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"Sorry I’m late" Dominic At the sound of his voice, we broke apart, both of us breathing more than a little heavily She looked at me; her eyes were full of heated excitement She licked her lips as a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth "Jade?" Dominic asked in disbelief "Out of all the pack ain!"

Jade made a sound It carowl The heat that had been in her eyes iced over and she leapt out of the booth

"You’re one of the her over My brain was foggy, andback on her swollen lips It took a few long seconds forabout

"I’m not just one of them," I said just as nastily, and every lared down at her I had never had someone look at me with so much hatred, so much disrespect "I’m the alpha"

All the color drained fro her For half a second she looked as if she was going to pass out She wobbled a little and Do her steady He was s at me, a cocky smirk, and all I wanted to do was punch him

Jade rocked on her feet for another second, and then, scarlet streaked up her neck, settling in her cheeks She spat on the floor, and wiped herred when she stopped "I feel sick," she whispered

~ JADE ~

I needed air Aidan was the alpha I kissed the alpha And I wanted to kiss hi down atas he clenched and unclenched his teeth Do to hi too loudly, andeven louder

I sed hard, but it didn’t help to ed in my throat I kissed the alpha The birds flapped in ain

Suddenly, a es invaded my brain I saw Dominic His smile The way he held me in the picture that sat besidethatbrother The best friend Then I saw hiression His back facing me as he walked out of my life And my irrational mind blamed Aidan for it all

I felt my face twist into a sneer, and for a , and in a blink, he had his cold , but then I hadn’t either I took a step toward hi rushed through my hand Dominic chuckled, and I spun on him Whatever it was that he saw in lance over my shoulder, I left the coffee shop

CHAPTER 15

~ AIDAN ~

Jade was like a flash thunderstorm, calm one second, and the next, a burst of ferociousness It was a And she could really hit My cheek burned and I was pretty sure there was a nice red handprint there I really hadn’t seen that one co, not after the seriously hot kiss she had just planted on ue, and dammit, but I wanted lass shuddered froh his tone clearly said that he really didn’t care one way or the other He was s as if it was an effort not to burst out in laughter

"Fine," I said, scanning the coffee shop Everyone was silent, waiting, watching, and the reality of what I had just done sank in fast I dropped down into the booth, noticing the weary eyes and the stiff postures of everyone around me Ray’s death, and my position, had been kept quiet for a reason, and because of that … that … girl, it was all going to go up in fla my head in my hands "Did I really just announce that?"

The silence was ruthlessly loud The pounding hearts and breathing of all the people aroundin my ears Too loud to think I wanted to run after Jade Force her to listen Make her seethat that would be a useless effort, and Jade hatingNot now But Bruce’s pack getting wind of a new alpha, one without a mate, was