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Reece

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I could see the tears streaming down her face. I knew she was heartbroken and that she blamed me. But I just could not risk another attack. If she was attacked once while at the university, she could be attacked again. I just wish I knew what these rogues thought they could get from me by going after my mate.

I'm beginning to think that I have a mole in my office somewhere. Someone giving information to my enemies. I don't know if all the attacks on Trinity are linked or not, but they're starting to pile up and I'd be a fool to ignore them.

The first attack I thought had just been a case of wrong place and wrong time. And I was tempted to still think that. But it almost seemed like the rogue went right after her. Could she have been the target or was she just the first person that he came across that was alone?

Then there was the attack by the Warlocks. There was only one way they would know when I would be there, and that my mate would be with me. Someone had to tell them. But who in my inner circle was the mole? Who was trying to help my enemies get rid of me?

And now, these wolves, be they from another pack or rogues, were clearly trying to attack her directly. She was their target, no doubt about it. Someone was after me and they were trying to use my Luna to get to me.

I had distanced myself from her even more than I had already been, to protect her. I need her alive to protect my pack. I don't intend to let her get close to me, anyway. But if staying distant protects her then that is all for the best. Then I don't run the risk of her betraying me like women usually do.

If I can protect my pack and her by staying away, staying distant, then that is what I am going to do. I just wish I didn't have to be here to watch her cry. I am not good with watching women be emotional. All the times I've seen women cry and beg for things they thought I should give them, only to turn nasty and hateful. Women were spiteful, I wouldn't let myself get pulled in by her though. I wouldn't let it happen.

I sat silently watching as the tears spilled down her cheeks when I told her she was not going back to the university for a while. She looked devastated, which was probably an act. She didn't even try to wipe the tears away. But she didn't look at me either.

Suddenly, as if realizing what was happening, that she was crying in front of me. Little Bunny turned her head and blushed. Embarrassed she got to her feet and stammered.

I'll be in my room." Her voice trembling. She ran out of the room and slammed the door behind her. I was shocked. She didn't yell at me. She didn't beg me for anything. She didn't blame me for anything. I was at a loss. What was going on?

After a few minutes of quiet contemplation there was a knock on my door. The scent told me it was Noah.

"Come in." I called out to him. The door flew open and Noah strode in with a cloud of fury surrounding him. "Looks like things didn't go very well." I growled.

"When Vincent and the others went back to investigate the rogues were gone. Their scents still lingered, but there was no sign of them anywhere."

"None of them?"

"No." I growled at him, even knowing it wasn't his fault. I couldn't stop the frustration and anger from overflowing.

"What are these people after?"

"I wish I knew, Reece."

"What do they think they can accomplish? How is attacking my mate going to get them my territory?" My blood was boiling. Whoever was pulling the strings and manipulating the circumstances here was going to have to deal with me soon enough. I will find them eventually.

"How is Trinity?" Noah asked. "How is she holding up after today?" I know what he wanted to hear from me. That I had done my job as a mate and comforted her. That I was being the ever-doting lover that people thought I was, that I wish I could be. But I can't. This lifestyle was not safe for Trinity, she would not survive if I was too close to her.

And if I was soft on her and let her get close to me, it would ruin me and those around me, just like it did to my father and my Uncle Nolan seven years ago. Mate bond or not, she had no wolf which meant she was incapable of being the devoted, once in a lifetime mate that we were all told to expect.

"She's in her room. She is not very happy with me right now." I told him.

"What did you do?" He asked me with a cynical look on his face.

"I told her she couldn't go back to class for a while. At least until the rogue issue is taken care of." I didn't like telling her that, I know it broke her heart, and I truly thought that she would make a good lawyer, Goddess knows she loves to argue enough to be one.

"She will understand, it will just take her time to process it all."

"I know." I grimaced at him.

"You don't look very happy yourself Reece." The somber look on Noah's face told me everything I needed to know. I wasn't hiding anything from him like I thought I was. Might as well be honest then.

I got up and started pacing the room before beginning to speak.

"I have been keeping her at bay for a while now." I told him.

"What! Why in Goddess's name would you do that?" He yelled.

"Several reasons really. First and foremost, to protect her. Look at the facts Noah, she has been attacked three times since finding out that we were mates. Do you think that it's all been a coincidence?" Noah raised a hand and ran it through his hair nervously, I don't think he has really thought about it as much as I had. The look of pure shock on his face just helped to complete the look.

"Second, Noah, is that I never wanted a mate in the first place, and I still can't believe that the Goddess chose someone without a wolf who can't feel the bond in its true strength and power. She will never match me at anything. She and I will never click. So, I've rejected her."

"You've what?" I saw Noah's eyes darken. I had never once seen Noah angry with me. He had always chosen his duty to the pack, to me, over everything else.

"I told her she was a mate in name only, that we will never be more than two people forced together. We will eventually share a bed to have a child and carry on the family line, but until then, she was nothing to me. And I told her I hated her." I finished while looking away from him. I didn't want to see the disgust on his face when he heard the last of what I had to say.

I heard him get to his feet, and I heard his footsteps, but he never said a word. I turned to look at him when I knew he was close to me. I knew he was going to yell at me, in Trinity's place, as he should. He was like her brother after all.

As soon as I turned to look at him, his fist smashed into the left side of my face. Had I been a weaker man, it would have knocked me off my feet. But I did feel the bone in my cheek crack under the pressure of his fist.

"What the hell is the matter with you?!" He snarled. "What kind of man says that to his mate?" He was angrier than I even predicted.

"In part, I did it to protect her." I told him.

"In what messed up way is being an asshat going to protect her?"

"Because she's already been attacked so many times, Noah, imagine how much worse it would be if I openly showed my affection for her constantly. Or if people thought we were closer than we are. Someone is after me, after my position, and they think they can use her to get to me. So I'm pushing her away to save her."

"Even if it means pushing her so far away that she never trusts you again?" Noah's fury was making it hard to understand him.

"If that's what it takes to keep her alive, then yes. My pack needs a Luna."

"Our pack needs an Alpha and Luna that are united. How do you not see that?" He asked me incredulously. "I can't believe you." Noah ran both his hands through his hair roughly, displacing his usually perfectly styled hair. He then stomped to the door and stormed out, slamming it behind him, leaving without another word.

That could have gone better. I thought to myself. I really just wanted to protect everyone. My pack. My Luna. And even myself. Why was it so hard to make sure that no one got hurt?