Twice Tempted: Between Two Alphas (Mia and Cameron)

Chapter 80

Chapter Eighty

Ashley.

They’d been so bent on having to track her down, and here she is… waiting for us. Nothing prepares

me for the rage I feel.

My hands morph to claws, and Nala is scratching at my mind to break free.

“There is no fighting on Seer grounds,” my guide warns.

I don’t even know her name, so no offense, but I don’t really give a shit about the rules. Ashley is my

enemy.

I growl.

I let my senses take over. I don’t scent fear. Not from Ashley, not from any of these other wolves. A

quick assessment of my surroundings shows these many Seers seated and lounging. All of their

attention is on us, but it is with the amusement of a show, not the fury or basked energy that precedes

an attack.

I hate Ashley on principle. For what she’s done to me, my pack, my family.

Eric is motionless beside me. His eyes are confused. His mouth presses thin.

Ashley takes a step down from the trellised area.

Her hair flows behind her, and her eyes are bright.

She still looks too thin, no doubt a result of her many months of infirmity.

“It can’t be,” Eric mutters.

What? I say to him, mind-to-mind, but the connection is not there.

“No,” he says.

Ashley’s eyes turn cold. “You decimated my pack. You are responsible for my mother’s death and my

brother’s demise. I despise you and want no part of this.”

“You killed my sister!” Eric snarls.

“Did I?” she says cryptically.

What the hell does that mean? She may not have personally slaughtered Corinne, but she brought the

wraiths.

Eric’s hands curl into fists. “You instigated an attack on my people–in my home!”

She squares her shoulders. “Your arrogance has no limits. You want to be the Alpha. You want to

conquer and kill and usurp lands and power and property…then be prepared to face the

consequences!”

I glance between them as they argue. Are they respecting the Seers’ decree that there can be no

violence? I can’t believe they're even arguing so civilly given the atrocities they’ve both committed

against the other.

Personally, I don’t give a shit.

I have my own score to settle.

“You killed our mother!” I scream. “You tried to kill me!”

Ashley looks at me now. Her eyes are flat and unapologetic. “You’ll return the favor, sister. The day will

come when you will try to kill me. I’ve seen it.”

She’s right about that.

Maybe the bitch should realize that day is today.

I let Nala break free and I lunge at Ashley’s neck.

Eric’s arm swings out and he stops me from slicing her throat open.

Off balance, my hands circle her neck and I dig in.

My nails puncture. I squeeze and dig my nails deeper.

Blood trickles from each puncture wound, staining her pristine white dress.

Though I know it must hurt, and despite the way she’s sputtering for breath, Ashley doesn’t move to

stop me.

She doesn’t have to.

Eric is dragging me back. He rips my arms from her throat and restrains me.

I’m snarling and growling in my lycan form as Eric constrains me. I can’t believe he is doing this. I slash

at Ashley. I snarl at Eric, but he doesn’t release me.

What the hell?

Ashley swipes the blood from her throat and stares at it for a long moment. She looks so sad, like I just

proved every terrible thought she’s ever had about me. Then she straightens and her expression is© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

malicious. “This is the good part. You should shift back because I really want to see your face for this.

It’s not without its irony.”

I shift back, not because she told me to, but because I’m going to rip into Eric. How dare he do this to

me!?

Ashley casts her arm, encompassing the trellised arbor, the assembled Seers all decked out and

seated. She even waves her hand at the tables lined with food and desserts.

“Our mother foresaw the coming of my mate. She foretold that it would be him,” she jerks a thumb at

Eric, “and a great feast would be prepared.” She shakes her head as if she’s just as confounded as I

am. “So here comes the real interesting part…turns out, dear old Mom wasn’t wrong. When we

interpreted her vision we thought it was when Eric came to our lands for the first time. But… it seems

we were wrong about the date and place.”

Holy. Shit.

I stare at Eric, and he’s rigid.

He looks furious and bewildered, and no doubt, if what she says is true, then this is a nightmare

unfolding.

Ashley killed his sister.

Ashley and her brother arranged a coup and attacked his pack.

Ashley mated another Alpha under false pretenses and made a bargain with a witch coven.

As far as future wives go… this bitch is the last one you’d want to be saddled with.

I can’t even imagine how impossible it would be for his pack to accept her.

Or for Eric to forgive her for her many, many sins.

I’m speechless.

I glance around, seeing this assembly for what it really is.

Holy. Shit. – I can’t help but think again.

This is a wedding ceremony…