The Alpha's Mistress

59

Word Count: 2343

~Onyx

I'm feeling murderous.

The room I'm in feels too small, too constricting. I want to be beyond its walls, ending this stupidity once and for all.

Alston marrying Sienna...the thought is so preposterous I could laugh about it, were I not so infuriated. Zion chose him not just because he is an ally, but to get under my skin. If he can do something to make me suffer, he's going to do it.

It hasn't been long since I was in his presence and I'm already regretting not murdering him.

The only thing serving my nerves is my beautiful mate sitting on the edge of the bed. Having seen her after a week relieved an aching tension within me, easing my concerns for her safety.

She's unhurt, she's determined and I know she's strong enough to get through this.

Still, I'm struggling to fight the urge to leave this room, Alston's estate and his pack entirely with her in tow.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I mutter, pacing back and forth. I've probably worn footprints into the carpet by now.

"Alston has no reason to agree to our terms so far, to let us marry. He could take me and the power for himself, but he's choosing to be a good person," she reminds me, her warm eyes blinking up at me. "We need to do our best to keep him happy."

I flex my fingers, resisting the urge to roll them into fists.

There has to be another reason why he's willing to negotiate with Sienna and I. There has to be other interests at play, but Sienna hasn't seemed to pick up on them yet.

"He's putting everything on the line by allowing us to marry tomorrow. Everything. The terms of the agreements will be onerous," I point out.

I'm willing to lose everything to bring Sienna back to me. Alston doesn't know we are mates, but he can see how deeply I care for her. He will push to take as much from me as he can.

"He wants power, but more than anything he wants to ensure his people are fed." She adjusts the skirts of a dress she definitely didn't make herself considering it's plain and drab. "Your pack has excellent grain production, right?"

I nod. "It rivals Zion's."

"Alston is going to go for that. He's going to want to know his people will be safe if this turns," she murmurs, releasing a long, stressed breath.

Alston is a complicated man, and an even more complicated Alpha. There is a reason why other Alpha's have been wary of trading with him, and it's because of his unpredictability. Maren avoids him, and Lennon will never take him seriously.

But if a trade is what he wants in exchange for the privilege of being able to marry Sienna, I'll comply with his demands.

I rub the back of my neck. "We won't know what he has planned until tomorrow."

Sienna looks down at her lap, twisting at her necklace tensely before she looks up at me, a shimmery veil of tears gathering her eyes.

"What if we never get to be together?" She whispers.

I crouch down in front of her, taking her trembling hands into mine. Touching her soft skin is such a relief, remembering that the gentle flutter of sparks is real, knowing she truly is my mate.

"Hey, of course we will," I soothe. "You will be the Luna of my pack. You may have power of your own now, but I know your soul is tied to my land. Our land."

Seeing Sienna be a Luna beside me is all I have ever wanted. She has always been my equal, and the power of such a position has always belonged to her.

"Zion will never allow me to be with you."

"We will kill him, if we have to. We will find a way." I sit on the bed next to her, needing to be close, needing to put my arm around her to draw her close.

"Even if I gain power once he dies, Alston will be a problem. Combining all our packs would be a nightmare." She rubs her forehead, the weight of her burdens heavy.

"It would be impossible. My land is distant from theirs," I admit. "Peace, however, is not impossible."

It hurts to consider peace when all I've ever desired is to see Zion's pack burn. Knowing Sienna has a claim to it changes things, and peace could bring harmony across the land.

I'm just not certain it's going to be easy to attain.

"I really don't want to kill Alston. Not when he is making this sacrifice. Not when he is giving me options." She turns to look at me, pinning me with a look that is hard with a warning.

She doesn't want me to kill Alston. She is fair and reasonable and the peace maker out of the two of us. As tempted as I am to end him for so much as touching my mate, I want to honour her desires.

"We won't hurt him," I say decidedly, albeit reluctantly. "If he cooperates as he is currently doing, I'll have no reason to kill him."

She smiles, visibly relieved.

"I really missed you, Onyx." She inches closer to me, blinking back tears. I almost groan at the sentiment, feeling as though I've been parted from her for months.
 
I cup the side of her face before delving my fingers into her hair, drawing her close. "I missed you too. You have no idea."

The moment her mouth touches mine, the world goes dark around me. Nothing matters beyond this, beyond the insistent press of her lips.

I slide my tongue into her mouth, claiming her, gripping a fistful of her hair between my fingers. She presses her body close to mine, her hands gliding over my shoulders and down my chest.

I could rip her clothes off right now. I could forget that someone is trying to take her from me and have her right here.

Instead, mind melts, falling back into a familiar place of comfort. We are in the barn together, under the gentle lighting, a game of cards forgotten as we lay together in the hay.

When she pulls away her lips are swollen and she's breathing harshly. I'm ready to pull her back in when she speaks suddenly.

"I'm sorry about lying to you, about not telling you Zion was my father," she murmurs apprehensively.

I lean back a touch, loosening a sigh. I knew this topic was coming, but amongst everything else it's felt so insignificant.

"At first I was hurt, but I've been so desperate to get you back that I don't care," I explain, threading my fingers through hers. "Nothing can compromise how I feel about you. We are fated to be together. You kept this from me out of necessity, out of survival. I should be apologising for making you think that you couldn't tell me."

"Part of me knew I could, but the other part of me was so scared..." She bows her head, screwing her eyes shut.

"I know, I understand. You lost your mother, you were alone," I murmur, brushing my thumb against the top of her hand tenderly. "But you have me now, always. I'll never give up on you."

When she looks back up at me, her lashes are laden with tears. "I love you Onyx. So much."

"I love you too." I'll never get over how good it feels to be able to say that to her, completely uninhibited.

Suddenly she pauses, wiping her eyes. "Wait, I need to tell you something else."

"What is it?"
 
"I've been receiving notes for the past several months. Someone has been threatening me, telling me I need to tell you my secret before people get hurt," she says through a wince.

It takes a moment to process what she's saying, but the moment it sinks in, so does my anger. The man I tied to the chair and tortured comes to mind, and how there is still someone out there who is a threat to my mate.

"Wait what? You were being threatened and you never told me?"
 
"If I had, you would have known who my father was," she reminds me tentatively, biting down on her lip.

"Do you know who has been sending these notes?"
 
She shakes her head. "No. I think they are the person who murdered the girls, then tried to kill me at the Alpha's meeting."

I stand, needing to move, to release some of the tension gathering like a storm in my limbs. The same urge to do something, to make someone hurt who might be involved has come back as quickly as the need had dissipated.

"Shit." I lace my fingers into my hair as I pace again. "The person who attacked you was paid by someone else. Do you think it's the person threatening you?"
 
She wraps her arms around herself, a shadow cast over her face. "It has to be."

"I'll find who is doing this. They won't hurt you, I promise," I assure her firmly.

Someone has been terrorizing her, and like many elements of her life so far, she's had to shoulder the problems herself. She doesn't need to worry about that any longer — I'm going to find who is responsible for threatening her, for attempting to kill her, and I'm going to end them.

"They are why I ran from you. I thought I was protecting you," she explains before she lets out a breathy laugh. "Perhaps I should thank them. You finally came to your senses and proposed."

I shake my head, the worst of my temper eddying away as I take Sienna in. All that matters right now is that I'm here with her, when I thought I had lost her forever. We may not have much time, but I'll take all I can get.

I stride forward, leaning over her as I kiss her. She lets me pick her up, moving her further onto the bed. I've restrained myself for too long, and now I want her.

"Isn't it strange to think that all along you required a wife of noble birth. All along I was one." She smiles despite herself as I pull my mouth from hers, placing soft kisses along her jawline.

The irony isn't lost on me. The one I wanted all along, who I was told I couldn't have, was more than qualified for the position. In fact, as the daughter of an Alpha, she was always worlds above the others.

Not that it mattered. I've only ever wanted Sienna because I'm in love with her, because she is everything good in my life and my best friend.

"If there was any reason to tell me about your birth father, it was that. I would have taken you as my wife right then," I murmur against her skin.

I can feel her shake her head, her fingertips grazing against the bare skin of my arms. "No you wouldn't. Not when I'm the daughter of your enemy."

I lean up, my breath coasting against her lips. "You need to stop doubting how I feel about you. You will always come before everything else in my life. That's my new promise to you."

"I'm going to fight for you. Fight for us," she vows quietly. "No amount of power will ever tempt me away from you."

Running my thumb over her lips, I let the immense, almost crushing feeling of love press into me. I'm the luckiest man to have this woman underneath me, and I can't let her slip away.

Sitting up, I glide my palms up her thighs, watching them disappear beneath the hem of her dress. "I'm going to make love to you now, my precious, incredible mate."

Right as I lean down to claim her mouth again, something moves in the corner of my vision. I glance over to see a large envelope slip underneath the door.

Sienna follows my gaze. "What was that?"

I leap from bed, stooping over to pick it up. Unsealing the envelope, I pull out two piece of paper, checking them in turn.
 
"The contract has arrived," I note grimly.

I wasn't expecting it to be drawn up so quickly. Alston clearly had something in mind before I even stepped into his pack, which only proves my theory that he is pulling strings from all different directions, luring us into his trap.

"Huh. I was expecting pages and pages of terms," Sienna exclaims with a frown, mirroring my thoughts.

I hand her one of the pages. "This one is yours."

I read quickly, scanning the written text. There are a few terms about grain, like Sienna suspected, and something about a trade and immigration treaty that I pass over. It's all preliminary, and seems conscionable until my eyes graze over a clause right at the bottom.

"Fuck..." I breathe out.

"What?"

"There." I turn my page to hers, figuring she has yet to read to the bottom. I press my finger under the clause written plainly. "He has given us a choice between two terms."

She squints. "Read it to me."

My stomach tumbles into a painful knot. The hope that Alston would strike a fair, simple deal has been utterly dashed.

"Option one, is that you and I marry tomorrow, however, Alston demands an heir in return to ensure political leverage. Or, he marries you, and I get the heir."

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