Chapter 2

“Mae, Alexander is headed this way again.” Maverick’s voice held more than a hint of disapproval. He’d hated her “little backup plan” from the start. Her brother loved her, and as such, he’d always been fiercely protective of her, but packmaster or not, this was her choice to make, and she’d do whatever it took to save her pack.

Lily finished scribbling on her napkin as she ignored her brother’s protests. The quick sketch had been a necessary release of tension. The image of a

running horse was more cartoonish than her normal work, but it’d been enough to ease her anxiety for now. It was better than ripping her hair out. She’d been trapped at the Seven Range Pact’s annual reception listening to Maverick negotiate for nearly two hours now, yet still none of the other packmasters had made a firm commitment, and with every passing second, the vampires drew closer to destroying everything she cared for.

And all while she was forced to wear a pair of heels. Her cowgirl boots would have been infinitely more comfortable, but beauty knew no pain when it came to saving her pack, so she’d make do. She’d feared the other packmasters would be wary despite Maverick’s best laid proposals, and she wasn’t about to waste a perfectly good cocktail dress.

Every summer, the seven shifter clans that ruled over Big Sky Country and formed the Seven Range Pact met at an annual reception held at Wolf Pack Run, a formal soiree complete with suits, ties, and dress Stetsons. This year’s occasion was the largest and most extravagant yet. Though typically the annual reception was only held during peacetime and was only attended by the varying shifters of the Seven Range Pact, this year, despite the heightened security concerns, Maverick had made an exception and sent invitations welcoming their usual guests along with several additional Canadian shifter clans. Extenuating circumstances, as he called them.

Mae shook her head. She’d worried this plan wouldn’t pan out, but Maverick had been insistent, and while she might have formulated her own backup plans, she trusted implicitly that he’d do whatever it took to steer the pack on the correct course. He always had.

In a normal year, the official purpose of the reception was to build camaraderie among the various packs despite their differences in species. As one of the last living members of the Grey family, one of three founding families of the Grey Wolf Pack, Mae had a personal obligation to represent the pack with grace and poise—and no one was more aware of that obligation than she was. But it was the unspoken reason for this year’s soiree that had made her concoct her backup plan.

Mae couldn’t allow her lifeblood to be the downfall of her pack.

“Mae,” Maverick grumbled again. This time, with even more urgency. “Don’t offer yourself up like a lamb for slaughter.”

“It’s my choice.” She shot her older brother an annoyed glare. “It’s my blood they used.”

She was tired of Maverick’s protesting. On more than one occasion, he’d urged her to marry a pure-blooded alpha wolf, for tradition and all that, but to hear her brother tell it, he only wanted the best for her, and there was no way in hell he’d offer her up like this. She rolled her eyes. She failed to see how her plan was much different. At least seducing Alexander to save her pack was her decision.

Mae set down her pen, forcing a smile as her eyes traveled across the table and landed on the alpha wolf headed toward them. Alexander Caron was a massive, muscled wall of a Canadian packmaster from a few hours north of Wolf Pack Run, and the man who could save them all, according to her brother.

A month earlier, the Grey Wolves had discovered the vampires’ plans to develop an injectable serum that would allow them to feed from shifters, and the purer the blood, the better. Feeding from humans was mere sustenance, but feeding from shifters would increase a vampire’s power tenfold. The development would soon change the outcome of the war between the shifters and the vampires unless Mae’s kind found a way to combat it. All their enemy had needed to complete their plan was a blood sample from a pure-blooded Grey Wolf…and they’d taken that sample from Mae.

It was only a matter of time before the serum was in wide use, and then her kind would no longer stand a chance against the bloodsuckers.

Alexander had an army full of alpha warriors that would give the Grey Wolves a fighting chance against the vampires, with or without the serum.

If only she could convince him of that…

Alexander joined them at their table and extended a hand toward her. “Care to dance again?” he prompted, casting her a smile. His teeth were beautifully white and his beard perfectly trimmed. He was the ideal image of a handsome cowboy.

Most she-wolves would find the powerful alpha wolf handsome, assuming a woman was into the whole clean-cut male thing, but Mae couldn’t have been

less attracted to this wolf if she tried. She supposed if she had to put her finger on it, it was because she preferred her men a little more on the rough and rugged side, much like the Grey Wolf cowboys—not that any of them ever gave her so much as a second glance, considering her brother was their packmaster. But even that reasoning failed to fully explain her lack of interest.

Still, she’d intended to charm Alexander for the sake of the pack, because they needed this alliance, and thus far, all her brother’s efforts had been in vain. Not to mention, her role could pay off twofold. Pack expectation dictated she marry an alpha wolf of pure bloodline if she ever planned to settle down, and considering she didn’t want any of the alphas at Wolf Pack Run, Alexander was one of her few remaining options. The pack elders hadn’t started to nag her yet, but it wouldn’t be long, and the way she saw it, maybe if she faked an attraction to Alexander, eventually she would come to care for him.

Maverick had suggested that if she planned to seduce a packmaster in the name of making alliances, he might as well pull out the hot iron, burn a brand on her ass, and send her off to market like all the other cattle on the ranch.

Mae hadn’t been amused with that comparison, but as she’d reminded him, she wasn’t amused by the prospect of an arranged marriage or the notion of trading herself for some alliance either. For the sake of her pack and their collective safety, she’d do anything. But that didn’t mean this whole little charade didn’t offend every feminist bone in her body.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Mae.” Maverick cleared his throat again.

Ignoring Maverick, she smiled at Alexander. “Of course,” she said. “I’d be happy to dance with you.”

This would be the fourth time since the start of the reception. He still hadn’t offered the support of his pack to them, but apparently, dancing more than once an hour was necessary.

Maverick cast her a frustrated look from the corner of his eye as he signaled for one of the waitstaff to bring another glass of whiskey. Maverick might disapprove, but she could practically hear their father’s voice in her head, so similar to Maverick’s now that it was eerie.

It’s a small sacrifice, Mae.

She’d been raised a Grey, which meant sacrificing herself for the greater good of the pack was expected, even if she’d begun resenting the obligation years ago. Maverick knew that struggle as well as she did. She loved her packmates and would do anything for them, but that didn’t mean she always had to be pleased about what that required of her.

Mae set down her pen and accepted Alexander’s hand. He guided her out onto the dance floor just as a slow country ballad began to pump through the speakers. The lights strung over the tented outdoor dance floor lit up the summer night with a soft romantic feel as a warm breeze wrapped around them. Gently, the alpha wolf pulled Mae into his arms, slowly swaying her around the floor. She forced herself to smile up at him.

“You have a lovely smile,” Alexander said as she finished laughing at one of his jokes.

Mae tried not to let that smile fade. “Thank you,” she replied. The compliment was genuine and sweet, but it didn’t stir so much as an iota of her interest.

She fought back a heavy sigh. What was wrong with her? She wanted love, marriage, a family, and there was nothing wrong with Alexander—or any of the other alpha wolves the pack elders had suggested over the years. They just weren’t…

They just weren’t for her…