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.

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.

die on my tongue. Lucas’s posture is rigid, his eyes fixed ahead.

Clayton Clashing

the right moment to express my desire to see Ava without igniting

move?” Lucas’s voice cuts through my

back of my mind, focusing on the

times, Lucas.” My voice is steady despite the turmoil within. “We don’t know anything. Our best bet is that Renard is

wolves back.”

many have embraced the change, seeking a fresh start and a more stable

gender lines. The men, proud and stubborn, struggle to let go of their ties

is not true of Westwood, Aspen, or any of the surrounding

IT

Clayton: Clashing

equality.

rogue, unsworn to any

the women? They surprise me. In a society where a female’s loyalty is expected to lie with her mate above all else, these she–wolves are breaking the mold. They gather their cubs close, eyes bright with determination as they step forward to

unthinkable in most shifter communities. A female, leaving her mate

their mates separated and under guard, for the

can only imagine the strength it takes, the courage to break free from the constraints

hands through his hair. The silence stretches

he speaks. “Ava

Clayton: Clashing Alphas

haven’t been able to talk to

my chest, a flicker of hope igniting before I can quash it. Guilt follows swiftly on

mine.

see you.” He meets my gaze, eyes flashing with barely restrained anger.

The air between us is

asks, his voice

spark that ignites the powder keg. But I can’t lie, not about this. “I tried to mark her,” I

as his wolf takes over. I barely have

to the surface forcing

Clayton Clashing Alphas

across the