Chapter One

SIERRA

“Haven’t you had enough?” 

I raised my eyebrows at the slightly drunk man standing in front of the bar with a crooked smile on his face. 

“Serve the man drinks, Sierra, don't control how much he's had!” my boss barked at me. 

I rolled my eyes as I turned to the man with his leering smile. 

“What kind of drink do you want now?” I asked him. 

“Your famous special, love,” he drawled in a raspy breath. 

I shuddered at his pathetic attempt to sound sexy when he was just an old drunk. The fact that many werewolves including Alphas always come to this bar to be secretly entertained leaving their mates at home made me feel disgusted. 

I've never been a fan of fated mates mostly due to how I grew up and the way my father, who was my mother’s mate, treated us. 

But coming to this town and picking up a shift here which was mostly night shifts, I was beside myself with horror. These men had no value for their mates, all they wanted was a strong female wolf who could give them healthy pups to carry their lineage. 

“Hurry up, love, the dance floor is getting empty,” the man said to me. 

I mixed his drink and poured it into a shaker, mixing it with ice as I poured it out into his glass and handed it to him.

Mixing drinks was my specialty, and I loved trying out new drinks and inventing new cocktails. It was one of the reasons why I was working here and why I was my boss’s favorite. 

He took a sip and groaned, his face alight with delight, “Mmh, taste like heaven.” 

“I’m glad you found it to your liking,” I smiled at him. 

“Think you can hold that for me, eh?” he winked, handing me the drink. 

I sighed, “I need to attend to more customers, Alpha.”

The man laughed, “Drop the formalities. Call me Logan.”

My lips curled up in disgust as I kept the drink on the bar counter. 

“My business is done with you, Alpha,” I said curtly.

I stared at the dance floor he was itching to go back to and I rolled my eyes. It was a couple of human girls twirling around on a pole. 

Most of them were naked while some were still stripping. This wasn't the strippers club as it was called, it was the real thing. 

These men got a kink by watching these girls strip and some even slept with them or indulged in one fantasy or the other with them. 

This was one of the few towns where werewolves and humans lived in peace but only because they submitted to werewolves. Which was why it was easy for me and my mother to live here. 

I turned around and took off my apron just as the clock struck nine pm. My shift was done for the day. I walked up to my boss to collect my pay. 

“My pay,” I said, extending my hand. 

He sighed, “If you would just work the floor for one day, Sierra, a lot of Alphas are dying to have you. Including the Betas and Gammas. You might even meet your mate.”

I wrinkled my nose in disgust, “Meet my mate in a place like this? No, thanks.”

My boss sighed as he handed me my pay for the day, he paid me every shift that I worked. I loved the quick cash even though this place disgusts me but money has to be made. 

“If you want more money then work the floor, I’ll put you with the good ones,” my boss coaxed. 

“Thanks, Boss, I’m good,” I said, as I walked out. 

“Be careful,” my boss called after me. 

I took a deep breath glad to be out of the bar that smelt of drinks and sex. The fresh air and the full moon relaxed my nerves as I began walking home. 

The bar to my house was a fifteen-minute walk and I loved taking night walks. It relaxed me and my wolf. 

A few miles away from the bar, the back of my neck prickled as I felt goosebumps crawl up my arm. I knew that feeling very well as my heartbeat increased and began thumping furiously in my chest.

My mouth dried up as I started breathing hard. This feeling was all too familiar as someone who has always been on the run, I knew that someone was watching me. 

I glanced around and then hastened my steps before I broke into a run and took a sharp turn, dashing into the woods. 

That’s when I heard them. Powerful wolf paws followed me into the woods followed by a familiar voice of command. 

“Don’t let her escape you this time!” the voice snarled. 

My heart thumped furiously in my chest as I ran without shifting. Just as I rounded up a sharp bend, I bumped into someone who grabbed my arm painfully.

“Let me go!” I cried. 

The man chuckled in my face, “Oh, sweet Sierra. It’s been three years. Alpha Elvis is going to be so pleased.”

I raised my knee and rammed it into his groin. The man doubled over in pain, as he released me and I took to my heels. 

“Fucking bitch!” he swore loudly, “Find her!”

I wasn't going to Elvis today, and I would never go back there. My heartbeat thumped loudly as I shifted into my black wolf and ran out of the woods the sound of paws and howls trailing behind me.