27 Banished
Connor POV
As soon as Olivia and Ace are gone, I’m ready to lead my Luna down to our celebration despite the stern stare from Xavier. “Are you ready to join the pack, my love?” “We aren’t finished speaking,” Xavier says Cosmo bristles at his tone. We may be of Beta blood but the minute we pledged and became Alpha something in us shifted. I could feel the power intensify along with our aura.
“What else could we possibly have to discuss Xavier?” “We need to talk about you banishing a pack member for a minor offense. We also need to discuss Olivia” he says. “Enough Xavier, my mother says, moving to stand in front of me.
She reaches up, taking my face in her hands. “You and Olivia were never mistakes. I’m sorry that I just keep saying and doing the wrong things. That is not what I meant at all. I would never take back my time with your father or having the two of you,” mom says. She pushes up on her toes, pressing a kiss on my cheek. “I love you Connor. God enjoy the party” she says. “I love you to mom.” I offer Becca my hand and lead her out of my office.
“What does that mean, Evelyn, doing the wrong things,” Xavier’s voice trails off as I close the door behind us. I have a feeling their conversation is about to get very heated. My mother loves Xavier but I can sometimes tell she wishes he would just shut the hell up. I hope having a pup of his own will give himself to focus on.
We make our way through the pack house toward the banquet hall. We are almost inside when Kevin links
- “I’m sorry to bother you, Connor. I know you have family stuff going on, but we have a situation at Bart Mangan’s house,” he says.
I swear the goddess we just aren’t meant to attend our own celebration tonight. I tug Becca’s hand before she can step inside the room. “Becca, I have to go deal with something. Why don’t you go inside and find Rain? One of us should get to enjoy the party for us. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” “Don’t even start that bologna. We deal with things together. What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure exactly, but it has something to do with f**king Bart, so it’s not good.” “Then let’s go deal with
the pr*ck” she says. I press a quick kiss on her lips before taking her hand in mine. It’s a ten-minute walk to
the Mangan home, but I can hear the commotion before the house even comes into view.
“You are my mate. You will do as you’re told,” Bart screams as we step onto the porch. Becca growls as I push the door open. Kevin stands in front of Amber Mangan as Bart paces in front of him. “You will not stop me from taking my mate Beta,” Bart growls, I almost laugh because the years have not been kind to Bart. He is
round around the middle and probably a foot shorter than Kevin. It wouldn’t be a fair fight even without
Kevin’s Beta rank.
“No, he won’t Bart, but if your mate doesn’t want to go with you, she will not be forced by anyone, including you.” He whirls on me and I can see he is fighting his wolf for control.
My aura fills the room, and he immediately drops to his knees. I pull it back when I notice Amber joining him. “Amber, do you want to leave the pack with your mate?” “She is mine. We are mates, she goes where I go and, since you’ve banished our daughter, we are leaving,” Bart screams from where he is kneeling on the floor. “No, she is not a possession and she has a choice. Amber, it’s your decision.” “I’m not leaving my pack. In fact, I no longer want to be his mate. He is an abusive pr*ck. He has turned our daughters into abusive pr*cks” she
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says.
Cosmo is pushing to the surface. “You said he has been abusing you, Amber. What has he done to you?” Her eyes move from me to the man that should be her safe place. “He treats me like a maid, tells me how worthless I am, and if anything goes wrong he uses me as a punching bag,’ she says. I close the distance
between us and wrap my hand around his throat. “You dare harm another pack member of the Red Moon. Not
only a member but your own mate. You encouraged your daughters to become just as vile.
“I would love nothing more than to snap your neck, but I have a feeling living with what’s about to happen is a
far worse punishment for a piece of sh*t like you.” I look toward Amber and nod. 1, Amber Mangan, reject and break my bond with you, Bart Mangan.” I feel when Bart’s legs give out, but he doesn’t hit the floor because
my hand is still around his throat. “I don’t accept your rejection,” he croaks out.
“You will accept, or I’ll snap your neck, breaking the bond for her.” “You can’t do that. It’s against werewolf
law,” Bart whines. “I’m not forcing you. I’m giving you a choice. You can break your bond, or I can punish you for abusing your mate by breaking your neck. The choice is completely yours.” He looks between his mate
and me before I can feel his body slump in defeat. “I, Bart Mangan, accept your rejection.”
His hand flies to his chest, and he screams as the bond is ripped away. I look toward Amber, who is wrapped
in Becca’s arms. She is doing far better than Bart. “Bart Mangan, you have thirty minutes to gather your
belongs. You are banished from the Red Moon Pack. If you return you will be treated as a trespasser and punished as such. Kevin makes sure he leaves my territory.” “Of course, Alpha,” Kevin says as he pulls Bart
from my grip and leads him upstairs.
I turn back to Amber, who is clearly sobbing as Becca holds her. “Amber, I think you should stay in the pack house tonight. You should be around pack members while you heal from the broken bond.” She turns to face me. “Thank you, Alpha.Honestly these are tears of happiness. I’m finally free of him. I agree to go to the pack house, but only because this place holds too many painful memories for me. I’d like to either move into the pack house or into a small cottage. I don’t need much,” she says.
“Nonsense, we are practically family. You will be provided with a comfortable home.” She looks at me confused. “I have always considered your precious granddaughter as my niece, but today she truly became one to me. “I don’t understand.” “Ace found his true mate. My sister, Olivia, is his mate.” Her eyes get big, and
she covers her mouth with her hand.
“Oh my goddess, he got a second chance mate. I’m so happy for him. After what my daughter did to him, I thought he would never find that kind of bond again. I know how rare it is for humans to be mated to wolves,” she says. “Amber, Candace lied. Ace was never her mate,” Becca says. Amber staggers back, but Becca steadies her. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. If I wasn’t so weak and stayed when I shouldn’t have. I should have taken the girls and left him long ago,” Amber says, tears streaking down her cheeks.
“Amber, Collette and Candace had two examples, and they chose to be like Bart. You can’t blame yourself for their sh*ty behavior. Now let’s take you to the pack house. I have a feeling you weren’t at ceremony and haven’t eaten.” She drops her eyes to the floor. “I’m sorry, Alpha. Bart forbade me from attending. I’m sure he planned to spend time with whatever tart he’s been screwing,” she says. Both Becca and I growl.
“Are you saying he has been betraying your bond,” Becca asks. “Yes, for longer than I care to remember. In the beginning, the pain was unbearable, but after the love I had for him died, so did the pain,” she says. Footsteps on the stairs have me on the verge of letting Cosmo take over. How dare this pr*ck betray his mate? Does Xavier know this is happening in the pack?
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As soon as Bart steps into view, I have him pinned to the wall. “You are despicable. How could you betray your mate?” Kevin growls from behind me. “Look at her. She used to be beautiful and thin.” His mouth shuts quickly as I press my forearm against his throat. “You might want to take a look in the mirror because werewolf men aren’t supposed to be pudgy and short” I say looking down at him as his face starts to turn shades of red and purple.
“Alpha, please don’t kill him. I want him to live in the misery of the broken bond. I want him to live with the knowledge that I’m going to be happy and never think of him again after today,” Amber says. I pull my arm back, and he gasps for air. “Get him the f**k out of my pack. Tell the warriors if he steps foot in my territory
to kill him on sight.”
Bart visibly swallows as Kevin reaches down and yanks him up. My body relaxes as soon as Bart is out of my sight. I turn smiling at Becca and Amber. “Let’s go see if they saved us any food from the celebration ladies.” Amber looks down at her dress and winces. “You look beautiful Amber. Don’t let that ba**ard make you think any different” Becca says. “My mate is right. Now lets go eat because I’m starving.”
We make our way down the path toward the pack house when I notice Amber start to lean on Becca. Before she can hit the ground, I scoop her up in my arms. “Amber” I call out but she’s passed out. I’m sure its the events of the night but I can’t be sure what that ba**ard has been doing to her. “Ace, I’m sorry to bother you but I need you at the hospital. Something is wrong with Amber, Candace’s mother,” I link. “I’m on my way” he says before cutting the link.
