Accidental Surrogate for Alpha

Sinclair

My wolf is clawing at the surface of my skin, determined to be let out so he can tear Lydia to shreds.

Gritting my teeth, I narrow my eyes at the malevolent she-wolf. “Lydia, you are the second person who

has attempted to blackmail me this month, and I have to tell you – this is getting really old.”

Rolling my eyes, I continue. “And you seem to be forgetting that I’m on the board of the Moon Valley

associated press. I hold shares in every major publication in the city. What’s more, none of the outlets

want the Prince to win the campaign, because if he does the free press disappears.”

Lydia snarls, throwing her hands up, “fine, then I’ll simply text it to every person I know! It will get

around that way!”

“And Ill refute it.” I inform her coldly. “I’ll say it’s an old photo from when we were married, and the pack

will believe me, because you are a traitor who abandoned them.” As I speak, I scan the room for her

phone. If I refute her story, it’s true that the pack will probably side with me, but I honestly don’t want to

risk it.

I finally see her device, lying on the hotel bed’s pristine white coverlet. Straightening up to my full

height, I stride closer to Lydia, towering over her. “

You’ve gone too far this time, Lydia.” I declare, backing her into the wall. “Im going to let you walk away,

but you have to go now. Leave Moon Valley by sunset, and don’t come back.”

“Or what?” She mutters bitterly, tears still hovering on her lashes. “You’ll kill me?”

“You aren’t my mate anymore.” I remind her, “And you never deserved to be in the first place. I will kill

you if you make me, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Go back to your husband, adopt a child if that’s

what you want, but stay the hell away from my family.”

Lydia shakes her head, still full of defiance, even as the scent of her fear grows stronger with every

moment that passes. “I don’t believe you. I don’t believe you’d actually harm me.

With an abundance of control, I close my fist around her throat, glowering down at her and letting her

feel the full force of my rage. “You took my brother from me, for more than a decade.”

I remind her. “You saw fit to ignore fate until you thought you could benefit from it, and you blamed our

fertility struggles on me for years.” My voice is barely more than a snarl, and though I no longer feel

insecure about this particular slight, it doesn’t change the hurt it inflicted at the time.

I press on, watching the panic grow in Lydia’s eyes as her air supply is abruptly cut off. “You left when

the pack needed a strong Luna most. You have endangered everyone in Moon Valley with your

selfishness, you cleared the way for a Tyrant to claim the throne. You drugged me, tried to steal my

sp3rm, and on top of everything else, you made my Ella cry.”

I hiss, amazed to discover my wolf finds this as offensive as Lydia pushing the pack to the brink of war.

Of course it was more than just tears, Ella ran away because of Lydia’s tricks, she might have been

killed if I hadn’t found her so quickly. “The only reason you’re not dead already is because you were my

mate, but that protection is gone now.”

I release her abruptly, moving to the bed and snatching up her phone while she remained huddled

against the wall, gasping for air. “You have until sunset, Lydia. After that, all bets are off.”

I storm out of the room, not pausing to look back. I don’t need to- I can hear Lydia’s back sliding down

the wall so she can huddle on the floor, sobbing out her pain and fury. Once upon a time the sound of

my fated mate so distraught would have brought me to my knees, now it only fills me with satisfaction.

I should have thrown her out of my life years ago.

In fact, I never should have started a relationship with her in the first place. Of course, I wasn’t strong

enough at the time – but I’m strong enough now – I have to be, for my pack, for Ella and Rafe, even for

Roger.

I want to go straight home to Ella, but I know I need to work off some of this violent energy first. I take

my guards to the forest, shifting the moment I’m out of the car, and leading them on a run through the

dense woodland. I don’t hold back, sprinting at top speed and leaving my men in the dust. I run until the

flames of my fury are finally banked, only turning back once my wolf is calm enough to think of Lydia

without growling.

I decide to work from home for the rest of the day, and I finally make my way back to Ella. When I arrive

home, she’s sound asleep in my bed, curled up in a little ball beneath the covers. At first I think the

round lump in the bedding is one of her pillows, but when I notice it breathing I realize that the precious

human has burrowed into a cocoon of cotton and goose-down. Unable to resist, I lift the duvet to peek

inside, leaning down to kiss her hair when I see her serene expression.

Afterwards I head for the shower, still sweaty from my run. I sigh as the steaming water envelopes me,

telling myself that I have to go back to work after I’m clean, no matter how badly I want to crawl into

bed with Ella and nap the afternoon away.

Just for a little while? My wolf begs. Five minutes?

You know it’s never just five minutes. I grouse.

Five minutes turns into fifteen, and that turns into an hour. Besides, Ella needs her rest. I’ll probably

wake her if I try to join.

But we promised to update her about Lydia. He reminds me, determined to win the argument.

And we will. I promise, when she wakes up in her own time.

And so I force myself to dress and go to my study, promising myself I’ll come check on Ella again in a

few hours. In the end, however, she ends up finding me. Around three I hear small feet padding down

the hall, and then a soft knock on my door.

I cross the room in an instant, swinging it open and looking down at the beautiful human with a

furrowed brow. “What are you doing out of bed?”

“I’m allowed two twenty minute walks, remember?” She remarks pointedly. “Besides I wanted a snack

and when I asked my guard he told me you were home”

“Mhmm, and how did you get down the stairs?” I inquire, brushing a few locks of hair back from her

upturned face.

“Marcus carried me.” Ella declares, gesturing to the guard still trailing after her. “What happened with

Lydia?”

I glance at the guard in question, telling my wolf we can’t be annoyed with the man for following our

orders not to let Ella near any staircases, just because we don’t like the fact that he touched her. “

Let’s go to the kitchen and find you a snack, then we can talk.” I suggest, scooping Ella up.

“Dominic, I want to walk.” She groans. “I’ve been stuck in bed all day.”

“But there are more stairs.”I object, secretly thankful for this fact. I know the poor thing must be getting

stir crazy, but I haven’t gotten to hold her since this morning, and I’ve missed her even after this short

time apart.

“Fine but I’m standing when we get there.” Ella declares stubbornly.

“As long as you stand next to me, that’s fine by me.’ I answer, hugging her close as I navigate the

corridors. “Did you have a nice nap?”

“It was fine, what happened with Lydia?” Ella presses.

“So impatient.” I cluck, striding into the kitchen and setting her feet on the ground. “Food comes first.

What were you craving?”

Ella squares her shoulders, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her chin up defiantly. “

Dominic Sinclair, I am not telling you anything or eating a bite until you tell me what happened.”

I arch one brow, towering over her and giving her my most disapproving look. Ella glares up at me for a

few moments, but finally caves when I emit a low rumble. “Fine,” she huffs, going to the fridge.

She extracts a bag of baby carrots and some of my chef’s homemade hummus, pointedly openíng the

container and dipping one of the orange batons into the rich puree and popping it into her mouth.

She chews and swallows, then says, “there, happy?”

“Not yet.” I murmur, taking a seat at the counter and pulling her to stand between my legs. My wolf

relaxes as soon as she’s in the protective circle of my reach, knowing we can catch her if she starts to

feel faint. I dip another carrot and hold it to her lips, determined to feed her a minimum of five before

finally agreeing to share the latest developments. Ella obediently munches the morsels, and I can tell

that she was hungrier than she’d been willing to admit. Her grumpy, energy gradually diminishes, until

she’s eagerly waiting for the next bite.

A bit later, I finally announce the news. “Lydia isn’t pregnant.”