Page 93 of The CEO Alpha’s Substitute Mate

I scowl. “You could have called and let me know.”

“I did. Your phone was busy.” Isabella looks mildly annoyed. “And speaking of busy, the elders are trying to push for Corinne Thorne since she is the easiest mate they can control. Just so you know.”

“I already ran into Silas and Samuel,” I tell her, and she winces.

“I guess that didn’t go well.” Isabella’s eyebrows go up. “Is he still breathing?”

“He walked out of the restaurant, so yes.” I cross to the door and push it shut. The latch clicks. Both of them are watching me when I turn around. “There’s something else, and I feel it’s time I discuss it with both of you.”

Damien straightens off the wall. “Go ahead.”

I walk over to my desk slowly. “There is one way I can avoid Corinne altogether: if I were to find a mate before they push one on me.”

Isabella stares at me. “You know where to find one?”

“Ariela.”

Isabella freezes. “What? The human? Look, she’s a good mother and all, I suppose, but a luna? You should at least find someone who can bear the mantel of luna. The pack elders will never acknowledge her.”

“They will if she’s my fated mate.”

Neither of them moves. Somewhere below the window, the grounds crew has stopped working, or I’ve stopped hearing them. Isabella’s hand comes down off her hair very slowly and settles in her lap.

“I’m sorry, say that again.” Her eyes are wide in a face that’s too pale.

“Ariela is my fated mate. I didn’t think I could have another, but I talked to Salar. The signs are unmistakable.” I go back around the desk without sitting. “She isn’t marked yet, but I’ll have to do it eventually. If the pack elders are going to try to force a mate on me, then I’ll mark her.”

“A second fated mate,” Damien breathes. “Are you sure it’s not just lust?”

“My wolf has been too focused on her from the day we met. It’s nothing I’ve ever experienced before, not even with Elena. This is different.”

“Does she know about this?” Damien questions after sorting out his thoughts. “Does she understand what this would mean for her?”

I shake my head. “There’s been so much happening that I don’t want to put pressure on her.”

Isabella says nothing at all. She’s looking at the edge of my desk with her jaw tight.

“Well?” I prompt. “You clearly have something to say.”

“The pack elders will never approve a human mate.” Her voice is careful. “They’ll never accept the idea of a second fated mate either. Not from you, not with the Thornes sitting there ready to call it a convenient story.”

“If she’s already marked, then it makes no difference to them. They can’t do anything. A fated mate mark is different. The crescent shape will reveal our fated bond.”

Isabella lifts her head, her eyes wide in shock. “You want to force the mark on her?”

“Of course not.” Insult goes through me hard enough that my hand closes on the back of the chair. “I’ll lay the entire situation before her. I’ll discuss it with her, lay out the pros and cons.”

“Yes, because that’s what women love the most when hearing a proposal,” she says dryly. “The pros and cons.”

“And what if she says no?” Damien presses, his voice tense.

The question sits there in the middle of my study, and I look at him. “Why would she say no?”

Isabella and Damien exchange a look I don’t care for at all.

“You have time before the next elders’ meeting,” Damien continues. “If you really want to do this, you should sit down with her and talk to her then. But keep in mind she’s human.”

Isabella’s phone goes off in her pocket. She reads the screen, sighs at it, then collects her coat and is halfway to the door before she’s finished shrugging into it.