The Alpha’s Forced Mate
Chapter 20

Veronica

Those alarms were haunting. As I stood next to Blake and listened to the siren blare through the estate, I held tight to his hands, trying to figure out how I was feeling. Other than pure terror, it was hard to say. My heart was racing and my b***d was pumping to every single extremity, preparing for battle.

It was what I was trained to do. Nothing more and nothing less. Being someone’s mate had never been something that was in my cards. I knew that from the moment Raymond had thrown me into the assassin’s program on the compound. Without my parents to defend me or guide me, it was my duty to serve my pack.

My only purpose was to kill and serve.

How was I supposed to translate all that into being a wife and a mother?

Chill out, I told myself. He didn’t ask you to marry him.

I met Blake’s gaze while footsteps clattered on the floor above.

The door at the top of the steps snapped open. Footsteps stomped the stairs. The grumpy bear and the mystical wolf appeared, both out of breath.

Blake turned to them. “Report.”

“Twenty wolves have surrounded the mansion,” the mystical wolf explained. His eyes were like moonbeams as they turned to me. “Raymond is leading them.”

“Thank you, Tanner,” Blake said. “Jermaine, who do we have?”

Jermaine stood upright and puffed his chest. “All teams are at the ready, Alpha.”

“Send them in short waves. Twenty is a lot to manage all at once, but we can exhaust them by taking turns. Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” Jermaine replied. “We need to get you into the panic room.”

Blake shook his head. “I’m going into battle.”

I grabbed his sleeve. “You’re f*****g crazy if you can think you can fight Raymond!”

He whirled around and grabbed my shoulders. My left shoulder wailed with pain, but the sensation died when he looked into my eyes. Those blue gems were so intense that I thought I would freeze to death under their glare.

His nostrils flared. “You’re the one who’s going to the panic room.”

“Wait, hold up,” Tanner called out. “Really? With your mother and grandmother? That’s whack, Blake.”

“I agree,” Jermaine added. “We can’t do that. She has to be on her own.”

Blake turned his wild gaze to the other two men. “You either put her in the panic room with them or I’m putting you in there and leading the battle myself.”

Jermaine jumped into action. “Fine, okay, wow, don’t start acting nuts just because you love her.”

I was startled by the comment.

Just because you love her.

Without a word—without so much as a glance—Blake passed me off to Jermaine. The bear had immaculate strength, the kind that even my training wouldn’t be able to help me with. He would be impossible to escape. And then, with his excellent tracking skills, he would be impossible to evade. It was pointless to try to get away.

But I couldn’t let Blake hurt himself.

I shoved Jermaine off and grabbed Blake’s hand. “You can’t do this.”

“I can and I will,” he argued. “Jermaine, take her upstairs.”

“It’s reckless, Blake. It’s stupid and you’re not thinking.”

Rage flared in his eyes. “It’s the right thing to do, Veronica. I will protect my people at all costs.”

“Even when it costs you your life?”

He waved me off. There wasn’t much left for me to do except fall back and let Jermaine drag me to the door. I should have been kicking and screaming. I should have been yelling about being pregnant. But I knew none of those things would change his mind.

Though we were once strangers, Blake and I had formed a connection that allowed us to know each other more intimately than most. I understood his motives. I could see the web of his logic weaving around us like a moon spider preparing for a night of harvesting insects. He was intentional. He was committed.

He really would do anything for his pack.

As I tripped over the first step on the staircase, I caught Jermaine’s arm and steadied myself. A low growl echoed in my throat as he grabbed my bicep and hauled me up the stairs. Tanner was right behind us.

“You don’t have to be rude,” I bit out. “He cares about me.”

“And that’s his mistake,” Jermaine barked. “But it doesn’t have to be mine.”

Tanner wheezed behind us. “Don’t mind him. He’s not even talking about you at this point.”

“Shut up, Tanner.”

My eyebrows rose. “Do tell.”

“Why would I tell a murderer anything about my love life?” Jermaine snarled. “It’s not like you care about anything except yourself.”

The foyer opened up before us and then it was up the next set of stairs, the spiral making me much more nauseous than usual. I gagged as we rounded a corner and held my stomach.

Tanner jogged up beside me. “Her name is Elva and they hate each other. A lot like you and Blake.”

“Interesting,” I commented.

Jermaine hissed. “Stop telling her sh!t, man.”

“Hey, it’s going to be boring up there. She has to talk about something with the other girls.”

I glared at Tanner, who had the foresight to appear at least mildly embarrassed by his assumption.

He shrugged. “We get it. You love him so much you want to kill him.”

“She was sent by the Gilbert Pack, idiot,” Jermaine argued.

Tanner tipped his head back and flashed a dazzling grin. A few holes in the left side of his l!p told me he used to have piercings. “She doesn’t look that dangerous.”

“Big things come in small packages,” I said with an annoyed grin. “Or did your caregivers not teach you that?”

He wasn’t offended like I’d intended. “I didn’t learn sh!t from anybody.”

“That’s pretty obvious,” Jermaine grumbled. “Alright, Veronica. Here’s what’s going to happen.” He stopped us in front of a huge painting. “You’re going into this panic room and you’re staying put because my alpha told me to do this. Understand?”

I nodded.

“If I catch a whiff of you trying to escape, I’m shooting you down where you stand.”

I gulped while glancing at Tanner for backup. Or was he going to allow that too? It was hard to read these guys. Dedicated as they were to Blake, they didn’t screw around. What was best for the pack would be done regardless of who I was.

And though it should have made me feel threatened, it made me feel relieved instead.

If I died, Blake would still be safe. His pack would protect him. He had good friends, a good family, and good pack members who were committed to his safety and security. It was nothing like the Gilberts. It was so much more.

How desperately I wanted to be part of that.

The painting shuddered and then slid aside. Shelly stood there with a handkerchief held to her left eye. She burst into tears and yanked me into her arms, tugging me into the room before I could say anything. Imelda grabbed us both and settled us onto a couch that looked like it belonged in an eighteenth-century castle.

Shelly sniffled as she drifted back and reached into her pocket to procure another handkerchief. She handed it to me. “You must be so worried, dear.”

I accepted the cloth. “I’m fine.”

“She’s strong,” Imelda stated. Her curious eyes narrowed. “Your powder scent has gotten stronger. Did something happen?”

Hot blush exploded on my face. It didn’t help that I tried to hide my reaction. Both women were now fully invested. They stared at me for a long time, neither of them making a sound. In fact, no sound came from anywhere. The room was sealed off.

How were we even breathing right now?

I stammered over a proper response, using the handkerchief as a distraction. “I’m…I’m just very scared right now is all.”

Shelly glanced at Imelda. “You scared the poor girl, Mother.”

“She’s been scared,” Imelda pointed out. “I don’t know how you’ve never seen that.”

“I don’t stare at people. It’s rude.”

“Who said I had to stare at her to know that?”

I sighed heavily. “Hey, you don’t have to talk about me like I’m not sitting right here.”

Shelly offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry, dear. My mother has a way of getting on my nerves.” She rolled her eyes for show. “And now that we’re all locked up together for who knows how long, we’re going to have to just go with the flow here.”

“Did you get any updates?” Imelda asked. “Jermaine shoved us in here before I could get a hold of Blake.”

More blush crept into my face. It must have looked like I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar or something because Imelda beamed brighter than a bottle rocket exploding in the sky.

“You two must have been…” Imelda winked. “Busy.”

“Mother!” Shelly gasped. “You’re such an embarrassment to this family. Is s3x all you can think about?”

I sank into the cushions, hoping they would swallow me up. “Sweet gods, please, help me.”

“It’s such a sweet scent now,” Imelda commented. “Like babies.”

“S3x and babies,” Shelly said dramatically. “How do you expect all that when you have no idea what’s going on with your grandson?”

I perked up. “Oh, he’s heading into battle now.”

Both women turned to me with shocked expressions and shouted, “What?!”

I sank deeper into the couch. If that were even possible. “I tried to tell him not to do it, but—”

“Stubborn a*ss,” Imelda gr0aned. “I ought to knock him in the head for being so brash.”

“He’s acting like an alpha,” Shelly said, though her hands shook in a clear indication of her worry. “It’s what his father would do.”

I took her hands. “You don’t want him to do it.”

She met my gaze, stricken by the observation. Or maybe it was the fact that I could read her so well.

She squeezed my hands. “No, I don’t want him to do it. Is Jermaine outside?”

I shrugged. “Probably.”

“Well, I have an idea.”

I frowned in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“Mother, would you grab the records? Play the symphony that Elva always plays at her window.”

Imelda stood from her spot and wandered across the room, plush pink carpet cushioning her steps. The place looked more like a dollhouse than a panic room. Striped pink and yellow wallpaper covered every visible inch while a mantel painted white cut through the center of one wall. Books, movies, a large television, a cooler, and multiple other comfort items occupied the rest of the space.

I wouldn’t have been surprised if there was a fully stocked bar.

Shelly snapped her fingers. “No time to get distracted now, dear. You have to pay attention to what I’m about to tell you.”

I blinked and then nodded. “Okay, I’m listening.”

“You have to get to him and initiate the bond,” Shelly explained. “It’s the only way to save his life. “

Oh gods, she was right.

Blake couldn’t be stopped from darting into battle. But I could protect him in the best way I knew how.

By truly making myself his.

Imelda set up the Bluetooth speaker near the entryway. The panels were flat with nobs or dents. It was as much of a panic room as it could possibly be.

Shelly shook my hands and waited for the music to fill the room. It started low at first, an elegant waltz that drifted in and out of my ears. Then, the strings quivered and a riotous beat cascaded from the speaker, a sound that galloped around us like wild gazelles trotting through a field.

It was then I realized that Shelly was urging me to stand. She guided me over to the far corner of the room where a cabinet sat kitty-corner near a window. She kicked the side where a panel flopped open and pointed.

Without waiting, she shoved me toward the opening, forcing me to my hands and knees. This wasn’t exactly how I pictured trying to rescue Blake from himself, but I wasn’t about to argue with his eccentric mother either. She wanted him to be safe. And I wanted the same thing.

I just had to be brave first.

A light pat on my bottom made me yelp, sending me shuffling ahead faster than I wanted. The symphony faded behind me as I crawled, leading me into darkness. As the music disappeared, the sound of my heart thudded in my ears, masking the sound of my limbs shuffling over the concrete.

Cool air greeted my face. It encouraged me to crawl faster until I shimmied into an adjoining chamber. A cold carpet met my fingers and then a layer of dust. I coughed, trying to clear my lungs of the soot while I struggled to my feet. The faded sound of music came from the crawl space where I just came from, reminding me of the dollhouse room sitting just on the other side.

How far had I crawled? And where in the world did I just end up?

The sound of snarls drew my attention. A sliver of light passed over my face, drawing me toward it. Heavy drapes guarded a window clouded with age. On the other side of the pane were the floodlights that illuminated the garden. Creatures circled the area, snarling and growling while searching for Blake.

And in the middle of the mess, his fist around the handle of a blade, was Raymond Gilbert.

The sight of him infuriated me. That bastard had sent me into the fold with lies in my head about family and loyalty. He’d convinced me to sacrifice my safety for the good of the pack—to kill all my connections in favor of protecting my fellow wolves.

But those were lies. I could see that now that I had spent time with Blake and his family. Even his friends were far more loyal to him than Raymond was to his people. Raymond had manipulated me into thinking that I owed it to my parents to kill Blake. But that was so far from the truth.

To honor Blake would be to honor my parents.

To honor Blake would be to honor our bond.

Our mate bond.

As it was fated.