The Alpha Took Me As A Stand-in, he regretted

Ninety-nine days into our sacred bond, and I'd finally nailed that internship spot at my mate Ian Howard's pack office-secretary pool, entry-level gig.

I was buzzing to rub it in his face.

But before I could even text him a selfie from the lobby, bam-there he was, tangled up in some raw, ugly mess with his childhood flame, Clara Quinn.

She was three sheets to the wind, swaying like a pine in a storm, that fruit knife of hers jammed right up against his chest.

"Ian," she slurred, her voice all jagged edges, "Sixteen years, and you're still too damn stubborn to admit you love me?"

He didn't flinch.

Hell, he looked more worried she'd topple over than anything, wrapped an arm around her waist like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And those eyes of his?

The way they softened, all that raw ache and fire spilling out? It hit me like a gut punch. No hiding it.

My ears rang, a high-pitched buzz that drowned everything out.

My brain? Total blank slate.

But rewind to when Ian chased me down, he'd sworn up and down I was his first love, his one and only.

The first she-wolf to ever turn his head. He only had eyes for me, or so the story went.

This sharp, vicious stab twisted right through my chest. I surged forward on pure fury, ready to demand answers, but Clara beat me to it.

"That girl of yours? She's got youth on her side, sure, but that's it. Nothing else. And you bound yourself to some clueless, brainless little vine-clinger just to twist the knife in me? Us? Childhood packmates, tearing into each other for years, love and hate all twisted up like briars-you're seriously gonna betray that? Bind with some random she-wolf instead?"

Her eyes were red-rimmed, swimming with this deep, accusing hurt. She was unraveling, voice cracking.

"I'm folding here. I give up. I love you, okay? Admit it-you feel it too, don't you? That office of mine? You designed every damn inch. The antacids in my drawer? You stocked 'em yourself. Every late night I pulled, you were right there in the shadows, keeping watch... You've got me in here." She thumped his chest. "You love me too, right? Say it! Answer me!"

She was grilling him over and over, losing it completely, sobbing one second, howling the next.

Wolves tried to step in, pull her back, but she swung wild, clocking one with a backhand. "Back off!"

Her grip tightened on that knife, the blade nicking his skin, a thin red line blooming. "Answer me, or I'll plunge this thing right in!"

Clara Quinn, the shining pup of the Quinn pack, top she-wolf in our circles, scared of nothing and no one. Gasps rippled through the crowd; nobody dared get closer.

The whole scene hung there, until Ian finally broke the silence.

His voice came low, laced with that indulgent rumble he saved for his favorites.

"Yeah.