Wrong Room, Right Mate Chapter 03

Wrong Room, Right Mate Chapter 03

When did Sloane worm her way into our lives?

Three years ago, right around the time my father was killed on the northern border.

My heart had felt empty back then. Arlo put aside all his business and stayed with me in Bloodfang Pack for two whole weeks.

The day he left, he held my hand, his voice low.

“Nova, you’ve been pale as frost since the funeral. If my mother saw you looking like that, she’d never stop nagging.

“Stay in Bloodfang Pack for a while. Haven’t you always wanted to take over the pack’s border patrol?

“I’ll come back for you once I’ve sorted out everything back at my pack.”

I thought it was kindness.

I was tired of the tense standoff with his mother, tired of trying to fix things I couldn’t control.

Later, when I got back to the Blackwood Pack pack house, Sloane was already there. She was cutting fruit like she was the lady of the house.

“Sloane’s territory is right near our house,” Arlo said. “She’s going to stay for a while.”

I’d always been distant from my stepmother—nothing but routine visits on holidays.

I didn’t know what to make of it—My sister living under the same roof as my mate, while I was the outsider.

Tonight, watching Sloane curl into Arlo’s back, I finally understood.

Sloane was the mate Arlo’s wolf had always wanted.

Their conversation carried clearly on the night wind.

“What about Nova? She’ll break if she finds out.”

“She won’t,” Arlo said confidently. “She’ll throw a fit, but she won’t actually fight me. She’ll blow off steam and get over it.”

“And—” he lowered his voice. “The ritual happens at night. I’ll just say I got the room wrong. She loves me, she won’t hold it against me.”

Then came Sloane’s soft laugh. “Fine.”

I clenched my fist so tight my knuckles turned white.

One of his men asked, “Alpha, what if someone else claims Nova first? There are other packs holding rituals tonight too.”

Arlo chuckled. “She’d never go down easy. With her temper? She’d tear the whole place apart.”

“Yeah. Nova never lets strangers take her. She keeps a knife strapped to her thigh.”

“Anyone who tries is in for a world of hurt tonight. She’ll bash their heads in.”

Laughter erupted through the crowd.

I lowered my eyes. “Let’s go.”