Mated To An Enemy

“You can’t be serious,” Bell said, unable to hide the disgust she felt.

Axel and Corrine remained quiet. Both looked at Granger with confusion and disbelief. Axel waited to hear Granger admit that he wasn’t serious, while Corrine wondered if he really was.

Behind the bookshelf, Caleb was struggling to maintain his composure.

‘How dare this bastard!’ he screamed in his mind. ‘To suggest something like that!’

“Why not?” Granger asked. His tone made it clear that he saw no issue with his demand.

“Granger…” Axel said, hoping again that his friend and future Beta was joking.

“What?” Granger asked. “Ashleigh and I are mates. Everyone knows that.”

“Yea, but that doesn’t mean–” Axel said, unable to finish his words.

“This is for her health,” Granger interrupted, “she would agree if she could.”

“But she can….” Bell replied quickly, “there is no medical reason to rush this. She will be fine if we keep her sedated for the full moon. Then, when we wake her, we can discuss the diagnosis with her and let her make her own decision about marriage.”

“We were already supposed to be married,” Granger huffed, “it’s not like she doesn’t want to be my wife. We didn’t push the wedding back because of anything to do with our relationship.”

“Then what reason is there to perform such an important and sacred ritual when she won’t even be aware of it?” came the voice of Caleb. He stepped out from behind the bookcase when he could no longer tolerate the detestable rantings of the pathetic man before him.

Bell felt a wave of relief wash over her. She didn’t understand what the relationship between Ashleigh and Alpha Caleb was. Still, she knew he would not let Granger force the marriage on her.

“It’s none of your business!” Granger snarled, unable to control himself.

Granger had heard that Caleb was back. He even suspected that Ashleigh had seen Caleb from what they had told him of her condition. But to have the suspicion confirmed, it filled him with rage.

Caleb snarled back.

‘I don’t understand how she can choose him over me, how she could love a man that is willing to force her to be his wife,’ Caleb thought with bitter frustration.

“With all due respect,” Axel quickly said, moving between the two snarling men. “Alpha Caleb, I appreciate your concern for my sister, but you don’t really know her. So there is no reason for you to get involved.”

“Does he have to know her well to know that she should have a say in whether she gets married or not?” Bell asked, giving Axel an angry look.

“That’s not what I meant!” Axel replied hastily.

“I don’t see how you could mean anything else,” she said, turning away from him.

“Bell…” Axel called sadly.

“It doesn’t really involve you either, Bell,” Granger growled.

“Hey!” Axel turned on Granger.

“As her doctor, I am making it clear that there is no medical reason for the marriage to happen right now without her consent!” Bell shouted furiously. “So don’t you dare use that as your excuse to force her!”

Bell turned and walked back towards the treatment rooms. She was too angry to respond to Axel, who shouted for her to come back and talk calmly. As the doors closed behind her, she wondered for a moment if she should have stayed to make sure Corrine didn’t agree to the marriage.

But the memory of Caleb holding Ashleigh’s hand and watching her closely came into her mind. She smiled to herself, feeling there was nothing to worry about.

Back in the waiting room, Caleb and Granger continued to stare angrily at each other. But, Axel had become distracted by Bell’s reaction to his words.

“You have no right to interfere! You are an outsider and nothing to her! Nothing!” Granger snarled.

“I am not of this pack, but I am a wolf, just like you and just like her. None of us like to be caged,” Caleb replied, taking a step towards Granger.

Granger growled.

“Are you implying that the mate bond is a cage?” Corrine asked softly.

Caleb turned to look at her for a moment before responding.

“With all due respect Luna Corrine, what I heard suggested is not a bond of mates,” he began, “The Goddess blessed us with our mate, but she also gave us a choice to accept or reject them. One mate deciding for both is not honoring that bond.”

Corrine nodded.

“I agree,” she said. “I would not feel comfortable proceeding with the bonding ceremony while Ashleigh is unaware of what is happening. Neither would Alpha Wyatt.”

Caleb nodded and took a step back from Granger.

Granger could only swallow down the rage he felt. It wasn’t time to lose control. Instead, he needed to find another method to convince Ashleigh to seal their bond. A way that no one, not even Alpha Wyatt, could deny him his mate.

“I’m sorry for my stupidity, my Luna,” Granger bowed to Corrine. “I am just worried about Ashleigh. I thought sealing our bond was the best and quickest way to help her.”

“I understand, Granger,” Corrine smiled, “I know how much you love her. But Bell told us that Ashleigh would be alright. So, there is no rush. We can perform the ceremony at the next full moon.”

“Yes, my Luna,” Granger replied, bowing and hiding the anger in his eyes. “Since Bell has said that Ashleigh is alright, I think I should return to my patrol.”

“It’s probably for the best,” Corrine replied.

Granger bowed once more to Corrine before turning and leaving as quickly as he had come.

“Alpha Caleb?” Corrine called.

“Yes?” Caleb replied, turning to face her.

“I’m sorry, I was just curious,” Corrine smiled at him, a smile that most would find kind and charming, but Caleb recognized as suspicious and forewarning. “What exactly are you doing here? And how long have you been hiding behind that bookcase?”

Caleb turned, looking at where he had been since Bell sent him away from Ashleigh’s room. Then, he turned back to Corrine with a smile of his own.

“Hiding, Luna Corrine?” he asked, “This is a waiting room. There is a chair beside the bookcase. How is it hiding to sit in a waiting room?”

“When you put it like that, it seems I suggested something strange,” Corrine smiled, “still I am curious how you found yourself ‘waiting’ here.”

“Well, that is easy enough to answer,” Caleb smiled, “I am here waiting for my Beta. We had to come in this morning when the wound had some complications. He is now receiving treatment.”

“Your beta was wounded?” Corrine asked, wondering how she had not heard about this already.

Caleb furrowed his brows, trying to decide if this was some kind of game or if she genuinely didn’t know.

“Yes, he was stabbed with an arrow yesterday,” he said bluntly.

Corrine’s eyes widened.

“Stabbed with an arrow?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” Caleb replied.

“How could that have even happened?” she asked.

“Mother, maybe we should be focusing on Ashleigh,” Axel tried to pull Corrine’s attention away. “We need to ask Bell if we can sit with her.”

“Axel, you will be Alpha of this pack one day,” she replied firmly, “one crucial part of your leadership role is to keep informed of what is happening within the pack. For example, the Beta of Summer is our guest, yet he was injured without our knowledge? This is unacceptable.”

Corrine scoffed in irritation. She didn’t know how she hadn’t heard such important news. This situation needed to be handled delicately, especially with the animosity between the two packs.

“You cannot turn a blind eye to this kind of mishandling of information, Axel,” Corrine retorted.

“I think, Luna Corrine, you are misunderstanding your son,” Caleb said, looking carefully at Axel, who turned away.

‘You knew what your friend did to my brother, and yet you kept quiet? Then I have no reason to treat you kindly regardless of whose brother you are.’ Caleb thought to himself.

Corrine saw the look between the two men.

“What do you mean?” she asked Caleb.

“It seems that the future alpha is very well aware of what happened to my Beta,” Caleb answered with a smile.

“What?” Corrine said, turning to Axel. He looked away from her as well, all but confirming what Caleb had said.

“My Beta, Galen, and your wolf, Granger, got into an altercation yesterday. At the end of it, both were taken to the hospital. One with a few broken ribs and bruises. While the other had an arrow stabbed into his abdomen and out his back.” Caleb replied.

“I see,” Corrine replied. Her expression was neutral, her tone steady, but Caleb could see the storm raging behind her eyes. “I hope Galen makes a quick recovery; I would like to discuss the situation at another time if you don’t mind. Right now, I need to focus on my family.”

Caleb nodded and walked away with a smile when he saw the dark look cross over her face as she turned to face Axel.