuff before... but she had truly opened him up to a lot of things. He let the cup warm his large hands as he observed the pups in the living room.

Gaius could see the night shine of Iyana's eyes the clearest, but nearly all the pup's eyes were constantly glazed with their wolf now. It was a bad sign...

He watched them with his brow furrowed in worry.

"We really need to get them outside tomorrow," Gaius said quietly as he looked over at Lyn. She kept her eyes on the girls.

"If you would do as I asked... it would be easier," Lyndis said. Her tone was hostile. Like it always was.

Gaius watched her. He could feel her resentment.

He felt the deep pang in his chest. He missed the days when she looked at him lovingly. Gaius started to wonder if she ever would again...

At least she was sleeping beside him. That placated his wolf. Despite how restless he constantly felt.

Gaius sighed deeply. She had asked him relentlessly throughout the week about her phone. But he couldn't defy his father. Vitor had strictly forbidden her to have any communication with her family until she declared loyalty.

"Lyn... I told you. If you give him something, he'll give you something... but you've done nothing he's asked." Gaius said with underlying frustration. Her expression was instantly annoyed. She looked away from him.

It went silent between them for a moment.

"My parents could order them to," Lyndis said. Gaius glanced back at the pups. He said nothing as another silence settled over them.

"It would help them to hear their voices..." Lyndis said and finally looked over at him. Gaius focused on Iyana.

"Please... Vitor doesn't have to know." Lyndis begged. Gaius heard the desperate plea she put behind it, straight from her heart.

Gaius took a slow breath. He hated how much she affected him. He ran a hand back through his hair and glanced to the girls again.

All three older girls were looking at him now with pouty hopeful looks.

Dammit... Gaius grit his teeth and looked away from them. His wolf felt restless. He fully felt protective of the pups... like they were his own now. He knew they were hurting. He knew they wanted to hear their parent's voices.

Gaius stood and left without looking back. He couldn't handle it.

His feet led him to Adriano's. His brother was sitting on the patio. Gaius plopped himself down beside him and they sat in silence for a while.

His wolf felt restless.

He felt a bit sick even.

He hated what he was considering... but at the same time, he didn't.

The confliction inside him was almost unbearable.

"Where do you think Lyn's phone is?" Gaius asked. Adriano gave him a hard look. He didn't even have to say it.

"I know I just... I'm running out of options. The pups need to shift." Gaius said firmly. Adriano still said nothing, but his silence spoke volumes. The air was thick with his disapproval.

"Dammit, I know!" Gaius snarled.

They never defied their father...

They just didn't.

No one did.

A compliant pack meant safe. It had been drilled in them since infancy.

And yet... Gaius couldn't help but consider it...

He couldn't let her use his... it would be noticed on the bills, but her cellphone still belonged to her parent's plan. If he did get it... How would his father even know? He doubted it was being monitored. He suspected it might just have been thrown in their packhouse storage somewhere.

Dammit what was he even thinking? What if his father found out?

It would not go over well...

"Storage, probably." Adriano reiterated what he had thought. Gaius glanced in the direction of the packhouse.

They sat in silence for some time. It was just as Gaius was about to stand and head that way that Adriano spoke.

"I'll get it," Adriano said. Gaius frowned at him.

"No-" Gaius began. Adriano stood. He towered over him. His brother truly was an imposing wolf when he wanted to be.

"You are already in enough trouble. I'll get it." Adriano growled and walked away. He didn't let Gaius argue.

Gaius paced the front of the house for some time. It was fully dark now. It was almost two hours before Adriano came back. Gaius was relieved to see the familiar flip phone in his hand.

"Thank you," Gaius said as he handed it to him with her charger.

"Shouldn't let her use it too much, it may get noticed," Adriano said. Gaius flipped it open and wasn't surprised to see it dead. He headed inside Adriano's house to plug it in.

"How did you get it?" Gaius asked. Adriano said nothing for a moment.

"I asked mom." He said. Gaius glanced back at him.

"She... gave it to you?" Gaius asked in shock.

"I told her the pups weren't shifting," Adriano said. Gaius looked to the charger. It would take a while.

"I'm going to bed," Adriano said flatly and headed up the stairs. Gaius moved over to sit on the couch and turned on the TV. He decided to wait until it charged before he went home...

Gaius startled awake at near dawn. He hadn't realized he fell asleep. With a groan, he rubbed his aching neck at the odd angle he had slumped.

He was more tired than he thought...

Dammit... he hadn't meant to stay the night. Gaius shoved up and snatched her phone but he left her charger. He knew he couldn't let her have it fully. The walk home was nerve-racking.

A mixture of feelings mingled inside him. Conflicting ones.

As he went inside and up to their bedroom, he hesitated at the door. He looked down at her phone in his hand and ran his thumb over it.

If his father found out...

Gaius grit his teeth and glanced down the hall. He could hear the pup's gentle breathing as they slept. He felt sick. He hated this was even an issue. He hated he was standing there at all feeling guilty for letting her have something as simple as her own damn cellphone.

But the pups truly needed it.

With a new resolve he shoved through the door and moved over to the bed. She was sleeping with her hair messily splayed against the pillow. Her breaths were soft and slow.

God she was beautiful.

He couldn't help but stare at her for a moment. Her expression was relaxed in sleep. She was never relaxed anymore. She was always tense... always angry.

Gaius sat at the edge of the bed and lightly rubbed her back to gently wake her. Lyndis opened her eyes and sleepily looked over her shoulder at him.

Lyndis frowned at him and looked to the windows. She had a confused look on her face. Gaius briefly glanced to the window as well, the sky was greying with the impending sunrise. He glanced down at her phone in his hand and gently flipped it over. Lyn's eyes followed his gaze and she immediately shoved up in bed when she realized what he held.

"You have an hour," Gaius said with hidden pain in his voice. Lyndis snatched it from him and flipped it open. He watched her expression as he heard the number of tones going off. Probably texts and voice mails.

Tears formed in her eyes as she quickly called a number and brought it up to her ear.

"Lyn?" Her mother's voice over the receiver sent Lyn into a sobbing mess.

Gaius just sat there awkwardly as his mate and her mother cried their hearts out. He ached to hold her. The salty scent of her tears filled the room. He felt it in his wolf. The pain through the bond was immeasurable.

"Mom..." Lyndis choked out.

He could hear Marion over the receiver start to ask questions. Lyndis glanced up at him with glossy eyes.

"I'm fine... the girls are okay," Lyndis said as she tried to keep her voice steady enough to talk. Gaius watched her with a pained expression. He couldn't help it.

"Are you somewhere safe?" Lyndis choked out. There was a brief pause before Marion answered.

"Where? Which pack?" Lyndis asked. Gaius couldn't help but feel restless. The eagerness in her tone struck a chord in him. He felt his expression harden.

His wolf was getting angry. His mate couldn't leave him.

Gaius suddenly heard Geoffrey's voice, and it brought his mate to tears again.

"It's not right... it's not right what he did." Lyndis sobbed. Gaius grit hit teeth at her words. So many emotions surged through him.

None of them good.

Gaius stood from the bed and moved away from her. He suddenly couldn't take being beside her without trying to comfort her. By the look on her face, she clearly didn't want him to.

It stung.

"I don't care. I want to be back with you. I don't want to stay here. I can't accept him as Alpha; I never can again." Lyndis said firmly.

Gaius stared at her. He knew he had no right to feel what he did, but those words were like a stab straight through his heart.

She truly wanted to leave him?

The emotion of that hit him hard. He was barely listening when Lyndis pushed the sheets off and quickly left the room. He didn't follow, he sat back on the bed and listened from afar as all the pups became sobbing messes.

He hated himself a bit more.

___

One month later...

It was excruciating. He thought twenty had been bad. Thirty felt like eighty... That extra ten may as well have been a hundred.

The struggle to not only force himself from shifting but to also keep her shut off from the intensity of his feelings through their bond had been pure torture. The first time he had the liga... it practically did it for him.

Not this time.

But he willed himself through it knowing what would happen if he failed.

He focused his full attention on every detail of being with her from that morning. The feel of her lips, the softness of her thighs, her breathy moans and how tightly she squeezed him when she came... It's what got him through it.

Knowing that he'd have her waiting for him.

Knowing that she wouldn't be hurt.

"You really should tell her that her actions here have consequences. She should be caring for you right now." Luana said gently as she replaced the cooling cloths soaked in healing ointment on his back. It was to expedite healing, soothe the pain and ensure he didn't scar.

Gaius fisted the sheets and hissed in pain as the cloth touched his torn back before the salve eased the ache. He was trying hard to shut his bond's connection. He didn't want her to feel this from him.

Even with the pain tonic he was given, the hot searing pain broke through it like nothing. All it seemed to do was numb his senses a bit. Luana's words just annoyed him.

He was tired of hearing it.

"So she can hate it here more? No... I think she'll accept it faster if she doesn't ever feel the wrath of my father." He said.

Gaius turned his head to the side to try to make himself more comfortable. Not that it was even possible. His back was on fire. He felt on fire. The pain was so severe it was making him nauseous.

He'd just barely regained consciousness.

He could see from the window it was dark now. The pain had been so terrible, he could barely even remember how he got there. After it was over, he vaguely remembered his brothers half dragging him.

He must have passed out on the way. He currently lay on his stomach in Aline's house, she was the pack healer. Due to the extent of the damage, he would have to stay a few days at least.

"You sheltering her will do her no good, I hope you know this. It will just make it worse, for both of you. Make her take the fourteen she still owes herself, just this once, you shouldn't worry about the amount... I doubt he will even make her do the full punishment. Especially if she asks for mercy. No female has ever had to take that many and she will fall in line much faster. That kind of pain is something you don't forget." Luana said.

Gaius cast her a furious glare. It pulled the torn flesh on his back in an excruciating way, but he didn't care. Momentary rage had numbed him to the pain.

How the hell did she even know about that? It hadn't been announced. He'd have another twenty-eight sometime later that month for the two weeks she failed to show at the packhouse.

"I'm not Aldous." Gaius snarled.

Luana firmly pursed her lips. She had been one of the four females he'd seen lashed. Early in their matehood, Luana had talked back to Vitor and earned ten lashes.

It had been the most any female had been given at the time. Now Lyndis had that record.

Instead of taking her punishment, Aldous made her take it herself, so as not to show weakness to their father. Because of the potential for males to get violent when their mates were attacked, Aldous was not permitted to watch.

He was sent off pack territory, but Gaius was there.

Since she was family, they were required to be there. Gaius always thought this rule a bit sadistic, but it was family's responsibility to care for them after.

Females rarely got whipped, and when they were it was never above five. He wasn't even Luana's mate, and it had been hard to watch. The protective wolf inside him was almost impossible to keep contained.

Watching Luana's punishment made Gaius vow he'd never let his future mate go through that.

Thirty was an unheard-of number before now, but he didn't care. He'd do anything for Lyndis... and he had.

Despite how excruciating it was, it had not been as hard as he thought it would be for that reason alone. As he was helped away from the podium by Aldous and Adriano, the wolves who had gathered to witness were staring at him with newfound respect. He remembered that at least before things became hazy.

He was the fourth Alpha son. He was barely recognized for anything. Not that he cared for that. The only thing that had given him any kind of smug satisfaction was how angry his father looked that he managed to take the whole punishment.

It awoke a wave of deep-seated anger inside him that his own father was obviously hoping he would fail. That he was that determined to see Lyn suffer.

"That's not fair... You know how much that killed him. It will be the first thing he gets rid of when he takes Alpha." Luana growled. Gaius avoided her eyes.

After Luana's whipping as she lay unconscious in the healer's house, Aldous had sought him out and forced him to tell him every detail of what she went through.

Gaius hated how his brother had looked that day. Even though Gaius knew why Aldous did it, it didn't mean Gaius agreed.

But he'd never seen him so wrecked. He had failed to protect his mate. Even to this day, Gaius knew it haunted him and he said on numerous occasions away from their father's ears how the first thing he demolished when he took Alpha, will be that platform.

He planned to make a lot of changes... to take them away from their outdated customs.

It made him hopeful that at least someday... Lyndis may learn to be happy there again.

"He still made that choice," Gaius said. Luana said nothing else as she finished laying the fresh bandages on his back.

"How are you feeling?" Yara's voice grated on every nerve in his body. He wanted that female far away from him and what was worse, he didn't have the energy to fight with her right now.

"He needs rest. Leave him be." Luana growled harshly. Yara stood at the threshold of the door. Her sharp eyes immediately went to Luana.

"Where is his mate? Why is she not here caring for him?" Yara questioned in a knowing way. Gaius grit his teeth in annoyance.

"That's not your business, and you won't say a word to her either. Understood? In fact, stay away from her." Luana growled viciously. She was not Alpha yet, but she certainly had the aptitude. Gaius would have smirked if he could have. He'd have to make it up to her later.

"I will come back later. He will need someone to tend to him when you must return to your pups." Yara said with an underlying hint of defiance. Gaius' spike of annoyance grew.

She never listened. But before Gaius could reply, Luana beat him to it.

"That won't be necessary, Adriano will come to replace me. Leave." Luana growled.

Yara lingered a moment longer. Her gaze never left him, and it briefly made his skin crawl, before she finally turned and left. Luana sighed.

"I never liked that girl. There is something off about her. I will never understand how she's managed to fool your mother into liking her so much." Luana said with a frown.

Gaius kept his eyes on the empty door frame. He didn't say it, but his mother was foolish in that way... She was obviously terrible at reading people. Always trying to see the good in everyone. He'd refrained from telling the rest of his family how truly crazed Yara had got the night before his mating ceremony to Lyn.

He woke to her naked on top of him trying to mount him, her eyes glazed.

He'd had to knock her out when she wouldn't stop throwing herself at him in an attempt to get him to mate her. She had thoroughly lost her mind.

But Gaius didn't completely blame her...

Their Betas, her parents, were a vicious pair. She never had good role models. Her parents also spoiled her. He doubted she had ever been denied or told no in her entire life. She was their only female, and she had been taught to be ruthless.

The rejection seemed to snap something inside her.

He blamed himself too. He wished he had gone to his mother and insisted she severe their arrangement years before. He never liked her. It annoyed him that his mother thought to arrange a matehood for him when he was only ten years old. Yara was still a sweet and innocent pup then, why wouldn't he indulge her childish whims?

Sure they played as children. It didn't mean he wanted her as a mate.

Carina was close with Marcia, their Beta female, and Yara's mother. His mother was likely stuck remembering the time when Yara was young and cute and followed him everywhere like a love-sick pup.

He blamed them more than Yara. He doubted she would have developed such deep infatuation with him if they hadn't constantly fussed about what a sweet couple they would make when they were older.

He wished they never drilled those ideas in her head.

Every year she didn't get her heat, was another year he breathed a sigh of relief. Over the years, he truly started to hate the idea that she would mother his pups.

And the night she lost her mind before his mating ceremony wasn't even the half of it.

Out of guilt, Gaius had refrained from getting her parents and his father involved earlier. He realized that was a mistake, but there was no changing that now.

The moment his father announced his mating with Lyndis, she showed up at his house, her face puffy and tear-stained. Gaius felt horrible. He was far from heartless.

He sat and tried to talk with her for a while on his porch. He tried to tell her in the nicest way possible that there just wasn't anything between them. That she should find someone that she was truly compatible with. A male that would love her as much as she loved him. Sure they had arranged matehoods, but if there were objections things were changed.

He should have known then that he would have problems with her. Yara just sobbed and refuted everything he said. She kept begging for him to go to his father and reverse it. Even when he insisted that he wanted Lyndis as his mate and not her, she didn't listen.

He finally had to call Nori to come take her away.

It got so bad in those weeks he started avoiding his house. He was spending so much time with Lyn and her family that he wasn't home much anyway.

Nori and he were the only ones who knew how truly bad Yara was taking it.

Well... her brothers too. He was sure Yara put them up to it. They'd paid him numerous visits in an attempt to force him to change his mind, but despite their reputation, he had no fear of them.

He knew they were all bark and no bite when it came to him. Unlike the rest of the lower pack members they took pleasure in terrorizing, as an Alpha son, he was untouchable and they knew that. He found their attempts to intimidate him laughable.

But when Yara lost it so horribly that night, he couldn't keep something like that from his father. It was by his order that she be sent to their ally pack. So Gaius was surprised she'd been let back so soon.

He was actually surprised she hadn't been sent to the pole at the lack of respect she showed to a mating.

And he had to agree with Luana. She seemed to be getting more unstable. Lately, she was becoming a true nuisance.

Gaius would never understand her obsession with him. Even with their mothers goading her, Gaius had always acted indifferent to her. He never encouraged her affections. He outright ignored her half the time.

When his father gave him that choice, he had never been more relieved in his life. He couldn't imagine mating anyone but Lyn now. She was everything he wanted and would ever want.

He loved her from the start.

"I need to get home. You should try to go back to sleep. I'll have Aline give you something." Luana said as she stood. Gaius just nodded.

It wasn't like he could do anything else...

And it took four days to leave the healer's hut.

He ended up staying at Adriano's caretaker's home, Belmira, since he could still barely walk. He couldn't go to any of his brother's, Lyndis would have found him too easily.

Since Adriano was rarely home and Belmira's mate was an enforcer assigned to their border issues, she had nothing else to do during the day. Adriano insisted on it and he relieved her from doing anything at his house until Gaius was well.

Belmira was a nice female who had no pups yet. She did everything she could to help him. Gaius was grateful for Adriano spending so much time with Lyndis. Gaius hadn't expected the extra ten to cause so much more damage.

He knew he couldn't go home for at least another three days. It worried him. He hoped she wouldn't come looking for him.

He currently lay in the bed in a small room at the back of the house. His brothers and Luana came to help him throughout his recovery. Some of his sisters visited too.

Gaius was surprised his father hadn't told them to stay away from him. He honestly didn't mind their visits, but his eldest sister, Nori, was pissing him off, not that it was anything new.

They had never got along.

He didn't really have close relationships with any of his five sisters. They were spoiled and were much younger than him. Not that he didn't feel protective of them as their elder brother but loving someone because they were family and actually liking them were two different things.

He knew Nori, Elcia, and Lia had been bugging Lyndis and it annoyed him too. Lia was only five but she should know better. She was becoming more and more like Nori. Elicia really had no personality to speak of, she just followed along with whatever Nori did.

The twins Rute and Balei were the only ones he can honestly say he liked. He knew they hadn't been among Lyndis' tormentors. Both were sweet females, unlike the others. He would actually be sorry to see them leave the pack in a few years.

Gaius sighed. He really didn't need Nori's attitude while he felt like he did and he especially didn't want to deal with Yara. Nori had already visited three times in the last two days and brought her along. He had made it very clear to her that Yara was to stay away from Lyndis and himself, and yet she brought her anyway.

It infuriated him.

Especially since they knew he couldn't physically force them to leave. Yara was becoming more and more condescending about Lyndis. More bitter and vile when she spoke to him.

Ever since he mated Lyndis, Gaius was seeing a whole new side of Yara, or maybe he knew it all along. He spent so much effort trying to convince himself she wasn't as bad as he thought because he was going to be stuck with her either way that he actually started to believe it.

But she was spoiled and unreasonable. Even somewhat cruel like the rest of her family. That had never been more obvious to him now.

It wasn't until that day in the packhouse when he met eyes with Lyn's adorable blushing face that Yara became so completely and utterly insignificant he almost forgot she existed.

He never knew he could feel that way for a female. That kind of want. Never in his life had he felt it.

Those blue eyes had captivated him.

Gaius remembered being annoyed that day.

His mother insisted on he and his siblings' presence. She wanted them all 'presentable.'

He heard of the French pack they took in, but he usually made it a point to avoid the main house if he could help it. Despite the fact that granting shelter to refugees was entirely out of character for his father, Gaius wasn't even remotely curious about them.

He had no reason to be.

There were of course rumors through the pack he couldn't avoid hearing. The packless Alpha was said to be a strong male with a good long bloodline behind him. He also heard there was a pretty female in their group of mateable age. The Alpha's daughter.

Not that he thought anything of it. They had diplomats come and go that had pretty daughters too. Vitor and their elders arranged nearly all the pack matings.

So a pretty female meant nothing to him.

Gaius had walked to the Alpha housing that day with Adriano, and just as he suspected, Yara had been there waiting for him outside the gate. She was the primary reason he avoided the area since she was usually there hanging out with Nori. And she was a bother he tried to avoid.

Gaius quietly endured her endless chatter until he met his mother and siblings out in the courtyard. And even then Yara tried to stay. His mother shooed her away.

As his mother lined them up, Gaius just felt more and more annoyed. He hated when his mother did this, he was getting far too old for these 'introductions.'

Gaius assumed she was going to introduce them to the visiting Alpha, so he was caught off guard by who she dragged out to meet them.

All his annoyances vanished.

He was mesmerized by her right from the start. But the rumors were wrong. She wasn't pretty... she was gorgeous.

His wolf stirred in a way he never felt before, especially at catching her scent. It seemed to call deeply to him.

When they locked eyes, he knew he had to have her.

She flushed a beautiful red as she looked away from him. She wore baggy clothes and her hair was in a messy braid. Clearly, his mother had yanked her out of the kitchen.

Even with batter and flour on her shirt, he couldn't help but find her the most beautiful female he had ever laid eyes on. He couldn't help but think of seeing her like that every morning... wearing his shirts. With her hair a bit messier... and his scent all over her.

That thought made him ache.

She met his eyes again shyly and again quickly looked away. He couldn't help but smirk at her. She was adorable.

Everything about her was desirable to him. He had never once felt an attraction like that in his entire life. It was almost startling.

He couldn't even break his eyes away when the males of her family came spilling out of the house in various states of disarray.

Clearly, his mother had sprung this on them. He loved her dearly, but sometimes she didn't always think. He could barely pay attention as his mother started her introductions, and the moment she was done Gaius watched Lyndis quickly slip away back into the house. He kept his eyes on her until he couldn't see her anymore.

Lyndis was her name.

He felt her brother's glare the moment she was gone and met his gaze. The protective anger was there. Had he been so obvious? Gaius realized he must have stared at her heavily the entire time.

He couldn't help it.

Gaius politely excused himself and headed straight for his father's office.

Yara immediately fell into step beside him and began talking the moment he was out of the courtyard. She was always talking. He usually had to put some effort into mentally drowning her out, but now he couldn't acknowledge her even if he wanted to.

Those beautiful blue eyes now owned him.

Yara yanked on his arm suddenly and Gaius stopped abruptly. He growled instinctively. It took a tremendous effort not to snap at her.

His wolf wanted nothing to do with her.

Yara's expression turned shocked by his reaction and she quickly let him go. He was an even-tempered male, he rarely got angry. Yara had never seen that side of him.

Gaius would have felt bad if the animal inside him wasn't so uptight. She always slightly annoyed him before... but right then, he couldn't stand her.

And his wolf certainly didn't want her touching him.

"What has you so distracted? Was it that female?" Yara had said with her voice dripping with jealousy. Gaius turned and continued into the house without answering. Thankfully she didn't follow him.

Gaius was surprised when his father granted his request to speak to him. He didn't expect him to. As he made his way into the office, Gaius felt the spike of nervousness inside him.

Like he always did when speaking to his father.

Gaius knew full well his father was a harsh Alpha, bordering on cruel... But it kept them all in line. And that meant safe...

Vitor was his father, and his Alpha. There was no defying him. There was no questioning him. Those were the rules they lived by.

"The Alpha's daughter, has there been any mating arrangements discussed?" Gaius asked tentatively. His father's eyes had not left the letter he was reading. He didn't even glance up.

"No. I had intended to discuss it with her father later this week." Vitor said disinterestedly. Gaius felt the nervousness spike even higher. He had never been this bold before, but his wolf was pushing him.

"Who are you to offer?" Gaius asked. Vitor finally looked up at him. He felt his father's harsh gaze studying him.

"Adriano," Vitor said. Gaius felt his heart sink. Why was he surprised? Yara was to be his, that damn arrangement had been made since they were pups.

As much as the thought disgusted him now...

Rationally he knew Adriano should be the one offered. He was in need of a mate and he was older. And after what happened...

But it made his blood boil regardless.

"Why?" Vitor asked harshly. Gaius forced his expression neutral.

"I was just curious," Gaius said. Vitor's eyes continued to study him. Gaius felt incredibly uncomfortable.

Why had he done this?

"Is that all?" Vitor asked.

"Yes, Alpha," Gaius said respectfully and quickly left.

The next few days were torture.

He couldn't question his father, as much as it killed him. She seemed like a nice female... and his brother deserved some happiness after everything he'd been through.

So he tried to accept it.

But he couldn't stop thinking about her. By the end of the week, he was on the brink of madness. He could think of nothing else.

His wolf was pushing him hard to seek her out and mate her anyway.

When his father summoned he and all his brothers of mating age to the main house to meet with Geoffrey, Gaius couldn't help but try to make a good impression on him.

And it was after that meeting that Gaius had finally made up his mind to go back to his father and ask to be considered instead of Adriano, despite the guilt he felt for doing so.

With how his inner self reacted to her, he didn't think he'd be able to passively watch his brother have her. It would drive him insane. Just the thought of it made a jealous fury course through him the likes of which he never felt before.

He wanted his brother happy... but he realized quickly he couldn't let her go. The wolf in him wouldn't let her go. He had to fight for her.

He felt crazy. He didn't even know her. But he wanted her. He wanted her more than anything he ever wanted in his life.

But before he even had the chance to request an audience with his father, he was summoned. His father asked him if he wanted her. She had requested him.

He could never put into words what it felt like hearing that she wanted him.

When his father informed him they were to drop all formalities, he couldn't keep himself away.

He had to see her.

Finding her putting up the laundry that day reaffirmed to himself how much he wanted her. She was just as desirable as the first time they met.

His wolf was totally enthralled by her. He was nervous going to see her, he felt foolish bringing a rose... but to his relief, she liked it.

She blushed.

And when he talked to her for the first time, touched her for the first time, he couldn't deny he was already in love with her. Ridiculously and madly in love with her.

She was everything he ever wanted.

And his instincts were right. They were perfect for each other, in every way. He had never felt so compatible with another living being... so drawn to someone.

It was easy from the start, like they had always known each other.

The fact that he spoke her language just reaffirmed to him that she was always supposed to be his. It was like he was preparing to meet her his whole damn life.

He never believed in fate until he met her.

God... he loved her, especially after their union ceremony. She had surprised him. He honestly couldn't get enough of her. The feel of her, her scent. Being with her... They came together so easily, it was effortless. And it wasn't just the sex... it was everything.

The feel of her in his arms as they slept, those soft open mouthed kisses she gave his shoulder and chest when she woke in the mornings, the way she bit her lip and furrowed her brow when she was thinking hard about something, how she always invaded his showers for sex, even food seemed so much more enjoyable when she made it. He never liked omelets until she made them.

The sky just seemed bluer. Life just seemed better.

She was everything to him.

They were so happy, he didn't think he'd ever be that happy.

Not that it felt that way now, but those first six months with her were pure and utter bliss. He wanted that back, he wanted it back so badly. He knew he had to make this right somehow... but he didn't know how.

He hated it... it was killing him.

He missed those easy smiles she used to give him, not the hate filled glances she favored him with now.

It hurt him more than she would ever know...

He thought back to the time when he'd lost his temper. The stress of everything and especially his father's pressing on him had become too much.

Knowing every single day she didn't go to the packhouse was adding on to the sentence he would have to take... just got to him. It meant more time away from her... or the frightening possibility that it would get too high and he wouldn't be able to take it... and she would be punished. He feared that more than anything.

He was already wound tight. Then she challenged him, and it just made him snap.

He... he hadn't meant to lose it like he did.

Not that it excused it.

He hadn't realized how hard he had grabbed her. The moment he saw the fear in her eyes... fear directed at him, it had immediately snapped him out of it.

It was a look he never wanted to see on her face, especially not when looking at him.

When she had compared him to his father it created a visceral response in him. He had always lived strongly with the comfort in knowing he was nothing like his father.

But when she flinched away from him in fear... and when he saw those bruises days later, he'd never felt so disgusted with himself.

He truly hated himself at that moment.

He couldn't even look her in the eye. He wanted to get away from her, but she had begged him to stay.

He didn't deserve her.

He vowed to himself he'd never touch her again when he was angry. He was not like his father and he never would be. That was something he had always promised to himself the first time he saw his father mistreat his mother.

So it made the anger at himself that he had actually hurt his mate all the worse.

Everything was falling apart so badly.

And it all started because of their fucking border issues.

Every year they each lost wolves to the ongoing dispute with their neighbors the Filho's. Their enforcers were regularly clashing. The Filho's would often hunt on their land to goad them.

But the Filho went further than they ever had before when they attacked a house at the outskirts of their land. They stole the females and murdered the males of the family.

It was clear they were trying to provoke war.

Gaius knew they wanted a share of the hunting lands they held, but the land had been in his family for generations. His father wouldn't give it up.

The Filhos firmly believed it was all stolen from them in their ancestry, it was the cause of their deep seated rivalry.

They had been trying to negotiate for years, even during his grandfather's time. But it seemed they were past that now.

Gaius had worried for Lyn's family. They weren't far from the house that was attacked. He didn't think things could get worse... until his father summoned him.

He stood there with numbness seeping into his chest as his father explained what he planned to do.

"If you don't want your mate here for it, then take her someplace else. I'll give you a pass to leave the land." Vitor had spoken coldly.

Gaius could barely breathe.

His thoughts raged.

Should he warn them?

He couldn't.

It would be a betrayal to his pack.

But not doing it... would be a betrayal to his mate.

He had never felt so torn up inside.

He couldn't betray his father. He knew the penalties that came from that.

He couldn't protect his mate if he was dead...

Gaius tried to get Lyndis to go on a honeymoon, so at least she wouldn't see it, but she was insistent on staying. She wanted to help her mother with her new little brother.

Gaius made the decision to go with his father and their enforcers, hoping he could somehow make the transition better. Lyn's family seemed to like him, not that they did now or ever would again, but he had hoped to try to make it easier.

Seeing how it turned out, he was glad he hadn't taken her away. He was glad Lyndis was there for the pups.

He couldn't imagine how it may have gone if his plan had worked and Lyndis hadn't been there to take them. He underestimated how torn apart they would be by the separation.

He knew what his father did was wrong. Worse than wrong... but how could he admit that? He was his Alpha... he was his father. He had to trust that he did right by their pack.

He didn't want to think of them as the villains.

But Gaius truly did believe they could give the girls a better life. They would be safer in a pack setting. His father wouldn't always be Alpha. He just needed to get her to see that.

Gaius was enraged when he found out they'd demoted her to caretaker... she was the mate of a fucking Alpha son. It was ridiculous! But Vitor had assured him everything would change once they became full pack members. Once Lyndis gave her loyalty back. Gaius grit his teeth a bit.

He wasn't stupid. He knew they had darkness in their pack that he often tried not to think about, but as long as everyone followed pack rules and stayed in line, everything was fine.

And when his brother took over, things would change for the better.

The door opened and it brought him harshly back to the present and all the pain he was in. He glanced over at Adriano.

"How is she?" Gaius asked. He couldn't help that it was always the first thing out of his mouth. Adriano stared at him for a moment, before he moved fully into the room and set down a bag of new bandages.

"Fine." He grunted out.

"And the pups?" Gaius asked. Adriano was pulling things out of the sack and didn't reply.

"Turn over," Adriano said gruffly. Gaius sighed and winced as he rolled onto his stomach. He was finally able to lay on his side comfortably. The skin on his back still pulled horribly every time he moved. Gaius lay there staring blankly at the wall as Adriano replaced the bandages. He was grateful to see they were no longer soaked in blood.

"Probably won't need them tomorrow," Adriano said. Gaius emitted a relieved breath.

"How does it look?" Gaius asked. Adriano said nothing for a moment.

"Still need a few days." He finally responded. It wasn't the response he was hoping for. Gaius just wanted the physical evidence gone as much as possible. He could hide the weakness from the silver. He wanted to go home.

He missed her.

-

Current day.

Stress and worry were now his constant companion. But at least their relationship seemed to be getting better...

Or, maybe she was just tolerating him more. Sometimes it was hard to tell.

But he would take whatever she would give him.

Gaius walked stiffly down the forest road toward home. The tension from the impending pack war was getting to everyone, especially the higher ranks.

His father had been in a particularly foul mood.

At least a few good things came from all the tension. His father dismissed her sentence for not showing up to the packhouse. Gaius had a feeling that was likely his mother's doing. She did have a way, at times, of convincing him of things, especially with something as heavy as a war hanging over their head.

But it was probably more to do with the fact that they couldn't have any of their strong wolves needlessly injured. All pack punishments were likely to be suspended in the upcoming days.

So at least that weight was lifted. He didn't think he could keep Lyndis in the dark again if he had to. He didn't know how he would have explained another absence to her without her getting suspicious.

Gaius paused not far from the house when he realized it was empty. He knew she wasn't still at the packhouse, he'd checked there first since he'd been nearby.

Gaius glanced up the road toward Aldous' house but paused when he abruptly caught her scent. Gaius glanced to the porch. Her clothes were there along with another he recognized as Jordao's.

He looked toward the jungle.

Did they go for a run?

She never wanted to with him. Not anymore.

His wolf spiked with irritation. He was becoming emotional over stupid things. Gaius moved to the porch and considered maybe just going to get the pups. They would need to be getting ready for bed soon. Lyndis probably wouldn't stay out long.

Maybe he should just let her have this and leave her be.

Over an hour later she still hadn't returned. The girls were home, bathed and in their pajamas now, watching cartoons with Adriano. Gaius knew his brother was lonely, so he never minded when he came over.

Gaius stood in the kitchen as the restlessness continued to increase. Why? He knew she wouldn't try to escape without the pups. Jordao was trustworthy. Not that they were friends, by any means, but Gaius had grown up around him while he lived with the Beta's family.

He liked him far more than any other enforcers that hung around the house, and Lyndis seemed to have created a friendship with his mate... so Gaius himself was the one who requested he be assigned to look after her.

He knew Jordao was a good wolf who was madly in love with his pregnant mate. It was another reason Gaius trusted him around Lyndis.

So why was he so nervous that she was out there with him alone?

She had never been alone with another male that wasn't family, and especially not for so long. Even knowing Jordao was a good male, he couldn't help how nervous it made him. He wasn't feeling anything from their bond, but he hadn't lately. He knew they had distanced, and she shut him out a lot now.

It was eating at him.

Maybe he should just go find her. The sun was setting soon, she shouldn't be out so late... not with the pending conflict. He settled on that thought, and not the stupid jealousy he felt driving him.

She was his mate, he knew she wouldn't cheat... but it didn't help settle his nerves. And it was still dangerous for her to be out there at night.

"I'm going to get Lyn, stay with them?" Gaius asked Adriano as he darted out the door. He didn't even wait for an answer as he pulled off his clothes and shifted

He sprinted off after her scent.

It took some miles before he realized Jordao had taken her up the mountain. Fear and anger surged through him.

What the hell was that damn enforcer thinking? There was a reason he never took her there...

Annoyance drove him harder and soon he was climbing up the last few rocks toward the pounding water at the top of the incline.

He hopped up onto the top and for a moment, everything seemed to freeze inside him.

Jordao was holding his mate. Skin to skin.

Hot.

Blinding.

Rage.

He had to force himself to shift back lest he attack him right there. He was shaking in anger. His attention focused completely on his mate.

"Get your hands off her." He snarled in a cold vicious tone he barely recognized as his own voice.

His wolf wanted blood.