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.

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.

a breath, preparing to voice my request, but the words die on

Clashing Alphas

to find the right

cuts through my reverie, his

my mind, focusing on

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

wolves back.”

While many have embraced the change, seeking a fresh start and a more stable future, there are those who cling to

men, proud and stubborn, struggle

is not true of Westwood, Aspen, or any of the surrounding large packs, where male and female live

IT

Clashing

equality.

rogue, unsworn to any

lie with her mate above all else, these she–wolves are breaking the

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

to keep several of their mates separated and

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

frustration evident as he runs his hands through his hair. The silence stretches

speaks.

Clayton: Clashing

been able to talk to her in days.”

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

mine.

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

swallow hard, unsure how to respond. The air between us

bonded?” Lucas asks, his voice low and deadly.

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

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

own wolf surges to the

Clayton Clashing

as we tumble across the ground in a tangle of fur and