“She’s not your mate yet, Alpha,” Tessa says, blinking up at me through thick eyelashes. She’s beautiful, but she knows it. Worse: she flaunts it. Tessa is the kind of girl many men would kill to have, but I’m not one of them.
She’s not the kind of woman I want.
I only have eyes for Red. Scarlett. My one and only. Ever since I found her at her grandmother’s cabin, ever since we were locked up together, ever since I saved her, I’ve known we were meant to be together. While I may have saved Red from the wolves, she saved me from someone greater.
She saved me from myself.
Before I found her, I was lost. I was a broken man. I had lost my cousin and my way. Distraught, sad, lonely: I had nothing left to live for.
And then there was Red.
She rescued me from the darkness.
Chances are Scarlett doesn’t even know just how lost I really was before she wandered into the darkness of the forest. She gave me something to live for when I had nothing else, no one else. I may never actually be able to repay her. I’m sure as hell going to try, though.
“She’s my mate. Tessa, get your hands off me.” My words come out as a growl, and I’m sure I sound meaner than I intend to because she immediately withdraws her hand. Tessa’s eyes go wide and she pouts, but I ignore her and continue walking down the hallway toward the common area. This problem had better be fucking good. Tessa thinks there is some sort of argument happening, but I’m almost to the lounge and I don’t smell any fear or anger. The only scent I smell, actually, is annoyance, and that’s mingled with the lust radiating off Tessa.
What a long-ass day.
The hunt went great, but I want to return to my mate. With all of my new duties as Alpha, we’ve hardly had any time together. When I’m in the cave, there’s always someone who needs my help or attention. In reality, all I want to do is spread Red out on our bed and feast on her sweet pussy. I want to lap at her soft folds and lick her clit until she’s coming for me, crying out my name. I want to eat her sweet juices until she’s screaming so loud everyone in the damn pack can hear her.
But I’m not doing that because someone needs me.
We reach the main gathering area of the cave. Tessa is trailing close behind me, but she’s definitely behind me, which is good. I don’t want to have to look at her right now. It’s bad enough that she interrupted me when I was about to make love to my mate, but the fact that she showed up looking like that, well…maybe the pack needs to come up with some new guidelines for nudity.
Up until now, the pack has basically run wild. With Jeffrey in command of The Silent Canines, the wolves got to do what they wanted as long as they stayed out of his way. As a result, disciplined behavior wasn’t a big priority. Even now, there’s not a lot of organization. The single wolves all bicker and argue and the mated couples stay away. They keep to themselves. I don’t blame them at all; they don’t want their cubs around that.
Still, this kind of behavior has to end. I can’t have a pack that’s completely crazy. We don’t have many enemies left now that Jeffrey is dead, but it’s not uncommon for a rogue pack to try to take over another when a new Alpha is chosen. Now that I’m in charge, I might have to fight again to keep my place. I don’t want to, but it’s part of being the Alpha and I’m up for the challenge.
“All right,” I enter the room and look around at the wolves who are gathered. “What seems to be the problem?” I’m in my damn robe. The other members of the pack are in various stages of undress, thanks to the fact that we just returned from hunting. About 40 people are present, or close to half the pack. Last count there were around 100 wolves in The Silent Canines. We could get more if we’d get our heads out of our asses long enough to be appealing to other wolves.
“He’s the problem,” one of the single males, Lex, says. He’s pointing to another, younger male who is also unmated. The wolf, Jam, looks completely confused. Jam is basically spinning in circles, looking around the room, and holding his hands up.
“I don’t know what I did,” Jam says. He turns back around. “I just started butchering the meat.”
“My meat!” Lex cries out, and starts to jump at him again. Fortunately, Ryder grabs him and holds him back by the scruff of his neck. “Hey!” Lex protests loudly, but Ryder holds him firmly. Jam just looks lost. He turns around once more and I pop him on the side of the head.
“Stop moving,” I tell him.
Jam looks stricken. Maybe no one has ever slapped the kid before. I don’t know. I certainly didn’t hit him that hard. I just want his damn attention and I’m not going to get it if he’s spinning around like a top.
“Your meat?” I ask, approaching Lex. “Ryder,” I snap to my beta. “Release him.”
Ryder lets go of Lex. He immediately begins rubbing the back of his neck, acting as if Ryder has somehow done permanent damage to his precious skin. I clench and unclench my fists, silently promising myself I won’t hit this sorry piece of shit. Lex has always been obnoxious, but since I returned to the pack after a few months away, he’s been positively whiny.
“What do you mean ‘your meat’?” I repeat.
“Well, you know,” Lex says, suddenly looking around. For the first time, he seems unsure. All eyes are on him, so he’d better make this good. “The deer I caught. He was butchering it.”
“You mean the deer you caught on our group hunt?” I clarify.
“Well, yeah. It’s mine. I caught it.”
“Is that a fact?” I step forward, getting in his space. Lex holds his head up, though. He meets my gaze for a moment, then looks down, around at the floor.
Submission.
I’m the Alpha.