Jaidan

''It was an order. Jaidan give her the pup, if she refuses to feed it, she can take its place in exile.''

Tate stumped us all with his exit without even a glance back, but we all heard the finality in his voice. His tone left no room for argument.

I took a quick glance at Kelsey and she didn't seem all too happy about the situation as well as all the other mothers or mothers-to-be.

To be quite honest I didn't know how I felt about leaving this little guy in a stranger's care. He had become a part of me already and I felt like I was just handing over a family member to a lion.

Alic stepped up beside me and glowered at the woman in front of us before nudging my arm her way. A blonde lady quickly swooped in and took her baby from her at Kelsey's request, her arms reaching out for the pup in my hands which I gave over none too happily.

He needed to eat, I had to think about him. He needed a mother, not an omega.

My heart broke at the fact I couldn't take care of the one thing I had tried to save from everyone else. An omega's job was to care for the children, but as a male, I couldn't even accomplish that task.

As Kelsey held the pup far from her chest her eyes creased at the sides as an unpleasant look took her shy features and twisted them into something ugly. It was the look you'd give something filthy, something beneath you as if you were scraping gum off the bottom of your shoe or hand washing bird poop off of your new shirt.

''All you have to do is wean it, don't act as if it's trash.'' Charlie growled out as he grabbed my arm and we exited the room.

I could hear the whispers of disgust as we exited from the beautiful nursery, emerging into the throne room. It was too bad the storybook looking room was clouded by the storm clouds of arrogance.

All of a sudden we ran into a circle of people stone quiet.

''What's going on?'' Charlie squeezed us between people, in and out of muscles and children until we came to the middle of the circle.

Two wolves circled each other, their heads coming to my chest in height as they stared each other down. I could spot Tatum anywhere, his father looking almost the exact same as him only larger.

''They're challenging one another.'' Charlie's eyes grew large as the two wolves finally clashed.

The Alpha went straight for Tatum's blind side effectively ripping a gaping hole in his side as he dodged and slipped between attacks from Tatum.

My hand came up to cover my mouth, I felt sick as I watched Alpha Lance tug at Tatum like he was a chew toy. I could only compare it to an older, more experienced lion going up against a kitten the way he expertly went for all Tate's weak spots. 

Tatum did everything he could to get out of the hold his father had but he was clearly at a disadvantage with half his vision missing and no time to acclimate to the sudden vision shift but that didn't stop him from getting in a few good swipes. Somehow, in the scuffle Lance's ear and cheek got torn, blood flowing freely from the gashes caused by tooth or claw. It was happening so fast I couldn't even tell what was doing the damage. 

Their bodies were moving so fast, for one moment I thought Tatum would be on top but his father would go for his blind side, again and again, no matter how hard he tried to protect it, he was just outmatched by the Alpha.

An Alpha was an Alpha for a reason. They were ruthless in their attacks, the strongest and smartest of the pack. They were calculating and often times more in tune with their more animalistic and primitive side than the rest of the pack. More common than not, the more traditional the alpha, the more unpredictable and dangerous they were and this pack was the most traditional pack I had heard of in these parts.

''Tate.'' I whispered, my arm bruising from Charlie holding me in my place.

My voice was enough to reach him though as he growled menacingly and pushed himself up from a blow that surely cracked his ribs, the sickening breaks a nauseating sound.

''All over his omega mate...'' Someone whispered to my left.

''He's causing a lot of trouble for Tatum...''

I felt something stir in me at that, my wolf rising with a swirling anger that made me feel ten feet tall as if I was looking down on every puny, narrow-minded, arrogant, self-righteous, loathsome pedestal they had all placed themselves upon. I wasn't going to watch them tear each other apart like everyone else seemed to be doing.

''Enough.'' My canines bit at my lips and my eyes felt like they were burning with fire how bright they were glowing.

Everyone's heads snapped to mine before lowering, Tatum's eyes firmly locked on mine as his body shook raggedly with what looked like painful breaths.

Alpha Lance watched me for a what felt like a torturous hour until his wolf stormed forward a moment before his head dropped and started licking my hand and then he walked away.

My brows creased together as I felt my body stop vibrating with adrenaline and get shadowed over by a scared tremble, my cheeks surely burning crimson with embarrassment and my teeth returning to their normal length.

I had just told off an Alpha.

He was probably taste testing his next meal when he licked my hand.

I turned quickly to ask Charlie what I was going to do but his face was turning red, his cheeks puffed up before he knelt over laughing so hard I thought he would collapse.

''You should....you should see your....your face!'' His hand shot out and his finger was only millimeters away from my nose as he pointed at me.

I would have entertained his little outburst if I hadn't seen Alic ushering a reluctant looking Tatum away from the group who was focusing their looks on Charlie and his tears he was making a big show of wiping away as he attempted labor breathing techniques to calm himself down.

Slipping past the crowd quietly I followed The sound of snapping bones, coming to view Tatum leaning against a wall for support stark naked, Alic rubbing his back before Tatum pushed him away gently and continued towards our room and slipping in without giving a glance back at his uncle.

''Is he alright?''

Alic didn't even look at me as he continued to stare at his nephew's room.

''He'll heal. He was supporting you, princess. Make sure you thank him properly.'' He winked before turning away where I heard him shout for Charlie to stop squeaking like the noisy mouse he was.

Creeping into the room, I saw Tatum face down on the bed, a fur thrown half-hazardly over his lower body, nasty looking purple bruises sprouting their roots all over his back and ribs as cuts and gashes dried their bloody trails.

''I've had worse.'' Tatum's words were muffled from arms that covered his face as his forehead rested on them.

''How?'' I was beside him before I knew it, kneeling on the bed running my fingers over the swollen flesh trying to imagine how this could be worse.

''An enforcer must endure as much as he gives to be good at his job.'' His eyes connected with mine, searching for any fear as my hands hovered above his back, stopped dead in their tracks at his words. It sounded like something that had been cruelly ingrained into him.

''Are you good at your... job?'' My fingers continued tracing the broken blood vessels that splotched along his tan skin.

''Alarmingly.''

I had come to terms with the fact that my mate was one of my worst fears. I had figured as long as there was our bond and our feelings for one another it would be just a thing I swept under the rug, however, this was his life, what he did.

It was hard to decipher Tatum's emotions. I couldn't tell if he was testing me or trying to scare me off. His face was a blank sheet and it made me angry that I couldn't read his features.

His hard features didn't change even after I placed a small kiss to his lips.

My wolf whined within me at our mate's lack of emotions and reaction to our kiss. I wanted to crack that stoic look, to break through the enforcer and find my mate within the broken bones and crusted wounds so I placed another more firm kiss on his mouth, my hand resting on his shoulder as he neither kissed me back nor rejected me.

I felt frustration build at that. His kiss had the power to send me into a mess at his will, however, I couldn't get one measly muscle of his to twitch.

''Kiss me.'' I felt my wolf pushing to break free and smack my mate silly for ignoring us.

''You're becoming more outspoken and demanding. You're becoming a Luna who demands to be obeyed.''

''Then obey me.'' I breathed the words against his lips before they devoured mine.

''As you wish.'' In a split second, Tatum was nestled between my thighs, my shirt shredded to my side as he laid kiss after kiss upon my lips, down my neck, and across my chest.

I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I didn't want Tatum and his father to fight so soon or challenge each other until Tatum was to challenge him for his position but before I knew it, I wrote it. 

Let me know how you feel about this chapter. I have been really off these last few days, my life is chaotic and I just can't keep up with everything going on. I'm exhausted.