The Tribrid Heir's Orphaned Mate

Confliction

Elizabeth's P.O.V.

Impossible. He's completely impossible. First of all, there's no way that I didn't say my rejection properly. How much different could it be than a regular rejection? The only thing that would make sense is the fact that I didn't add in there that he's a tribrid. I have to figure out how to get the wording right, so that I can get it over and done with. Also, how come he's not freaking out about the fact that he's stuck in that tribrid fortified prison? Why is he not going crazy and trying to break out? It's starting to get under my skin that he's not losing his sanity. He's acting all calm and casual, which is the opposite of what I want. I must admit that I admire his perseverance. I never would've thought that The Moon Goddess would've paired me with a mate who is so laid-back. Hell, I never would've imagined that The Moon Goddess would've paired me with THE tribrid heir, either though. On top of all of that, he just randomly switches the subject to what he smells like? What is his game? Why is he not arguing with me and trying to get more serious answers out of me? His scent? That's what he wants to know? Coffee. The stupid asshole smells like coffee, to answer that question. My favorite thing in the world, and now he's ruined it for me because of the stupid mate-bond.

I slam open the door to the living room and stomp over to the couch, before flopping down next to Carter, my beta, and my boyfriend. Carter looks at me with furrowed brows before snorting out a chuckle and looking back at his video game he's playing. I made all of our surveillance teams retreat back to our hidden pack-house that is smack dab in the middle of a large human city, since the warriors at River Crescent are searching every inch within a three hundred mile radius for Warrick. Too bad for them that we're on the other side of the country and they'll never find him. Even if they started searching for him on this side of the country, there's hardly any supernaturals that live within this city besides our unknown pack. The idiots will skip over this city without a second thought. Our pack isn't registered with the council, since no one knows about us. Which is why we call ourselves The Forgotten Pack.

"Okay, what are you scowling about, Lizzie? You've been like this for days now." Carter says to me as he pauses his game, before laying his head on the back of the couch and letting out a frustrated sigh.

I let out an irritated growl as I look over at him, "I'm frustrated that things aren't going according to plan. We weren't supposed to imprison Warrick, we were supposed to imprison his manipulative mother. On top of that, he's acting like he's not even affected by the fact that he's trapped with no way out."

Carter lets out a small chuckle, "You sure it's JUST that? Or is it the fact that he's your mate and you're having trouble fighting the mate-bond? Warrick is just as important as his mother, believe me. That shouldn't put a stop to our plans, whatsoever."

"I'm not worried about the stupid mate-bond, and I'm definitely not having trouble fighting it. If anything, I hate him even more because of it." I say as I roll my eyes, before looking back at the paused video game.

"Why don't you just reject him and get it over with? You're planning on taking me as your chosen mate anyway. Then, once that's done, we can continue with our plan. River Crescent will be in shambles without their future Alpha." Carter casually asks, like I haven't already tried that.

I look over at him and let out an irritated scoff, "I just tried that, Carter! APPARENTLY, I didn't say the rejection right."

Carter furrows his brows in confusion as he stares at me, "How much more different could it be than a regular rejection?"

"I guess I should've added in the fact that he's a tribrid? I don't know. It's the only explanation that I can think of." I tell him as I shrug my shoulders.

Carter snorts out a chuckle, before turning back to his game to resume playing, "Well, just figure it out and try it over and over again until you get it right. There's nothing better to do, since River Crescent is on complete lock-down at the moment. We can't make any moves towards them, anyway, right now."

"I'll try again in a couple of hours. I don't want to be near him right now. He infuriates me." I say as I cross my arms over my chest and let out an irritated huff.

Carter glances at me from the corner of his eyes, before a smirk covers his lips and he looks back at the screen, "Riiiight. Of course he does." he says, before reaching over and patting his hand on my thigh, "I'm not naive, Lizzie. I understand how the mate-bond works. Just try to remember who your number one guy is during all of this, though."

I look over at him and let out an irritated growl, before softly punching him in the arm and standing up to walk out of the living room. Carter knows how to get under my skin and annoy me when he wants to tease me. I love him, but the two of us can fight like cats and dogs. We became friends at the age of nine, a few years before our mothers disappeared right in front of our faces. Our mothers met each other in a grief support group. Coincidentally, the support group was mainly made up of humans since they lived in a human city at the time, and our mothers were the only two supernaturals in the group. I guess it was just fate that they both lost their mates in the supernatural war and found each other that day.

I walk into the kitchen, only to see that my gamma and his mate are making lunch together, while they quietly whisper sweet nothings to one another. I roll my eyes at them as I walk over to the refrigerator. Usually, I never have a problem being around the mated couples in our pack, but ever since I've met Warrick, I can't stand being around any of them. They get on my nerves by being all lovey-dovey with each other. They've all noticed it too, which is probably why none of the mated couples have shown PDA the past few days.

Delilah smiles at me hesitantly, before walking out of the kitchen, leaving me alone with her mate and my gamma, Zeke. Zeke stares at me as he takes a bite out of a sandwich, before walking over to me and leaning against the kitchen counter beside me. He stares at me for a few more seconds, before letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Lizzie, you can't keep stomping around here angrily and taking your frustrations out on all of the mated pack members. We're not only your pack, but your family. It's no one's fault that you ended up being mated to him." Zeke says to me as he softly places his hand on my shoulder as I rummage through the refrigerator.

I stand up and slam the refrigerator shut as a traitorous tear slides down my cheek, "I just don't understand what type of cruel joke The Moon Goddess is trying to play on me. She could've paired me with anyone else in the world, but it just had to be HIM. I can never accept him, even if I wanted to. On top of that, apparently I didn't say my rejection right when I tried to reject him earlier. Even if I did end up saying it properly, he said that he's not going to accept it."

Zeke smiles softly at me as he pulls me into a warm embrace, "You said that you could never accept him, even if you wanted to. Does that mean that you actually WANT to accept him?"

I quickly pull away from him with furrowed brows, "What?! NO! I'm just saying that I couldn't. I have a duty to this pack to avenge all of our parents."

Zeke looks around the kitchen to make sure we're alone, before slowly looking back at me, "It's okay if you want to accept him, Lizzie. No one would blame you for it in the long run. Sure, pack members will be furious at first, but they'll come around. We're family before anything else, and our number one rule is to always support each other. Avenging our parents' death has always been important to me, but it's become less important ever since Delilah and I found out we were mated to each other. We're happy with one another and nothing else really matters now besides our future."

"What are you talking about? You're my gamma, Zeke. I trust you to be fully on board with the plan, but now you sound like you're hesitant about it." I say to him angrily as I cross my arms over my chest.

Zeke quickly shakes his head, "No, I never said that I was hesitant about it. All I said was that my happiness and future with Delilah has become my number one priority instead. I will always be loyal to you and this pack, no matter what. What I'm saying is, is that it's okay for you to make your happiness and future with your mate a number one priority, instead."

I nod my head in understanding, "There's a difference between yours and Delilah's relationship, and mine and Warrick's, though. You and Delilah aren't sworn enemies, but are both orphaned and a part of this pack. Warrick will never betray his pack or his family, and I'll never betray mine. There's no middle ground for us so that we can be together."

Zeke looks at me with pity, before slowly nodding his head once and letting out a defeated sigh, "It's whatever you decide, Lizzie. Just so you know though, whatever you decide, whether it's acceptance or rejection, Delilah and I have your back. We've both recently talked about your situation. You deserve to be happy. Hell, we all do, after everything we've been through in this life."

I pull him into a tight embrace, "How come you're always the one that's so understanding? Carter is always on my ass about getting things done. He would be livid if he found out that I was hesitant about rejecting Warrick."

Zeke pulls away from me and smiles down at me, "So, you ARE hesitant?" he asks, earning a growl from me, "Our little secret, I promise." he says, as he puts his hands up in mock surrender, "Carter's just being d**k because you're his girlfriend and he's worried about losing you."

"So, what do you think I should do?" I ask him.

Zeke shrugs his shoulders, "Simple. Get to know your mate. You might end up not even liking him and want to reject him in the long run. If you end up falling in love with him though, we will figure everything out from there. There's always a way. You have to trust in fate."

I let out a defeated sigh, "That's why I'm scared. He already amazes me at the type of personality he has. I never would've imagined that a tribrid alpha would be so calm. I pictured him being angry and violent with him being locked up, especially with the stories we've heard about his parents."

"Yeah, he's surprised me, as well. He's just been chilling in that cell, patiently waiting for you to visit him. You're all he's even asked anyone about. You're all he's concerned about." he says to me, "Just visit him and get to know him. Maybe he's just actually being manipulative and going to try to get answers from you from a different angle. He might be trying to get you to trust him, before showing his true colors. If he's anything like his mom, he's very smart and strategic. Remember what your mom told you growing up? Athena was always very conniving and aggressive."

I let out an angry growl, "My mom said that Athena locked her up for no reason after she burned her. What kind of Luna does that to a she-wolf who was imprisoned in a cave for weeks at a time?"

Zeke shrugs his shoulders, "Maybe she was jealous of Victoria. Your mom was a very beautiful woman."

"Maybe." I say to him, before smiling at him and patting his shoulder, "Thanks for talking with me, Zeke. You always find a way to calm my nerves, somehow."

Zeke smiles at me and nods his head, before turning around and walking out of the kitchen. He's right, Warrick was raised by his manipulative mother, which means that he probably learned from her to be the same way. I don't see how you could be raised by parents like his and not turn out to be just like them. Well, if he thinks he can manipulate me into falling into the trap of the mate-bond, just to get information out of me and escape, then two can play that game. My mother knew everything there was to know about Warrick's father, Callan. How could she not? Since she was best friends with Callan's sister, Ashley. I'll just have to use that to my advantage.