Luca was confused. "How did you end up being the alpha of both the Silver Lake and King Clans?"
"With the agreement of Alpha Kersey, I challenged him and he stepped down. The King Clan alpha was a little harder. I killed him in a challenge when he attacked us."
Shocked beyond belief, Luca leaned back in his chair. His gaze slowly went to Randal, who still hadn't said a single word. "What does this mean for me and Randal?"
Rob shrugged. "That's kind of up to you, isn't it?"
Luca's eyes snapped back to the alpha. "And if I wanted to claim Randal as my mate?"
"You'd have to join the clan."
"That's it?"
It couldn't be that simple.
"Mates belong together," Rob said with a serious tone in his voice. "I don't care if they are men, women, humans, bears, penguins, turtles, or whatever. They belong together. And, as long as they join the clan and acknowledge my authority as alpha, what happens between the two of you is between the two of you."
Luca shot Randal another quick look before continuing. "I just want to make sure I have this clear. As long as I join your clan and accept you as my alpha, I can claim Randal as my fated mate, and you will not interfere?"
Rob shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much."
"Will anyone else interfere?"
Rob winced this time. "I can't promise no one will try to interfere. I'm still trying to weed out the bad seeds in both clans, but if you do have problems, I will support your mating, as will everyone in my inner circle. If someone messes with you, you tell me and I'll handle it."
Luca stood and took a step closer to Randal. "If I claim Randal, I'm going to want us to live together. I won't hide him or the fact that we are mates behind closed curtains." They'd been doing that for ages. "I'd paint it on the side of the building if I didn't want to pay for damages."
Rob chuckled as he glanced at the imposing man standing in front of the door. "Remind you of anyone?"
Jeb snorted.
Rob had a huge smile on his face when he looked back at Luca. "Even knowing mating a human was against my old clan's rules, I felt the same way when I mated Casey. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops."
Luca took another step closer to Randal. He wanted to touch the man so badly, his skin ached. He'd never been able to do that in front of other people. They'd always had to hide their feelings for each other.
He glanced at Randal for a moment, trying to read the man. Randal had his head bent forward and he was looking down at the floor. As tall as the man was, Luca couldn't see his eyes. Luca wanted to talk to him, to see if this was what he wanted, but he didn't want to do it in front of his alpha.
"May I have a moment alone with Randal?"
Rob raised his eyebrows. "Now?"
"Yes." Luca swallowed tightly as he met Rob's eyes. "Sir."
Rob snickered as he turned toward the door. "Yeah, Jeb and I will go out and look through your tattoo books. I've been thinking of getting one and Randal says you're the best."
Luca couldn't help the way his chest puffed out. "Thank you."
Once Rob and Jeb walked out of the room and the door shut behind them, Luca turned to his mate. "Randal, aren't you going to say anything?"
Chapter Three
Randal couldn't keep the wide grin off his face as he raised his head to look at his mate. He couldn't believe he was standing in the room with his true mate, and no one was threatening to kill them, run them out of town, or banish them from the clan.
It was surreal.
"Hi," he whispered.
Luca's gorgeous, pierced eyebrows lifted. "Hi? That's all you have to say?"
