Throwaway Mate (Wolves of Hollow Ridge Book 2)

Chapter 7. The Beta's Back!

Ben sat alone in his office. Not brooding! As his beta had accused him of earlier.

He had nothing to brood over. He did the right thing damn it! He knew he did. He had to send her away. He knew he would not be happy with a mate who was as cruel as Beth was.

So why did he feel like he had made the worst mistake of his life? The gnawing feeling in his gut just would not go away. In fact it had only got worse over the last few days. He tried to tell himself it was normal to feel this way. After all, he had just rejected his fated mate and banished her to another pack. It would take time for him and his wolf to get used to the fact they would forever be alone. He just needed more time to get used to it.

Yip that little pep talk did nothing! The sharp ache that had settled in the vicinity of his heart the moment Beth had ran from the pack house was worse than ever.  But it would fade.  He hoped.

I had been five days since she had left.  No!  Not left.  Five days since he had banished her, and regret was riding him hard.  But no matter how much he regretted his decision he knew it was what he had to do.  This pack still had so much healing to do, and that could never happen if the wolf responsible for a lot of it was still swanning around as if she did nothing wrong.  To throw her in the faces of the members of the pack she had hurt was just not something any decent Alpha would do.  Even if she was that Alpha's mate.

As the sun began its descent and the light faded to dusk, he heard a loud banging.  Knowing Mark was somewhere in the house he didn't bother getting up.  He really did not want to see anyone at the moment, and as it was probably Chloe again, he stayed where he was.  Not brooding!

Chloe had been coming to the pack house and calling him constantly for the last three days.  After the "performance" he had put on to deliberately hurt and drive his mate away, Chloe was relentless in her determination to get a repeat.  But Ben had absolutely no interest in her.  He knew he was a bastard for using her and really wished now he hadn't.  For many reasons.

The low murmur of voices drew his attention and he could hear their footsteps coming closer to his office. He sighed gustily.  He really did not want to talk to anyone right now.

Two quick raps on the door and it opened.  His Beta Mark stuck his head in.  "Alpha, Matthew is back and is asking to see you if you have a moment?" He asked.

Matthew had been the previous Alpha Zack's Beta. When Zack stepped down as Alpha, Matthew had decided to stay with the pack but at a lower rank then he previously held. He would still be one of Ben's inner circle, the inside information he could provide would be invaluable, but he no longer held the rank of Beta.

He had left to visit friends in another pack just before Zack had left, he had felt it would be good for the pack to get used to Ben at first without Zack's Beta muddying the waters, so to speak.

"Sure!" Ben said smiling, happy to see Matthew back. He had been a bit worried Matthew would be lured away to another pack, one that could offer him the Beta rank he had lost. "Show him in!"

Mark pushed the door open fully to allow Matthew entrance. As he stepped fully into the office his extended his hand in greeting and grasped Bens hand firmly. "Alpha, it good to see you, and even better to be back home."

Ben returned the handshake, pleased to see Matthew was happy to be back with his pack. "Matthew, it's great to have you back with us! I hope you enjoyed your trip!"

"I did Alpha, very much. But I missed my home." He answered, a wry smile twisting his lips. "I will be honest with you Alpha, I was offered the Beta position with the Rock Creek pack. Their Beta wants to retire so he and his mate can go travelling, and the Alpha though I might be interested in taking his place."