"But what if she does?" Arabella pressed, lifting her eyes toward me. "Hunter, she lied about me in front of everyone. What if next time she does something worse?"
The thought of anyone harming my mate immediately angered me, and I fought back the desire to claim Arabella right now.
"I won't let anything happen to you," I tell her firmly. Arabella looks unconvinced.
"Maybe we should stop waiting," she suggested. I look down at her, waiting for her to go on. Arabella swallowed before continuing. "I know we planned on taking things slowly, but maybe it would help if we moved things forward. If we were officially bonded, Ivy would understand that she can't come between us. I would be connected to you, and near you always." She looked up, her big eyes pleading with me as she stroked my arm. The urge to claim was strong. Knowing we had found our match, that she had such high compatibility with us, was something that, in theory, made me want to bite her right away. Especially after smelling that incredible perfume again, sealing in the knowledge that she was ours.
And yet, I’d wanted to wait a little bit, court her more, get rid of any blocks and misunderstandings between us. Plus, our pack wasn’t in the greatest place right now. I did want to get Arabella to bond with our pack as soon as possible, but I needed to talk with them about it. Bonding was a huge change, and we needed to be ready for it.
“Soon, I promise,” I said, tucking her hair behind her ear. I had felt a shock down the bond from Elias when she made her request, but ignored it. “Let’s get you home to gather your things Your fathers said that Ivy will be kept in a separate guest house until they figure out what to do with her. In the meantime, you aren’t safe at home, so we can have you stay at a resort near ourplace. It’s guarded full-time and very safe for omegas.” I offered. Arabella looked disappointed, but nodded.
“Okay. The sooner the better. I won’t feel safe until I’m officially yours.” She said, glancing between our pack members. I could feel the mixed emotions through our bonds. This would have to be discussed.
“Let me know when you get home safe. I’ll set up a room at the resort for you in case you need it.” I said before gently kissing her forehead. She nodded, then gave me a smile before Ronan helped her to her family’s car. One of her fathers had stayed behind to wait to escort her - the rest had dragged Ivy off after her outburst.
I watched the car leave, and still felt unsettled. As much as I’d like to bond her right away, this was a pack decision, not to mention life altering. Once Arabella was out of the room, the pain from earlier returned.
I rubbed my hand across my chest, trying to will the ache to go away. I’ve spent many years making difficult decisions, sometimes affecting hundreds of employees. I’ve had to terminate contracts, shut down projects, and walk away from life-changing opportunities based on my own moral contract.
But none of that prepared me for what I had done earlier. No matter how many times I replayed the scene in my head, I couldn’t seem to shake the image of Ivy's face when I told her to leave.
What bothered me more than anything was that I had to use my bark on her. I know I did the right thing, ultimately. An omega publicly accused our future mate of fraud in the middle of a launch event. She caused a scene, disrupted the event by barreling at her, hurling accusations, and I had to protect my mate. The best and least harmful way to do that was to command her to stop.
Ivy was a threat - any alpha in my position would have done the same. Yet the moment I barked at her, something inside me recoiled. The command left my mouth and immediately felt wrong in a way I couldn't understand. It felt physically wrong, as though my instincts themselves had rebelled against it. Even now, hours later, my skin felt too tight, and my chest refused to relax.
I had to get Ivy out of my head. Arabella was the victim in this situation. She was the omega who was publicly attacked and accused of horrific things - even so far as to claim that Arabella’s perfume wasn’t her own. And yet I still couldn’t seem to relax.
Later that afternoon, Arabella took up our offer for a stay at the luxury hotel. We made sure she had a room set up so that she wouldn’t have to see Ivy until everything was resolved. She once again said she’d be looking forward to bonding with us and moving in, and I felt the urgency in her voice.
The whole pack was in the living room, all of us mulling over the day’s events. Ronan sat like an unmovable mountain, and Elias stood there with a faraway expression on his face. His hair was wild, like he hadn’t stopped running his hands through it. I could feel the tension among us. I decided to break the silence.
"I think that after today’s events, we need to move forward with Arabella’s wishes." Elias looked up immediately.
"What are you referring to?" He asked, though he knew exactly what I meant.
"I think we should move up the bonding timeline." Instead of excitement, I feel trepidation from him. Elias shoots me a look.
"You're serious? Today was insane. That family has more going on than we realized. We already got Arabella out of harm, now let's let her decompress before we do anything drastic." He argued. I felt the conflicting desire inside of me to protect my mate, but also to keep the peace within our pack.
"Think about it. We can’t let Ivy cause any more harm. Once Arabella is bonded, we’ll be able to keep her safe. Ivy won’t be our problem anymore." I explained, but I could still feel his resistance.
Elias looked at Ronan. “I thought we agreed to take it slow,” he says, and Ronan looked over at me, his eyes dark.
“We need to keep her safe,” he says softly, then glances at Elias. “Why don’t you agree?”
Elias lets out an exasperated sigh. “Because I don’t feel the way I should! I hate to bring this up, but we all felt a difference between the two of them before the match results came through. Don’t deny it!” He said as he looked between us. “I don’t want torush when things don’t make sense. And right now, they aren’t adding up.”
I feel the awful feeling of dread in my stomach, the one I felt when I was a child and witnessed my own family full of resentment at each other.
“I don’t want to mess this up. If we don’t bond her and something happens, I’ll never forgive myself.” I warn, trying to keep myself from growling.
"I know Ivy's behavior tonight was completely unacceptable," Elias continued. "I know what she said sounds irrational. Honestly, if we'd heard the same story from anyone else, I'd dismiss it immediately. But if Arabella is truly our perfect match," Elias said carefully, "why does it still feel like we're forcing ourselves to get there?"
The question ignites immediate frustration inside me because it strikes far closer to home than I want it to.
"That's ridiculous. We feel that way because our entire courtship has had an unstable omega messing with it. Arabella hasn’t been able to open up because she’s living with a ticking time bomb!” I said, and felt Elias’s shock through our bond. “The matching algorithm is correct. Arabella is ours.”
"Is it correct?" Elias shoots back at me. I stand abruptly and begin pacing.
