The wolfs forced mate, p.2
The Wolf’s Forced Mate, page 2
That meant she needed to be prepared to be disappointed.
She’s so young. There’s no need for her to learn like this.
Brandi scooped Inez into her arms as she had just done with me. Inez smiled brightly and tapped Brandi’s nose. “Dots.”
“Those are my birth dots. Like ‘em?”
Inez giggled. “I don’t have dots.”
“Nope. You got smooth skin like your mama here.”
“What’s your name?”
Brandi grinned. “You can call me Brandi. What’s yours, gorgeous?”
“Inez. Like ee-nez.”
Brandi elongated the pronunciation while shuffling along the porch, appearing so content with my daughter that I didn’t want to interrupt them. Not in the least. It was such a welcome sight. It was a welcome feeling. I hadn’t forgotten Brandi at all.
I just hadn’t exactly thought of her on purpose either.
I chaffed my arm. “Listen, I know it’s been a while, but—”
Brandi held up a hand. “Shush. I don’t want to hear it. Come inside.”
“But what about your mom—?”
“She doesn’t live with me anymore.” She winked. “For good reason too. She was a C blocker if you know what I mean.” She glanced at Inez with a rosy hue to her cheeks and chuckled bashfully. “I’ll tell your mama about that later. Not for kid ears.”
“How’s uh…?” I didn’t want to say his name as I crossed the threshold. But I couldn’t ignore that either. History had a way of surfacing without effort. “You know, your brother?”
Brandi sighed as she set Inez on the couch. She grabbed a few magazines from the coffee table and set them next to my daughter. Inez jumped at the opportunity to look at colorful words and pictures. That was good enough for me. My feet were aching.
Once I sank into the couch opposite them, my entire body screamed with a familiar ache.
And not the good ache either.
“You know him,” Brandi mumbled. “He’s back and forth.”
“Still fixing that schooner?”
She snorted. “He fixed the schooner and then took off.” She waved her hand. “Poof.”
“Wow, I didn’t think that would ever happen.”
“Didn’t think he’d come back either, but he’s here.”
I bolted upright. “He’s here in the house?”
She waved for me to settle down. “No, honey. He’s up at the mansion with the big boys minus that bully dragon jerk.”
“I see old habits die hard.”
“Milton is a meanie head with a hard-on for—”
I shushed her and pointed at Inez.
Brandi covered her mouth, blushing. “Sorry, honey. You know I never quite got the hang of having a filter.”
“It’s no big deal. I just don’t want her picking up too much slang.”
“I get it.” She smiled at Inez, reaching out to point to one of the magazine pictures. “I gave him horns and a tail. What do you think?”
I leaned forward to see what she was referencing—and nearly lost my sides from laughing so hard. In the center of the page stood Milton Kane, the billionaire dragon CEO of whatever-he-was-doing-now, looking like a million bucks.
Except for the devil horns and tail that Brandi had so artistically added to his picture. In a delicious bright red that I had to admire.
“Brandi, you’re awful,” I teased through my remaining chuckles. I coughed and cleared my throat. “History, right?”
“If he ever shows his face around here—”
I shook my head. “You know he’s still part of the pack.”
“Speaking of, so are you. Where’ve you been, honey?”
I shrank deeper into the couch. “I don’t know. The city. Here and there.”
“City?”
“I was in Spartanburg for a while. Then Greenville. We even hopped up to Asheville for a bit.”
She whistled. “All over, huh?”
“Edward just couldn’t keep a job. We had to keep moving to avoid debt collectors. It was such a mess. Especially after”—I pointed at Inez—“her birth.”
Brandi offered a sympathetic frown. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”
“I wish it wasn’t like this, but…” I trailed off and tapped my chin. “I guess it’s better than being homeless.”
“I can’t believe that man left you. A shifter’s honor is—”
My entire face bloomed with heat.
I was a tomato, wasn’t I? It was written all over Brandi’s face. She saw my embarrassment as clearly as I felt it.
Her features sank. “Honey, no.”
“Unfortunately…”
“Don’t tell me he was—”
My shoulders slouched forward. “Yes, he was human.”
“Leah.”
“What? It happens, okay? It wouldn’t have been the first hybrid pairing in this pack.”
She sighed. “It probably won’t be the last either.”
“What? You too?”
She shook her head, wrinkling her nose. “Ew, no! I’m just saying that you’re not the only one. Just…”
“Just currently the only one.”
“Tanner is probably throwing a fit right now.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t care what he thinks. Inez is a medical miracle and I’m glad she came into my life.”
Sweet affection poured into Brandi’s expression as she observed me. Her lopsided smile reminded me of hot summer nights around a fire. “I remember when Dr. Windsor—” She shuddered.
I shared her reaction. “Yeah, it was hard.”
“Well, I’m glad you have her. She’s wonderful.” She turned to Inez who was absorbed by the science magazine. “Smart, isn’t she?”
“Very smart.”
“Speaking of smart, the three of us better get up to the community center.”
I frowned. “Why? Do I need to sign in like a visitor or something?”
She shook her head. “No, Elva just texted me. Blake called a meeting.”
“Who’s Blake?”
“Sheesh, you really have been gone too long.” She smiled brightly while standing up. “Come on. Let’s grab some sandwiches before we walk over there. You have a lot to catch up on.”
Boy, did I ever.
***
What used to be the community center was now a grand eating hall complete with a series of rooms that acted as instruction rooms, daycare, and meeting places for clubs. A hallway ran the length of the building and ended in the back where the modern cafeteria was filled with plenty of tables and chairs to house the entire pack. All one hundred and fifty of us.
More had changed than I’d originally thought. It wasn’t like I had too many core memories tied to this place. Seeing it so different now was both alarming and relieving. Tanner and I had so many of our meals here. As the adopted shifter kid of the pack, I had spent a lot of time in this center.
Games and books had been my main escape. Crochet became a huge focus as I got older. And when I got to mating age, everything else was supposed to fall into place.
Until it didn’t.
Because of Tanner.
The crowd swelled with conversation. I sat close to Brandi and Elva, keeping my daughter in my lap despite her desire to run with the other shifter kids. My resistance to settling in was met with glowering stares. It wasn’t that I didn’t want Inez to play with other kids.
I just had to know that we belonged here first.
A black-haired, blue-eyed scruffy man wearing a biker jacket wandered onto the miniature stage at the far left of the room. Within seconds, the room fell silent. In line behind him followed three men—and one of them was Tanner.
I would recognize his glowing skin and cloudlike hair anywhere. Crystal silver eyes glittered like liquid moonlight, so reminiscent of his sister yet so deeply unique at the same time. Angular features set his usually goofy expression as darkly serious and his athletic body appeared more chiseled than it had years ago.
All that sailing will keep a man in shape, won’t it?
I swallowed hard as Inez cuddled into my neck. While her presence comforted me, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this meeting. Surely their alpha knew I was back. Where was he, anyway?
The man wearing the leather jacket smiled warmly at the crowd. “It’s good to see you all here, friends. Even under these circumstances.”
No way. That couldn’t be the alpha.
Could it?
He looked like a biker more than a leader.
Blake tilted his head, exposing the bags growing under his eyes. Yep, he was a leader alright. And he was losing sleep over something.
“Recent attacks have raised alarms and I’ve collected your concerns, naturally,” he explained. “My team is working on ensuring your safety so you can sleep peacefully at night.” His smile widened. “So long as Neil isn’t playing his guitar too loudly, right?”
Chuckles broke through the room. The guy was young, tough, and scruffy, but he seemed like he knew the business. And he certainly knew how to talk to his pack.
My anxiety eased.
“That being said, I want us to take even more precautions. We need to make sure we’ve got everyone mated who is of mating age.” His brows furrowed together as he searched the room. Who was he looking for? “And I’d like to start with two specific people, one of whom means a lot to this pack.”
He turned to Tanner.
My heart shuddered in my chest.
Blake offered a gentle smile to his friend and said, “The first mate bond to be established will be Tanner Snider…”
I held my breath as I looked around the room. Everyone was on the edge of their seat. And why not? What the alpha said was like solid gold. It could be changed, sure, but it would never be any less valuable. His word was what bound us together.
Even mates.
His eyes cut across the crowd, searching and searching, tirelessly studying every face he came across.
Until he focused on me. “...and Leah Shephard.”
Chapter 3 - Tanner
“You must be out of your damn mind.”
The words flew from me before I could contain them. Silent opposition with authority figures was always safest in packs. Yet the way Blake ran things, I knew he would understand my disgust.
Why would he pair me with a woman who had lied to me?
Anger forced my mouth to pop open again, a softer and lower voice emerging this time. “Do you remember what happened four years ago?”
Blake pierced me with a critical gaze as Jermaine stepped forward. Even Neil was glaring at me, the grumpy bastard. His alabaster skin hosted a medley of tattoos that contrasted the golden strands of his shoulder-length hair. Those eyes were far more menacing than any of his detailed ink. They were on the prowl, searching for a reason to bat me with his giant lion’s paw.
My nostrils flared indignantly. “This won’t work.”
A chair screeched the floor across the room. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Murmurs traveled through the crowd. Such public outrage over a stated mate bond was unheard of—especially with a newly appointed alpha.
But Blake didn’t know everything. He clearly didn’t understand the history between Leah and me. Either that or he didn’t care.
Blake’s chest rumbled with a growl.
I bowed my head. “Respectfully, Alpha. Leah and I tried. We’re not a good match.”
“My word is bond,” Blake stated flatly. “We must continue with the meeting. Please, have a seat—both of you, have a seat.”
That was it.
End of discussion.
My alpha had spoken and it was up to me to honor his word. If I didn’t, then I might face even worse consequences than remaining unmated.
I sat down. I crossed my legs. I closed my lips.
It was the respectable thing to do.
As Blake droned on about security procedures I had covered earlier with Jermaine, my heart thudded violently in my chest. Every molecule in my body shuddered with irritation. My wolf yowled every chance he got, agitating me to pieces about the fact that we still hadn’t gone for a run as he had wanted us to earlier.
The beast was driving me wild. And the sight of my ex-girlfriend sitting across the room with my sister next to her made it all worse.
How can she do this to me? I fumed. How can she prance back into Beaufort with a kid in her lap like it wouldn’t tear me to shreds? I glared at my sister. And why is Brandi being so goddamn nonchalant about it?
Voices crackled in the background as a debate ensued over curfew. Blake insisted that it would keep the pack safe. Others protested that it was just another militant way to keep them in line. Offense ran on both sides. And understandably so.
Our pack wasn’t used to being restricted like this.
But the days of old were being put to rest. Our cemetery was full of fun and fancy-free activities that we weren’t permitted to do anymore. Not because Blake didn’t endorse them. But because they could inevitably get us killed.
And over what? A pack leader who had lost his damn mind?
Not Blake, of course. The other guy—the one who had sent that weird book.
We won’t stop until the right alpha is in place.
Cryptic—and beyond loud and clear.
Raymond was out of his depth. He had gotten drunk on power and wanted more. Veronica had fallen under his tutelage, assuming that her upbringing had been exactly what shifter life was about.
But it wasn’t.
And it would never be that way.
While the conversation dimmed to a low murmur in the background, Blake motioned for me to follow him through a rear door. The meeting had wrapped up while I was stuck in my head. Had he noticed my thoughts about his mate? It wasn’t like I was thinking ill of her.
But then again, she had tried to kill my best friend. A wolf just needed to know that he wasn’t about to come across his beheaded alpha in the gardens or something. That was all I needed.
Maybe Blake had sensed that need.
That’s what makes him a great friend, I thought as I followed him. And a great alpha too.
Leah wandered through the door behind us. She lingered close to the doorway with the toddler on her hip. Thank the gods that little girl looked nothing like me. I would have been pissed if she showed up here with my kid after lying to me the whole time about getting pregnant.
My irritated gaze locked on her like the predator I was. Is she proud of herself?
“Stop it,” Jermaine hissed. “You’re stinking up the room with your stress.”
“Whatever,” I snapped.
Blake shot us a look of warning. “I will excommunicate you until this is over if you don’t behave.”
“Hey, man. I didn’t do anything.” I raised my hands and flashed him my dashing grin. Worked like a charm. “You know I keep myself in check. Mostly.”
“You’ll do well to follow my orders.”
I bowed my head. “Yes, Alpha.”
It wasn’t in me to deny him. As awful as the situation was, I had to give it to him—his word was bond. The pack knew that. I knew that.
I just didn’t want it to be true.
Or at the very least, I didn’t want it to apply to this situation.
Leah stepped forward. Her daughter babbled while playing with the teal necklace hanging around her neck. Nimble fingers managed to undo the clasp and send the necklace tumbling to the ground. Instead of dropping to pick it up, Leah simply closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.
The little girl looked ashamed. “Sorry, Mommy.”
Leah opened her eyes, her mocha-brown eyes glittering with understanding. Well, that was quick. She’d always had such a bad temper.
Motherhood must have instilled patience in her.
She smiled warmly at her daughter. “It’s alright, Inez. It was an accident.”
I scooped the beads from the ground, holding them up to the light to inspect the stones. “These look like the ones my mother used to wear.”
Leah snatched them from me. “I can assure you they’re not the same ones.”
“I wasn’t accusing you of anything.”
“I wouldn’t put it past you to think it, Tanner.”
A drain on my energy—that was all Leah ever was to me. She’d used up whatever I had to propel herself through the pack, flirting with the guys that rolled through for training with the previous alpha.
Nathan had been a shining example of what good alphas should be made of. His son was nothing short of brilliant.
It was up to me to make sure people could see Blake’s brilliance.
My shoulders dropped. “Alright, sorry.”
Leah blinked rapidly. She drifted back toward the door while handing her necklace to Inez. “No harm. No foul.”
Gods, that was an old phrase. How many times had she said it in the past? We’d just been a couple of weird kids exploring the beach, gathering shells, building castles together. When I bumped into her, she would say that.
No harm. No foul.
It made me long for the days of simplicity. Not whatever weird shamble my life had suddenly become in a matter of hours.
Jermaine was already irritated with me. I didn’t need Leah to join the brigade. Though in truth the two of them could probably fill entire libraries with their complaints about me.
Who cared? I wasn’t here for them. I was here for my alpha. In service. Always.
“Listen,” Blake said gently, “I know the two of you haven’t gotten along in the past. It’s a lot to cope with. I understand.”
I glared at him. It was all I dared to do at the moment.
He leveled his gaze with mine. “But the pack endorses the union. We think you two would get along if you just tried.”
“We did try,” Leah stated pointedly. “He rejected me in front of everyone, Alpha.”
“He won’t do that again,” Blake promised. “I’ll make sure of it.”
She frowned while turning her attention to Inez. As before, any agitation that had been present melted away. My flesh warmed at the sight of her caring for her daughter. Deep down, a hole opened up, swallowing the inkling of anger that had crested in my solar plexus. The way my wolf pranced around made me wonder why I had ever given her up at all.
