bPiper /b

“Hello, may I speak to ire please?” I ask. I’ve been searching for Alpha Sten’s mate and I’m pretty sure I’ve found her

b“/bWho’s calling?” a female voice asks.

“My name is Piper Conley.”

b“/bAnyone who knows me, knows I don’t go by ire. Goodbye,” she says and starts to hang up.

“Wait! I’m friends with Alpha Cyra. Do you know who that is?”

I get silence, but the phone doesn’t disconnect.

“I’m at the warrior Academy with Alpha Cyra. Do you know who that is?” I say.

“What do you want?” she asks, her tone sharp.

“I just want to talk to you. If you know who Cyra is, then you know that your mate is in an alliance bond with her,” I say. I’m not sure I should show my hand so quickly, but I don’t want her hanging up and blocking me.

“You know nothing about my mate,” she says, but this time there’s a hint of fear in her voice. I wonder if he’s threatened her not to tell anyone.

“I know Alpha Sten is your mate. Look, I don’t know you ire, or whatever name you go by, but I am a woman and I bdon’t /blike seeing women forced or coerced into situations that they don’t agree with or are being lied to about.

“I never said Sten was my mate,i” /ishe says.

“I have very powerful friends,” I say.

“Then how do you not know what people call me?” This time, her tone is defiant.

“If you want to wait to have this conversation until tomorrow, I’ll have someone tap your phone, listen to all your conversations, read all byour /btext messages and emails, and then I’ll call you back. Is that what you want?” I ask, getting aggravated.

“You can’t do that, it’s not legal.”

“I guarantee you, I can. So what’s it going to be?” Okay, maybe I can’t, but she doesn’t need to know that.

When she doesn’t answer, I wait her out.

“L. I hate my first name, so I go by my middle name.”

“L, I’m assuming you know about the alliance bond between Cyra and Sten?” I ask her.

“Yeah, I’m aware of it.”

“As a woman, as an Alpha, I’m worried about you. I didn’t get the impression that you’ve rejected Alpha Sten and bI’m /bbnot /bbsure /bbwhy/bb./bb” /b

“He doesn’t want this alliance bond, but she refuses to release him from it,” she says snarkily.

Yep, he’s definitely lying to her.

b1/4 /b

bChapter /bb248 /b

b“/bbActually/bb, /bbthat’s /bbnot /btrue. bHe /bwas the one bwho /bsuggested the alliance bbond /bbin /bthe first bce/b. bCyra /bbfound /bbher /bfated bmate /bhere att

bDid /bbyou /bknow bSten /bcame to the Academy a couple of weeks ago bto /bensure that she didn’t break their bagreement /bbecause she found fated mate?b” /bbI /bbask /bher.

“That’s ba /blie! He went to talk to her about getting out of the agreement because of me and she refusedb!/b” she yells,

“No, L, that’s not what happene

He’s

s lying to you.”

“Why should I even believe you? y

could be anyone, just trying to cause problems. If you’re friends with her, you could be btrying /bto get information to force Sten into that horrible agreement!”

“Did you know that agreement was isig /i

a year ago when Cyra was only seventeen and that she wasn’t given any say in the agreementb? /bbShe /bwas told she wouldply or Alpha Christer would start a war against her father.”

“That’s not true! It’s Alpha Arden who is threatening the war,” she says, but there’s not as much heat in her words.

“No, that’s what Sten is telling you and it’s all lies. He wants to be an Alpha. That’s why he wants this alliance bond.”

“He doesn’t care about being an Alpha,” she

and no

future. What else is he going to do L? He’s forcing this alliance bondb. /bbThe /bbonly /bopen your eyes. You need to realize that he’s stringing you along because he bknows /bbthat /b

“Really? He’s an Alpha male with no pack, no career, reason I’m calling you is to help you. You need losing you will weaken him.”

“I don’t believe you. He loves me!” she insists.

“If he really loved you, he’d end this alliance agreement. He came home after his visit here with a broken nose, right?” I ask her.

“Yeah. Alpha Cyra punched him when he said he wanted out of the agreement.”

Iugh. Sten is a piece of work.

“Cyra’s mate punched him because Sten told him he could have Cyra after she gave him an heir. That’s the kind of man you’re mated to,

L.”

“That’s a lie!”

“It’s not. You need to open your eyes, L. You need to look past the mate bond and see that Sten is using you. I’m guessing that even though he hasn’t marked you, he’s sleeping with iyou/i. I hear sex with your fated mate is fantastic. So, besides great sex, what are you getting out of this, L? Are you willing to be second best to Cyra? What if she doesn’t have a male heir for years? Are you going to let yourself and your wolf suffer while Sten mates with Cyra until he has an heir.”

“He wants out of this agreement. He’s trying to get out of iti,/ii” /ishe insists.

“He doesn’t. He wants his cake, and he wants to eat it too. Wake up, L. He’s using you.”

“Why are you telling me this?” she asks.

“Because I see how much this alliance bond is hurting my friend and she’s not the one mated to the man who is insisting that bthe contract /bbbe /bpleted. I wanted you to know the truth. What you do with that truth is up to you. But I felt that someone bshould /bbat /bleast btell /bbyou/bb./bb” /b

“What do you get out of this?i” /ishe asks me.

“A clear conscience. I know I did what I could to help you. The rest is up to you.”

“Alright,” she says,

???.

bChapter /bb248 /b

b“/bbAlright/bb. /bbGood /bbluck/bb,/bb” /bbI /bbsay/bb, /bbI’ve /bbpulled /bbthe /bbphone /baway bfrom /bbmy /bbear /band I’m babout /bbto /bbpush /bbthe /bbutton to band /bthe call when the

Wait!”

I put the phone back to my ear. “Yeah?”

b“/bThank you.”

“You’re wee.”

thang up and look at Zach. He gives me that slow, sexy grin of his.

“Look at you being all good and shit.”

I raise my eyebrow at him. “Because I’m not always good?”

He stands up from where he’s sitting on the loveseat in my room. He begins prowling toward me with a look I know very well.

“Maybe I just prefer it when you rain hellfire down on me,” he says, sliding his hand into my hair and tugging my head back bto /btake bmy /bbmouth /bin a possessive kiss.

I stand up, pushing him backward toward the bed. Both of us begin stripping the other quickly, desperate for the touch of the otherb. /bbHe /bbmay /bnot be my fated mate, but the man is magic in bed.

I take his already hard length in my hand and begin stroking him as he teases my nipples. When his legs hit the bed, I push him down, crawling over him and straddling him.

“Then let me rain hellfire on you,” I say, sliding onto his length.

I watch his eyes darken while I ride him, bouncing hard and fast in the way we both like. I bring both of bus /bup and over the edge of bliss bbefore /bfalling down on the bed beside him.

He wraps himself around me. “Are you going to tell Cyra about your call with L?”

“I will tomorrow. She should know. Who knows, maybe it will give her some leverage with Sten.”

He kisses my shoulder.

“You know that’s doubtful.”

“Yeah, I know. But I prefer to look at all avenues that can be used before war. Innocent people die in wars. I hate that,” I tell him.

He presses his lips to my shoulder again. This time it feels different.

“What?” I ask, looking at him over my shoulder.

“You sound like a Luna,” he says seriously.

I shrug. “My mate would have to be a first–born Alpha and since I’ve never met him …” I let the rest of the sentence hang in the air. bWhether /bwas meant to be a Luna or not, I haven’t met my mate.

“Who knows. Maybe youing to the Academy was fate. It will give you exposure to a lot of the packs you haven’t had ac

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” I ask him, only partially kidding.

b“/bbhe /bsays.

“Never. But you and I have both talked about wanting what Shakespeare and Aphrodite have. You deserve bthat /bkind bof /bblove /bbin /bbyour /bblife/b. We

bChapter /bb248 /b

bboth /bbdo /b

b“/bbDo /bbyou /bbreally /bbthink /bwe’ll ever find themb?/b” I ask. I care a lot about Zach, but watching Cyra band /bYorick btogether /bbhas /breignited my d

bmy /bmate.

“bI /bhope so. And if hot, at least I have someone who rains the hottest hellfire on me that I’ve ever experienced,b” /bbhe /bbchuckles/b, bwrapping /bhe tem more tightly around me.

Iy awake long after Zach falls asleep. I wonder if he’s right. Maybeing to the Academy is the path that will finally lead bme /bto finding bmy /b

mate.