Chapter 170

Carol’s POV

For a solid second, I was in a state of shock. Then his tongue entered my mouth, and I had the shield up in front of my face, causing him to bounce off it and land on the ground with a thud. He was shocked by the sudden blow, and I was shocked by the sudden kiss. I released the shield and stepped away from him, my head spinning from the mix of my nausea and the martini.

Before I knew what was happening, Oliver came out of nowhere and had Allen by the throat.

“Carol!” I heard my name being called but I was in such a daze, I hadn’t registered who it was until Fiona was in front of my face. She looked panicky and pissed at the same time. She kept glancing over her shoulders at Allen and then back at me with wide eyes. “Are you okay?” She asked, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into a hug.

“I… I think so,” I murmured. “I’m just confused.”

“I asked you a question!” Oliver growled furiously at Allen who was struggling to breathe. “What gives you the right to lay your hands on your Luna!?”

Panic struck me.

Oliver was going to kill him if I didn’t intervene.

“Oliver, wait stop!” I shouted, shoving past Fiona to get to Oliver. “Let him go!”

“And let him get away with this?! I don’t think so. I’m your Beta. It’s my job to protect you!”

Allen was turning blue at this point.

“Oliver, he’s not dangerous. He’s just drunk. He didn’t know what he was doing,” I pleaded. “He’s part of the team; he’s my friend. Please, just let him go!”

Olver was furious and I could tell. I looked at Fiona who was watching the entire exchange. I gave her a pleading look when she met my eyes, and she sighed walking over to Oliver. She put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze.

“Babe, let him go,” she said softly.

“He assaulted our Luna,” Oliver said through his teeth. “If another man kissed you, he wouldn’t live to take another breath.”

“He’s a drunk asshole, Oliver. He didn’t mean any harm and I’m sure he’s sorry. Aren’t you?” Fiona asked, giving Allen a pointed look.

Allen struggled to nod; I knew he was losing consciousness.

“Oliver, please!” I begged.

With a growl and a huff, Oliver released him. Allen fell to the ground, rubbing his aching neck and coughing as he gasped for breath. Fiona wrapped her arms around Oliver to keep him calm while I ran to Allen to make sure he was okay.

“Allen, are you okay?”

He was still breathing heavily, desperate for that next breath. He nodded slowly and looked up at me.

“I’m so sorry, Luna…” he croaked, his voice raspy and I could see the resentment in his eyes.

“We can talk more about it when you are sober. You should go home and get some rest,” I told him.

He nodded and I helped him to his feet. He didn’t bother sparing Oliver a look as he hurried out of the bar. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I spun around to see the bartender giving me a sheepish smile.

“Here, you might want to drink this, Luna,” he told me, handing me a green drink.

I frowned at it.

“What is it?” I asked.

“If you go home, your mate will smell that guy all over you; especially when he kisses you. The Alpha won’t be very pleased,” he explained. “That’ll get rid of the scent of the other man.”

“It’s the cheater juice,” Oliver muttered. “People who like to cheat will drink it to mask the scent.”

My mouth fell open as I looked at him; Fiona looked startled by this too.

“Do a lot of people order this?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“It happens. Shifters are still part human,” he explained. He glanced at Fiona who looked mortified now. “I would never cheat on you, babe. You know that.”

“How do you know so much about this juice then?” Fiona asked, putting her hands on her hips.

I took the juice and thanked the bartender as I took a sip. It was pleasantly delicious. It was minty and made my mouth tingle. I continued to drink it while I watched Oliver scramble for words.

“Mates who are marked to one another can’t get away with something like that because their mate can feel it when they are with another. Those who order it aren’t usually in a serious relationship,” Oliver explained, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

“But we aren’t marked,” she said, raising her brows.

“But we are in a serious relationship. At least, we are working on it. You are my mate, and I would never hurt you.”

She pressed her lips together as she searched his face.

“Fiona, let up,” I said, giving her a small smile. “Oliver is truthful, and he cares about you.”

After a moment she sighed and nodded. He looked relieved but then looked at me with a frown.

“And what about you? Are you going to tell Aiden about this?” He asked, raising his brows.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.

“No,” I decided. “It’ll only piss him off and he will kill Allen. I don’t want Allen dead. He’s a good hockey player and the team needs him. Plus, he was just drunk. It was a stupid mistake, and it’ll never happen again. Aiden doesn’t need to know. Got it?”

They both looked at one another with uncertainty.

“I get a bad feeling from that guy,” Oliver mutters.

“He’s harmless,” I assured him. “Fiona, you believe me, don’t you?” I asked, looking over at her.

She looked uncertain too as she bit her lower lip. I knew she was conflicted about wanting to agree with me and wanting to back up her mate. I wouldn’t blame her if she chose him, but at that moment, I hoped she’d choose me.

She finally relented and nodded.

“Right,” she murmured. “I’m sure he’s harmless.”

“Okay fine. But if there's any more incidents like that again I’ll make sure he doesn’t live to see tomorrow and then I’m telling Aiden everything,” Oliver threatened.

“Deal,” I said. “Now, I’d like to go home. Aiden will be home soon, and I miss him terribly.”

I finished the drink before putting the empty cup on the counter. I hugged my best friend goodbye.

“Oh, I created some designs for the boutique that I want to present to them. I was wondering if you’d be able to model them for me? I’d need to adjust them to fit your body, but I think you’d look great in them, and what better model than the Luna?”

I raised my brows at Fiona.

“You want me to be your model?” I asked her.

She nodded, looking almost nervous.

“Okay, I would love to,” I told her, hugging her again. “I’m off from work tomorrow, so we will meet tomorrow afternoon if that works.”

She nodded eagerly.

“See you tomorrow!” She said, and then she pulled Oliver towards the bar.

I laughed at my friends before I took a deep breath and left the bar. I needed to return home and be with the only man I ever wanted to kiss again.

….

Third Person POV

Across the pack city in her own penthouse, Katrina sipped on her wine as she sat on her loveseat. The thought of Carol invaded her mind as it so often did. She hated Carol with all of her passion and even more now that she knew her father is the Alpha King.

It wasn’t fair.

The Luna title was supposed to be Katrina. She was the one who was supposed to end up with Aiden but then Carol had to ruin everything.

Katrina’s phone rang from beside her and when she saw who was calling, she rolled her eyes.

“Where have you been?” She asked into the phone, unable to hide the irritation she felt. “You were supposed to meet me here an hour ago.”

“I ran into an issue,” the man muttered. “I need you. Buzz me into your penthouse.”

Katrina sighed and hung up the phone before getting off the loveseat and walking toward her buzzer. She pressed the speaker button and spoke to him before buzzing him in.

“This better be worth my time,” she growled and then she buzzed him in.

She waited a few minutes before he was knocking on her door. When she opened it, she was met with a charming smile and oddly enough, it made her heart skip a beat. As much as she wanted to marry Aiden, it was only for the title of Luna. She didn’t really care about Aiden; in fact, she’d been secretly seeing someone for a couple of years despite the fact that she’d been trying to convince herself that she had no feelings for him.

She stepped aside and let him into her apartment. He turned to face her; when he smiled, he had dimples, and it made her grin.

“What issue?” She asked, folding her arms across her chest.

“Don’t be like that, baby,” he purred, closing the gap between them and pressing his lips firmly against hers. She gave into the kiss, allowing him to deepen it with his tongue before she pulled back to look at him.

“You reek,” she muttered.

Ignoring her, he peppered kisses along her jawline, making her sigh.

“I missed you,” he murmured against her.

She rolled her eyes and pulled him over to her loveseat so they could sit together. He sat beside her, pulling her into his arms. She curled up beside him, grabbed her wine glass, and took a long and steady sip.

“You are so tense,” he whispered, capturing her lips again and tasting the wine on her mouth tongue.

“When that bitch Carol is all, I can think about, then yes… I’m fucking tense.”

He tensed and then looked at her.

“Then think about something else for once,” he said, pressing his forehead against hers.

“I can’t think about anything else until she’s out of the way and I’m the rightful Luna.”

“That would mean you’d have to marry the Alpha though. Are you really willing to throw me away that easily for the title?” He asked, sounding hurt.

“There’s very little I wouldn’t do for that title,” she admitted and when she saw the hurt on his face, she gave him a small smile and kissed his lips gently. “None of that. It wouldn’t be long-term. I would simply take the title and kill the Alpha. If the Alpha has a Luna, the Luna can appoint a new Alpha, and I’d obviously appoint you.”

He raised his brows.

“You would? What about the Beta?”

“What about him?” She scoffed. “He’s incompetent. He would take over until the new Alpha is appointed but he would be cast aside soon after.”

“And you’d want me to be by your side as the Alpha?” He asked, surprised.

She smiled at him, and then kissed him deeply, taking his breath away.

“Of course,” she murmured against her lips. “You are mine. We’ve always discussed this.”

He smiled as he sucked on her bottom lip.

“I just like hearing you say it,” he told her. “You are mine, Katrina. Forever and always. When you let me, I’ll put my mark on you so everyone can see that you belong to me.”

“All in due time,” she said, rubbing her nose against his. “But for right now, we need to finish what we started. We need to get rid of Carol once and for all.”