Maddox's POV
Shadow, my wolf, spotted her first. A tiny, scrawny girl with no curves or femine features, racing towards the Cedar Wood pack house. Her stringy, pale brown hair in a messy pile on top of her head. It was only because of her hair you could tell she was female. She wore mens clothes, at least three sizes too big for her skeletal frame and she had no figure to speak of. She may as well be a teenage boy with a body like that.
"Mine," Shadow growled, racing in circles inside my head. His panting grew louder the closer we got to her. "Mine, my mate," he snarled.
"Uh uh, buddy," I told him shaking my head. "Not her. No way. You're wrong."
She struggled to open the heavy security door as she reached it. Too shy to even look us in the face she stepped aside, pushing the door open with her back. Shadow inhaled, savouring her scent. She smelled of crisp fresh linen on a warm summers night. She smelled like home.
"Mine."
Shadow might be drawn to her but I wasn't, at least not as strongly as he was. I had to admit there was something alluring about her, something drawing me towards her. A wolf will know his true mate when their eyes meet but this teeny thing wouldn't even lift her head. And when I tried holding the door for her her beat so hard I could hear it thumping against her rib cage.
Her behaviour declined once she got inside. Tasked with serving drinks, I guessed from her outfit because she was broke and needed the extra cash, she kinda danced around the room in an akward Tango, twisting and turning like a spinning top, side scuttling like a confused crab.All the while her eyes locked on the floor.
"Strange one, ain't she?" Blake, my Gamma, said following my gaze to her tiny frame weaving between guests.
"Shadow wants her," I sighed.
"Really? Her?"
"My thoughts exactly, dude," I sighed. Shadow growled. I shook my head, scanning the room. My head tilted, my eyes narrowed. The entire Cedar Wood pack acted oddly. The Omegas were lined against the wall, laughing and joking with each other while never looking at each other. Their eyes, like Shadow's fixation, remained on the floor. The warriors, Gamma and Beta all carried out the same bizzare dance as my alleged future mate. All of them spent most of their time with their eyes fixed to the floor.
"Is it just me or is Cedar Wood kinda odd?" I asked Blake.
"It's not just you," he laughed, "but really, with Patrick Gibson as their Alpha do you blame them? The dude is unhinged."
I scanned the room. Shadow's mate was still dancing around, spinning and ducking. Her head was still down. It didn't take me long to spot Patrick Gibson. He, his Luna and his son were the only members of the Cedar Wood pack not partaking in the ridiculous dance. Instead, he stood loud and proud in the centre of the room guffawing like a demented hyena.
I cast my eyes down his silver-white silk suit and blood-red shirt. Against a backdrop of understated, quality suits and classic cocktail dresses he stood out like a sore thumb. Garret, the Alpha of Black River pack, the second largest pack in the region shook his head as he walked past. Sara, his Luna pursed her lips, scooting away as Patrick attempted to engage her in an ear shatteringly loud conversation about wolf hierarchy. He didn't appear to notice the massive empty space surrounding his obnoxious family.
"An Alpha needs to command the respect of his pack," Garret said as he strolled over to me. "As Regent it's your job to lead."
"I'll have a word with him," I sighed pinching the bridge of my nose, "just not tonight. It's his pup's coming of age. If he wants to impersonate Fat Elvis, let him."
"Mate, mate, mate," Shadow whined, begging me to turn my attention back to his shy, broken bird. When not distracted Shadow would be rearing to pin Patrick to the ground and teach him respect. Shadow was the leader, not me. I was a warrior, a soldier and then my father went missing, victim to the rogue Alpha, and I inherited my place as Alpha Regal way before I was ready, putting an end to my military career. I manage my pack, I earned my respect as a young pup but other packs? Dealing with other packs never failed to give me migraine.
Shadow flipped. Screeching and whining, clawing inside my head and a strange calm warmth washed over my body.
"Her? You're sure?" Lena, Blake's mate, my Gamma female asked turning gaze from Blake to myself.
"That's what Shadow seems to think," I said. Despite his screeching the odd warmth enveloping me brought a sense of calm, allowing me to think over the top of his desperate pleas. "I admit, I was surprised too. I mean, look at her? I'm sure she's sweet and all but she's timid as a mouse. She's not Luna material. The poor thing would probably keel over in fear if I spoke to her."
"Drink, Master," a tiny voice behind me squeaked. Blake's mouth twisted into a shit-eating grin, Lena dropped her head, her shoulders shaking under a burst of suppressed laughter.
"Quiet as a mouse too," Blake laughed, "Didn't even hear her coming, did ya?"
"Fuck you, Blake," I said, pursing my lips to bite back a smile. Shadow calmed, his panting faded and I swear I heard him licking his lips.
"And she called you Master, kinky!" Lena teased between giggles. Her face was puce now from holding back her giggles.
"Enough," I warned with a low growl. "You're upsetting her." The tiny woman visibly shrank in front of us, hunching her shoulders, dipping her chin close to her chest. Her arms shook under the weight of the drinks tray and the jug of wine she held in the other hand had to weigh almost as much as she did.
"I'm sorry," Lena said softly, dipping down to peer at the girl's face. Waves of sadness and fear washed off her. Shadow was begging me to grab her in my arms and hold her until she stopped quivering in fear and if he could sense her fear Lena's wolf could too. "I mean no offence."
The more we spoke the tighter she curled her shoulders.
"Get Lena away. She's terrifying our mate," Shadow warned. Much like dogs wolves were way better at reading body language than humans but I didn't need Shadow to tell me the poor creature in front of me was a nervous wreck."Maddox Mason," I said quietly offering my hand. If she touched me and Shadow was right, the spark would be instant, overwhelming and then I'd claim as my own and Patrick could kiss my muddy biker boots if he thought the future Luna Regal would spend the night serving drinks like a slave girl.
She inched back, holding the drinks tray our further. Her biceps stood out against her bony arms. My stomach growled just looking at how thin she was. I've met fatter famine victims.
"Kill him," Shadow snarled. "Kill her Alpha."
I was tempted to let Shadow out to do just that.
"Uh uh, buddy," I told him. "Killing another Alpha without all the facts, without a trial would be a death sentence and then where would our mate be?"
"And your name?" I asked her. Her head shook so hard I was kinda worried she was gonna snap her neck. Her pale brown hair whipped across her face. I caught a flash of her face. Pale, teary but not hard to look at. Fatten her up a bit, teach her to stand with her shoulders back and head high like a Luna should and she'd make a decent mate.
"Pay her no mind," Patrick snivelled, grabbing a drink from the tray and thrusting it into my hand. "She's not all there if you get me?"
I clenched my fists, driving my thumbs nails into my palms. It took everything I had to keep Shadow contained. Lena raised an arched brow at my drink and looked down at her own empty hand shaking her head. My mate vanished into a sea of half-drunk wolves.
Kayla's POV My mind raced. My hands shook and my arms ached under the weight of the heavy brass drinks tray. Scanning the crowd for people without a drink was impossible with my eyes glued to the floor. I tilted my head slightly, not so much that I would make eye contact with anyone but enough so I could see their hands. Immediately I was drawn to tattooed forearms. They belonged to a well-developed torso barely contained in a black cotton shirt. My gaze drifted downwards to a pair of bulging thighs and muscular calves and a large pair of feet encased in soft leather biker boots. Alpha Maddox. The Alpha Regal. Basically, royalty, as Alpha of the largest pack in our region he was in control of all the smaller packs and outranked all other Alphas including Alpha Patrick. My stomach flipped. A soft purr echoed in my mind. My wolf. She either wasn't strong enough to speak to me yet or I was too weak for her to want to
"RUNT!" The words echoed around the room, faint and distant as if they came from miles away. I tried to open my eyes. The mat I lay on felt wet and sticky. "RUNT!" My body shook violently. "RUNT!" My hands scrambled on cold, sticky tile. I urged my feet to move, straining my legs until I was breathless and laced with a cold layer of sweat. No matter how hard I tried my body refused to move. Every inch of my body ached and burned. The pain grew with each tiny movement as if a thousand needles were driving deep into my limbs. "RUNT! UP NOW!" Alpha Patrick. His snarl sounded closer. His hot breath crept over my clammy cheeks. Still, my feet refused to budge. My palms gripped at the floor, my arms ached as I tried to pull myself from the mat. Eyelids closed tight I sighed, sinking back to the mat in exhaustion. "You dare to cha
Maddox's POV My head sank into the pillow. A cinder block probably weighed less than my sleep-deprived brain. I reluctantly inched an eye open. A burnt orange glow seeped through the crisp white blinds. I bolted upright, my eyes darting around the room and my heart pounding hard. "We're at Cedar Wood," Shadow snapped. "And our mate is missing." I pressed my hand over my eyes blocking out the bright spring sunrise and yawned. Shadow kept me up most of the night, demanding something terrible had happened to his mate, pleading with me to find her. I relented at 3 am, delirious with exhaustion and scoured the packhouse. Her scent lingered in the kitchen and dining room and along an ominous narrow hallway but there wasn't a single trace of her in the sleeping quarters. "You don't find that strange." Shadow snapped in my sleep-addled head as I went over my foggy memories from
Kayla's POV I was gripped in a pair of massive arms. My heart pounded hard against my ribs. Trembles shook through my limbs. The harder I shook the tighter he gripped me. His racing heart echoed in my ears as he pulled me close to his expansive chest. The rogue was real. He tore through the forest taking me far from my pack. Far from everything I knew. Ever giant step he leaped sent waves of agony cascading through my broken body. It was all too much. The terror of what he would do to me, the pain, all of it. I passed out, falling into a nightmare filled sleep. The rogue was real and I was his prisoner. *** I sighed. A blissful warmth enveloped me. Small, soft hands stroked my tattered skin. My frail body rested on soft ground. A fire crackled beside. I struggled to
Alpha Maddox's POVLena stood guard outside the ramshackle packhouse, guarding the entry, preventing anyone but Blake from entering. I've interrogated enough suspects during my military career to know I wanted the Gamma and Beta males nowhere near the rest of the pack. Something about them didn't sit right with me. Shadow didn't trust them. They refused to meet my gaze. Their shoulders hunched when they spoke to me. Alpha Patrick's repulsive flamboyance was toned down tenfold. They knew something and the Hell was I going to let them coach the rest of the pack to fill me with the same lies they were telling me."Warrior Carl," Blake announced as he shoved a sweaty, underweight adult male into Patrick's office.&nb
Many lower-ranking packs think the buck stops with me. I am the ultimate power and if they challenge me it's only my pack they need to face. They're wrong. Just as humans have their governments we have the Elders, a group of well-loved, well respected retired Alphas. They've watched over us since the dawn of time, protected us, loved us and ensured we acted fairly to those who wrong us. Even the White Wolves could have been overruled by the Elders."Thank you," I sighed. A tiny slither of tension flowed from my body. I slipped my cell phone back into my pocket and massaged my temples."The Elders will be here within the hour," I told Blake and Lena, eager to pass off responsibility for this hot mess to someone older and wiser than myself.I blinked, a desperate effort to relieve the migraine threatening to send me crashing to my knees at any moment, and stepped back surveying the dismal scene behind me. Cedar Wood pack huddled on the dusty mess hall floor. Lucil
Kayla's POVSerena sobbed quietly in the corner of the cave. Her Grandfather paced the perimeter mumbling all the ways in which he would make Maddox Mason hurt before he slaughtered him and reclaimed dominion over our people.I sat in silence on the warm, thick sleeping mat, with a heavy wool blanket wrapped around my shoulders. Izzy offered the odd comforting word, promising me it would all work out. That we'd find a new mate, one worthy of us."Mate?" I asked her."That's the connection you felt with Maddox Mason. That's what woke me. But if he's everything Casper says he is, I reject him. I want more. We deserve more."I sighed, pulled the blanket over my head and sank back into the sleeping mat. My head throbbed and my heart ached. A million questions raced through my mind.Why would the Moon Goddess match me with a monster? What connection could a Princess, a powerful White Wolf, have with me?
Maddox's POV "Lock it down," I sighed into the phone. "Lock it all down. Spread the word to other packs. Until the rogue is caught and brought to justice no wolf leaves their pack alone." "Got it," Blake said. I sank to the bed. I'd remained at Cedar Wood, refusing to leave until my mate was found. In the weeks that passed, the rogue grew bolder, upped his killing and stealing. Two of my pack were missing, presumed dead. Some smaller packs were decimated. Slaughtered while they slept and still, we were no closer to finding him. Patrick admitted nothing about his mistreatment of my mate or his pack and even with him locked away they were still too afraid to speak. Graham's testimony helped but the most he could be charged with was assaulting my mate. The elders sentenced him to five years in the dungeons and stripped him of his title. I pinched the bridge of my nose. My mate was missing. My peop