Mated To The Wrong Alpha
Chapter 46

Did Arthur know how lucky he was to have so many in his pack worried about his well-being? She supposed it was a statement of how much he must care for them, that they would have such devotion towards their leader.

A sound drew Ava’s attention and she saw Julia slowly loping towards them, her breath appearing as white puffs as she ran down the woodland path. Once she drew near, Julia phased into her human form. “Hey, Ava. I haven’t seen you for a few days.”

“I know. I’m sorry. The time seems to fly by now that I’m working more days.” Ava apologized.

“It’s okay. I understand. Where are you off to?” “Just taking a walk and talking,” Rose supplied.

“Do you want to join us?” Ava noticed that Rose seemed to stiffen at her suggestion and wondered if the two didn’t get along, though Rose was usually so soft spoken and demure it would be hard not to get along with her.

Julia checked her watch. “As much as I’d like to, I really don’t have time today, but we’ll get together soon, okay?”

After promising to call each other and saying their goodbyes, Julia left and Ava glanced at Rose as they continued to stroll along. “Don’t you like Julia?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, when I asked her to join us, you didn’t seem thrilled with the idea.”

“Oh. Well, I have a confession to make and I’d prefer not to have an audience. I… I told Zoe and Phoebe what I saw, or what I thought I saw.”

“I know. I met them in the mall and they were really mad at me, but since then I’ve cleared things up with them.”

“And you’re not angry with me?” Rose looked rather surprised.

“Not now. I was at first, but I can understand how it looked from your point of view.” “But they probably told everyone…”

“No. I was lucky. They decided to keep it to themselves. What about you? Did you tell anyone else?” She braced herself for the answer.

“I… I also talked to Marla about it.”

“Marla?”

“Well, actually, she approached me, saying she was suspicious that you were cheating on

Arthur and asking if I knew anything about it.”

Oh really, Ava thought to herself. The conniving bitch knew all along that there was nothing going on, but twisted things around to make it look bad. “When was this?”

“Um…the morning after I saw you.” That would have been Wednesday.

So Marla had most of Wednesday and Thursday to plan her sabotage. Had the other woman somehow known Seth would be in town yesterday and manipulated events so they’d have to see each other? If the Marla-Ryne relationship was still intact, then she would have known because Ryne was Seth’s Alpha. Did that mean Seth was also somehow involved in all of this? She hoped not.

Rose gave a short laugh. “Marla is sure going to be surprised when she learns the truth.” “Why do you say that?”

“Well, she called me this morning, saying how worried she was about Arthur and that maybe the two of us could help keep your relationship stable. She wanted us to get together and talk to you; convince you that seeing this Seth guy was a bad idea. Just wait until she finds out how wrong we both were!”

“Marla said that?” She couldn’t keep the shock from her voice. Something was wrong with this picture. What was the woman planning now? And why involve Rose? “Um… So where were we supposed to be getting together?”

“In the woods. She said how you loved being out here, and that you’d be more receptive to what we had to say if you were in a comfortable environment. Actually, we’re almost at the meeting spot now. It’s just over this rise.”

Ava looked around, suddenly taking stock of her unfamiliar surroundings. She’d been so busy thinking that she hadn’t really noticed where she was going until now. Tall trees surrounded the place where she stood, and only the faintest evidence of a trail was noticeable through the tangled, dried grass. The sound of rushing water told her she must be near the waterfall Arthur had told her about and sure enough, a glimpse of the lake was evident through the trees. Realizing they must be in one of the places that Arthur had said was restricted, she moved to walk away. “Rose, I don’t think we’re supposed to be here. Wasn’t most of the area around the lake declared off-limits?”

Rose took Ava’s arm in a firm grip, stopping her from leaving. “Technically, yes. But the cleanup is happening a few miles away, almost on the other side, so we’re in no danger. Marla thought there’d be less chance that we’d be disturbed here.” Rose checked her watch and then sat down on a fallen log, pulling Ava down beside her. “She should be along any minute.”

A nervous feeling skittered down Ava’s spine. This whole setup didn’t seem right. “Rose, I don’t think we should stay here. Let’s go back.”

“But Marla’s going to be here soon. It would be rude to leave without letting her know. If we wait, we can both explain the mix-up and then walk back together.”

“I don’t care if it’s rude or not. We need to go.” She tugged her companion to her feet then froze when a twig snapped behind her. Closing her eyes, a feeling of dread washed over her. Somehow, she knew who was going to be behind her