Alpha Wyatt took a slow deep breath. He gritted his teeth as his hand gripped tightly to the arm of his chair.

“Those are very strong words, Granger,” Wyatt spoke carefully, taking a large portion of his self-control to maintain his calm.

“I know, my Alpha, and I don’t say them lightly,” Granger replied.

“Then explain!” Wyatt shouted.

Granger flinched at the strength of Wyatt’s tone. A deep resentment had been growing in him at how easily he reacted to the alpha’s power ever since Caleb had brought him to his knees.

He cleared his throat and steadied himself.

“At the Blood Moon Gathering, Ashleigh met Alpha Caleb for the first time. From what she said, it was very uncomfortable.” Granger began.

He wasn’t lying. Ashleigh had told him that she felt very uncomfortable with Caleb. However, the reason for the discomfort didn’t need to be shared with Alpha Wyatt.

“He was insistent on spending time alone with her, so she made it clear she already had a mate. You might have heard about him and his wolves running wild through the trees that night? Apparently, it was to release some… frustration.” Granger gave a slight growl as he finished his sentence.

It helped tell his story to Alpha Wyatt, but it was also genuine. He hated that Caleb expressed a desire for Ashleigh. He hated that she felt anything at all for him in return.

Wyatt swallowed and let out a tense breath.

“Ashleigh is a beautiful girl, and without being a part of Winter, it isn’t strange for someone to think she is still unmated. I may not like the idea of his attention on her, but I cannot fault the man for showing interest.”

“Yes, my Alpha,” Granger agreed, “I don’t like any of it at all. But, if it ended there, well, there would be no reason to have this conversation.”_.

“There is more?” Wyatt asked.

Granger nodded, and Wyatt signaled him to continue.

“As you know, Ashleigh sent invitations for her birthday to all the alphas as a gesture. She did not expect that Alpha Caleb would come to her party, yet he did.” Granger clenched his jaw at the memory.

“If I remember correctly,” Wyatt said, “Alpha Caleb came to her aid at the party.”

Granger pushed down the desire to yell at his Alpha, to scream in his face, or even take a swing at him for suggesting that Caleb in any way was a good man towards his Ashleigh.

“Yes, you are correct, my Alpha,” Granger answered, “a wolf from Autumn was drunk and had been harassing Ashleigh. Both Alpha Caleb and I put an end to it. Axel and I escorted the man out.”

Wyatt nodded to himself. Granger could practically see the thoughts in his head. Words like ‘misunderstand’, ‘confused’, ‘good man’ were bouncing in Granger’s mind like live grenades, setting off explosions of anger and frustration. He took a cleansing breath before continuing.

“But earlier in the day, I was on patrol, and I heard what sounded like an argument. So I approached just in time to see Ashleigh falling into tears as Alpha Caleb shouted at her, with his alpha tone.”

Wyatt let out a low growl.

“For what reason?” he demanded.

“I don’t know,” Granger answered, “I didn’t hear the words exchanged. All I know is that she had gone for a run, and she ran into Caleb.”

“For a run?” Wyatt asked. He looked down, squinting as though he were trying to focus on a blurry memory. Suddenly they widened, and he looked straight at Granger. “Was she running in her wolf form?”

Granger looked away, once more clenching his jaw, he looked angry, but he was pleased. He wanted Wyatt to assume that Caleb had seen Ashleigh naked, that she was upset because of this.

“Ashleigh always runs in wolf form,” Granger replied with a low growl, just enough to show his anger at the ‘situation’.

“Did he see her!?!” Wyatt snarled loudly, standing from his chair and ripping the arm off as he did.

Granger fell back, shocked by the sudden outburst. He landed hard against the floor, scrambling to pick himself up.

‘Get up!’ he thought to himself angrily. ‘You are not some pathetic pup! Get your ass up!’

After righting himself and pushing away from the resentment and shame, he looked back up at Wyatt. He was angry, his eyes taking on an unnatural glow, showing the intense fury he felt.

It wasn’t surprising. Just as Holden had said, Wyatt was a traditionalist. More so than any other wolf. Thinking that Alpha Caleb may have even glanced at her flesh was enough to set him off, imagine how he would feel if he knew that Granger had touched that flesh.

Granger felt a smile trying to show itself on his face. He quickly pushed it away, focusing on the conversation.

“I don’t know,” Granger said, his tone serious, “she wouldn’t tell me.”

Wyatt growled.

“All she would say was that she had run into him, and they had a disagreement, that he got upset. I didn’t tell her that I had seen him use his alpha tone or that I had heard only one sentence that had been spoken between them.”

“What sentence?” Wyatt asked.

“I heard Ashleigh repeat that I was her mate. It was after this that he got angry.”

Wyatt moved away from Granger. He walked to the stone fireplace and held to it as though without it, he would fall. He was silent for a long time. Granger observed, trying to decide if he should continue or not.

“I don’t understand this.” Wyatt finally spoke, “If this all happened, if Ashleigh felt so sure that Caleb had ill intentions, why did she not tell me? Why did she agree to go to Summer?”

Granger smiled a Cheshire cat grin, this question he was more than prepared for. He knew exactly how to answer this in a way that would benefit him most.

“Duty before heart.”

Wyatt turned and looked at Granger, whose smile had quickly faded back to a face of quiet anger and concern.

“What?” Wyatt asked, his eyes holding a painful expression.

“When I asked her why she wouldn’t tell anyone, why she wouldn’t let me tell anyone,” Granger said, sadness carefully playing in his voice. “All she would say was duty before heart.”

Wyatt’s shoulder sagged; a wave of sadness crept over him.

Granger felt confident that he had succeeded in convincing Wyatt of Caleb’s ‘true’ nature.

“Thank you for telling me.” Wyatt said sadly, “I will be more aware of Ashleigh’s wellbeing from now on.”

Granger nodded respectfully.

“I will let Ashleigh know that she won’t need to worry about Alpha Caleb’s return.” Granger smiled.

“What do you mean?” Wyatt said, looking at Granger as though he said something strange.

“His training,” Granger said, “I’ll just let her know that someone else will handle it.”

“Why would you do that?” Wyatt asked, straightening himself.

“I just assumed… now that you know what happened…” Granger replied, unable to hide his confusion or fear. “You aren’t still going to let him try to steal her… are you?”

“Steal her?” Wyatt asked, “Granger, no one can steal your mate.”

“But–“ Granger began.

“There is no need to worry about something like that happening. The Goddess herself has blessed the two of you with your bond. No one can break that,” Wyatt smiled, putting a hand on Granger’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Yes, I know,” Granger said, “but, Alpha Caleb–“

“I understand your concern, and as I said, I will pay more attention to Ashleigh and her wellbeing from this point on. But, as far as Alpha Caleb, I think there have been some misunderstandings.”

There it was, one of the words Granger had feared finding its way into this conversation.

“You said yourself that you were not present for the whole conversation, and let’s face it, Ashleigh is a good girl, but she can be a bit hostile herself. It’s possible they simply had a disagreement that got out of hand. Caleb is a good man.”

Another of the words he feared.

“I will talk to them both, see if we can clear this up.”

Granger felt a rush of panic. If Wyatt told Ashleigh about their conversation, how would she react?

“She really didn’t want me to tell you about this. I came here on my own. Please, I beg of you. Don’t end my marriage before it has even begun.” Granger laughed nervously.

“Alright,” Wyatt sighed. “But I will give you a piece of advice, do not hide things from your mate. It never turns out well.”

“Agreed,” Granger said.

“As far as this situation goes, I won’t be removing Ashleigh from her assignment, as I am the one who made this agreement. So I cannot back out of it at the last minute. But I can ask one of the other berserkers to train with them if we feel it is necessary to have a chaperone.”

“Thank you,” Granger replied, trying desperately to keep from showing his frustration and anger.

“But,” Wyatt added, “I will be talking to Alpha Caleb about all that has been shared. I will make sure he understands and respects the mate bond as the will of the Goddess!”

Granger felt familiar darkness slithering into his heart.

‘If Caleb tells Wyatt that he is also Ashleigh’s mate, he’ll take her from me!’ his panicked thoughts screamed, ‘I won’t let that happen!’