My Stripper Mate

Chapter 23

The following week had been brewed from the depths of hell. I convinced Noah to let me see Wilder at least once a day on the premise that it would hurt him to see us together. I had managed to convince Noah that it was him that I wanted to be with, and despite his want to believe me, he still kept his guard up. It was clear to me that he had no idea of any mate bond or any mind linking that wolves could do, which was an obvious advantage.

I had kept my business with Kat's parents on the down low, even Kat had no idea what I was plotting. Her parents had a glimpse of an idea, but they were uncertain and unconvinced of my success. I had spoken to them earlier that morning, requesting a few items I knew would be necessary to execute my plan, but other than that the house seemed dead to the world. I often heard the howls and pained cries of one wolf in particular coming from the dead woods in the middle of the night. I had been practicing deepening the connection between us, and I had taught myself how to analyze his emotions, his pain.

Although, I still couldn't talk to Wilder, I could often hear his voice ringing through my head. He told me sweet things of love and patience. I think he could read my mind when I repeated how much I loved him, he would always repeat it back. We shared words through thoughts, and I wish I could have a conversation with him, but I made do with what I could. On long nights I would think about him with me and we would dance in my dreams together.

Noah upgraded me from the cage to a room next to his. Another reason I could tell he still didn't trust me. He didn't want us sleeping together, he knew better to trust me when he was defenseless. I paced the room an odd state of calm. Today was the day I would execute my plan. For everything to work, I needed to be very convincing. I kept the plan out of my thoughts as much as possible, and when I had to think it through, I put up the block that Wilder had taught to me.

"Good morning." Noah entered the room, smile on face, and key in hand. Besides him giving me my own room, he had also kept my ankle locked to the bed with a long chain. I could reach the toilet, but that was about as far as I could go. Noah approached me and I greeted him with a sweet smile.

"Good morning." I planted a small kiss on his cheek just before he bent down to unlock my ankle.

"I was thinking." I stated as he unlocked my chain and took hold of my hand. "We should see the prison today before breakfast." I said while kissing the knuckles on the back of his hand. It took everything in me not to gag.

"Sure my sweet, why?" He questioned cautiously.

"I have a surprise for you." I told him unconvincingly. I needed things to go my way. "I'm hungry for something other than toast, and I want an audience." I purred in his ear. He pulled away with a wide smile.

"Anything you wish." He grinned and pulled me through the door. Noah had refused to leave me alone in the house without his presence, but he still didn't trust me to go into public with him. We were quickly running out of food in the house, and he had resorted to feeding me only bread for the past three days to try and conserve food. Not that he was making much of an effort. The wolves hunted, so he had singlehandedly eaten almost everything in the house.

We marched out the back door, hand in hand, on a mission to the prison. Everything was going according to plan, so with a deep breath I unblocked my mind to Wilder.

'We're almost at the prison.' I thought to myself, but his voice was quick to respond.

'Where have you been?' I sighed knowing this question was coming. I had been up all night planning, but he couldn't know this.

'I don't want you in my mind anymore' I thought to myself, knowing he could hear each word. I felt the pain shock through my heart causing me to hunch over in pain. Noah looked at me confused, but I straightened up and continued walking. Wilder was quiet after that, but I knew my pain was his and vise versa.

Noah and I stepped into the prison only to be greeted with sad and tired wolves. Many of the pack members had been fed by Kat's pack who hunted for them, but many hadn't eaten in days. There wasn't enough food to go around, and as difficult as it was to watch mothers give their portions to their young, I knew it would all be over soon.

"Oh mighty alpha." Noah taunted as we approached Wilder's cell. I made eye contact before I looked away from his burning gaze.

"What do you want, Noah?" Wilder asked angrily.

"It isn't me who wanted to see you today, I received a special request." He chuckled while looking down at me.

"What was it you wanted to do, dear?" Noah asked while turning his body directly towards me.

"I-," the words froze on my tongue. I couldn't break the people I loved. I couldn't destroy the people who cared about me. This whole pack, my pack, could I really do this? I looked around meeting the hopeful and encouraging eyes of everyone around me. They all had faith in me still, they all trusted me, even if it was my fault they were all locked up. It was my duty to them that would fuel me. It was all for them. I turned to Wilder and made eye contact with him.

"I can't be with you." My heart shattered in that moment, and I knew his did too, but I didn't show it. The wolves guarding the cells even turned to watch at that moment.

"Adi, I-," I was quick to interrupt Wilder, knowing that if he continued I couldn't do what I was about to do. I turned to Noah and pulled him into a deep kiss. I could hear Wilder's howl echo through the prison, and my whole pack was quick to comfort them with howls of their own. I could see from the corner of my eye Wilder's chest rising and falling rapidly. I needed to get him more worked up.

I dropped to my knees before Noah, and placed my hands on the buckle of his pants.

"Noah." I whispered, looking up into his sinister eyes.

"Yes?" He questioned.

"I'm yours." I said barely above a whisper. The howling stopped at that moment. Wilder had fallen to the ground on his knees and watched along with the whole pack as I unbuttoned Noah's pants and pulled them down. My shaking hand reached up and took hold of the hem to his boxers. I kissed Noah's thigh muscle and snapped the elastic against his stomach. I heard his growl before I felt the sting of his slap against my face.

"Don't tease me, bitch." He muttered before pinching my face between his thumb and first knuckle. I nodded my head obediently and reached back up for the hem of his boxers, but this time instead of pulling them down I grabbed the knife I knew he always kept in his shorts. He never changes.

"So foolish." Noah laughed as I turned the knife on him and threateningly stepped towards him. "Did you forget I have a pack of wolves heeding my every command. I looked around desperately trying to see some resistance among the offensive pack, but none was found. Every wolf turned to look away from my desperate gaze.

"Then you leave me no choice." I muttered taking a step back. There were two things sure in this world. One, I love Wilder and two, Noah loves me. My head started to spin and I felt myself begin my fall into darkness. I plunged the knife into my heart and allowed gravity to take over. As my head hit the floor, I saw the stars take place of my vision.

"I love you, Wi-," I allowed my eyes to close, but before I completely lost control to the darkness, I could hear his howl. The same howl I had been hearing for the past 7 days. He called out to me.

'I love you too.'

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Okay, don't shoot me. It's a bit of a short chapter, but it feels more poetic that way. This is not the end of the book I swear, and the next chapter will be written in Wilder's point of view, what a treat! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know in the comments what you are all feeling, like I've said before, I love talking to you all so much.

Ps. I was listening to "Je te Laisserai des mots" by Patrick Watson to set the mood for this chapter if you're interested. It's a great song.

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Have a good one peeps!

Love

-B

7/18/21