Luke crossed the room to kneel beside Zeke. “I know I’m not your third, but Tane isn’t here to speak for himself. If he were, I have no doubt he’d be pissed as fuck. Anyone who wants to judge our alpha’s mate for being human also condemns his mom.”
“Fuck, he’s right,” Damon sighed, scrubbing his hands down his face before sliding off his chair to kneel on the floor. “I’m sorry, alpha. I should’ve kept my mouth shut about your mate and waited to form an opinion about her after we’d met. What happened with Aaron fucked with my head more than I realized.”
The rest of the room followed suit, kneeling and welcoming Larissa to our pack. There was one glaring exception—the girl who’d started the trouble in the first place. Heather pouted and mumbled, “I can’t believe they’re just giving in like this.”
“Who the fuck are you to question fate? To question me?” I roared, waiting until all eyes were on me to continue. “Heather is young and spoiled. It could be argued she doesn’t know any better than to run her mouth off about my mating.” I met her father’s gaze, wanting him to see the depth of my fury so he didn’t do something stupid like try to save his daughter from a well-deserved punishment. “Except there would be a glaring fault in that claim—we learn as cubs that fated mates are sacred. Even the youngest among us should know better than to try to cause trouble between any fated mate pairing, let alone their alpha and his mate.”
“I-I…” Heather sputtered, her eyes going wide.
“On your knees!” I yelled, stalking across the room. As I drew close, her mom reached back and pulled her off the couch. My wolf was close to the surface, demanding I annihilate the girl who’d caused trouble for our mate. “The day you were born, I vowed to protect you as a member of our pack. When I became alpha, I promised to defend all of the shifters who accepted me as their leader, including you. But neither of those oaths supersede the one I made to my fated mate today. Anyone who cannot accept her has no place in my pack.”
“No, you can’t mean it,” Heather gasped, shaking her head as tears started to stream down her cheeks.
“It’s no excuse, but she always had a bit of a schoolgirl crush on Aaron,” her mom explained. “After he saved her from drowning in the river when she was ten, she thought he hung the moon. She was devastated when he left the pack to roam on his own.”
“That’s no excuse for causing trouble for my mate. Larissa has done nothing to deserve this bullshit,” I bit out.
“You’re right,” Heather’s dad agreed. “Regardless of the reason, my daughter fucked up. Her actions have cast a shadow on a day that should’ve been filled with nothing but happiness for you and your mate. I’m sorry.”
Larissa came up behind me, and the press of her hand against my back soothed my inner beast in a way nothing else could. “You’re not the one who owes the apology, and it’s not me who it should be directed at.”
When he turned to his daughter, the disappointment was clear in her daddy’s eyes as he said, “Our alpha is right again.”
“But Daddy, I was only—”
He held his hand up to stem the flow of words. “I don’t want to hear it. You’ll apologize to the alpha’s mate and accept whatever punishment he deems fair. No matter how bad it is.”
“Even if he kicks me out of the pack?” Heather whispered, dropping her head to stare at her hands as they twisted together.
Her mom sniffled and patted her back. “If that’s what the alpha wants, then yes. But your dad and I will go with you.”
“What about Luke?” she wailed. “Would I never see him again if he stays?”
“Your brother is a man now. He’s worked for his place in this pack. We can’t ask him to give that up because of your mistake,” her dad answered.
Larissa moved to my side and tugged on my sleeve. When my gaze met hers, she offered me a gentle smile. “I’m not familiar with how pack life works yet, but surely there’s a fair punishment that wouldn’t tear their family apart?”
I considered her question for a moment before nodding. Not pleased that I wasn’t going to allow him to rip someone’s throat out, my wolf slunked off to brood inside my head as I announced, “Since my mate is willing to be gracious even though Heather has done nothing to deserve it, her punishment is to take a short-term transfer to another pack where she’ll do community service directed by the alpha until he feels she’s matured enough to come back to us without causing any more trouble. If Heather behaves and gets serious about growing up, she won’t have to be gone long. But if she fucks around and wastes this opportunity, it’s going to be a hell of a long time before she can come back to Timber Ridge.”