When He's An Alpha (The Olympus Pride #2) - Suzanne Wright Page 0,92

in here is bitch at her for one thing or another. You talk to her like she owes you explanations, and then you act like a dick when you don’t like what you hear. You’re all about how you feel, not how she feels. So right now, I’m not liking you. Which means I’m not liking that you’re anywhere near my mate.”

All the bluster drained from Dieter in a rush. “What?”

“You heard me.”

The eagle’s gaze bounced from Tate to Havana. “You’re not bonded.”

“We will be.”

Dieter looked at Havana, his face slack. “He’s your mate?”

Tate didn’t look away from the eagle, but he heard her reply, “Yes, I was hoping you’d be happy for me.”

Dieter closed his eyes, but not in time to stop Tate from seeing the flash of pain in them. When those eyes opened again, they were blank.

“Just a few minutes ago,” Tate began, “she gave you a choice—calm down or leave. Make that choice, or I’ll make it for you. And I think you get that I’ll have no issue with throwing your ass out of this apartment. Something tells me I might even enjoy it.”

Dieter’s gaze slid back to Havana, still utterly devoid of emotion. He parted his lips as if to speak, but then he clamped them shut and cleared his throat. “I’ll talk to you again soon.” He spun on his heel and left, closing the door behind him.

Bailey puffed out a long breath. “We should totally have him over more often.” With that, she headed to her room, presumably to get dressed.

Tate turned to fully face Havana. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied, scratching her nape. “You?”

“I’m good.” He looped an arm around her and drew her close. “He doesn’t like that you’ve found your mate.” In fact, Tate was thinking that the eagle might have offered Havana a relationship if she’d confessed to wanting more from him. Either that or seeing her with someone else simply hadn’t been easy for the guy. Some could feel a little proprietary over people they’d slept with, even if it had been emotionless sex.

“I think he’s just all wound up about the drive-by,” she said.

Tate didn’t think so. He’d seen the hurt in the eagle’s eyes. “I wanted my family to be the first people I told about us being mates. Instead, it had to be that asshole.”

“Think your family will be happy for you?”

He smiled. “Oh, yeah. They like you.”

She smiled right back. “I like them. The rest of your pride might not be so pleased that your mate is a lone devil shifter, though.”

Tate snorted. “After your display of mercilessness at the Tavern, they all think you’re the shit. Pallas cats respect strength and viciousness—you know that.” They’d be happy to have her as their Alpha female. He didn’t say that, though, because he had no idea how she felt about running a pride and he didn’t want to spoil the mood. They could discuss it later. Right then, all he really wanted to do was taste that mouth of hers again. So he did.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Standing in front of his fireplace, Tate glanced at each of his family members, who were spread around the room in various poses. Their wary expressions weren’t a surprise. Tate had sent them each a text, asking them to meet him at his home—mysterious, yes, but he’d wanted to share his news with them all at once.

“Is everything all right?” asked Vinnie.

Tate nodded. “Better than all right.”

A smile split his sister’s lips. “Let me guess … You got your act together and fixed things with Havana?”

“In a manner of speaking,” said Tate. “She’s my true mate.”

A shocked silence momentarily fell over the room.

Elle gawked. “Seriously? How cool.”

Ingrid clasped her hands together, her face a study in delight. She crossed right to Tate, pulled him into a hug, and smacked a kiss to his cheek. “This is just fabulous. Darlin’, I’m so happy for you. Havana’s my kind of girl—strong, fierce, protective of the people in her circle. Many of the males in our pride will be jealous as hell that you snapped her up.”

“I suspected she was your mate when you almost went ape-shit yesterday after hearing she’d been shot,” Luke said to him, his mouth curved. “I hoped I was right. It’s about time you and your cat settled down.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Vinnie stood and slapped Tate’s back. “Congratulations, son. I’m pleased for you.”

“Same here,” said Damian, smiling. “Havana’s hot as hell.” He raised his hands when Tate narrowed his