Dimitri’s POV
I was going insane.
As soon as I ran into the forest following her scent, I could tell that there was a party going on.
Were they fucking crazy?! A lot of those kids were in my patrol and they knew about the rogues. Everyone in the pack knew that something was going on and that they should be careful. What the fuck were they thinking?! If the rogues breached the border, they would be in so much danger. My Maddie would be in danger.
The thought of that had me running even faster. All I could think about was getting there, finding her, and bringing her home where I knew she would be safe.
I was getting closer to the party and I was already trying to see what was going on through the thick branches when my eyes caught something that broke me completely.
Seth was holding my mate in his arms. Seth was kissing her.
I saw his lips against hers and I couldn’t control the growl that escaped me.
My heart broke inside my chest. I could feel the tiny pieces shattering my insides. I couldn’t breathe and a rock filled with pain and sadness formed in my throat.
I barely managed to keep Skol inside. He was going crazy inside me. I couldn’t figure out if he was whining or growling. Probably both.
Seth raised his head abruptly. His eyes widened when he saw me. I glanced at Maddie and saw that she was staring at Seth with a mixture of surprise and confusion on her face. Why was that? Maybe she wasn’t expecting him to kiss her. Maybe she didn’t want it.
His arm was still wrapped around her waist and it was driving me fucking crazy.
“Let her go and move,” I growled, trying so fucking hard to remain as calm as I could.
Seth looked down at Maddie and gulped. Why the fuck wasn’t he moving?!
‘Get him away from her before I kill him!’ Skol screamed, making me move on instinct.
I grabbed Seth’s upper arm and pulled him away from her. I stood in front of Maddie, keeping my eyes on Seth the entire time. I reached behind me and placed my hand on Maddie’s waist, letting the tingles calm me down a little.
“Alpha, I…,” he spoke, but I interrupted him.
“I don’t want to hear it, Seth,” I growled. “She isn’t yours to kiss.”
His eyes widened and he tried to look at Maddie. I moved so he couldn’t see her.
“What the fuck are you even doing out here?!” I shouted. “You know about the rogues! You know it’s dangerous and you brought her here!”
I was so fucking angry that not even touching Maddie helped. I wanted to rip Seth’s head off.
Seth opened his mouth to speak, but Maddie interrupted him.
“It’s not his fault,” she mumbled. “I wanted to come.”
She sounded weird. Was she…
I turned around abruptly and cupped her cheeks. I looked into her eyes and growled.
“Are you drunk?!” I exclaimed. “Who the fuck let you drink?!”
I couldn’t believe that I didn’t smell it before. I was so angry and so fucking hurt when I saw Seth kissing her that I paid no attention to anything else.
“I am fine,” Maddie mumbled. “I am not drunk.”
I could smell alcohol and wolfsbane on her breath. Her eyelids were half-closed. She was slurring her words a little.
“Don’t lie to me, Madeline,” I said, trying to hold back a growl.
I looked at Seth over my shoulder. He was staring at Maddie with a worried expression on his face. I wished that I could rip his eyes out so he could never look at her again. I wished that I could kiss her right now so I would just erase the trace of his lips from hers. I wished that I came home a little earlier and stopped her from going out.
The party is over. I mind-linked every wolf that was in the forest and all the noise suddenly stopped. I forbid you to throw another one until the situation with the rogues is resolved.
Seth took a deep breath and gulped.
“Go home, Seth,” I told him.
I had to get him out of here before I lost it.
“Maddie…,” Seth spoke, but I interrupted him.
“She is mine to take care of,” I said, making his eyebrows furrow. “Go home.”
“I will be fine, Seth,” Maddie said quietly. “You can go home.”
Seth clenched his fists and looked at me. I could tell that he was thinking hard about something. Maybe he suspected that she was my mate.
I didn’t care by this point. I had to keep it a secret for only two more weeks.
“Fine,” Seth mumbled finally. “I will see you tomorrow, Mads.”
I watched him walk away. He kept glancing back at Maddie and a wave of anger hit me each and every time his eyes landed on her. She wasn’t his to look at!
I waited until I couldn’t see him anymore before I looked back at my princess. I was still holding her beautiful face in my hands.
“Did he make you uncomfortable when he kissed you?” I asked her softly.
I would kill him if he kissed her against her will.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “He told me that he thinks that I am his mate.”
My heart stopped beating. Skol whined loudly.
He told her that? Did she want him to be her mate? Did she want him?
Maddie chuckled and shook her head.
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” she mumbled and tried to move. “He isn’t my mate.”
My eyes widened. How did she know?
“I want to go to sleep,” Maddie mumbled and tried to move again.
She couldn’t move much because I was pressing her against the tree and cupping her cheeks.
I nodded and let her go. She thought that I would let her walk on her own, but I could tell that she was a bit unsteady so I picked her up in my arms bridal style. I couldn’t wait to carry her like this after I married her.
Maddie gasped and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“What are you doing, Alpha?” she asked, staring at me wide-eyed.
I hated that she wouldn’t stop calling me Alpha. I told her to call me Dimitri, but she ignored me. My stubborn little mate.
“I am not letting you hurt yourself,” I said.
“But I can…,” she said, but I interrupted her.
“I don’t want to hear it, Maddie,” I said sternly. “I am angry at you already. Don’t make it worse.”
I didn’t want to lecture her now. I couldn’t even process everything that happened. I just needed to get her home and make sure that she was okay. I would deal with my overwhelming emotions tomorrow.
