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.

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

die on my tongue. Lucas’s

Clayton Clashing Alphas

to find the right moment to express my desire to

move?” Lucas’s voice cuts through my reverie, his gaze piercing.

mind, focusing

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, to take

wolves back.”

into Westwood has been a tumultuous process, to say the least. While many have embraced the change, seeking a fresh start and a more stable future, there are those who cling to their

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

new reality. Men were superior in the Blackwood pack. That is not true of Westwood, Aspen, or any of the surrounding large packs, where male and

IT

Clayton: Clashing Alphas

equality.

unsworn to any alpha.

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 pledge their allegiance to the

female, leaving her mate behind to join a new pack? It goes against every tradition, every deeply ingrained expectation.

and under guard,

here they are, ready to forge a new path for themselves and their young. I can only imagine the strength it takes, the courage to break free from the constraints of the

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

of nowhere he speaks. “Ava asked for space.

Clashing

to talk to

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

mine.

his words barely audible. “I want to kill you every time I see you.” He meets my gaze, eyes flashing with barely restrained anger. “But I don’t want

unsure how to respond. The

you truly not bonded?” Lucas asks, his

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

takes over. I barely have time/to brace myself before he collides. with me

surges to the surface forcing a shift

Clashing Alphas

throat as we tumble across the ground in a tangle