It’s an odd feeling, hitting rock bottom. It became so clear what was important and what wasn’t. Protecting the pack was important. My need to remain connected to my family wasn’t. Allowing Michael to take advantage of his second chance was important. My claim on him wasn’t. If I had one now. I was sure Michael hated me now, and I accepted that hate. It made this all easier.
In the last three days, Koreyon discovered Elder Edwards wasn’t the only supporter Mario had. Several members of the pack were okay with Mario challenging me for alphaship. Though, out of the elders, only Edwards openly supported him. Brandon thought Michael should take over, even with the claim he attacked the Doctor. Elder Charles simply wanted stability. Those were small victories I will celebrate. The most important discovery Koreyon had made was Alpha Steven wasn’t involved in any of Mario&rsquo
Mike~~~I rubbed the raw skin of my knuckles as I paced the cell. Frustration had gotten the better of me a couple of times from being in this thing. God, I hate cells. With a growl, I sat down on the cot and waited for something, anything. How long was Alice planning on keeping me here? I opened my fists and closed them again. Should’ve known better than to believe Alice would be different. I growled as I kept flexing my hands, remembering the doc told me things like that could help the anger from getting out of control.The doc. Damn, that was a raw deal. The guy was goddamn annoying a lot of the time, but he wasn’t so bad at other times. Doc was afraid of me, because, well shit, everyone was afraid of me. He didn’t let that stop him from trying to help me, though. Doc didn’t
Mike~~~“Who the hell are you?” the sneering alpha demanded.“Michael, what are you doing here? You were supposed to leave,” Alice said and shot a glare at the security guy.“I’m saving your ass, Peaches,” I told her with a smirk. “Oh, and we’re going to talk about these suicidal tendencies of yours.” She said more, but I gave her my back and took two steps towards the beta. “I am Mike Howe, son of the deceased Alpha Ryan Howe of the Black Mountain pack, and I’m Luna Alice’s mate. I know I’m the exile here, but I’m pretty sure challenges are alpha to alpha.”As all the others tried to absorb that, Alice walked up to
I stood at a military rest to keep from hugging myself with my arms as I watched Michael fight Mario. I couldn’t believe Koreyon had gone behind my back and brought Michael here. Thanks to this being a challenge fight, there was no way I could stop Michael if he went too far. What would it do to Michael if he killed someone? In a matter of seconds, one thing was very clear. Mario didn’t stand a chance against Michael. I held my breath as Michael hit him over and over again. It reminded me of the fight he had with Koreyon, but only more savage and as soon as Mario was unconscious, Michael stopped. I watched, shocked. He stopped. Michael stopped before he killed Mario! His breaths came out heavily. Michael was dripping of sweat and blood as he dragged the beta over to me, dropping at my feet. There was a wild light in Michael’s eyes and there was a charged air
I sat at the large conference table, every chair filled. The still recovering Doctor Evans sat in one of those chairs. He had woken up during my trip to the emergency meeting. Doctor Evans confirmed what we already knew. Mario was his attacker, not Michael. Despite not being an elder or on my council, but as one of Mario’s victims, I granted Doctor Evans the right to be here.I tried to ignore Michael’s hand on my thigh. He was doing it on purpose. Over the course of the last month, I discovered he was a horrible tease, and seem to take great delight in making me all twisted up in knots at the worst times.“So Koreyon, you’ve concluded your investigation,” I said, trying to brush off Michael’s hand. It didn’t work, and he just slid it farther up my thigh.“I have,&rdqu
The most I remember about my mother was her laugh. She loved to laugh and she made other people around her laugh. As luna of the pack, she had a lot of responsibilities, but Mom always had time for tea parties or late night makeovers. She made me feel precious, calling me a beautiful girl, and like I was so important to her. I wasn’t the only one who she made feel that way. Dad lit up when he was with her, laughing and dancing through the house. My brother always was more self assured and confident after talking to her.Mom was an amazing person and everything changed when she died. After my brother abandoned us, Dad became cold and mean. He now ruled the pack with an iron fist. I was no longer precious or a beautiful girl. There were no more makeovers or tea parties. As his only child left, I had to become the son my father lost.I had a simple pla
My muscles burned from training and all I wanted to do was take a shower, but Father sent for me. When your father was the alpha, you had to obey, even if you were sweaty and stinky. I sniffed, trying to wipe some sweat off my forehead. I only mixed it with the sweat on my arm and make me feel even more miserable. Wesley, Father’s beta, was leaning against the gym door frame. His muscled build made the doorway appear smaller.“Any idea what he wants to talk about?” I asked, walking up to him.“No idea, but he’s in a mood. He went out hunting with new enforcer recruits and came back all growly.”I sighed, running my hand over the short stubble that was my hair in irritation. “Let me guess, he screwed his knee, didn’t he?”
I clapped my fist into the palm of my other hand repeatedly as Sadie, the beta’s mate, tried to decide what I should wear for the evening’s little meet and greet. We were now in Blue Crescent territory and tonight would start the week-long meetings, where all the alphas of the country discussed policies, issues, and other politics. Under other circumstances, I’d be excited to be here, but Father made it clear I couldn’t attend the meetings. I could only attend social events.Jon was right. As hard as I tried, Father wouldn’t budge. My only reason for being there was to be bait for his replacement. Jon promised he’d find me someone willing to be my fake mate. I hoped he found the guy quickly; I wasn’t sure how long I could play along. I already wanted to hit something.“How about this?” Sadie said, holding up
I changed out of the dress, resisting the urge to rip it to shreds. Instead, I laid it on the bed. Not its fault I screwed up. I changed into my normal clothes, tank, jeans, and boots and sat on the bed, waiting for Father. He’d want explanations when he’d return.I didn’t have to wait long before I smelled him coming. As soon as the door opened, I stood in military rest. Father’s eyes blazed amber as he stared at me from the doorway, his expression twisted in a fury. He straightened his posture, visibly taking a deep breath. “Well?”“I’m sorry, Sir.”“You’re sorry? That’s all you have to say? I have spent the evening attempting to find the pack’s new alpha only to have you assault the hosting alpha’s son in front of everyone, and th
It’s been five months since Antoine took over the pack back while Harry agreed to let me be the alpha of his better packs project. After a few days of arguing, we settled on the name Genesis pack. It’s not a large pack. We only have thirty members. I, Dean, Harry, Jon, Andy, and a woman named Ambria serve as the ruling council. As Alpha, I deal with the physical threats to the pack from the outside. Harry manages our finances, Jon, and Andy work on our security. Kara deals with intelligence with Ambria, who does public relations.Dean serves as the voice of the pack. If anyone is unhappy with what we’re doing, they can contact him about it, all the while remaining anonymous to the council. This way, they will never have to fear retribution from us. He also helps resolve internal conflicts between members and I’m not being biased when I say he does it well. He’s very good with
“Thanks, Dean,” I said as we left the infirmary.He grinned. “You need to stop thanking me for doing normal, decent stuff, Beautiful.”I rolled my eyes and hugged him as a red-faced Marquice marched up to us. “Where have you been? Do you realize what’s going on?”I stiffened, narrowing my eyes at him. “Yes, my father was attacked. I was with him now.”“I’m not talking about that,” he said. “That… that pretender. He’s been taking over, acting like he’s alpha. Do you know he’s been organizing the enforcers to search and track Brandon?”“And? Marquice, did you forget he is the alpha now?”
“Come with me,” Wesley said, eyeing Antoine and Beth with obvious distrust. He tried to herd me away from them.I stepped away from him. We didn’t have time for these stupid games. We should be over that by now. “Tell me whose blood that is now!”Giving me a look that told me he didn’t approve of my reaction, Wes blew out a breath. “Your father’s.”“What happened?” I demanded, and waved for Antoine and Beth to follow. Wes licked his lips, glancing at the others. “Stop being an idiot, Wes. These are the new alphas. They may hear whatever you say.”“I was heading back when I saw it,” he began, grief washing over his face. “I didn’t realize what was happening at first. Your
The next two days, I spent training hard, preparing myself for what was going to be an awesome fight. What wasn’t so awesome was the amount of ‘helpful’ tips everyone thought they were entitled to give. I appreciated most of them, especially those given to me by Wes, Jon, and above all, Dean, but the ones from my old pack members or my father were, honestly, unwelcome. I finished listening to anything my father had to say, just about anything. If it wasn’t for Dean running interference, I’m not sure what might have happened.I couldn’t be more thankful to Dean. He had been just what I needed since I came. Thanks to him, I knew no matter what happened in the challenge fight, Father and my old pack were safe. My instincts told me his intentions were honest. He only wanted to protect his growing family. I don’t think he’d do any kind of ‘cleansing’ w
Dean~~~“Antoine Bell is our challenger,” the man, Marquice, said as we sat around a large oval table. The name sounded familiar to me, but I couldn’t place where I’d heard it. “He’s been in the country for ten years, and we’re not sure what exactly brought him to this country. He’s been living down in Louisiana—”Louisiana. It hit me. I knew who Antoine Bell was, and that he was challenging Nic’s father couldn’t be an accident. “Did he come with someone?”Everyone turned to look at me, confused. “What does that matter?” Marquice demanded.“Answer the question,” Nic said, though I could tell she was as co
“This is crazy,” Marquice demanded, and to ensure it was very clear, he gave me the look of bewildered horror. “Your father will never agree to this.”“Then that’s his choice, but if he wants my help, he is going to agree to those terms. I will not save his ass, just to have it all fall apart at the next turn. What happened to Father’s dignity?”He scowled at me, but took out his cell and tapped the screen. “Alpha,” Marquice said with a much softer voice when the call connected. “She’s agreed to help, but with conditions. Yes, Sir, I told her the pack was at risk. Yes, she still insisted.” Marquice glared at me for good measure, and I replied with a grin. “The first condition is Brandon may never become alpha, no matter what happens in the future, and second—”
Brent allowed me the use of one of his larger offices. Whatever Marquice had to say, I wanted all of my people to hear it. Dean joined us as well. Brent and his mate — Emily, were there as well.“I appreciate your help, Alpha Brent. However, this is a Golden Plains matter to be discussed,” Marquice told him.Before I said it, Brent did. “None of the people here present are members of the Golden Plains pack per your new alpha’s orders.” I appreciated the icy edge to his voice as he spoke.Marquice looked from the alpha to me. “Nic, this is a pack matter, and I’m under orders to tell you what I have to say, and only you.”“As the alpha said, I’m not pack. I am a guest here and in no position to ask the alpha
“So,” Dean said as we sat down on one of the couches in the small room. “What is it you want to talk about?” He sounded almost nervous.I chuckled to myself. He was nervous? Dean had nothing to be nervous about. “Well, I told you I appreciate what you’ve been doing for me since I arrived and well, I wanted to let you know that I, uh, am ready to accept you as my mate,” I told him then added, “And, I understand if you aren’t. We know little about each other, so it’s okay if you’re not sure or if you’re not ready.”When he said nothing for a moment, my nerves ratcheted up, and I ran a hand through my hair. Perhaps I was doing this wrong? Perhaps I misread things. When he asked, “You’re kidding right?” I stared back at him, not sure what he meant. He scooted over closer
“Relax,” Sadie said as I paced the room.Relax? How could I relax when I was waiting for Dean to come here to ask him on a date? An actual date. Me and him. On a date. “This was a bad idea. What was I even thinking?”“It’s a fine idea. You only have to relax,” she insisted.Easy for her to say. She wasn’t going on a date. My stomach tightened, and I was pretty sure I was going to get sick soon. The knock on the door nearly made me jump right out of my skin. Sadie chuckled as she opened the door.“Hey, Sadie, right? I heard Nic was looking for me,” Dean said.“She’s right here,” Sadie replied, opening the door as I contemplated jumping out the window