The Alpha's Fated Mate

JETT

Her wolf is playful, dancing around us. A beautiful, small but brave, brilliant white wolf with deep blue eyes. She’s a sight to behold. Mesmerizing.

I refuse to open a mind-link with her as I don’t want her to know it’s me. I’ve already been warned away from her, and I don’t need to cause more tension between our packs.

Her wolf pounces, pinning us down with an impish growl.

If this was a real fight, she wouldn’t stand a chance against me and Tyson. But she’s being flirty and mischievous, so we play along and flop to our side.

She sniffs us, nudging our flank. Tyson flips around and switches our positions, pinning her against the cold ground. We tussle, frisky head bumps and gentle nips passed back and forth between us.

Eventually, we tire of the game, so we lie side by side, relaxing in the late afternoon sun. It feels nice to have this with someone. To take in the smells and sounds of the forest, her body pressed against mine.

Her wolf stands and she shifts back to her human form. Her clothes are torn and falling off her body, so she does her best to cover herself with her hands for modesty.

Beautiful. She would definitely be a prize, I think.

“Who are you?” she asks.

I consider shifting, revealing myself to her. But there’s a loud howl in the distance, and it’s heading our way.

“That’s our cue to leave,” I tell Tyson, and we sprint away, leaving a confused Laura behind.

Not yet, little one. But maybe soon I will reveal to you who I am.

LAURA

I replay the hour we spent together over and over in my head. Who are you, wolf?

I wasn’t sure of him at first, but afterward, after he showed me that he could be spirited and mischievous but also careful and protective, I felt warm and at peace.

Right now, my bigger problem is Athena. I’ve only had her for two days, but already she has more control than me.

I hear her whimper as she places her head on her paws. She knows she was in the wrong when she forced my shift unprompted. It was dangerous.

“That can’t happen again, Athena,” I tell her. I feel guilty, but she needs to learn. And I need to learn how to control her.

My mind returns to the black wolf and the feel of his body pressed against mine. As I replay the moments over and over in my head, I feel myself drifting into a deep sleep.

***

I open my eyes to the light coming through the window. I look at my phone and notice it’s after eleven o’clock. I slept for fourteen hours, though I don’t feel refreshed. In fact, I feel like I hadn’t slept at all. I ache from head to toe.

I curl under the covers and slowly start drifting back to sleep when I hear whispering outside my door.

“Go in and see if she is okay. She’s your sister, you big baby. She’s not going to rip your head off.”

“Why do I have to? Why can’t you? Have you ever woken my sister up? She’s like the devil when disturbed!”

I smile to myself and clear my throat. “You do know I now have super-duper hearing and can hear everything you’re both saying? Carly, you can come in. But, Ewan, get fucked. You whisper too loud.”

Carly sniggers as she opens the door.

I look out from under the covers just in time to see my brother’s glare.

“See! This is what I have to deal with,” he huffs before marching down the stairs.

Carly crawls into bed with me and snuggles close. She gives me a wicked grin, and I know exactly what is coming next.

“So, do you want to tell me what you were doing in the woods yesterday afternoon?”

I cover my face with a pillow and groan into it. I’m torn. I don’t know how to feel about the black wolf. Athena is drawn to him, but he’s a stranger, not part of our pack.

As I recount the previous afternoon, Carly’s eyes get wider and wider.

“Lulu, do you know how dangerous that could have been?” she asks.

I don’t know what to say. I know it was dangerous, but at the same time, I felt safe, protected.

Before I can justify my actions, Carly rolls her eyes at me. “Don’t. Just don’t. I don’t want to hear your excuses. You don’t know this wolf. He could have seriously hurt you.”

I can tell she’s frustrated with me, but I have to try to make her understand.

“He wasn’t dangerous. He was friendly, playful even. And I felt safe and protected with him. CeCe,” I continue, “I’m going to the woods again this afternoon. I want to know who he is. I need to work out what he wants and what he is doing here.”

Carly shakes her head at me, but I cut her off before she can say anything.

“And you can’t tell my brother. I know he won’t agree with it.”

“Lulu, there are so many things wrong with this. You don’t know who he is or what he’s after. The Christmas Gathering is a huge get together. There are visiting alphas from packs all around Europe. For all we know, he’s trying to get close to you so he can hurt the pack.”

“That’s why I need to see him again. He might be an outcast, or he may have lost his pack or family and be alone. I feel like I need to know. I need him to trust me so I can find out what his plans are. It’s important to Athena. And so it’s important to me.”

“Fine,” Carly says dejectedly. “But you need to remember that you’re going to go into heat soon, possibly as early as tomorrow. And your first heat is always the strongest, so it’ll be nearly impossible to hide it.

“The male wolves will sense you. And not only will they feel the urge to pursue you, but you will also get the urge to find them. And if you’re alone with that black wolf when your heat hits, it could have deadly consequences if you’re not careful.”

“I will be fine, I promise. If it makes you feel better, I will keep a mind-link open so we can contact each other. If I feel like I’m in danger at any point, I will mind-link you the word pineapple, then you may tell my brother.”

Carly sighs. I know she’s not happy with me, but I’m not backing down.

“Fine. But I’m going to be straining my senses, waiting for you to call out pineapple.”

I smile and squeeze her tight. Now I just need to find my mystery wolf.