Enjoy!

Book Fourteen: The Rival Alpha

Mercedes took a breath as she walked into Zeke's office. He didn't even try to hide his annoyance when he used the mind link to summon her. She smoothed her hands down her hip hugging jeans, twisting her hands together as she knocked on the door.

As he called enter, Mercedes opened the door to see her brother angrily pacing back and forth while Bree sat and his desk with her face scrunched in annoyance.

"He did that to embarrass me!" Zeke said annoyed. "You saw the way he tried to one up me.

Mercedes raised an eyebrow confused. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"I am talking about Sam Evans!" He spat.

At the mention of Sam, her heart sped up and she could feel her wolf stir, it was such a surreal feeling. "The Elder's seemed to think you both made great points. They want you to head up the training."

"No!" He spat. "They want us both to do it. This was my chance! My chance to show that I could be the best! And he ruined it! He needs to go!"

At those words, her fist balled. Her body felt defensive, cursing Zeke for even thinking of hurting Sam. Mercedes exhaled trying to calm herself, she had never felt an anger like this, where it felt like it was a different side of her trying to break free.

Bree noticed Mercedes' reaction and narrowed her eyes on her. "Do you have an issue with what your Alpha has stated?" She asked, watching her closely.

Mercedes internally checked herself before offering a small smile. "I think what Alpha Zeke is saying is right, it was his chance to shine and I also think that he still has a chance to do just that." She responded.

Bree rolled her eyes. "Look at her trying to sound smart, too bad you were a big part of him dealing with this shit. You couldn't even get Evans to be interested in you."

Zeke looked at his sister. "What are you even talking about? The Elders are gone, there's no way to make them notice me now." He spat.

Mercedes let out a slow breath. "If they requested that you work with the other Alpha, why not use this to show them just how good you are? They will be watching the training, so outshine him.

HA! Like he could ever outshine our mate.

Mercedes shifted, trying to block out her wolf's voice. "You can show them how strong and how good of a leader you are."

Zeke shared a look with Bree before frowning. "Why didn't you say this before!"

Unknowingly she rolled her eyes, letting out a sharp breath. "Sorry." She said somewhat sarcastically.

Zeke slammed his hands on his desk. "Don't get snappy with me!" He bellowed. "You make everything so damn difficult! It should've been you that night, at least I wouldn't have to deal with you like I do now!"

Those words pierced Mercedes like a thousand knives, she felt deflated and what was worse was that she couldn't just get up and run away. She hadn't been dismissed and she could tell by the angry gleam in her brother's eyes that he was only beginning his attack on her.

Bowing her head, she tried to compose herself. "I am sorry." She said more sincerely this time. "I didn't know that any of this was going to happen today. I didn't even know the other Alpha was going to be here."

Bree stood, walking around the desk before standing over Mercedes. "You just don't learn!" She spat, bringing her hand up to hit her but was stopped.

Mercedes gripped Bree's wrist, her eyes dark and narrowed. "You will not lay another hand on me!"

Bree tried to pull her hand back but Mercedes' grip was too tight. "Let me go, you bitch! Zeke, tell her to let go!"

"Mercedes!" Zeke said in a warning tone.

Mercedes growled looking at Bree. "If you value your life, you will take care how you speak to me."

Zeke stood staring at her and that's when he realized it. "Holy shit. Bree…looks like Mercedes finally grew a backbone."

Bree rolled her own eyes trying again to yank her arm away from Mercedes, when she saw the golden ring around her eyes she panicked a little. "That is not possible. She's weak, not even strong enough to beat the beta children."

Mercedes growled, gripping her arm tighter before she released her. "I'm strong enough to kick your ass."

Bree quickly ran behind Zeke who stood in front of Mercedes. "Oh this is good."

"How the hell is this good! She almost broke my damn arm?" Bree growled angrily.

"Think about it, we want to undermine Evans and now we have the weapon to do it." He turned to Mercedes. "How do you feel?"

"I feel like if you two asses don't back up, we are gonna have a problem." She growled again.

Zeke smiled. "It's fascinating, seeing you like this Mercedes, makes me almost proud in a sense to be your brother. Almost. But this side of her can be the undoing that we need. She's gonna let Evans train her and then she's gonna ruin him."

"The hell I am. You will not make me turn against him!"

Zeke shook his head. "You know Mercedes, I am tolerating this disrespect because it's amusing, but I am still your Alpha and when I tell you that the Bastard Sam Evans has to go, you better damn well be on my side. Or you will meet a far worse end than being stuck here waiting on everyone. I will banish you. You will have nothing and no one."

"You should just do it now." Bree snapped. "No one wants her here anyways."

Do it. You will get to see our mate.

Mercedes shifted, feeling warm all over. "I'll do it."

They both looked at her suspiciously before Zeke's beta entered. "Alpha, the Shadowmoon Beta has requested a meeting."

"For what?" Zeke asked angrily. "I don't take meetings from Betas, you know that Anthony."

His beta nodded, his eyes darting over to Mercedes before looking back at Zeke. "He isn't requesting an audience with you, he wants one with… her." He replied, holding up a dark green envelope with a gold seal.

Bree snatched it, opening the letter and reading it over before shaking her head. "What the fuck is this? Why does his Beta want her to visit their pack for a week?"

Mercedes' ears perked, grabbing the letter from Bree and reading it over herself. "What is… I don't understand…"

Bree snatched the paper back. "Well, she's not goin!"

Anthony shifted, looking at Zeke. "Alpha, it wasn't really a request. The letter is more of a courtesy, they expect her there before ten tomorrow."

"Well that's too damn bad because-"

"Bree! Shut up!" Zeke shouted, rubbing his temples. "This… fuck!

"Zeke!" Bree gasped. "We can't send her now! They are, I don't know, plotting something!"

Zeke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Get the fuck out, all of you!" He snapped. "Except you." They all looked at Mercedes before leaving the room.

"Why is the beta requesting you?" He asked and she shrugged.

"I… I don't know. You don't let me talk to anyone so your guess is as good as mine."

Zeke growled at her. "Mercedes, Beta's and Alpha's don't just extend invitations to random wolves."

"I already told you I don't know. I spoke to him once, when you were there…isn't this what you want anyways."

Zeke slammed his hand down on the desk. "I WANTED TO DO IT ON MY OWN TERMS!"

We need to see our mate. We need to be with him.

Mercedes sighed. "Is Anthony right? This is something we can't turn down."

"If you don't go. It will be an act of defiance, so you are going. And I swear if you embarrass me, don't bother coming back here. Now go pack your clothes."

Mercedes laughed. "What clothes? You only provide me clothing for events."

Zeke growled, stalking towards her. "This new found backbone of yours is pissing me off. I will have some things brought to you and you will get as much dirt on Shadowmoon as you can."

Mercedes stared at him, and he turned away from her. "You are dismissed! Go!"

Mercedes stepped out of the office and right into Bree. "Didn't my brother dismiss you?" Mercedes smirked.

"You think you're so cute don't you? But one of these days we will be rid of you. Hell with you going to Shadowmoon, it will probably happen sooner than later. And I, for one, will be standing right in front when Zeke finally banishes your ass."

"You are such a hateful person, and as Luna, that makes you more of a liability than me. Now if you will excuse me, I have a trip to pack for. Zeke is even having the seamstress get me something to wear." Mercedes turned and walked away, as Bree angrily stalked away in the other direction.

Jake knocked, before entering Sam's office and sat across from him. "I have to ask one more time, is this a good idea? You barely know the woman and she's your rival's sister. It's a recipe for disaster."

Sam ran a hand over his goatee. "It has to be done. She is Zeke's little sister and has all the knowledge that his pack holds and you saw the way he treated her."

Jake nodded, "Yeah the way she was yanked forward and the way she was scolded for nothing, it seemed like overkill to me. You really think you can get something out of her?"

"I think showing her kindness after what she's been going through is the least we can do. Is her room ready?"

Jake sighed again shaking his head, "Yeah, the guest suite at the end of the hall is ready for her. We also have Santana here, she will help her feel comfortable."

Sam nodded. "Good, Santana said that at the party they got on well. She and her pack will help Mercedes feel comfortable."

Jake stood. "Well then I guess that is all."

Sam grabbed a file from his desk. "I also want to start training this week, I want her to see that we are not a weak pack, just in case that brother of hers has convinced her to spy on us."

"You really think he could?" Jake asked.

"If he's as smart as he wants everyone to think he is, he would but we'll worry about that later. Go prepare the pack for our guest's arrival."

"Right away." As Jake walked out the door, Sam's eyes closed as a voice entered his mind.

Sam sighed, looking out the large window in his office. He'd never requested another wolf to their pack and certainly not that of a rival pack but he needed to see if what his wolf was telling was true. After all these years, he'd found his mate but he had a nagging suspicion that there was something else pulling them together.

"Knock, knock!" He heard, turning to see his brother there with his usual smirk. "Heard you're making the Black Blood's sister come visit for a while, why?"

"Need to know." Sam answered and his brother rolled his eyes.

"I heard she was hot, are you trying to bed her?"

Rubbing his temples, he stood walking over to his younger brother. "If I wanted to sleep with someone, I could simply pick any woman from our pack. This is a fact finding mission but I can't do it at their pack house so I'm bringing someone from there here." He explained.

Stevie narrowed his eyes before shaking his head. "Liar." He said, chuckling. "You could've sent me or Brittany to do that."

He wasn't wrong but that would defeat the purpose of being around her without the distractions of her brother. "No, I couldn't have sent you because you would've tried to sleep with her and honestly so would Brittany."

His brother let out a hearty laugh. "Well shit, I guess you do know me but that still doesn't answer my question. Why is she coming here and what if he's sending her to do the same thing?"

"I've already had this conversation with Jake and I don't need to have it with you. You just need to understand that she is my guest and you are not to touch her." Sam replied, noticing his brother's demeanor change.

"I understand."

Sam offered a smile. "Good, now come on I know you want to scope her out. She should be arriving soon."

"Oh for sure!" Stevie said, his playful tone back. Sam chuckled, guiding his brother out of his office before feeling a cool rush flow throughout his body.

Protect your mate, danger lurks in the shadows.

Sam better protect her tooooo!