“You’re interfering in the games,” she said coolly. “We have a right to fight her.”

I would have been lying if I tried to say I wasn’t stunned at the aggression I smelled pulsing from Trisha. I was floored that the woman even wanted a shot at Jade after this morning. A part of me had hoped that the last two standing would drop out now when they saw what she was capable of, and save us all the hassle. But I figured that just would have been too easy. I looked up at her then and said with a chuckle, “I’m not stopping you from challenging her.”

Trisha crouched in front of me, leveling herself to my gaze. She was the oldest challenger, in her mid-forties, I guessed. She was lean and long like a dancer, wearing yoga pants and a long sleeved, bright pink T-shirt. Her blond hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail.

“You’re playing favorites, Aidan,” she said. “You want her. I can smell your desire.” She laughed cruelly, and reached out, running a long fingernail along my chin. “When you’re mine, the first thing I’m going to do is mate her to another. Trevor maybe. She despises him, and it will break her little friend’s heart. Or Jared. He’ll keep her in line.”

Jealousy rushed through me at the idea of anyone else touching Jade. My eyes flashed. “You’re walking on dangerous ground, Trisha,” I snarled. I had never felt jealousy like this before, and it scared the crap out of me. Right then I knew I’d rather be dead than see Jade mated with someone else.

The deadbolt on the door clicked open, and I swiveled to see Jade standing in the doorway. She looked furious. Her nose was scrunched, her cheeks were red, and her body was trembling as she stepped over the threshold and onto the porch.

“Jade, get inside,” I said. Her inner-wolf was on the verge of breaking out. Her skin looked as if it was slithering over her bones and the hair on her arms was coarser, darker. She didn’t have the restraint yet. I didn’t want her to fight again. Not so soon. Not until I worked with her a bit. This morning I had been certain that she would have killed her opponent. If it hadn’t been for Dominic drawing her attention …

“Shut up, Aidan,” she growled, not even glancing my way, and she pointed at Trisha. “You touch him again, and I’ll rip you apart.”

“Oh, is the little puppy coming out to play?” Trisha said with a snicker, as she rose from her crouching position in front of me. She backed up a step and then flicked her hands as if to say Bring it on.

I stood up and stifled a groan. Seriously … all I wanted was five minutes of peace. I turned to Jade and folded my arms over my chest, giving her a look that I hoped would make her turn around and run back into the house. I could feel the warm burn of my alpha imprint, and I let my scent grow and grow.

She didn’t even notice.

“How old are you?” Jade snapped, and moved to the railing, leaning on it. “Like forty? Don’t you think he’s a bit young for you?”

“He’s going to be mine, Jade.” Trisha’s voice was strained, and her face turned paper white. She gave me a leery look, and it looked as if she was struggling to stay on her feet. “Aidan, you can’t interfere like this!”

At least my scent was working on one of them, I thought, before I pulled it back. She was right, even if I didn’t want her to be. My interference could render anything that happened between them void. I moved to the side, leaning up against the railing, and folded my arms.

“I’ll give you a chance,” Jade said, a smirk spreading across her lips. “Submit now and I’ll let you walk away without a scratch.”

Holy shit! Did she really just say that? I almost laughed. She was falling into her new life faster than I would have thought possible. Jade’s eyes flashed and then settled into a golden glow. Her scent ramped up and more dark hair sprouted along her neck. My skin felt like it was on fire. It was a fight not to move from my spot. The sweet smell of power was intoxicating, and all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms.

Trisha looked … nervous. She was jittery, hopping from one foot to the other. She sucked in a deep breath. Her knees were starting to shake, and her shoulders were starting to sag. “Submit to a pup?” she asked, her voice quivering. “A big demand for someone so young.” Trisha looked at me, just a quick glance before focusing back on Jade. “Time for you to leave, alpha.”

“Nope,” I said, holding in my laugh. Trisha looked as if she could barely keep Jade’s gaze and yet she still seemed determined to go through with the challenge. Jade’s scent rocketed up another notch, and my heart quickened. “Not going anywhere. I’ve put her under my training.” I shrugged my shoulders, making it clear that there was nothing she could do about my presence. “Besides, you need a witness.”

Jade didn’t wait for me to finish my sentence before she leapt over the rails on the porch and landed on the balls of her feet in front of Trisha. She growled, a lethal sound, and her skin started to shudder. “Last chance, old hag,” she said, snarling the last word. “He’s mine.”

Trisha sucked in a noisy breath. She held Jade’s gaze for half a second before she turned and ran down the driveway as quickly as she could.

“What the hell was that about, Aidan?” Jade asked. She tried to sound tough, but I heard the laughter in her voice as she watched Trisha run down the street.

“I’m yours, am I?” I said, feeling a little cocky. I raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

Jade gave me an adorable dirty look. “Don’t let it go to your head, jackass.”

“Of course not,” I said with mock sincerity. She rolled her eyes dramatically, spun away from me, and marched into the house, leaving the door wide open. Three down, one to go, and then … you’ll be mine, I thought and smiled, as I followed her inside.

CHAPTER 25

~ JADE ~

My veins pulsed from his scent. Its power pressed against my bones and toyed with my muscles as I fought the urge to turn back to him and pull him to me. I had never really believed the stories about alphas or about the imprint that helped channel their scent. Obviously, I should have, but how was I to know that one day an alpha’s scent would have such a powerful effect on me. Why would I care, when joining the pack was the most ridiculous and inane suggestion anyone could ever make to me.

I had heard these stories all my life, but really, I honestly never thought a scent could do this to me. I should have figured it out this morning when I saw that soft glow under his shirt. He was trying to manipulate me then, and by the pressure I felt on my skin now, he was doing it again. And the thing that freaked me out about it was the feeling that he was still holding back, and part of me wanted to feel the full extent of his control.

But according to the stories, this was not the sensation I should have felt. It should have been piercing and shuddering, forcing me to bow to him. Painful even, if I tried to fight it. But Aidan's scent didn't make me feel like that at all. It was a wild feeling. Full of desire and overwhelming confusion. It centered me and tore me apart. It spoke to the beast inside me like a song. Slow and sensual, and then fast and out of control.

I wasn’t sure what was happening to me or what had come over me when I stepped outside. When I’d heard that woman talk to him as if they were lovers, something inside me just snapped. And when I opened the door to see her looking at Aidan as if she wanted to jump him right then and there, I lost it. I had never felt jealous of anyone before. Not like this. I might have felt a bit jealous when Dominic left me for the pack, but that had been like a mosquito bite compared to the blinding anger that had spiked within me when I saw her touching his face.

I was shaking from the inside out and my skin was moving, sliding over my bones in a fast rhythm. My inner-wolf was begging me to let go of my restraint and shift. It felt as if that was the only thing that could give me an ounce of relief from the torture of seeing that woman so close to my alpha, and from his invasive, mouthwatering scent which was demanding that I make him mine. I was changing. I could feel it in my bones. I was no longer the prey, but the predator, and he was what my inner-wolf wanted to hunt.

It’s natural, Trevor’s reassurance played through my thoughts. He’s an unclaimed alpha. But this … this wasn’t natural. I was losing control. A control that I had fought so hard to keep. It was the only thing that kept me safe from the wolves. I had let it slip once with Erika and look at where that got me. But right at that moment, I wanted to let it all go. It was as if something else was taking over. Something deep within me knew, without a doubt, that Aidan was mine. My mate. And I’d kill anyone who stood in my way of getting him.

They are your wolves now, a small voice in my head whispered. My skin heated, burning like wild fire.

My wolves. My pack. My alpha. It scared the hell out of me how possessive I felt of the things that I had spent so long hating. Of the pack that only a few days ago I would have been happy to see vanish from this earth.

I focused on my slow steps, making my way down the airy hallway. The hardwood floors felt cold and unforgiving with each step I took. I could feel him behind me, following me into the house, and I cursed myself silently for not locking the door. I passed by the arched doorway leading to the kitchen, and kept my gaze firmly on the staircase in front of me that would take me to the sanctuary of my bedroom. His scent wrapped around me. It was sexy as hell. It fogged my brain and made my skin buzz.

“You need to shift?” Aidan asked, shutting the door behind him. “We could go for a run. That will take the edge off.”

I took a deep breath, trying to clear my head. It didn’t work. Aidan and his stupid scent worked its way over and through me. I turned slowly, backed up a few steps until my heels hit the staircase, and then I dropped down, taking a hard seat.

I looked at him. His expression was full of humor and he looked way too cocky, as if he knew exactly what he was doing to me. A morsel of my sense came back to me, and I gave him the dirtiest look I could muster up. “That’s the third wolf that wanted to fight me in three days, and she was also the second one that made it clear you were the reason for it.”