Vera gazed up into her true mate’s eyes, tear’s coming to her own. She wanted to believe him, but couldn’t. It wasn’t fair, afterall she wouldn’t want him judging her based on her own father, and the idea of someone saving her from the cage her father and Rick had put her in was a dream she had already thrown away… How could something that caused so much doubt in her mind feel so perfect? “Jaii, I don’t know-“

“Let me get this straight. You’ve been here a total of five minutes and you’re already making out with another member of the pack?” It was Luke. He’d apparently been off near the bedrooms and had caught them in the middle of the kiss. Vera whirled around with a gasp, quickly pressing her back against Jaii. He cursed, hitting the wall with his fist before rushing forward in blind anger. He didn’t know who he was more angry at, Vera for throwing herself at his son, or Jaii for potentially messing up the perfect alliance. Jaii needed to stay far, far away from this for good, and it seemed Luke needed to beat him that into him.

“Why don’t you-“ he growled, gripping his hand firmly at the back of her neck in a dominant gesture, something she would have been forced to respond to if he were her own alpha. “Go back to your [i]mate[/i], you know, Rick?”

“You’re not in charge or me, not yet!” she screamed, attempting to pull away. It only resulted in him grabbing her hair, making her stay put. The noise was sure to bring Rick in soon enough.