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.

that she hasn’t borne his mark, and that he doesn’t have hers, gives me a glimmer of

voice my request, but the words die

Clayton Clashing Alphas

to tread carefully, to find the right moment to express

cuts

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

within. “We don’t know anything. Our best bet is that Renard is going to try to come back,

wolves back.”

been a tumultuous process, to say the least. While many have embraced the change, seeking a fresh start and a more stable future,

struggle to let go of their ties to Renard Blackwood. I can sense

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

IT

Clayton: Clashing

equality.

men remain rogue, unsworn to any alpha.

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

a sight that would be unthinkable in most shifter communities. A female, leaving her mate behind to join a new pack? It goes against every tradition, every deeply ingrained

had to keep several of their mates separated and under guard, for

to forge a new path for themselves and their young. I can only imagine the strength it takes, the courage

runs his hands through his hair. The silence stretches between us, heavy

speaks. “Ava asked

Clashing Alphas

able to talk to her in days.”

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

mine.

barely audible. “I want to kill you every time I see you.” He meets my gaze, eyes flashing with barely restrained

how to respond. The air between

you truly not bonded?” Lucas asks, his voice

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

He lunges at me, a snarl ripping from his throat as his wolf takes over. I barely have time/to brace myself before he collides. with me mid–shift, all fury and feral

surges to the surface forcing a shift

Clashing

we tumble across the ground in a tangle of