Marking the Alpha My Cousin Couldn't Tame Chapter 10

The door swung open. Mom's face appeared.

"How DARE you show your—"

Kaelen stepped past me. Dropped to one knee. Tilted his head to the side, baring the mark on his neck—my mark—to the man standing behind my mother.

Grandpa Aldric. Arms folded. Face like carved granite.

In wolf society, an Alpha exposing his mate's mark to a family elder means one thing: *Your granddaughter claimed me. I'm honored to be claimed.*

Mom's fury evaporated. Her lips twitched. Then curved. Then split into a grin so wide it rearranged her entire face.

"Mr. Blackwell." Kaelen's voice was steady, his knee still on the ground. "The fault is mine. I should have come sooner. Whatever you decide, I'll accept. But Roxy's been driving for two days. If there's punishment, let it fall on me."

Aldric didn't blink. Didn't move. The silence stretched until I was ready to bolt back to the truck.

"...Get inside. Turkey's getting cold."

Mom practically dragged Kaelen off the floor and into the house. Grandpa turned his back, but I caught the tiniest crack in his expression as he walked away.

We made it.

Elena appeared in the hallway, baby on her hip. Everett was half a step behind with a diaper bag on one shoulder and a bottle in the other hand.

"Careful, the floor's wet here," he murmured, steering Elena around a puddle by the doormat. Then he spotted me reaching for the baby. "Roxy—support the head. You can't just grab her like a football."

I blinked. Was this the same man who once told me a woman's place was wherever her mate needed her to be, preferably quiet?

Now he was volunteering for diaper duty and giving me baby-handling lectures.

*Some people don't change. They just needed the right person to change for.*

At the table, Everett had the baby in one arm and used the other to pile food into Elena's bowl. "Your aunt's recipe is incredible. I need to learn this before we head back. You haven't eaten properly in days."

I must've been staring too long, because a low voice rumbled near my ear.

"I already know every dish you like. Without a recipe. So could you stop looking at your cousin's mate like he just performed a miracle?"

I coughed. "I wasn't looking."

"I can feel your heartbeat through the bond, Roxy. Every spike."

"Damn soul bond. Worst feature ever."

After dinner, I cornered Elena in the kitchen.

"Come to Cold Moon with me. The commune restructuring is happening—Everett's going to lose his archivist position. I need someone I trust to manage the finances."

She hesitated. I leaned in closer.

"And honestly? Don't you want to see, with your own eyes, what happened to the girl who ruined your whole last life?"

That did it. Her eyes went sharp in a way that gentle Elena rarely showed.

"When do we leave?"

On the way back to Cold Moon, we passed Desmond's compound.

Three half-grown boys were shoving Liora around the yard. Her designer coat was torn. Her face was blank—hollowed out, like a puppet with cut strings.

Desmond sat on the porch. Smoking. Watching. Not lifting a finger.

"She wrecked our family," one of the boys snarled. "She should be grateful we let her sleep inside."

Another one spat on the ground near her feet. "What kind of parents raised someone like you?"

That last one hit something. Liora snapped—launched herself at the boy with a scream that didn't sound human. Chaos erupted. Desmond jumped up. The neighbor women tried to pull them apart. The whole yard exploded into noise.

We kept walking.

Word came later: Desmond was sent back to his original pack. Liora disappeared after the scandal. No one knew where she went.

Elena and I didn't have time to care. We were too busy.

The business boomed. Cold Moon was on its way to becoming the wealthiest pack in the western alliance. Elena and Everett settled in. The women's crew doubled. Life was good.

But after two straight weeks of overtime, I'd fallen asleep at my desk three nights running. And Kaelen—future Lycan candidate, the most feared Alpha in the region—was sulking in bed because his wife hadn't come home before midnight.

I could feel his irritation humming through the bond. A low, persistent pulse of *pay attention to me* that he would absolutely deny if I called him on it.

*Sigh. Building a trade empire was easy. Coaxing a jealous wolf out of his mood? That was the real challenge.*