Filed to story: The Tyrant Alphas Rejected Mate
Tye nods slowly. He’s not saying something. He’s got that douchey know-it-all look he gets when he’s watching his mouth.
“What? Spit it out.”
He runs his fingers through his hair. He’s got so much gunk in it that it stays perfectly messy. He gets my cousin Ashlynn to do it for him. Vain bastard.
His musk is annoying. I don’t want him near-
I shake my head to clear it. The heat’s getting to me. I don’t notice male musk. I spend eighty percent of my time in a gym.
“Say what you’re gonna say,” I tell him.
“I don’t know, man.” He moves, bracing his forearms on his thighs and staring at the cedar slats. “The old timers say a lot of shit. You know your mate at her first heat. There’s only one. You can’t fight the bond. It’s the greatest happiness a wolf can know.”
“Yeah.” That’s the way it works.
“But, I mean-” He slides me a glance. “Haisley’s sucking your dick. She’s banging Finn. Jaime.”
“So?” We’ve got rules for the lone females to keep the peace and keep them safe, but if a female has a father or brother or mate to make sure shit doesn’t get out of hand, she can do what she wants.
“Dermot doesn’t seem to mind.” Tye raises an eyebrow. “And she’s happy enough.”
‘Cause she likes to lord “my favor” over the other females. “And your point is?”
“Jimmy is mated to Dierdre, but he’s living with Conor,” Tye goes on.
“Ain’t our business.” Eamon and the other elders keep bringing it up, and I keep tellin’ ’em that love is love. Got that off a dude’s shirt at a cage match down in the valley.
“Dierdre’s been sneaking off on runs with Liam.”
“No shit?” I don’t know anything that’s going on in my own pack. I guess if folks keep a lid on the drama, I don’t have to.
“All I’m saying is if you open your eyes, there’s a lot of evidence that the old timers don’t know what the hell they’re talking about when it comes to mating.”
“That fits the pattern.”
The old timers are-collectively-morons. They want to be back in the dens. They think it’s disrespectful that a female won’t present on command. I installed solar panels on the lodge to cut the electricity bill, and they’re worried the place will catch on fire. You know, like ants under a magnifying glass-’cause that’s how solar energy works.
“All I’m saying is-” Tye draws in a deep breath to make the pause all dramatic. “What if she’s your mate?”
“She’s not my mate.” If she was, my wolf would’ve claimed her. Period. End of story. He ain’t shy.
“How sure are you?”
“Completely.”
“I looped past the lone female’s cabin on my way back from patrol.”
“Yeah?” My adrenaline spikes. I’m only interested because every packmate is my concern.
“She wasn’t there.”
“I’m sure she’s got work.” The females are always doing something.
“She’s not in the commons.”
That’s not surprising. She’s probably running the woods now that her wolf’s wide awake. And she’s got to be embarrassed. She’s not gonna want to bump into Haisley or her mother any time soon.
“Una’s scent is stale. She didn’t go home last night.”
I snarl. My incisors descend, pricking my lip. “Son of a bitch.” I suck the cut. I didn’t see it coming.
That’s not possible.
My wolf and I are one. We act as one.
I’ve already got hair sprouted all up my back and my vision’s going dichromatic. I fight the shift. I’m not going to track Una Hayes and get people’s jaws flapping again. That’s not happening. She can go hide in the woods and nurse her wounds if she wants.
It doesn’t bother me.
It shouldn’t.
“Hey-oh!” I holler. Fallon sticks his head in the door. Not the male I’d have chosen, but he’ll do. “Go find Una Hayes.”
“And then what?”
“Come back. Report.”
“You want me to bring her here?”
“I want you to come back. And report.” I don’t hide the irritation in my voice.
“Yeah. Right. On it.” Finally, he shifts and races off. He’s fast. I’ll give him that.
I settle back against the wall. I’m amped. The steam’s doing nothing for my tension. I’m not gonna go chasing off after Fallon Campbell and rend him limb-from-limb. That’s crazy. He’s just a kid, and he’s just doing what I asked.
I’m going to sit here and relax.
Nothing’s changed. I am who I’ve always been.
I don’t have a mate. My wolf and I are one-the only flip-shifter in three generations.
Everything is as it should be. As I’ve made it.
The pack is good. All is well or soon will be.
A low rumble sounds in my throat. I swallow it down.
UNA
I wake up in a bramble. I’m not me. I’m her. Us.
There are stickers in my fur. Our fur. There’s a thorn in the pad of my paw. It hurts.
Everything hurts.
The light is too bright. The sun is directly overhead. I’m hot. Burning up. Cramps seize my belly, twisting tighter and tighter. I’m swollen between my back legs. I’m tender there, aching and slick.
I want and I need and I hurt.
Killian. If I can speak, I can call. He’ll come. He’ll help.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?