Tangled

100 Clayton: Clashing Alphas

CLAYTON

Lucas’s voice booms through the room, frustration palpable in every syllable. The scouts cower under his scrutiny, and I can’t blame them. The Blackwood

leaders have proven more elusive than any of us anticipated.

I should be focused on the task at hand, strategizing our next move, but my mind drifts to Ava. Is she healing well? Has she found any measure of peace. after the trauma she’s endured?

Even though the mating bond didn’t take, my wolf and I feel bonded toward her. It’s one–sided and fragile, -but it consumes my thoughts. I long to see her, to offer comfort and support. But Lucas guards any

information about her whereabouts with a

possessiveness that borders on obsession.

I don’t blame him, but after a week of knowing nothing, the frustration is getting to me.

As the meeting concludes, Lucas and I make our way back to the alpha’s house. The promise of paperwork

100 Clayton: Clashing Alphas

and hacked computer files looms ahead, a necessary evil in our quest for answers. Yet, even as I try to

center my thoughts on the investigation, Ava’s face flickers through my mind.

I glance at Lucas, wondering how to broach the subject of contacting her. His jaw is set, eyes hard with determination. I know he sees me as a threat, a rival for Ava’s affections. And perhaps I am. Everything I feel toward her is undeniable, something I’ve never felt toward a woman before. It’s like a whisper of fate that I

can’t ignore.

And yet I’m not the one she’s fated for.

I don’t want to come between them, not if Ava has truly chosen Lucas. I respect her choices, her

autonomy.

the fact that she hasn’t fully committed to him, that she hasn’t borne his mark, and that he doesn’t have hers, gives me a glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, there’s still a chance for us.

my request, but the words die

Clashing Alphas

carefully, to find the right moment to express my desire to see

our next move?” Lucas’s voice cuts

to shove thoughts of Ava to the back of my mind, focusing on the

My voice is steady despite the turmoil within. “We don’t know anything. Our best bet is that Renard is going to try to come back,

wolves back.”

integration of the Blackwood pack into Westwood has been a tumultuous process, to say the least. While many have embraced the change, seeking a fresh start

seems to fall along gender lines. The men, proud and stubborn, struggle

true of Westwood, Aspen, or any of the surrounding large

IT

Clayton: Clashing

equality.

remain rogue, unsworn to any alpha.

else, these she–wolves are breaking the mold. They gather their cubs close, eyes bright

female, leaving her mate behind to join a new pack? It goes against every

of their mates separated and under guard, for the safety of

for themselves and their young. I can only imagine the strength it takes, the courage to break free from the

his hands through his hair. The silence stretches between us, heavy with unspoken tension.

he speaks. “Ava asked

Clayton: Clashing

able to talk to her

stutters in my chest, a flicker of hope igniting before I can quash it. Guilt follows swiftly on its heels. I shouldn’t feel

mine.

“I want to kill you every time I see you.” He meets

swallow hard, unsure how to respond. The

not bonded?” Lucas asks,

can’t lie, not about this. “I tried to mark her,” I admit,

snarl ripping from his throat as his wolf takes over. I barely have time/to brace myself before he collides.

the surface

Clashing

tearing from our throat as we tumble across the ground in a tangle of fur and