Shifted Love Volume 1 - Fiona Davenport Page 0,43
people who looked less than thrilled to be here. Heather—the instigator of this drama—was sitting with Luke and their parents to my left, but I decided to focus on the two unhappy pack members on the other side of the room first since the reason behind their animosity was at least semi-understandable. “Damon, Cason...I get why you’d have concerns about Larissa after what happened with your brother’s mate. Fate dealt Aaron a shit hand.”
“From where I’m sitting, I’m not sure she did you any favors either,” Damon grumbled. “You’re the strongest shifter in the pack, but who knows what your kids will be like with a human for a mom. And that’s if she even sticks around that long.”
“I’m cutting you a very small amount of slack because I know you’re hurting over your brother going lone wolf after the woman who should’ve been his mate turned out to be more interested in money than happiness,” I growled, my hands fisting at my sides. “It fucking sucks that she decided she’d rather marry a rich guy she had zero feelings for instead of mating the only man she’d ever desire. But I won’t stand for you punishing Larissa for that bitch’s mistakes.”
“Dude, that’s all kinds of fucked up,” Allegra muttered, shaking her head. “Larissa would never do something like that. She’s ridiculously loyal to the people in her life. Like to the point I could call her in the middle of the night to ask for help after murdering someone, and she’d show up with plastic sheeting and a shovel to bury the body and a carton of ice cream and wine to help me feel better.”
“Nah, I’d bring nitric acid to dissolve the body,” Larissa corrected with a grin. “I wouldn’t want to run the risk of getting caught while we moved the body.”
Cason elbowed his younger brother in the side. “We may have overreacted. She seems very different from Karen.”
“Of course, she’s fucking different,” Zeke barked, moving to stand in front of Larissa and me. Going down to one knee, he added, “Without knowing anything about shifters, she accepted our alpha’s mark within an hour of meeting him. She’s honored our ways and deserves our respect.”
Luke crossed the room to kneel beside Zeke. “I know I’m not your third, but Tane isn’t here to speak for himself. If he were, I have no doubt he’d be pissed as fuck. Anyone who wants to judge our alpha’s mate for being human also condemns his mom.”
“Fuck, he’s right,” Damon sighed, scrubbing his hands down his face before sliding off his chair to kneel on the floor. “I’m sorry, alpha. I should’ve kept my mouth shut about your mate and waited to form an opinion about her after we’d met. What happened with Aaron fucked with my head more than I realized.”
The rest of the room followed suit, kneeling and welcoming Larissa to our pack. There was one glaring exception—the girl who’d started the trouble in the first place. Heather pouted and mumbled, “I can’t believe they’re just giving in like this.”
“Who the fuck are you to question fate? To question me?” I roared, waiting until all eyes were on me to continue. “Heather is young and spoiled. It could be argued she doesn’t know any better than to run her mouth off about my mating.” I met her father’s gaze, wanting him to see the depth of my fury so he didn’t do something stupid like try to save his daughter from a well-deserved punishment. “Except there would be a glaring fault in that claim—we learn as cubs that fated mates are sacred. Even the youngest among us should know better than to try to cause trouble between any fated mate pairing, let alone their alpha and his mate.”
“I-I…” Heather sputtered, her eyes going wide.
“On your knees!” I yelled, stalking across the room. As I drew close, her mom reached back and pulled her off the couch. My wolf was close to the surface, demanding I annihilate the girl who’d caused trouble for our mate. “The day you were born, I vowed to protect you as a member of our pack. When I became alpha, I promised to defend all of the shifters who accepted me as their leader, including you. But neither of those oaths supersede the one I made to my fated mate today. Anyone who cannot accept her has no place in my pack.”
“No, you can’t mean it,” Heather gasped, shaking her head as tears started to