The Sweetest Blood

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

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Ben said nothing.  I don’t know why that upset me, but it did. 

 Wasn’t he the least bit surprised? 

Relieved, even?

Jordan had been his rival, after all.

Neither of them had ever mentioned it—but it was obvious to anyone with eyes to see.

Both were the sons of alphas vying for the same position.  

Both were natural born leaders.

And both...in a way, were tied to me; the daughter of a powerful leader.

Practically since birth, everyone had always pitted them against each other, in everything from hunting, to running to even a casual game of cards.  

The competition had been an unwilling one...but still observed by all.

It had always been accepted that one of them would one day be the Alpha.

Growing up, the rivalry was something I had always ignored.  For years Ben had been my closest friend, anway—my ally. 

But everything changed the day I had chose Jordan as my mate. 

Rumors had begun to circle that it was fate because of who my father was; the children of two powerful leaders were mated together.  In their eyes, we were destined to be the alpha couple. 

It didn’t matter that neither of us wanted the confinement of being tied to the pack.

It didn’t' matter that we had both spent our lives trying to ignore the legacy of our fathers.

It didn't matter to them that Jordan had never wanted to be the Alpha.

But Ben did. 

 I had witnessed his ambition since we were kids.  He worshiped his father, and put his heart and soul into this pack—it only made sense that he should lead it. 

Once Jordan and I had left, there would have had no competition to challenge him…

But, then again, he didn’t have to worry about that now, either. 

In both circumstances, Jordan was gone.

“Say something,” I croaked, just to fill the silence.

I needed him to yell, shout—anything.  I was desperate for any sound at all that I almost ended up screaming just to shatter the quiet.  Thankfully, Ben finally found the will to open his mouth. 

“How could you, Roxanne?”  His voice was so quiet that I had to strain to hear him, and his tone made my throat go raw with pain—he sounded tortured, anguished.

And I knew why. 

“How could you just leave?”  He flung the word at me like a whip and I flinched, stumbling back.

“With him?”  He added in a near-growl. 

The sound tore at me--I had never heard him like this.  Ever.

Utterly broken.

I jumped as he moved toward me, eating up the space between us with heavy, angry footsteps. 

Without being able to see those charming blue eyes, my mind flashed back to the past—to another angry figure who's footsteps were equally as heavy.  Equally as intimidating.