Page 2 of Damon
The alpha changes back into human form, gripping his heart. “He left the pack.” His voice is strained; it’s never easy when someone leaves the pack without the usual ceremony. “What happened?” he asks me. He is my brother’s friend; we all grew up together.
“He wanted to force a mating,” I whisper, my voice rough with emotion. Now that I am in human form, the adrenaline is wearing off, and the horror of what just happened is finally sinking in.
The women gasp and the men growl. The alpha curses. “I should have taken his life years ago. I knew he wanted you, but I never thought he would force it. He broke the bond, Farren.”
I close my eyes. He broke the bond—that means the alpha has no way of tracking Ken. He is rogue, which makes him dangerous, and the darkness will eat him, making him ten times worse.
Evil.
You never know what rogue shifters will do, how they will attack.
“You need to go live with your brother. Their pack is bigger, more men.” That is true. My brother moved to another pack, which is very powerful, and he is the second-in-command.
I nod. “I will call.” I turn around, not wanting to look at the members of my pack, the people I’ve grown up with andhave known all of my life. I can feel their eyes at my back, and I can feel their sadness radiating throughout the bond. Before too long I won’t even feel that bond. It won’t happen instantly. The connection will drift away, and my bond with the new pack will grow.
I close the door behind me, resting my back against it, my eyes closed. I am filled with dread of everything that’s about to happen, and I’m on edge. He is out there, and I don’t know where he is or whether he is lying in wait, still wanting me.
My brother Maverick’s club will be a fresh start; I have been restless for a long time. I am coming, Maverick.
Damon
I finish working on her cabin while her brother Maverick meets her at the front gate. This house was built recently, and it still needed a few finishing touches. We have also set up safety features around her cabin, including a panic button.
We are a newer pack; we all wanted a fresh start without the rules of the elders.
I got a phone call from the alpha of my beta’s old pack; his sister needed a place to stay because of an obsessed rogue. They can’t protect her. She will be the first official woman in the pack, and the guys are more than excited at the possibility of finding their true mate. We have invited women to join our pack, but their leaders have told them we are wild, mean, and without morals. That is not fucking true; we just wanted to be ourselves without being under the thumbs of those who love to control everything.
About half of the packs out there are like that. They are especially controlling of their women. They also suppress us men, so we don’t become dominant and take over. We have morals—more than those fuckers do, actually. We are freehere, we live well and, once we find our true mates, this land will be ready for them and our pups.
So I created this pack as a safe haven where everyone is accepted. One thing that is never talked about, and is a big no-no in most packs, is gay couples; they don’t see them as being true mates. That shit is fucked up and stuck in old times. We have three shifters in our pack who are gay, but they haven’t found their true mates yet.
Next month is the annual gathering. It’s a week-long thing that brings packs together. It’s chaos, but it unites a lot of true mates.
It will be my first gathering as an alpha. I have been the leader of this pack for three years but, until now, I didn’t feel secure enough to join in. There are fights and challenges, and sometimes a fucker wants to take your pack from you. I needed to be sure my pack members have my back, because people are conniving.
“Yo, they are walking up the trail!” one of my packmates yells, and I can hear them running outside. I laugh because they are so excited. I wipe my hands on the rag I was using to clean the counter and stick it in my back pocket.
I walk out last, heading down the steps. I can’t even see her because everyone is surrounding her as she introduces herself. I hear her laugh, and everything inside me stops. Then the guys step back, I look at her, and my whole fucking world stops. I breathe deeply, my nose flaring. “Mate,” I growl and her head snaps around to look at me. She breathes deeply as realization sinks in.
Farren
Waiting at the gate outside of The Knights Pack’s property is my brother. He snatches open the back door and tears me out of the vehicle. He touches my face. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me that someone was bothering you?”
I roll my eyes at his protectiveness. “Mav, I thought he would never act on anything.”
He glares down at me. “Never underestimate someone, sis. Look what happened. I could have lost you.” He gets a pained look on his face. The fight could have ended badly if he hadn’t trained me in secret. My pack does not want the women to learn how to protect themselves; they are bit old-fashioned. And I am all Maverick has left. My mother was shot by a hunter, who thought she was a real wolf, and killed instantly. My father soon followed her. The heartbreak literally killed him. They had the kind of love that others could only dream about.
“I know Mav, I am here now.” I hug him and close my eyes. For the first time in a year, I have hugged my brother.
“Love you, sis. It may be a fucked-up situation, but I am glad you will be living here now. I have missed you.” He tugs on the ends of my hair. I smack his back hard and he laughs.
“Glad to see you’re as mean as ever.”
Mav and I have always been really close. We are close in age; I am twenty-two years old and he is twenty-four. From the moment I was born, we have been attached at the hip—until he moved to a new pack. He did not want to leave me,but I knew if I went with him he would be distracted. S0 I stayed, planning to join him years later, but it happened much sooner. Meanwhile, Mav has spent ten years helping build this pack, and I have heard rumors that they are the strongest pack in the world.
I guess we will see.
My brother takes my bags out of the back of the SUV, and we walk through the gates, which swing shut immediately. I am in awe of a beautiful tree hanging over the road.
