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

preparing to voice my request, but the words die on my tongue. Lucas’s posture is rigid,

Clayton Clashing Alphas

I need to tread carefully, to find the right moment to express my desire

our next move?” Lucas’s voice cuts through my reverie,

my mind, focusing

“We don’t know anything. Our best bet is that Renard is going

wolves back.”

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

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

the Blackwood pack. That is not true of Westwood, Aspen, or any of the surrounding large packs, where male

IT

Clashing Alphas

equality.

men remain rogue, unsworn to any

all else, these she–wolves are breaking the mold. They gather their cubs close, eyes bright with determination as they step forward to pledge

shifter communities. A female, leaving her mate behind to join a new pack?

of their mates separated and under

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

runs his hands through his

speaks. “Ava asked

Clayton: Clashing Alphas

able to talk to

of hope igniting before I can quash it. Guilt follows swiftly on its heels. I

mine.

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

The air between

truly not bonded?” Lucas asks, his voice low

answer could be the spark that ignites the powder keg. But I can’t lie, not about this. “I tried to mark her,” I admit, my voice

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

the surface forcing a

Clayton Clashing Alphas

we tumble across the ground in a tangle of fur