Chapter One

Canagan’s POV

Sweat and fear stream from every pore, almost as if flowing from the core of my very being, and my inner beast whimpers. The smell of suffocating smoke overpowers me and I can feel the heat as it burns my nostrils. The screams of my sister, Caeli, chill my blood as the flames of Crimson Pack Mansion lick at her body. If I had known then what I know now, and that helping Julius would mean my sister’s demise, I would have walked away. Lupin had been the Alpha of Crimson Pack and my sister’s mate. We had all run these fields together as pups playing and having fun, but overtime Lupin became ruthless and distant. His impending leadership took away his carefree attitude and he grew up to be astute in business and cold hearted in leading our family. Sometimes it’s better the devil you know. I roll over and see that my bed is drenched in sweat and my sheets are in a pile on the floor. I see the sun rise bright and fresh over the forest, chasing away the shadows of the night. It has been a few months since I had the dream, but with it being so close to the anniversary it was bound to happen.

I push myself up and my meat hangs heavy in my pants. It’s been ever so long since I have had a woman for the night. The stripes of my blue and white trousers bulge and bend from the strain of holding it back. The wooden floors are smooth and hard but cold on my bare feet. I walk quickly through my sparsely furnished room and make my way to the bathroom. The old shower hangs limply over an even older bath and a white curtain hangs carelessly around the tub to save the floor from a flood. At nearly fifty I know the chance of finding my fated mate is fading fast and I have never been lucky enough to find a wolf I would choose to have as my mate. I have had many women over the years, but most only for a night. The memory of those women make my cock get harder still. I try to ignore the pain mounting in my trousers and I turn the rusty shower knob all the way around until the water is steaming and powerful.

Natasha pops into my head. She is last woman I had brought to my upstairs apartment for the night. Her long slender body and small pert breasts didn’t fill my strong tanned hands. I remember caressing her hard nipples and taking them in my mouth. My thick long dick pulses in my trousers and reminds me that I am still a man with needs. The memory of when I entered Natasha’s small tight pussy that was already wet and dripping from being fucked with my hands and hardly able to take the girth of my rod feeds my desire as I slip my hand down into my trousers. The pressure continues to build and my heart is already beating fast. I take my dick in my hand and start with gentle strokes, all the time I think of Natasha. I reach the peak and I feel my world collapse around me as milky cum shoots from my pulsing cock and it goes all down my legs. Fuck! I really need a woman. I will see who comes into my bar downstairs tonight and decide who to bring to my bed. I pull my sticky trousers from my relieved body and step into the shower to wash away the evidence of my dirty deed.

The hot water works it’s magic and within ten minutes I feel refreshed and ready to start a busy Friday at The Blue Moon Bar and Grill. I had bought it as a rundown country bar from an elderly man who wanted to retire somewhere warmer. After reaching a deal on the price of the property and scraping together every last penny I could put my hands on, I was the proud owner of the most run down bar in the state. I fell in love with the place and have worked tirelessly over the last thirty years to turn it into the well-known meeting place it is today. The bar itself has been fully renovated to a sleek modern country design but my office and living quarters upstairs remain untouched. I have a staff of two cooks and five servers, all of whom are full blooded human except Keeva. Keeva is the daughter of the Alpha Julius. She works for me daily, making the journey from the Crimson Pack reservation a short ride away. None of my staff except Keeva notice the unusual creatures that frequent the bar, I’m sure I would have a few resignations if they had.

The reservation was only supposed to be a temporary settlement for the pack after the mansion burnt down nearly fifteen years go. Julius had promised everyone that the mansion would be rebuilt, bigger and better within the year. I have watched Crimson pack’s slow decline, from being one of the strongest packs in the North to now barely surviving. It wasn’t only my family he destroyed all those years ago, but the entire pack too. Back then we had lived together in a sprawling mansion with a wing for each rank. Our Alpha lived at the centre of us all, protected by his people. The lush, landscaped gardens were the place I felt most at home and at peace with the rose bushes Caeli had tended to every day. Even those were burnt to cinders, destroyed along with everything else I had ever loved.

 My place is the main werewolf watering hole, and that means I need muscle that can handle my patrons. The worst incident in all my time as owner was when two werewolves decided to try and fight a vampire for possession of a young local girl. It was nearly the full moon, so the wolves were feeling sexually agitated and wanted to share her between themselves, which is nothing out of the ordinary. If the vampire hadn’t decided that he also wanted to sample what the girl had to offer, then everything would have played out like it usually does. Instead, I ended up with a trashed bar and two injured wolves. Since the incident, which is never spoken about above a whisper, no body puts a foot out of line while Blake and Bleiz are on duty.

Blake and Bleiz are twin brothers and are the only werewolves tough enough to handle any disputes which always seem to erupt on my premises. I rescued them as castouts. They had been wandering along the borders of our territory lost and afraid. When I found them, they were only pups and had witnessed their mother and father being brutally killed in front of them.

Julius may be the Alpha of Crimson Pack, but he is not my Alpha. The only reason he tolerates me being alive is because of the blood running through my veins. A family line he cannot wipe out without devastating consequences. Since rescuing them the boys have lived with me and made me the father I never thought I would be. I begged Julius to spare Channon and up until Caeli died, he had still been part of the pack. Channon was my nephew, stepbrother to Keeva and the next in line to be Alpha. I watched Julius drag him in to the woods and heard thunderous growls and snarls all the while being pinned to the floor by his Beta, Zev. This time there were no screams and no body for me to bury.

The smell of stale beer hits me in the face as I walk down the narrow staircase from my living quarters, quickly bringing me back to the present. My hearing is sharper than a human’s and it’s only now I can hear someone rummaging around in my office. I have been so distracted in my own thoughts and memories. I catch her scent over the pungent smells of the bar, and I can’t help but smile.

Channon’s POV

No guards or border patrols hinder my advance. The air is different here, cold and light. Where I have grown up the air is hot, and hangs heavy, like a wet towel hung on a line to dry. Tall red woods tower high into the sky and the scent of home fills my nostrils. I have heard rumours that the old pack house was never rebuilt and now Julius has the pack living like animals in a settlement not much above squalor. I stop at the edge of the forest with the lake before me, to the left lie the ruins of Crimson Mansion, and to the right something that resembles a refugee camp. It is true then: Alpha Julius has run my birth right into the ground.

                White claw should have let me come sooner to save my people. I was too young to save my mum, I was just a pup. It is different now. I am the Alpha. I turn to Jonas and wordlessly tell him through the mindlink, ‘I think it’s time we pay a visit to my Uncle to find out exactly what has happened here.’ The sun is on the brink of dipping below the tree line and the temperature will drop further too. I want a warm bed for the night, and we need to get to the bar Old Man Canagan still works at after all this time. The last time I saw my Uncle, he was screaming my name and trying to fight off three wolves to save me. As far as he knows I am dead.

                I run through the forest with my strong wolf legs making light work of the steep hills and fallen trees. I jump high over the fallen trunk of a mighty red wood and see the lights from bar at the bottom of the valley. ‘This way Jonas.’ I command through the mindlink. I speed through the darkening forest with my most trusted Beta at my side. This is what I have been waiting for. My human part is calm and contemplates meeting Canagan again. I have thought of him over the years and wished he had been able to come with me. I understand now why I wasn’t allowed to go back and get him. As a young wolf so far from home and everyone I had known, just one familiar face would have helped.

                Now that we are in close proximity to The Blue Moon Bar and Grill, we stop. ‘Go into the bar and see if Canagan is working tonight. You should be able to smell him Jonas, I am of his blood. Check if Blake or Bleiz are there, I don’t want to fight.’ Jonas shifts into his human form and keeps to the shadows of the forest he circles the car park. He searches for a car that might hold some clothes to wear. I see him sneak up to an old, red family wagon and try the driver’s door, it squeaks open. Jonas slips inside and reappears a few minutes later dressed in some jeans and a t-shirt, with sneakers on his feet. ‘What are you waiting for?’ I almost scream over the mind link. Jonas flips me the finger as he walks towards the bar in a baby pink t-shirt and my wolf rolls around laughing inside my head.