The Change (Fated Series: book1)

“So that’s where all our taxes go to? Ridiculous accusations from grudge-holding thickheaded Alphas? Don’t you have rogues to decapitate? Do something more productive,” Nessa’s anger was clear in the passion she went after Pack Law.

Marcus smiled. He couldn’t agree more. At first he had shared the outrage of the proposed excommunication, but then saw Rifkin’s point. Even though the accusation was ridiculous, Pack Law was the institution keeping self governing packs accountable. Alphas were not untouchable. Pack Law made sure of it.

Marcus understood Pack Law had to follow protocol and treat any complaint with the same respect as they, themselves expected. The problem was Nessa wasn’t the victim Brandon alleged. She was quite the aggressor. Marcus fondly remembered all the times she had put her hands on his person. It took guts to stand up against an Alpha, much less provoke a confrontation. It was foolish to assume a Beta would in fact stand a chance against her. Besides, Nessa had an Alpha mate to back her up. Marcus smirked. Brandon was so clueless.

The blood in Marcus’ veins was boiling as Brandon accused Cameron. How blind with jealousy could you be not to see Marcus’ interest in Nessa? Marcus wanted to be the accused. Then Nessa would have no choice but to rescue him with her admission they were mates. Then things could be so much easier.

Nessa was not pleased with the accusation and debated with Rifkin the merits of it. Marcus expected her to cave and to announce she had chosen a mate. He couldn’t decide what was more enticing - seeing her stand her ground with sharp tongue and arguments, or seeing Rifkin cave.

Blame his stupid wolf for his possessiveness, but Marcus held a grudge against the guy. The beast was anxious as his chosen mate was no longer connected to him, or recognized him as her Alpha.

You just didn’t let your mate go. Ever!

What if she found someone else for a chosen mate? The tricky thing about choice mates was they formed based on choice. Nessa was free to decide to be with some poor bastard, who Marcus would need to eliminate, of course. She belonged to him! WITH HIM!

Nessa was everything a wolf could aspire to find in a mate, and Marcus was not the only one to recognize it. Brandon’s petty accusation confirmed he may had fooled Nessa with a happily mated facade, but was still hung up on her.

“Are you done?” Joel’s icy response snapped Marcus’ attention back to the present, “We are investigating this claim. It’s final.”

“Waste of time,” Nessa retorted with the same business like voice Rifkin used. “FYI, if I get mauled on my way to work or my apartment, I am going to haunt you!”

Marcus chuckled at her argument, while Joel looked concerned. There wasn’t a soul in Blackwood who would not recognize his scent on her. Nessa could not get hurt in his pack. A slow, agonizing death was the sentence reserved for anyone standing in the way of a mating. But Rifkin did not know the depth of their relationship.

Though some confrontation could be healthy. It would make Nessa see how pointless was the space she insisted upon. She was delaying the inevitable and although Marcus liked the tease and anticipation there came a time when the beast wanted what was his.

“Joel, this is ridiculous,” Nessa sighed abandoning all arguments against wasting company’s resources. She was nervous which only meant she was going after the Commander with a personal reasoning. “I am not under anyone’s command. You know that I can’t be compelled. So a mouthful from an Alpha is just that.”

A mouthful?

Only Nessa could use such colorful expressions and get his mind in the gutter. Worse, he liked it. He would give her a mouthful later.

For anyone other than Marcus, her words confirmed her dormant wolf. No wolf meant no hierarchy. Therefore, Alpha commands carried no authority. Sure, she would feel the power behind the words, but they would not be binding. More like an advice you were given but never cared much to receive it in the first place. “Therefore I can’t be under Mmm... Alpha Ned’s command.”

“When?” Joel asked out of place, worry clearly etched on his face.

“Really,” Nessa rolled her eyes.

“Nessa, how long?” Joel insisted with even more authority in his voice. She withstood his penetrating gaze, indicating with her eyes the rest of the wolves in the room. She was not going to discuss it in front of them. Marcus almost laughed. Alphas or High ranked Pack Law officials stood no chance against his mate. Pride swelled in him.

“Leave us.”

Alex reluctantly left the room.

“Now he cares,” the thought shot through Marcus’ mind. It was endearing how she projected to him as her mate. The family and mating bonds superseded any pack allegiance. He had to find solace in that, until his teeth sunk in that pretty neck of hers.

“Nes, I cleared the room but this meeting is still official. Please choose your words wisely,” Joel cautioned her. “How long?”

“Since last time,” Nessa said.

“Bloody hell!” Joel exclaimed and she shrugged her shoulders dismissing his reaction.

“Last time what?” Brandon asked.

Marcus waited for her reply. For once he agreed with Brandon, they all needed clarification. Did they have a relationship? His teeth shifted ready to eliminate any competition where his mate as concerned. Nessa didn’t even acknowledge Brandon which pissed off the young consort Alpha more than any reply she could have given.

“Rejection thickens your skin,” Nessa responded. “Besides, nobody would mess with me. I have freaking Pack Law on speed dial. Let me tell you this is a witch hunt. And I am as human as we can get.”

Marcus fisted his hands but kept his posture relaxed. Oh, she would get more than an earful.

Mouthful, he corrected himself.

If he was pissed by the unfound accusation, now he was livid. Vanessa had Pack Law on speed dial? Did Rifkin not see how that would make a target? There were so many shifters disgruntled by Pack Law’s politics who would love to destroy someone or something that held value to one of the Commanding officers.

“Joel, I am more than fine here,” Nessa pointedly announced.

“So Nicole and Michele,” Joel continued then sighed relaxing his stand, “You aren’t saying goodbye.”

“Nope. You are not getting rid of me so easily,” Nessa dismissed him then chuckled, “Besides, my credit score can take a little hit every once in a while. It’s actually healthy. You should not believe everything you read,” Nessa teased him referring to Brandon’s claim. The sarcasm didn’t go unnoticed by Brandon, who growled. The pup was suddenly so interested and obsessed with Ness, which made Marcus wonder. Why now? What changed?

“Rifkin, you’re obviously too close to Nessa. I want to submit my grievances to the Supreme Commander,” Brandon weaseled out.

“I’d like to see you try, Alpha Brandon,” Joel casual and soft voice was in direct contradiction to his icy glare. “You can discuss the precautions you took to limit the fallout of rejecting your Fated. It would be an eye opener.”

Marcus couldn’t have said it any better. Rejections did happen but usually they were mutual with safeguards to limit the suffering of the parties involved. Nobody wanted to deal with a berserk wolf. Least of all, Pack Law.

“No offense to you Alphas, but let’s get to the point, even if we bruise an Ego or two,” Joel replied looking at Nessa. “Nessa’s rejection sparkled your disagreement,” Joel pointed between the two Alphas. “Pack Law intervened before it got out of hand,” he paused waiting for someone to disagree. “Nessa’s allegiance is mine. We shall all behave in proper, peaceful and respectful manner.”

“Beta Cameron is abusing his station and making unwanted advances,” Brandon interjected.

“Let me be the judge of that,” Nessa snapped back.

“You don’t know shit! You hardly have an experience with horny weres and their motives!” Brandon argued.

“Piss off over the border,” Nessa instructed him then sheepishly looked at Joel, while Marcus was trying to hold back his laughter. His mate had a way with words. She had just told a visiting Alpha off and hinted about the scent of his bodily fluids being offensive enough they should stay on his land. The words she chose carried the same vulgar tone as the ones Brandon used, making the exchange justified. It managed to stun Brandon and snap Joel Rifkin’s attention to Marcus.

There was no doubt the Pack Law Official caught onto what Nessa eluded behind the cruel language. She still associated herself with Blackwood hence why she was protective of its lands against the bodily fluids Alphas used back in the day to mark territory.

As Marcus did not contradict her, Rifkin looked at Marcus connecting the dots.

“I’m sorry but he started it,” Nessa remained oblivious at the exchange, “but surely you can see everything is just peachy around me.”

She looked at Marcus with questioning eyes, which soon led to ogling him. His shirt was hanging onto shreds and stained into his blood wherever the chains had touched him. He gave her a reassuring smile. Rifkin would be blind not to see the attraction between them. Alphas did not appreciate sustained eye contact and here he was enjoying her attention.

“You ran away to work in that God forsaken bar. I offered you financial support as any Alpha would do. You decided to sever the ties to us, not I!” Brandon remained focused on the wrong thing and missed the interaction between the two.

“If you really want to help, you find a way. If you don’t want to, then you find excuses,” Nessa didn’t even bother taking her eyes off Marcus which brought even more salt to Brandon’s wounded ego. She turned to look at Joel, meeting his gaze with pride and satisfaction. She was letting her guardian know she had a claim on Marcus. “Now, can I go back to my pack? I have things to do, people to see.”

“By all means let’s hurry so Nessa can get laid,” Brandon tried shaming her. Marcus was ready to jump in and defend her but Nessa was faster.

“I knew you’d understand. FYI, it’s mind-blowing,” Nessa shamelessly announced.

Brandon paled, his face concorded from shock to disbelief. Joel, on the other hand, rightfully choked on the liquor at her response. Marcus could not see pass the compliment and her possessiveness. She was his and was not ashamed to praise him.

Not that that praise wasn’t earned.

Brandon tried to speak but Nessa shushed him.

“The best thing about having no wolf is that I don’t need to answer any of your questions and nobody can compel me to do so,” Nessa continued friend-zoning everyone with her explanation, “you see, I don’t want to inflate his Ego if I say, I am head over heels with him.”

Marcus tried to keep a neutral expression.

“Does he know about us?” Joel asked.

“I knew it. You had an affair with her at the strip club!” Brandon exclaimed in disgust. Nessa rolled her eyes.

“He meant werewolves,” Nessa responded but her expression was clearly puzzled with Joel’s question.

“What strip club?” Marcus asked. He could deal with previous conquests but the mentioning of a strip club raised too many possibilities. Marcus’ mind pulled him in too many directions all at once. Would you strip for him? Did she strip for money? And in such case Marcus needed to further punish Brandon for not finding a way to take care of her. Nessa looked at Marcus and sighed, her eyes getting teary as Brandon responded instead of her.

“Alpha Ned, did she not list her previous occupations currently? Oh, I am so sorry to bear bad news, but she lied to you,” Brandon continued his insult.

“I’m Raven Devenheart,” Nessa reluctantly admitted, “I needed the money and I could write, so I wrote Taken. It helped me through a rough time and I am not ashamed of it. I bartended at an exotic club to make Taken feel more realistic. I even tried being exotic dancer, not a stripper,” Nessa passionately explained, “for one night only and with my luck, my client turned out to be Joel, who hauled me off to Pack Law Headquarters. They censured Taken. I didn’t sleep with him.”

“That’s it?” Marcus asked and quickly received a nod from her. “Come here.”

Nessa immediately complied with his order. Marcus hugged her and squeezed her tightly in his arms. She had been strong for so long, surviving on her own by burying the pain and her wolf. She was proud and refused the Alpha’s help which was a handout by her dipshit Fated. A capable Alpha would have found a way to support her without her knowledge.

“I suppose I should thank you for enforcing the Pack Law and taking care of her,” Marcus started.

“I suppose I should thank you for keeping an eye on her,” Joel continued allowing a small smile on his lips. It was the first time Marcus saw him openly show feelings for anyone. And he knew the guy for a decade now!

“What?” Brandon questioned.

“Her wolf projects thoughts to me.”

“Marcus,” Nessa snapped at him and slapped at chest, to which Marcus smirked.

“Alpha Ned to you, Ness,” Brandon exclaimed.

The less power a wolf had, the more hung up he got on titles. How in the world Brandon dismissed the physical contact between Nessa and Marcus as casual was surprising. Only mates could antagonize Alphas and live to see another day.

Nessa licked her lips, reminding Marcus of the painful constriction of his pants.

“Thank you. I am retiring for the night,” Marcus did not ask for permission but merely informed them.

“By all means,” Joel smirked at them as Marcus towed Nessa behind him. Not that she needed convincing.

Marcus escorted her to her room and then as soon as the door closed pulled her into a very tight and intimate hug. He kept on rubbing his nose against her neck, which made her want to pull away with a giggle.

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

“You look proud of yourself.”

“You should have seen the other guys.”

“Excuse you, what do you think you’re doing?” Nessa asked him as he rubbed his stubble against her cheek and neck, making her cringe away in a giggle.

“Nothing,” Marcus kissed her once again before taking off his shirt.

“Marcus!” Nessa exclaimed.

“My office needs re-decoration and is hardly habitable because of you. You could be a sport and share the bed with me. Sort of a reimbursement for destroying my office,” Marcus laid out his strategy.

“Thank you for that,” Nessa smiled running her hands over his shoulders.

“You’re welcome,” Marcus continued to undress in front of her.

“Alpha wing is mere doors down the corridor,” she teased him.

“I like it fine just here, Miss Devenheart.”

“Really?” Nessa chuckled.

“I understand the hardship of losing a Fated. You did what you needed to survive, but you should have trusted me and told me earlier about the book.”

“You knew,” she replied.

“I’m an Alpha,” Marcus cockily answered only to receive an eye roll from her. “Do you know how hard it was to read steaming scenes that you envisioned for your readers? To know your passion rivals my own for you, only to have you mere doors away from me? To know you are my mate, and to respect your wish for space when everything in me screams I can’t lose my blessing again?”

“If it was so hard, then why not tell me then?”

“As if you would have taken a likeness to a booming Alpha with anger issues and a hard on in the middle of the night?” Marcus argued. Nessa flat out laughed. She was laughing at him and it did not help him settle down his frustration with her. “I’d be careful now, if I were you. I don’t appreciate being laughed at, especially after I defended your honor with my fists!”

“You don’t?” Nessa mumbled and brushed off the tears which came with her laugh.

“Nessa,” Marcus warned.

“Fine, you can stay but no monkey business," Nessa warned him laughingly.

“It helps I am a wolf then,” Marcus winked at her before he bent and lifted her up on his shoulder, heading off to the shower.