The Alphas’ P**n Star Mate

Chloe POV

Lenny and Jamie must have passed whatever test Mick put them through. When Mick walked into the holding room, both of my babysitters followed after him with solemn looks on their faces. Finding out there was a mole in the pack was crushing. It meant that someone didn't want me here as their Luna.

Darren was adamant that it couldn't be someone from Broom StiXXX. I felt the same way too. We were a family. A family that sometimes slept together for work, but a family unit nonetheless.

I understood Mick and Miles taking precautions, commanding Jamie and Lenny to answer questions to assure their loyalty. They were the two that spent the most time with me apart from my mates. My safety was in their hands and they needed that reassurance. Mick not commanding Lenny before retrieving me meant he already trusted that Lenny wasn't the mole. I bet it was Miles that needed the confirmation more than Mick.

Lenny took a syringe full of wolfsbane while protecting me. If that doesn't scream loyalty, I don't know what does.

Under my mates' watchful gaze, I repeated what I had done to Boyd to rid the Alpha of the lingering black magic tainting his mind. I think that Mr. Smith had given up on the Alpha, because burning the snake-like influence from his mind was far easier than it had been with Boyd. The snake was smaller, and didn't put up a fight. Unlike last night, I didn't exhaust myself by ridding his body of the darkness. I was perfectly fine afterward.

The Alpha himself seemed to be relieved when we were done. He looked freed, but at the same time, anguished. Not for himself, but for his pack. He was free of the darkness, but the reality of what he subjected his pack to seemed to weigh heavy on his broken shoulders. I stood back with my mates and Jamie after he was cleared of the darkness. Lenny helped Billy and Darren finish the interrogation of the Alpha, this time without brutal force. They just asked questions and the Alpha answered honestly, but there wasn't much more to get out of him. Nothing relevant to us anyway. He had a lot of remorse for other things, like the destruction of his pack and the vulnerable state he left it in.

His pack went downhill after his chosen mate killed his fated mate. After Boyd and the others ran from the pack when the Luna's affairs had been discovered, he barely held himself together enough to keep the pack in a healthy place. He had known of her betrayal for a while, but discovering that it was with her fated mate she never properly rejected as well as a few of his other elite warriors was a big blow to his status as Alpha. His Luna's instability and inability to get pregnant became known, it strained his pack even more. Then, while out on a routine run with his warriors, he stumbled upon a rogue woman passing through their lands. The rogue turned out to be his fated mate. He took her back to his pack and tried to keep her presence a secret from his chosen mate, but it didn't remain a secret for long. Luna Laura found the woman in an annex of the pack house, putting the pieces together from her Alpha's odd behavior.

She killed his fated mate. A part of him, the only part that held any hope for things getting better, died along with his fated mate, leaving him in a beastly state. His wolf took control out of self-preservation, wanting to keep the only bond he had left with his chosen mate. He gave in to her every selfish demand, and in doing so, betrayed his pack and drove them to ruin.

When Lenny asked how Mr. Smith found him, he revealed the most devastating secret to me and my mates. He and his crazy Luna did not seek out Mr. Smith. Someone else had emailed their pack a file with all of Boyd's information in it, and the contact information for someone that could help them find Boyd if they would cooperate with retrieving someone else in exchange for him. Someone from our pack.

Lenny's hands clenched at his side after hearing this, and I could tell he wanted to hurt the broken Alpha in an attempt to get a name from his busted lips. He didn't have a name to give though. I felt no dishonesty in his words when he said he truly did not know who the email was sent from. He even recited to Billy his login information to retrieve the email, so Billy could trace it.

I doubted that the email would still be there. If the person was skilled enough to help this Alpha find Mr. Smith and me without revealing himself, he probably knew how to remove any traces of himself from the Alpha's email as well.

My pity intensified for the broken Alpha when he pleaded for us to take mercy on his remaining pack members. Jamie was the one to promise that his pack would be taken care of. Mick and Miles nodded to him in agreement, then dismissed Jamie to discuss Redmond Moon Pack's fate with Beau. They dismissed everyone, even Lenny, saying they would handle everything else from there.

That could only mean one thing. They were going to take mercy on the Alpha and end his suffering themselves, sending him on to the afterworld, so he could be with his lost fated mate.

Watching as my mates dealt with the broken Alpha was humbling. He wasn't fighting them. He was a shattered shell of a man, and I could see there wasn't any will to live left inside of him.

They were swift, killing him painlessly and instantly. I watched as the life left his eyes, then stood with my Alphas, knowing that the burden of killing the wretched man was heavy, even after all the Alpha had done to us.

"Our elders tried to force me to take a chosen mate before you came," Miles confessed to him, burying his nose in my hair. "I can never thank the goddess enough for giving me the strength and resilience to resist those old men and their ancient bullshit beliefs. If I had taken a chosen, and then you came along, I don't know what I would have done."

Mick's eyes darkened in silent agreement, staring at the deceased Alpha, who seemed like nothing more than a victim of his circumstances now that all his sins were laid to rest.

"That could have been either one of us, or any other Alpha for that matter."

I stood silent, sandwiched between my mates' arms, thankful I accepted them both and didn't leave either of them because of my own insecurities and cowardice. This could have been them. That hit me like a ton of bricks. As much as it pained me to know someone in this pack was conspiring to get rid of me, it pained me more to think about my world without Mick and Miles in it.

"I love you both," I whispered roughly. "So much."

"You're our miracle, cara," Mick husked.

"Our love for you is infinite," Mick murmured against my hair.

Miles kissed the top of my head as I felt Mick's lips tickle the back of my neck. We have had our ups and downs since becoming one, but I felt more united with them than ever at that moment.

We stayed in that bloodied room with the corpse of Alpha Ford longer than I think any of us realized as both my mates held onto me. I didn't want to let go of them, and they sure didn't seem like they felt any differently.

All the exhaustion of the past twenty-four hours hit me all at once as their scents flooded my senses. Suddenly, there was only one thing I wanted to do with my mates.

"Let's go wash up and rest," I softly suggested. "I want you both to hold me like you are never going to let me go."

"Should be easy," Mick's deep chuckles made my heart sing.

"We are never going to let you go," Miles finished his brother's thought.

As we left the room, Miles ordered the guard standing watch to have the Alpha cleaned up and prepared to be shipped back to his pack for a proper burial. He seemed to have once been a good, strong Alpha, only ruined because of the selfishness of his chosen Luna.

He may not deserve an Alpha's burial, courtesy of our pack, due to all the wrongs he had committed, but it felt right to hear Miles grant him that anyway. Beau, Jamie, Alexi, and even Boyd, if he wanted, could oversee the details, because they, if nothing else, deserved closure for their past lives.

As we exited the building, one of those four just happened to be leaning against the wall of the detention center, seemingly waiting for us. He pushed off the wall when we came out the door, his eyes trained on us.

"Hey. I heard you guys had Alpha Ford in there. Is everything okay now?"

Miles was the one to break the news to him. "He's gone. I just ordered the guards to prepare his body for a proper burial."

Mick added, "Why don't you take charge of seeing to it that it is done to your previous pack's traditions? Jamie went to Beau to deal with the remaining members of the Redmond Moon Pack."

Alexi looked back at the building, a conflicted look on his face before looking back at us. "Uh, yeah. Sure. But, uh, can I speak with you soon? Like, sooner, rather than later."

Mick and Miles drew down their brows, both looking concerned. I could feel this frenzied panic coming from Alexi. That was unlike Alexi.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Alexi pursed his lips, looking between Miles and Mick, then he shook his head. "Probably nothing. I just want to be sure about something."

"Be sure about what?" I pushed. "Is it something you don't want to say in front of me?"

Alexi looked uncomfortable, and maybe even ashamed. "Not you, per se. It's just.... Um.... It can wait for now, I guess." He was looking at Miles worriedly, like he was expecting judgment from him on whatever the topic was of his concern.

He made eye contact with Mick for a few more seconds, and it didn't take a genius to figure out they were mind linking.

Mick subtly nodded, his arms tightening around my shoulders.

Alexi let out a breath, then turned for the door. "I'll help with Alpha Ford. See you guys later."

When he was inside, Mick started heading for the pack house with me on his arm and Miles beside us.

"What was that about?" Miles was the one to ask.

Mick shrugged. "He asked to speak to me alone later. Wanted my opinion on something."

"Opinion on what?" I almost snorted, now wondering if Alexi's urgency was something menial instead of urgent like I had originally suspected. "What would he want your opinion on that Miles and I couldn't hear about? Role-playing costumes?" "I don't know. Maybe he's got another pregnancy scare," Mick shrugged.

"Does he get those a lot?" I snorted.

Mick shrugged. "Happens to the best of us," he smirked.

"Oh really?" I raised an eyebrow. "The best of us? Hmm. I suddenly feel like taking a nap on my own."

"Wait," Mick's smile left his face. "I was just kidding."

"Mm hmm," I snickered, jerking away from his hold.

"I've never had a pregnancy scare," Miles said proudly as he pulled me against him. "Can I still nap with you?"

"Sure," I said dryly. "We can nap alone, just the two of us, until we check 'a pregnancy scare' off our list."

"Sounds good to me," Miles leaned over me, taking a deep inhale along my nape. "We will have to try hard. I don't scare easily."

I giggled, nuzzling my nose to his.

"Aw, come on," Mick whined. "I didn't mean that literally."

"Sure you didn't," I growled, then surprised both my mates by taking off and running for the pack house. I yelled back behind me, "Last one to the room is the last to nap with me!"

They hesitated for only a second before Mick pushed his brother to the ground and took off running after me. Miles was soon close on his heels. I squealed and ran faster, Mick closing in on me. We probably looked ridiculous to everyone we ran past, but after all the tension from the last two days, running with my mates chasing after me felt liberating. I didn't mind if they caught me one bit, but liked the chase. I knew my wolf and theirs were already frolicking in the subconscious they share too.

Mick caught me right before I reached the pack house doors, throwing my laughing, squealing, protesting body over his shoulder before sprinting inside. I was slapping his back and ass as he raced up the stairs, only stopping my half-hearted assault when I saw Miles passing him on the turn for our floor.

"She said the last to the room. Not last to catch her," Miles shouted smugly right before reaching the bedroom door.

After all the tension and violence, this light-hearted teasing was just what the three of us needed. Napping, or napping, was going to be therapeutic for all three of us too.