Chapter 20: A Trader's Family
Sydney
I take a seat behind my desk. Silas and I are still in our workout clothes from tryouts. Elder Joseph is glaring at me. His two adult sons, Ralph and Vance, are glaring at him. Ralph's son Ambrose is standing at attention like a soldier waiting for orders, and of course, Vance's daughter Amber is cowering behind her father like a wet dog. At least that horrible perfume has been washed off.
Si stands next to me, as seems to be his style. I don't know if I like it or just getting used to it. Gideon hasn't left yet, and he and Lucas have made themselves comfortable on the sofas waiting for the show. Well, I guess I would have to deliver.
"Thank you all for coming so quickly. It has come to my attention that Amber attempted to seduce my mate. I say attempted because she almost got herself killed in the process." I stay as calm as I can. I feel like this is some kind of test. Si
Chapter 21: Unexpected Faces Silas Our day seemed to dizzy by me. The only thing I could focus on was my Lumiere ceremony. Tonight, I would be accepted into the White Ridge Pack, and in four days, I would officially become the Lumiere, the only mate to the Alpha. I just met Sydney yesterday, and now my whole world revolves around her and this pack. "It's not much different than before. Our life revolved around the pack." Bram wasn't wrong. "This feels different." I couldn't put my finger on it. "Before it was someone else's duties, we were the substitute just helping out. Now the pack looks to us as one of its leaders an example to follow." I guess Bram is an Alpha wolf for a reason. "You are probably right. A part of all this feels bittersweet. Changing my pack mark tonight puts everything into perspective." I rub my shoulder where my pack mark is. "This is where we belong now. Give it
Chapter 22: The First Mark Silas Sydney raises her hand to quiet the pack again. "Now to our other announcement. As most of you have heard, I found my mate when I traveled to the Amaris Pack. Silas Youngblood is the third son of the Beta Youngblood family. The goddess has blessed our pack and me with a strong and capable Lumiere." The pack erupts in cheering. An Alpha couple insured stability for the pack, and heaven knows they wanted it. I take a step forward. "Thank you all for the warm welcome. I promise to get to know each one of you as time progresses. We have a lot of rebuilding to do. I hope we can count on each of you." Sydney pats my shoulder. "Thank you. We will now accept Silas into White Ridge." I turn to face Sydney and start to unbutton my shirt. I have to have my left shoulder visible to the pack. Once my shirt is off. I see Sydney look me up and down. A slight blush to her cheeks. I cann
Chapter 23: More Sydney As soon as the door to our room closes, Si pulls me to him. I see Bram's ice blue eyes flash in Si's then he crashes his lips to mine. I feel Thora push forward, reaching out for her mate. I don't want to keep them apart, but I don't know if I'm ready for this. He's not being gentle like he was yesterday. There is a fierceness and determination behind his kiss. All the tension and frustration exploded in our bruising of lips and tangling of tongues. I find it challenging to stay focused, and my resolve to resist dissipates. Si takes a second to breathe. "I want to mark you. Will you let me?" His breath is hot on my ear, and the heat reaches my core. I have to make a sound decision, think clearly, Syd. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "We should wait until the day before the ceremony. I don't want to be in heat during your ceremony." My back is pinned to the door, and Sila
Chapter 24: Marks Silas A ray of light hits my eyes, forcing me awake. It is the second night in a row without nightmares. We were up late into the night, but I feel so well-rested. It’s like the whole world is new again. Waking up today is better than yesterday or any day before. Syd is sleeping on my chest again, but this morning she is naked. Her smooth, toned body pressed against mine, her wild ginger curls covering my chest. This is ecstasy. The slightly sweet and tart notes of red current mixed with the spicy hints of cinnamon fill my senses. My need to have her is growing by the second. “Let’s peek at her mark?” Bram is just as enthralled with our mate as I am. I try to gently move her hair from her shoulder and neck to take a quick look. The shifting of her hair gives me a surprised reaction. Syd nuzzles into my chest and wiggles her body closer. Her leg comes up and over my body rubbing her inn
Chapter 25: Call with the Alphas Sydney: "Beta Lucas, do you know what this is about?" Everyone is already gathered in my office. "Good morning, Alpha Syd and Lumiere Si. No, I don't." Lucas settles into one of the sofas. Ambrose and Kyler quickly stand and bow. "Good morning, Alpha and Lumiere." They both chime out. "Ambrose, you took the call this morning, correct? Did Alpha John say what it was about?" I take my seat behind my desk, Si standing next to me. "Ummm… actually, Alpha, I took the call." Gamma Kyler steps forward, head hung low. I'm not sure if it's out of fear or respect. "Thank you, Gamma Kyler, for taking the call. Did Alpha John say anything?" His head pops up, and his eyes are wide with surprise. I guess it was fear, not respect. "No, Alpha, he just said to contact him as soon as you were available." He smiles cautiously. "Well, not much I can do." I loo
Chapter 26: Brewing Silas “This is no longer a ranked tryout. Last night we found our pack Gamma. It will, however, determine who our lead warriors are.” A mummer is rising at Sydney’s words. “As many of you know, we are already facing an outside threat from a group of rogues. We don’t know when they will strike, but we know they will.” Sydney glares down at the pack members assembled. “Are you ready to defend your home!” She yells and pushes out her Alpha aura, and it would be extremely sexy if I weren’t so pissed. “Yes, Alpha!” They yell back. Sydney looks at me out of the corner of her eye and gives me a nod. I step forward, “White Ridge, starting today, we will be evaluating your skill level and your combat readiness.” As I look out, I’m sizing them all up. Who will I make an example of? Who can I let off some steam on? “It doesn’t matter if you are the strongest or the fastest. If you can’t handle yourself
Chapter 27: A Fight or Make-up Sydney "How dare he embarrass me like that in front of all the warriors and the pack at dinner." I put my fist through the wall. He didn't come back for dinner, so I sat alone the day after being marked. The whole pack saw it. I looked like an idiot just sitting there waiting for him. What the hell. "Our mate was upset." Thora was defending him, which made my already bad mood worse. "I don't care. He should have sucked it up and swallowed it down, and dealt with it later. We have a pack to run and don't have time for feelings." Why did he leave me? He's supposed to be my mate, and he just walked away like it was nothing. I hear footsteps coming down the hall, and I can smell him. I ready myself and my weapon. Silas walks in the bedroom door. I launch the pillow from my hand as hard as I can at his head—the impact pushing him back for a second. "Oh, you fina
Chapter 28: A Dark Night Coming to Light Silas I stand in my usual spot next to Syd at her desk. It may seem odd, but I feel like if I don't stand next to her, she might just disappear. The office is filled this morning. We have Beta Lucas, Beta Ambrose, Gamma Kyler, and the Elders, along with Syd and myself. Six in total now that Joseph has been stripped of his elder title. We needed to move past the Joseph issue for now and focus our time on other pack matters. "Thank you all for coming today," With Joseph no longer a part of the elders, Sydney was more relaxed. Just looking at the six Elders gathered today, I would say they look more comfortable as well. "Of course, Alpha, what is it you wish to discuss?" Elder Mimi sipped on her tea and smiled wide. Mimi felt like a wise grandma, loving and full of wisdom that she would covertly give you while snacking on milk and homemade cookies. There was a warm history
Chapter 44: Lupus ConstellationSydney“The same reason you didn’t leave, family. My father knew if he tried to run with us, my mother and I would be the targets, not him. So my parents devised a plan, one that saved many in our pack from the curse.” Pearl’s words hit me hard. My dad could have taken us and ran, and I could have run away, but family kept us anchored to the pack.“What was the plan? How can you avoid a curse?” More than the sting of being held hostage by family obligations, my curiosity about how they avoided the curse was higher.“My mother being a human, did not have the same obligation to the Alpha as us wolves. I was part of the pack already and had found my mate. She didn’t want to lose her family, plus she was getting older. She did reading after reading about pack members searching for anything for years. She started to piece some things together. Out of all the families in the pack, only 11 had futures of not being corrupted.” Pearl rubbed the back of her neck
Chapter 43: The Alpha Curse Silas “I understand now.” Syd’s voice is tender and soft as she looks into Pearl’s eyes. It makes me wonder if this is how she was with her mother. Pearl turns to look at my parents with a charming smile, “Beta Youngbloods, do you mind if I have a moment with the Alphas.” Before anyone could say a word in response, Syd replied, “they are family. If it’s important, I would like them to hear it.” I was shocked. I expected to be kicked out of the room myself for a second. In a gentle voice, I asked, “Syd, are you sure?” She didn’t answer in words, just a shy smile; I could see her eyes were glassy. “If that is what the Alpha wishes, I will oblige. I must warn you this is not a happy story, nor should it be shared outside of this room.” Pearl’s ominous warning sucked the air out of the room. We all took a deep breath. “Please, Elder Pearl, continue.” Syd sat up straight. If I couldn’t feel her emotions, I would think she was calm and regal looking, but I
Chapter 42: The Moon and the Stars Sydney I can’t believe what I just heard. Silas said he loved me and said it in front of his parents. I need to control my face. I know I’m grinning like a mad woman, but I can’t help it. This is not what an Alpha acts like. Ugh, why do I get like this around him? “Thora, help fix our face.” I plead with her because I know I look crazy right now. “I can’t. Do you feel that… coming through the bond? Hehe,” My wolf was making it worse. I’m in front of a high-ranking Beta couple, and I’m acting like a love-sick kid. “Get a hold of yourself,” I scream to Thora and me. Now I was just feeling embarrassed that I, an Alpha, was acting so ridiculous over a simple word. I stare at the bowl in front of me, focusing on the mashed potatoes. “Does it taste alright, dear?” I look up and see everyone staring at me. “Yeah, it’s great.” I quickly put my fork in my mouth. I feel like I’m going to explode from em
Chapter 41: What is that feeling Silas “I’m not ready,” Syd yells out; she has this deer in the headlights look on her face as she stares at Dad and me. The room is quiet for a moment, and Syd quickly turns a lovely shade of red. Dad lets me out of the headlock. I can tell mom and dad are linking each other because mom shrugged. I’m about to link Syd when mom strikes first. “Sydney dear, what are you not ready for?” Again, we all look at Syd, and I didn’t think she could get this red. “Ummm… ahhh…Ummm.” Syd looks at me in a panic. I link her, “You, OK? What’s going on?” “No.” She snaps back. “Well, answer her?” I’m not a mind reader, and if she wasn’t going to tell me what was going on, I could help. Her emotions are all over the place; there’s confusion, panic, and embarrassment, but I have no clue why. “Ummm… I’m not ready for you both to leave in a few days.” I feel a sense of relief coming off of Syd. I hone
Chapter 40: Monster Cookies Sydney “Is this really a good idea?” I whisper to myself as I slow my steps walking toward the packhouse kitchen. “Hurry up. Why are you so slow?” Thora tries to take over for a second. “Hey, knock it off. You just want to eat. Whatever she made is not going anywhere.” I push her back and maintain control. “You don’t know that. Beta Christine is nice, and she could have already given the good stuff away.” My mouth starts to salivate as Thora pushes forward again. “You are acting like a starving pup. We eat all the time.” I stop walking and stand still in the hall, taking back complete control. I’ve never put myself on a diet. With the consistent training and shifting, the need for calories was immense. Now with the added workload of the pack, I was eating even more, as they call it, brain food. “This is different. This is special. Just calm down, alright. Ever
Chapter 39: Father-Son Silas I clap my hands and yell out. “Alright, everyone, that’s it for now.” I start walking back up to the front where my dad is standing. “Remember tonight we are running drills in the forest.” Everyone groans. We need to run rogue attack simulations, so we don’t have the same thing happen again. No one died, but it was too close for comfort. Something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye. “Brain, I guess you decided to stop milking that near-death injury and come to training.” I chuckle and take a few steps over to the onlooker. “What can I say? The ladies love to nurse an injured hero back to health.” Brian gives me a smirk. I wanted to rip his head off when I got her, but that battle changed how we saw each other. “Seriously, how are you healing?” I place a concerned hand on his shoulder. Brain lifts his shirt, and I see stapled flesh. “Staples come out tomorrow. Doc said it was so deep and seriou
Chapter 38: Finding the definition Sydney “Alpha, aren’t you going to join your mate and his father at the training grounds?” Kyler looked up from his laptop. I sink back into my chair and let out a sigh. “No, I need to get caught up on pack business.” I’m behind on pack work because of my heat and the Lumiere ceremony. Now that the other Alphas have left, I can focus on cleaning this up again. Why did Silas’ parents decide to stay an extra few days? I always feel like I’m walking on eggshells around them now. “What was all that noise about at the after-party, Alpha?” Ambrose cranes his neck backward over the sofa to look at me. A sucker stick poked out between his lips. I know he’s being nosy and trying to act casual about it. “It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.” I don’t want to bring it back up right now. It still bothers me. I focus on the reports in front of me. “Nothing? You sure rushed out for nothing then.” Ambrose knows how
Chapter 37: A Family Matter Silas “Put a shirt on already. I’m sick of looking at that creepy mate mark.” Cody scoffed. "Shut up, Cody." I snarled. His attitude toward Sydney and I is really getting under my skin. "What are you, the little bitch's, bitch now?" Cody continued to mock and down his drink and slammed the glass on the table. I jump to my feet. "Cody, if you forgot, I outrank you now, so I mean it when I say shut the fuck up." I feel Bram pushing forward and my Lumiere Aura pushing out. "Uhhh... You!" Cody slumps down in his chair, trying to fight the pull. "Cody, bro, seriously knock it off. You are not just Silas' brother but the Gamma of our pack. So as your Beta, I'm telling you to stop now." Davy steps between us. Him being the oldest always trying to keep the peace. My blood is boiling. I’m doing everything I can to hold Bram back, but a big part of me wants to let him loose. "Grrrrrr..." Cody’s eyes fl
Chapter 36: Brothers Sydney “What?” Silas keeps trying to look at his own back. “Goddess, help me. I think his ceremony fired his damn brain.” I raise my head to plead with Selene herself. Watching him, I let out a sigh. “You look ridiculous. Stop it.” “Well, you said I had a star. I want to see it. Take a picture with your phone.” He spins around, and I swear Bram’s tail is out wagging. “Yeah, this damn dress has a place for pockets. I’ll do it later, but we seriously need to figure this out.” I pinch his arm to bring him out of his happy daze. “Ouch!” Silas rubs his arm. “What the hell.” “Silas! Focus!” My temper is starting to show. “OK. I’m sure it’s just part of the connecting pattern, and it doesn’t mean anything.” Silas waves me off. “I don’t think it’s part of the connecting pattern. I don’t know what it means if it means anything.” I sigh and turn him around to take a good look at his mark. It is pretty