CH 11

Rydge He was sitting up in that hotel suite not that far from the Auction House. He’d had concerns this morning about Jess getting out of that horrid pack with how she was going to be dressed and made up. Although she could put it down to the new rules of the boss of the auction house itself, that wasn’t going to stop either of the Mates from taking one look at her and suddenly wanting to keep her inside the pack. Though only for having s*x with and nothing more, he understood from all he’d learned that she was not a Mate they cared for or respected in the slightest. He’d heard that, himself, had been attending a series of lectures at a university in Seattle, and he did not advertise to those that weren’t affiliated with him, down in San Diego; that he was wolfen. He traveled fully scent-masked when that far from his pack, so as not to draw attention to himself. He had been marked and mated once, but lost his Luna and child to childbirth a decade ago now, and so there was no filigree to adorn his neck anymore. He always wore a dress shirt which covered the marking scar and passed for a human. He was a strong Alpha for his pack, but he did not look all muscled up like a gym junky did, he was more defined, lean muscle, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t strong, it just made others think he could be beaten. They got quite a shock when he struck one. He wasn’t weak, had a beast that could half shift, and so could in fact fight in that form as well. Those that could hold a half-shifted beast were always strong, regardless of bloodline, and kind of came directly under the pure bloods, in the ranking system. Those two that were Jess’s Mates were just heirs and ignorant and pathetic in his eyes. That Beta Mate of hers, Gregory, he’d seen with his own eyes hit on a human woman, he could smell that he was mated, see the filigree on his neck, and yet he had stood there and watched him kiss a human girl. Which showed him he had no care for the she-wolf that was his Mate. Though he’d also seen that boy walking about with an Alpha, they had a sibling bond, twins he knew because they scented the same, which meant they had the same mother. He’d seen the filigree on that Alpha heir, Marcus, and picked up the same scent of venom in him as in Gregory, so they had one mate between them as well. One Mate that, if one was cheating on, it was highly likely so was the other. He’d been at that university for three days and set his Beta up to watch them, see if they could find the poor creature that was their unloved and likely unwanted Mate. The pack had been easy to find, tracked their pack's scent right to it, and then his Beta had simply sat and waited it out, to see if their Mate would come and go from the pack. It wouldn’t be hard, he was breathing everyone in, coming and going, simply looking for a she-wolf that scented of Luna rank and had a double mark. If she was allowed out of the pack, that was. Rhett had found her, and they’d tracked her all the way to an auction house, walked along behind her, at a distance, but she had actually walked right past both of them, and they’d both picked up that although she was of a Wolfen bloodline, she didn’t actually have a wolf. Was, it appeared completely wolf-less, was marked and mated, so if she’d been going to get a beast then she should have upon the full moon after marking and mating. She looked a little bit on the untidy side, and it didn’t really surprise him or his Beta that she would, considering she had two Mates that they both thought, cared nothing for her. Her hair was pulled up, but she looked as though she’d not made any real effort with it at all. There wasn’t a skerrick of make-up on her, and she didn’t once smile, likely had nothing to smile about, and her clothes as he looked at her were far too big for her. This she-wolf was actually actively hiding what she looked like behind the rough, unkempt style she wore. And it was a style, because he knew she didn’t want anyone to know how thin she was or pretty either, which told him that none inside her pack even looked at her, or not really. She was getting away with looking frumpy and messy. He wondered just how little those Mates of hers paid attention to her. He’d gone into the auction house with his Beta. She didn’t work up the front where everyone would see her and was relatively attractive and wearing nice clothes. That he also thought that was from her, again by design, because there had been three other she-wolves in there working. All of them warrior ranked. Rhett, his Beta, had murmured down the mind-link ‘They are here to keep track of her.’ ‘Hmm, but it’s not the Mates doing that, likely their fathers. It’s not often you find one she-wolf willing to be between an Alpha and a Beta. They likely didn’t want her because she was wolf-less, and I don’t think she wanted them either, and that’s why they cheat on her. ‘But their fathers, knowing what it is their sons are into, likely like themselves. Knew if they allowed their boys to reject her or her them, their sons would likely never find a Luna to be between them, the Goddess would punish them for rejecting what they were gifted.’ Rydge had responded after only a moment’s thought. ‘Hence the cheating on her. They claimed her but didn’t want her in reality,’ Rhett muttered, ‘and that Beta definitely isn’t interested in her being his Mate.’ ‘No, which means neither is the Alpha she’s mated to, so it’s the parents that kept them together. She being wolf-less likely meant she couldn’t really fight it, also can’t escape; not fast enough to get away.’ he’d sighed to himself. ‘It’s also their parents that have these warriors around her. Lunas, regardless of having a wolf or being wolf-less, are all considered worthy of being snagged by others.’ He’d smiled even as he’d said it. Rhett had looked right at him, picking up the smile in Rydge’s voice, “Are you going to steal another’s? No wait… two others, Luna.” “Maybe,” he’d stated, “Let’s just wait and watch. I want to see exactly what is going on.” He and Rhett had then staked out that auction house, and yes, all the days Jess worked those girls had too. He’d gone in a few times now, to look at the artwork and antiques on display that were for the upcoming auction, and while he had done that, he’d kept his ears open. Where he’d heard them talk s**t about Jess. But it had been when he’d been walking casually down the street behind Jess on her daily lunch routine of walking to the café three blocks away, to get coffee and a sandwich. That he’d heard complete and utter disrespect coming from the warriors, sent here to keep an eye on her. Not that they did that either. They paid her no attention whatsoever unless they wanted to belittle her shabby appearance. He’d seen one of them step sideways and run right into her on purpose, knock her down and laugh, then say the most horrid thing he’d ever heard come from any she-wolf ever, regarding any mated she-wolf, let alone one that was to be their own future Luna. “Oh no, I knocked over the twins c*m bucket, hey fatty, I’d better tell them so they can fill it up again.” Then she and the other she-wolves had laughed and walked off uncaring of the job they were supposed to be doing. It had taken every ounce of not only his self-control, but his beasts as well not to stalk over there and rip their bloody heads off for the utter lack of respect, the intentional cruelty of their words and blatant humiliation of who one day was going to be in position to punish them. But that one thing had told him exactly how she was treated inside the pack. If the warriors who were assigned to watch over her and keep her safe spoke openly like that without fear of reprisal, then those very horrid words he’d had the unpleasant experience of hearing, had to have come from her own Mates lips to the ears of those that dared to say it themselves. He’d watched Jess just sigh softly to herself that day, as she’d let them walk off away from her, then pick herself up off the ground and continued on. She didn’t defend herself against them, and he knew why, because there was no point, not even her Mates cared to defend her. Likely probably said that very thing to her themselves. It also told him why she wore those oversized clothes. They had likely once fit her. She had probably been overweight once, picked on and bullied for it inside that pack, long before she scented out her Mates. Then he’d realized her Mates had likely bullied her as well, only to find out they were gifted the wolf-less chubby she-wolf of the pack. He’d followed her into the café that day, and she’d ordered her coffee and food, and he’d heard her speak softly but friendly to the girl behind the counter, who smiled at her and addressed her as Jess. The girl knew her because she was a regular. He’d sat and watched her from another seat in the café, and she’d simply ate while either people watching or scrolling through her phone. He’d watched her brush her hair back from her face and she’d actually looked right at him for a moment; he’d not looked away from her gaze. She’d blinked and then turned her eyes away from him, but he’d felt her gaze on him a moment later, though he’d been typing away on his phone, as though their connecting had been of no concern to him. That he just happened to look at her as she had him. He was a nice man to look at, six-four, and he had dark brown wavy hair and light blue-grey hazel eyes that could be blue or a soft grey that sometimes looked silver. He’d seen just how dark and stormy grey her eyes were when she’d looked at him, and she was more than pretty. He couldn’t imagine any Mate being unhappy; being mated to one that looked like her. Those two assholes that were her Mates, he knew, never looked at her, or hadn’t in a long time. He was curious as to whether they only touched her when she went into heat, and then he wondered if she would have a heat. She was wolf-less, so there was a possibility she wouldn’t. He’d watched her leave that café that day and let her walk back on her own. She dressed like this on purpose, and he’d known it, to keep her Mates from realizing there was a pretty young woman under those oversized clothes, kept her hair a little on the messy side, so if they did turn their eyes to her, they’d likely huff or snarl and turn away from her, she made herself look unattractive on purpose. Which to him meant she was likely just biding her time to make an escape from them, from that pack. He’d leaned back in his seat and smiled to himself. Well, if they didn’t want her, then they didn’t deserve her. He could help her get away from them.