Page 1 of The Alpha's Daughter
Chapter One
LOU
Just get it the fuck over with, already.I stared up at my father in annoyed but stoic silence, waiting for him to finish his monologue on the importance of a fated mate bond. For the third time. Correction - for the third time,today. This was getting ridiculous.
Yes, I was aware of how important it was for me to take the Moonmate ceremony seriously. Yes, it was abundantly clear that he would prefer I found a better mate than a Gamma wolf. Yes, I understood that I was the alpha’s daughter and therefore my mate was of the utmost importance. I felt my sea blue eyes glassing over.
“Ramona Louise Griffin, are you even listening to me right now?” I snapped to attention and felt more than saw his frustration as I looked from him to my mother. He never used my full name. For as long as I could remember, I had just been Lou. Using ‘Ramona Louise’ was a bad sign. I reached up and tucked a rogue strand of wavy blonde hair behind my ear.
“Yes, sir.” His eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest. My throat tightened. This wasn’t about me. Not really. This was about Jax. As the Alpha’s daughter, there was a certain expectation of me to mate well. In other words, I was supposed to find an Alpha as my mate to help strengthen our position and build an alliance with another pack. A fated mate bond would have been best, but the likelihood of that diminished with each passing year.
I had completed the pack tour like a good little wolf, traveling all over the country to different Moonmate ceremonies in search of the elusive fated mate. Which, if you asked me, was completely ridiculous. Not for one second did I think the Moon Goddess knew what she was doing. If she did, she would have put me out of my misery a long time ago. Jax was a Gamma from our pack and therefore couldn’t further the position of the pack in any way by being my mate. He was a strong fighter - one of the strongest in our pack. That was enough to secure my father’s respect and trust but was still not enough to make him worthy of the Alpha’s only daughter. Now that I had turned 21, however, my father was beginning to panic.
Truthfully, I wasn’t in love with Jax even though I should have been. I wanted to be. I loved him, just not that way. Jax was the guy who woke me up with cake and roses for my birthday. He taught me how to drive a stick and didn’t even yell at me once. He stayed up with me until three in the morning, laughing and telling jokes until I nearly peed my pants. He carried me home for six miles when I sprained my ankle. You couldn’t ask for a more perfect wolf as a mate. He was even a pretty good kisser. I just never felt that extra thing. You know the thing — the one that makes you want to rip his clothes off with your teeth. Still, he was my dearest friend and we could be happy together. He was in love with me and I was sure that would be enough until I could get on the same page.
“Lou,” my mother, Calista, stepped forward, palms pressed together and lips pursed as she carefully chose her words, “We have an offer from the Whiteclaw pack to make a mate alliance. It’s a good offer, and their Alpha is a fair and respected wolf. He would make an excellent—“
“Mate?” I bit out, finally losing my temper. “An excellentmate? You have got to be fucking kidding me. This morning, it was the Timber Pride pack. Then, it was Ironpaw and Dry Gulch. Now you want to sell me off to Whiteclaw? This is supposed to bemychoice! Mine, not yours. And you are supposed to want me to be happy more than you want me to be some kind of goddamn currency you use to trade for the pack’s benefit. I choose Jax, and he is going to choose me, too.”
“That is ENOUGH,” Titus boomed. The following silence was deafening as we stared each other down. Fear prickled my spine as I watched the red tint of alpha power recede from his eyes. My wolf whined and I felt her retreat further into me. I’m sure she was worried I would bring the Alpha’s wrath down on us both with my big-mouthed rebellion. I had never personally been the recipient of my father’s alpha power, but I had been in the unfortunate situation to have seen it done.
“I have already spoken with Jax and arranged for him to select a more suitable mate during the ceremony this evening. You,” he thrust his finger in my direction, “will accept the mate bond of the Whiteclaw Alpha and there will be no more discussion about it.”
My chest rose and fell violently and I felt tears sting my eyes. “Jax would never—“
“Jax will obey his Alpha. As will you.”
I did not even try to stifle my cry as I whirled around and ran from the study, through the house, and out the back door to the surrounding woods. I didn’t give two shits about politics or alliances and I definitely did not want to be sold. I slammed and stomped my way through the trees, flinging branches out of my way one after another until my foot caught on a fallen limb. I suddenly pitched forward, face planting into the mud and leaves.
I let myself lay there for a time, sobbing into the loamy forest floor. For a brief moment, I considered shifting, running to find Jax, and begging him to change his mind. Who was I kidding though? He wouldn’t disobey his alpha. More proof that I’m useful for a time until a better opportunity comes along. Then I am expendable.
Briefly, I considered whether I could simply run away alone. It wasn’t as if I were completely useless. I had been working for the pack’s lumber business since I was sixteen, starting as an office intern and working my way up to supervising the whole accounting department. I had planned to someday be CFO. Surely, I could find another job with my experience. Except… to be out in the human world I needed things I didn’t have. Like money. And my father would never allow me to join another pack simply because I didn’t like his orders.
I reached up and swiped at my wet cheeks, wiping my nose on my sleeve and pushing my tangled hair out of my eyes with a huff. I didn’t have any other choice but to go back home and follow through with the decisions that others had made for me. Maybe the goddess would take pity on me and send a hurricane so the ceremony could not be completed. We don’t actually get hurricanes here in Bravemaw territory, but I wasn’t picky. Any highly destructive natural disaster would do. She could be creative.
As I pushed myself off the ground, I heard a sharp noise behind me and froze in place, straining to see if I could hear it again. I tried sniffing the air to identify the source of the noise, but my nose was too red and stuffy from crying. I let my wolf come closer to the surface, hoping she would be able to hear or see something I couldn’t.
“Hello?” I called out, darting my eyes back and forth and trying to catch any sign of movement. I felt a strange pull like there was something there just beyond what I could see. I even went so far as to take a step forward before my wolf whined and reason kicked in.You’re right, Girl.
I shook my head and scanned the trees once more before turning back and heading toward home and Jax. Nothing good ever came of following things further into the woods.
