Filed To Story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
Out of instinct and my guild ridden feelings for Giovanni, I blocked the mind-link between the six of us.
It was almost like pressing the mute button on a phone, keeping my conversation and surroundings from their minds.
He didn’t reject us. There is hope, he didn’t reject us.
Those damning thoughts danced gleefully in my mind.
I heard the bartender pause, no doubt looking over Giovanni warily. If the bartender was smart, he would leave. My disinterest in him was clear, as my eyes were now glued to Giovanni.
For the first time in what felt like forever, my face flushed. I was hyper aware of the outfit I had chosen for tonight, specifically picked on the slim chance I would see Giovanni. Scarlet in color, the soft fabric hugged my slim body and brought attention to my long legs. The back of my dress was open, revealing creamy skin.
The mate-bond had strengthened each time we met face-to-face. I could feel Giovanni’s self-control as if it were a tangible substance. It rolled around him in waves, forcing him to keep his eyes locked on my face. Each time I had to remind myself that I didn’t truly know Giovanni. I knew he was interested in betting and odds, but that was it. Did he have a family? Did he already have a woman in his life?
Even though I hardly knew the man, my soul knew his own.
“He knows you guys are here.” Full lips parted to repeat the words he had said before, capturing my attention once again.
‘Get a grip. Remember why we’re here.’ My wolf chanted in my mind, a stable ledge for me to perch myself upon to avoid the churning ocean content on swallowing me whole.
“Tristan?” A name that tasted sour on my lips, one that sent irritation and anger bubbling in my veins.
“What are the two of you doing here?”
I sounded like a nagging, concerned girlfriend but I couldn’t bring myself to care. My soul had connected with Giovanni’s, and I was too weak to force myself to say the words that would set us free.
Reject him, don’t reject him. Two options that fought against each other in my mind, a constant war that left me with a lingering headache.
“Many place bets on the fights, little she-wolf.” Giovanni’s light accent was deliciously tempting, the hole in my chest aching beyond belief. His dark eyebrow raised; the movement sent a fluttering into my stomach. “I oversee the money and ensure everything is donesafely.”
From the sound of Daisy’s inner turmoil and surroundings, the fights were anything but safe. I could feel
Daisy’s disgust as she watched two people fight, could taste her anger on my tongue like scorching hot sauce.
“Then he knows why we’re here?” My lips turned down, as they had done quite often this week. My own selfish worry flooded my veins. I would have to warn them and then be forced to explain how I came by this information. “He knows what we came for?”
“He chose this location specifically.” Giovanni nodded, his eyes dark and his voice hard.
“Why can’t he just leave her alone?” My own voice was tinged with anger, anger directed at both
Tristan and myself. “What is with his stupid obsession over her?”
My frustration bubbled and ebbed, directed at myself. I wanted to shout to the night sky, to drag the
Moon Goddess from her heavens and demand why she had done this to me. I wanted to know why she had paired me with a man I could never be with. I needed to know why she had left me with this horrible choice yet refused to give me the strength to be done with it. And yet here I stood, frustrated and hurt without a single helpful answer.
As if he could sense my turmoil, the raging storm that boiled in my blood, Giovanni lifted his hand. It hung in the space between us, a choice begging to be made. Acid burned my stomach, my heart dropping as his hand once again remained at his side.
“Tristanbelieves he is Daisy’s mate.” Giovanni’s words were calculated, measuring how much information he was willing to give me. I could feel the unspoken words floating in his mind, information he would not give me.
“I’m sure he has other motives.” I scoffed, my damned emotions bleeding through my eyes. Everything
Giovanni said or did was weighted, as though he had a glimpse at the potential outcomes.
For a second, panic filled my veins. I could see Daisy and Alpha Nolan’s surroundings through the mind-
link. A dark-haired Vampire had approached the two of them, had known who they were. He was talking to Daisy, telling her they could come to an agreement in exchange for her brother’s life.
‘An agreement?’ I asked through the mind-link, worry and distaste filling my tone.
‘Sounds kind of sketchy.’ Carter chimed in, followed by Mason and Wade’s approval.
‘There will be no agreement.’ Alpha Nolan snapped, his tone hard and unyielding. ‘We will bide our time and wait until they bring out Sean. Once I call for a distraction, we will grab Sean and fight our way out.’
‘We may have to leave out the side door. If we do, we’ll circle around the front and meet you there.’
Daisy chimed in, followed by Alpha Nolan’s begrudging approval.
Some of my nervousness ebbed away at Alpha Nolan’s voice. It was clear he had no intentions on letting Daisy take the reins. I knew without a doubt how far she would go for her family. She hadn’t shown much grief with her Mom, but Daisy was always one to deflect things. The two of us were alike in that way, content on finding distractions to avoid facing the pain.
An image of Tristan approaching Daisy and Alpha Nolan flashed into my mind, raising my irritation until my skin felt itchy and singed. I d*****d out the words Tristan was speaking to them, placing my focus on
Giovanni.
“An agreement?” I scoffed, my eyes burning as I looked at my Goddess given mate. His dark eyes conveyed no emotion, his irritating mask was firmly in place. My voice held hurt and anger, but didn’t come out as murderous as I wanted. “He wants her in return for her brother’s life? This is all just a pathetic ploy to get Daisy on your side, to use her powers yourselves.”
“Ploy or notDaisy’s position is coveted. Tristan is but one of many. However, he does not give up easily.” This was more information than Giovanni had ever given me, useless and yet I was hanging onto his every word. I could feel the mate-bond between us, a glistening rope of pure gold that spanned the short distance we stood from one another.
“Daisy will never betray her pack; you have to know that.” I placed all of my attention on him, on staring into those emotionless eyes. My stomach contracted, as if I were trying to crack his mask with my own free will.
“Tristan is willing to bet otherwise.” Giovanni’s eyes were hard, but held something deep and painful within their depths.
My heart shuddered in my chest as he turned away from me. Clammy, on edge and unbearably alone, that’s how I felt the second his eyes left my own.
“You wouldn’t reject meWhy?” I found myself asking, the words spewing from my throat without any self-control. I needed to know, to understand why he couldn’t say the words. He knew why I couldn’t, because I was weak and hopeful. But why couldn’t he?
A long pause, those dark eyes burning into me once more. “I do not know.”
‘Breyona, we could use that distraction now.’ Alpha Nolan’s voice was angry as it filtered into my mind.
I wanted to curse, wishing I had more time with Giovanni. I would’ve stayed in this club forever if it meant we didn’t have to deal with the outside world, deal with our species hatred for one another.
“Wait” I called out, my body lurching forward as I began to lose all control. I was acting on impulse, taking a page from Daisy’s book. Thinking before speaking had gotten me nowhere with Giovanni, instead I let the overwhelming emotions of the mate-bond take control.
Giovanni had stopped abruptly, turning around as my torso collided into his. His hands found my waist, steadying me. From the brief look of surprise on his face, control had slipped through his tight grasp.
His hands singed my skin, burning through the dress I was wearing. Overwhelming emotions scattered along my skin like waves of electricity, bouncing from Giovanni to myself.
‘Alright, give me a minute.’ I huffed through the mind-link, ‘Stall him or something.’
“You have to know this is wrong. He’s her brother, she’s going to do everything in her power to save him.” I breathed, letting my own control slide like thick oil through my fingers. I let the emotions I had contained tightly flow through my words, staining them with the longing and turmoil I felt. “I’m not asking you to k**l Tristan or anyone else buthelp us, help me.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?