In the Alpha’s Arms Novel

Bonus Chapter- You Like That, Huh?

Are you pretending not to hear me? Cole asked over the link, concern threading through his words.

Lita had stormed out of her father’s office like a bat out of hell, barrelling through Asher’s Deltas as she fled. At the time, Cole snorted, knowing big bad Alpha Asher had called for backup. He’d gone from trying to dominate Lita, to crying for his guards with Cole only a moment away from putting his hand around the man’s neck. Lita hadn’t found it funny, throwing hard shoulders into each man that refused to get out of her way. A few had even stmbled, glaring at Cole as they went to check on their Alpha.

Lite? Cole tried for the fourth time, only more silence echoing back, Cole kicked himself and Midnight snapped his jaws closed in irritation,

You humans are always making a mess of things, Midnight growled, prowling the edges of Cole’s mind like the predator he was. You should have let me

take his throat.

Cole bared his teeth, hating when his wolf took on that self–satisfied tone. I don’t take orders from anthing that licks its own balls.

Midnight huffed in a wet laugh, running his tongue over his canines. I get no complaints from Nyx

Cole made a disgusted face, then ignored the wolf, knowing it would only antagonize him more to ignore him. So Cole focused on Lita’s bond instead. He should have spoken up when Asher dismissed Lita, or when he spoke to Cole as if she wasn’t there. But he’d been trying to remain civil with the man who ran the east coast packs. The one who sent a small army to rescue Lita. Cole hadn’t wanted to bulldoge over that relationship. Just for Asher to say everything that made such a relationship impossible.

She probably felt like he hadn’t defended her. Wolves defended their Lunas on all levels, and yet he’d sat there and twiddled his thumbs. But Cole had been getting a sense lately that Lita didn’t appreciate when he stepped in. As if she’d rather he left her to handle her own fights, and it wasn’t an unreasonable request for a Luna to make

Maybe she wasn’t upset because he hadn’t helped. She’d told him to stay out of it after all. Cole rubbed the back of his neck as he followed the path his Luna made on her way out. He could clearly see the line of disgruntled wolves, still trying to get back in position to watch the fight. She was probably upset because he intervened. Frustrated, Cole linked the pack, giving them a sharp command to steer clear of their Luna until she calmed down

She was more than capable of dealing with her own problems–an Alpha in her own proud right and he hadn’t meant to make her feel weak, so he was trying to correct his behavior, to give her what he thought she wanted. Except Lita never seemed to make it easy for him. Cole tried to take that into consideration. Especially concerning a meeting with her father when their relationship was already nonexistent and Cole was already in the doghouse. But his damned instincts were so difficult to fight sometimes. If even one finger on Asher’s hand had made contact with Lita, those Deltas would’ve had to pull Cole off of him. And Cole’s pick would have been excommunicated from the east coast, or at the very least, Asher’s events.

Perhaps that was her problem. Was this about what Asher asked? Cole probed the bond, wading through the flurry of feelings Lita unleashed.

Asher should never have asked you to accept your mother into our pack. You know I stand by your refusal one hundred percent, love. Cole said, hoping to assure her or soothe her, even as he knew she probably wouldn’t respond.

The sound of the door slamming had drawn interested eyes from the crowd, and Lita’s storming off didn’t go unnoticed. Werewolves, much like humans, thrived on drama and getting the inside scoop on behind–the–scenes happenings. Cole scowled at them, letting Midnight’s eyes flash and remind them exactly who he was. Immediately, they snapped their attention back to the ring. He returned his focus to Lita, who pushed deeper into the crowd. The issue with detecting emotions was that he couldn’t always tell why she was feeling something. Lita’s emotions weren’t always easy to tie to a specific incident. And when she was angry with him, her emotions blended too much to tell exactly what had upset her.

At the moment, her bond felt like a hurricane. Cole could barely keep his footing, let along gauge the issue. He reached for her shoulder, but she evaded effortlessly, slipping away. He brushed people out of the way in order to keep up and those wolves had the good sense not to say a word about it.

What’s happening? Alex’s voice beamed through the fog of Cole’s mind. He opened a public link, one accessible to all their pack members in the immediate vicinity

I told you I was going to ask first, asshole, Ace snarled through the same connection. Luna’s pissed. The fuck did you do, Cole? Cole shook his head, knowing Ace was always one word away from getting punched at all times.

Don’t let that miserable mouth ruin your pretty face, State cautioned Ace, borderline laughing over the band, faz would be upset if you come back with fewer teeth than you left with

Po not known for my teeth, Stacey Ramos, Ace bragged. ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Cof it out before I kick your ass out of the link. Cole snapped, to answer your question, Alex, nothing bad happened, really, Asher’s an asshole, but what else is new? le triggered it and acted like nothing happened. But she’s ignoring me now, so I guess fucked up, too